Solo 2B version arrived on Thursday so I thought I'd sign up and let you guys know and share some pictures (excuse the quality and lighting) and thoughts as no one has posted one yet of Solo 2B. Ordered directly from Square to the UK FYI if any one is wanting to extrapolate an ETA on when theirs might arrive. Also is this the first time anything from Prime1 has arrived early?
Packaging: Standard packaging that you would expect from Prime1, very secure. Squares packaging while okay did leave gaps for the main box to move around too freely for my liking. However due to how well Prime1 do their packaging I don't think anyone will have an issue in regard to damage in transit if Squares packaging wasn't a one off. Helps to have a decent courier I guess too (DPD in the UK).
Portrait: While I didn't spend much time looking at the visorless head sculpt. It does look amazing. Better than I hoped for after looking at the prototype. I thought in the prototype photos she looked a bit dead in the eyes. Seeing it first hand brings the details to life and negates that fear. I still am going to use the visor sculpt (which is equally as good) as it's the more "iconic" look but I would happily swap them to freshen things up.
Design and Sculpting: Like Xenoex said the design and sculpting is phenomenal and they have definitely given her "improved" proportions and the details are beautiful. Someone asked about the seem, yes it is there on the solo 2b and while it is thicker than her in game model you don't really notice that it is a join unless you inspect it close up or you know it's a join.
Paint: Now this is where my review differs from Xenoex's, paint wise they did an amazing job on my piece, I inspected the butt thoroughly (for quality control reasons obviously and only that
) there were absolutely no defects. There were however two minor defects about the size of a pin prick, one on the headband which was hair coloured paint which a light rub and blow removed and then some skin coloured paint on the skirt between the patterns which a poke with a toothpick (finger too big) and a blow removed. Both left no visible damage underneath which makes me think that they came after the original paint had already cured. I'm not sure why Xenoex's piece from what I understand had such bad defects, maybe because it's a larger piece to check and the QC staff have more ground to cover but the same amount of time to review so missed a lot more or maybe they are more lax with the first ones that are going out to China as they might feel it's easier to replace parts for people who complain than for people in the EU/NA, most likely though it's probably just the luck of the draw of the person performing the QC.
Sword and POD: These are really my only complaints about the statue, the ABS sword does look cheap compared to the rest of the statue. Now I understand why they used ABS but a part of me feels like they should have come up with a better way of making the sword look a bit more premium such as using polystone/resin and having a different attachment method for the sword and then securing it in the box separately. However I knew when buying that the sword was going to be ABS so it's not like it's a bait and switch. The tsuka and tsuba look alright it's just the blade that I have issues with. POD is also ABS however his look and feel is okay, some of the weathering doesn't look too great but let's be honest he's only going to be getting slight glances and isn't the main attraction of the piece but you do feel for ?800 $900 that no corners should be cut.
Overall impressions: Brilliant piece, if you like the series as long as you have no defects you will love it. If you are just collecting I think it should make a fine addition to your collection, whether it's worth the extra Square tax they added on that's down to personal opinion. However I would say the quality is the same if not better than my Ciri and Geralt statues from Prime1 so adding Square's IP tax on top I can't be too mad at the price but that's me as a lover of the series and even then I'm still a little mad. But after seeing the price of the Terra statue I'm grateful they didn't add on another $5K just for the sake of it.