Pop Up Parade Yor Forger

Good Smile Company continues its run of budget figures with the phenomenally successful Pop Up Parade line. It's fair to say that Spy x Family has been one of the recent darling franchises in manga and anime, so it was always a matter of time before the characters came to the budget line.

The pose, wherein Yor is putting on her gloves in what appears to be a pre-assassination prep, is simple but elegant. The "A" stance allows the figure to show off the most intricate detailing, the red rose lining of her black dress. The best designs are often simple, and although many cosplays have veered into dominatrix territory, in animated form the outfit looks quite refined and the perfect look for infiltrating high society.

Further adding to the "pop" of the figure is the gold detailing of her head-dress, earrings, choker ball and needle-knife. Black and gold has never been my favourite combination, but it really works here to lend an almost vampiric quality to Yor, just a little decadence even in her choice of weapon.

The knife is a separate piece that fits snugly into Yor's gloved hand, and the fact that she's holding it while adjusting her gloves is a lovely bit of design that shows how comfortable she is with her weapon of choice.

An elegant evening of murder...

One of the design elements I do appreciate is the thickness of the boots. A lesser figure would have painted them on to her legs, but here they have a visible and demonstrable width, emphasised by the checkered top of her thigh-length boots - similarly the wrinkled leather at her ankles and tops of her feet add texture to an otherwise simple design.

If there is one letdown, it's the circular base. This is just semi-transparent white plastic, which at best allows the black boots to stand out, but at worst makes the figure look somewhat cheap even at this price point. I may end up doing a little customisation on it, as the figure is deserving of a better perch than this. 

Yor surveys her target's bed chamber...

In terms of paint and finish, the figure covers everything well. The choice to add a semi-gloss to the dress avoids it looking cheap and synthetic, with just enough shine for the light to work with. The skin is pale and has a lovely matte finish, avoiding the cheap plastic look that forces me to break out the matte varnish as I felt forced to do with the Bishoujo Mai Shirunai. 

The reds, where applied, are perfect - the aforementioned dress lining was always a requirement, but props to Good Smile for also adding it to the soles of her shoes. Only visible from the back of the figure (which also benefits from lovely fabric sculpting in the dress) it's a small but quality sign of attention to detail. 

For the money, you really can't go wrong here. The sculpt is simple but perfectly captures Yor at her most confident. She's striking and deadly, and no surprise that this is sold out almost everywhere I've looked. When the inevitable reissue arrives, I'd advise picking her up if you like to buy figures but have a tight budget.