I must say I have taken a liking to the background characters of Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu. However, I didn't get this figure out of love, but rather I got it for quite a bargain. (2000 yen!) Since it was a Max Factory product, I said to myself: "why not". Its not everyday you see Max Factory's figures go for that kind of price. Hell even the figmas are more expensive.
The accessories that come with this figure aren't the most exciting. But you usually buy a figure for the figure itself, and not the accessories. There are exceptions though.
With Tsuruya-san, you get a nekomimi band, a cat tail and another hand. Now I'm not sure what that other hand is for but I'm assuming that you replace her open hand with a hand that's trying to imitate the claw of her cat, giving her the appearance of a cat girl cosplayer. However, I'm more interested in Tsuruya proper.
Here she is, in all her green-haired, large forehead nyoron glory. I must say that the blue that was chosen by Max Factory was, compared to Alter's Mikuru Maid, more of a brightness and colourfulness choice than realism or beauty. They pulled it off though, and this blue looks just as good as the duller blue from Alter.
I love 1/8 scale figures, because the majority of the scaled figures are 1/8, and they somehow look just the right size.
Like many other figurines, Tsuruya's massive hair dominates her looks from the back. I wonder if anyone in real life would find it practical to have so much hair you might end up sitting on it. As I grow up I tend to get a fondness for slightly older girls. Maybe its because one gets tired of having to calm down hot headed kids?
Here's the 2 third-years standing side by side. Interestingly enough, when I look at this photo, I realized that I actually think that Alter's Mikuru is nicer than Max Factory's Tsuruya. Maybe that's why Tsuruya was going for so cheap?