As a rule, I try not to buy many scale figures (talk about expensive!), but after I saw Altair’s Rin Matsuoka sculpt, there was no way I could resist. I preordered him in a heartbeat and pined away many months until he finally arrived on my doorstep late in September.

Of course, a new scale figure calls for a new unboxing video! I try to show off all the details in my latest video, so if you’re interested in this figure, I highly encourage you to give it a watch:

Unfortunately, it seems like there is an ongoing problem with this particular figure, which I only found out after browsing user comments at My Figure Collection. Multiple people have reported that there is a small, yet noticeable, gap between one of Rin’s feet and his swimsuit. Low and behold… Mine has it too! I probably wouldn’t have noticed this if I hadn’t seen complaints from others, which may be a cautionary tale in not reading comments, but it also goes to show that I don’t inspect my figures with the true eye of a collector. Luckily it’s not a particularly glaring flaw, but it’s likely the reason why Rin is still available for sale, despite the other Free! Haruka and Makoto figures selling out so quickly they needed re-releases.

Regardless, I’m still very happy! Would a flaw like this ruin your appreciation of a figure?