DIMIC

It’s been a while since I reviewed the last girl from Kotobukiya’s Dead or Alive Xtreme 2 line, but here she is! And like I said in my introduction of the previous one (Hitomi), I’m not sure whether or not this is the fourth one released… Technically, the special edition of this one got released before Hitomi but the one I’m reviewing, the regular, got released after Hitomi… Confusing, I know…

Whether or not Tina Armstrong is the fourth or third one released, she’s without a doubt one of my favorites. And not only because her clothing is more easily removed and put back one but because I also like her face the most. Not that I could really chose just one girl if I really had to but anyhow.

Did you knew that Tina was one of the first three ladies in the first Dead or Alive game? No? Then you know now. Here’s some more background information of this tough girl:

Tina Armstrong is a professional wrestler from the Dead or Alive series, who made her first appearance the original Dead or Alive. She is one of the three female characters to appear in the first game – the others being Kasumi and Lei Fang – and she was the the first female pro-wrestler in the fighting genre. She is the daughter of Bass Armstrong, the greatest wrestler who ever lived.

Tina enters the tournaments to get discovered, with a goal of becoming famous in Hollywood. However the path of fame isn’t easy for her as Bass always tries to convince her that the Hollywood life isn’t for her, but she tries to convince him that it is her dream. Most of their arguments lead to fights.

Even though this figure got released two and a half years ago, somewhere around the end of 2009, and the rest of the series are so hard to find, you can actually find the regular edition in some webshops still. Kinda weird. Of course, since the Japanese Tecmo webshop closed, the limited edition is no where to be found. Too bad we waited too long to buy that one… Ah well, you can’t have everything right?

Unlike the previous ones I reviewed (Ayane, Lei Fang and Hitomi), Tina doesn’t have the same flaw as them being the impossible to close (unless you use a hair blower) clothing. Of course, this is partly due to the well chosen clothing. As you can see the seems run just where the stripes in her outfit are which makes for a handy covering.
The outfits she’s wearing are yet again not hers, just like those of the previous three, and this goes for both the regular as the exclusive variant. Both the regular outfits (Grus for the regular and Sculptor for the exclusive) are from Hitomi while the bikini’s are from Christie (Moonstone and Fluorite). While both really suit Tina I still consider it weird that they keep insisting on using outfits from the other girls for each of them.
While I don’t really like the top of her bikini, it looks to much like a bra to me, I do love the bottom part. It just looks so good! Also the regular outfit really suits her and I’m glad that both outfits are so nice. This is one of those that I don’t know whether to chose the bikini or the regular outfit.

As I said before, the face is one of the best yet and I really like it. You can really see that they started to improve along the progress of this line. The thing they already proven in doing good was making a kick-ass base and sadly, they kind of slipped up with this one. Not that it isn’t a good base, not at all. I mean, it’s incredible stable and you have a few options on displaying her on it to suit your needs or shelve. But they can do so much better… It’s a bit boring which could have been solved by adding some more corral or a plant or something. But in any way, it’s not a bad base.
What I also find kind of strange is the way they portrayed her hair. It just doesn’t say “I’m underwater dude” to me… It’s not flowwy enough. But this is but a tiny complaint from me.

Conclusion
Overall, this is a pretty decent figure with not too many flaws nor much annoyances. But personally, I do think they could have done better on some accounts. Like the base is a bit too plain for my taste. Also, for being an underwater figure, her hair just doesn’t really portray this fact which is a darn shame… But still, this is one of my favorites so far in this line.

Keep watching DIMIC if you’re interested in the others of this line!

Pictures:

Item reviewed: Dead or Alive Xtreme 2 – Venus on the Beach: Tina
Type: PVC
Manufacturer: Kotobukiya
Variations: there’s a Tecmo Webshop exclusive (other outfits: “Fluorite” (bikini) and “Sculpter”)
Rarity: One of the more easier ones to find in this series, some shops still sell her even, although the exclusive is almost impossible to find…