I am not a big fan of NECA and their face sculpts that does not appeal to bishounen fangirls. Thus, Alucard and Dante (Devil May Cry -- in the works) are the only ones that I will get from their overrated Player Select line.

Overview
Alucard, born Adrian Fahrenheights Teppes; is the half-vampire, half-human (in short, Dhampir) son of Count Dracula and a human woman named Lisa Fahrenheights. In the game, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, he rebelled against his blood-sucking and dark-tapping father and sided with the good.

He was meticulously designed by Ayami Kojima using traditional painting media and HE LOOKS LIKE A PRETTY BOY NOT LIKE SOME RANDOM AMERICAN COSPLAYER!!!

Specification

The Good
- I obtained this from a good dealer in PTK forums. Despite the rarity of this in the Philippine market, He sold it to me at a modest price which is the same as any other Player Select figure.
- Alucard has a pretty decent height which seems to be in scale with FFVII figures (Tifa and Aerith) but I know he has to be a bit taller than those two girls.
- Along with the honest information is a nice backdrop of a full-moon. At the back are all the figures in the line: Succubus, Simon, Dracula (whom I am not planning to get at all) and Alucard (here, here).
- Very nice accessories:
Cross with real chain (for scaring vampires, how ironic)
Holy Water (which looks like an FF potion YAY!)
Piece of Meat (which you can sell in the FFXII Bazaar to get 10 X-Potions for just 4444 Gil LOL!)

The Neutral
- Ignoring my hatred with Clamshell packaging for a while, the packaging itself provides dainty information on who the heck to blame when one is displeased with Alucard's sculpt -- Four Horsemen Studios (who doesn't seem to have any idea about what a Bishounen really looks like).

The Bad
- I really HATE Clamshells. They are such a pain to open and the figure cannot be kept in "Neat" status after you opened the packaging. I had a horrible experience before with these (ie: Some BOME figure) wherein I wounded my hands. I was lucky this time that I was unharmed, otherwise, Alucard could've been sucking on my finger now.
- This was released way back in October 2007 in the US but who the heck is responsible for the lack of Castlevania figures in the toy market?!
According to Archie, these had been Hoarded just before they entered the Philippine shores.
It made me think that: Ohh, Arch! I think somebody has fetish for random American cosplayers as Castlevania characters?!

Articulation
The Good
- Alucard needs a leaning forward pose in order to balance well. Not bad since his in-game stance involves him in such position.

The Neutral
- Alucard has 15 points of articulation, the same number as a standard Fullmetal Alchemist and Dragon Quest Play Arts figure...but I'm expecting more since Alucard is around the size of FFVII figures (as I have mentioned earlier).
- Alucard is articulated in the neck, Shoulders, Elbows, wrists, Pelvic area, knees and feet.

The Bad
- Because of Alucard's really sick hairstyle and ubiquitous cape, his head cannot move properly.
- SHINOBITRON of Figurerealm...you and your claim about him having 28 points of articulation...but no, I'll ask him for an explanation first.

Detail

The Good
- Alucard's clothing has been faithfully (thank god), exquisitely sculpted and detailed.
- I really appreciate the nice black and white fleur-de-lis pattern in Alucard's coat.
- The backside of the cape, the gloves and the boots are painted with shiny black which gives it a leathery feel.
- The inner side of the cape has a nice pearly finish which Mikuru Goth Loli variant also has.

The Neutral
- Alucard's cape is attached to him with real chains! Mmm, hopefully it doesn't rust.

The Bad

- OMG, NECA. YOU FAILED YOUR CRASH COURSE IN BISHOUNEN 101!!! ~ I'm like WTF, who is this random American guy that NECA is marketing as a Castlevania action figure?!
- The area where Alucard's scabbard was placed makes my mind go green. Black Pants + Black Scabbard in the middle of the legs = Ok, screw this perverted woman.
- When you put Alucard's sword in the scabbard, it has a high possibility of bending and some of the silver paint can rub off...but thank god for the Silver Gundam Marker.
- Alucard's hair is badly-painted and I have no idea how to fix it...grr...maybe I'll just repaint his entire hair.

This figure is highly recommended to all Castlevania fans but not to hardcore Ayami Kojima and bishounen fans.
Final score: 3/5

Poses Gallery



~~~~ ALUCARD'S NEW FACE

I'm probably a bigger CV fan than you are but even I am avoiding NECA's clusterf**k of CV toys, though the Simon Belmont one looks ok.

There's also a little toy review of this and the others in the series in Coeli's blog.

edit: anchor text hurr

i will give u level up point for ur review . very informative and detail

and minus plus for not including my pics as a comparison to alucard hehe

The hair looks bad IMO and di ko gaanong naappreciate yung face ni Alucard dito.
Pasado yung details nung clothing and nung cape and also yung scabbard. Nice review. Gen, ipa-Ricky Reyes mo na to. Make-over! Make over!

Nice review..tho I wouldn't be surprised that NECA wasn't successful in "Bishi-fying" Alucard as they are an American company and really focus on American type figs. For example, I bought a NECA Player Select Raziel, and seeing he was of American origin he came out a fine rendition of the character, all the way to the packaging. ...As for this Alucard, I am very well impressed with the amount of detail NECA had put in him and that fact alone may be enough for me to get hold of more Player Selects.

g.r kuha ka na rin ng kratos .. the bigger the better 12inch hehehe

pare ano ka ba tama ang pwesto nya Alucard's scabbard na yan .. strategic pa nga eh isipin mo ikaw si alucard ang dami mo kalaban zombie and monster ganado ganado ka dahil 100 chain combo ka na di na pansin tuloy na may maliit na monster sa gilid EH ala man lng protection ang inyo ... eh di tapos agad lahi ng dampil ala ng castevania 13 or 14..esep esep

LOL, Archie. You can't blame me about the scabbard

Face Modified. Please direct all your comments to the new face in that topic.