Photo by Siliconera
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Did you know that Bandai Namco made Umamusume: Pretty Derby model kits that let you make figures of Special Week, Silence Suzuka, and Tokai Teio? Yup! They’re all part of the Figure-Rise Standard Model Kit line, which means there’s no glue necessary, you get stickers for different parts, and they’re generally really adept kits with a lot of points of articulation and detail. They’re mostly great! Mostly, I say, because there are some extremely fiddly parts that can be a paint in the butt during the assembly process, to the point I worried I’d break Tokai Teio when building her!
The fact that the Tokai Teio Umamusume: Pretty Derby Figure-Rise model kit is so annoying to build is part of the reason why the resulting figure is so cool. Basically, the issue here is that there a lot of extremely fiddly parts, water slide decals, and stickers. Due to the elements involving her uniforms’ tassels, ribbon, and accents, it means you’re dealing with extremely small parts where even glue or tweezers can’t save you.
This starts with the head for the Tokai Teio figure, as it is a pretty tricky part of this Umamusume: Pretty Derby model kit. Now, you get an already made face plate, and it comes with eight water slide decals for other expressions. The main parts of this portion of the build that can be problematic are the ribbon accent by her right ear and her white lock of hair. In the case of the hair, it is a bit fiddly due to the arc of it and possible concerns about getting it in using the right amount of force. With the hair accessory, I hated that it involved a super small sticker on what is probably the teeniest piece of plastic in this build. I’d have preferred a water slide decal I could have let dry and then painted over. Even though I gave it time, it started to slip a bit, and I dropped the part twice.
None of this prepares you for exactly how challenging it is to build Tokai Teio’s torso parts. See, it involves a number of very thin, very fragile pieces of plastic placed in a certain order. You need to get the white and first gold parts first. Then, an additional white part goes in. Get that done and it seems fine, until you realize there is a blue piece of plastic that “outlines” the gold across her chest. This needs to be put inside just so. However, it’s also incredibly thin and, in my case, was really brittle! I was so worried it would break. It didn’t, but it was a pain. Snapping in the pink tie around her neck also felt a bit challenging.
The good news is, if you can survive all that, the rest of the Umamusume Tokai Teio model kit is pretty easy. The arms, skirt, and legs are all easy to manage. While the cuff designs are intricate, you have the option of water slide decals or stickers. (I went with the stickers.) It really all comes together once you leap over those early hurdles.
In the end, the Umamusume: Pretty Derby Tokai Teio Standard Figure-Rise makes a pretty great figure. It’s even more durable than I expected, considering how delicate some parts seemed during assembly. Also, now that it’s done, I do appreciate how that extra effort looks on the finished build. However, given the frustration I experienced, I would recommend it for folks more familiar with kit building.
The Umamusume: Pretty Derby Tokai Teio Standard Figure-Rise model kit is available now. The game is available worldwide on the PC and mobile devices. The original anime is on Crunchyroll, and Cinderella Gray is on Amazon.
