Toybox REVIEW: BUZZmod Lucy

Release Date: April 2026

RRP: 12,000 yen

Given its immense popularity across the globe, it's amazing that it's taken this long for articulated Cyberpunk Edgerunners figures to happen. But as tends to be the case with these things, you patiently wait for one and then suddenly multiple options come at once. With Jada Toys' offerings are the cheaper end of the spectrum and ThreeZero's FigZero line on the opposite side, it isn't often you see a product from Aniplex sitting somewhere in the middle. BUZZmod Lucy is the first of the three figures the line is set to put out this year, with Rebecca releasing at the end of July and then David following in November.

Lucy comes boxed in the standard black BUZZmod packaging, which now has yellow and purple accents to match the Cyberpunk Edgerunners logo and art assets. Taking up most of the front is the large window section, showing off both the figure and nearly all of the accessories. Running along the top is the character name as well as the Aniplex, Cyberpunk and BUZZmod logos, and then at the bottom there’s an image of the figure tucked away in the corner. The sides of the box are far more simple in comparison, both featuring the Cyberpunk Edgerunners logo with a smaller version of the BUZZmod logo underneath. It’s on the back of the box that you’ll find a more detailed look at the figure, with a number of images showing off the numerous accessories she comes with. Inside everything is neatly stored on a moulded plastic tray, with a small instruction leaflet also included to explain the parts-swapping.

If there is something you can usually rely on the BUZZmod line for, it's a great likeness to the source material. For the most part their version of Lucy has a fantastic sculpt, with the head in particular standing out for its anime accuracy. The colouring on the hair is perfect, as is the print and colouring on the face itself. The same can (mostly) be said for her outfit, until you get to the jacket collar that is. Previously a distinct feature with BUZZmod figures has been their selective use of soft goods, done in a way that enhances the figure but doesn't dominate it. Fast-forward to their Edgerunners figures and Aniplex have inexplicably decided to forgo soft goods altogether, instead going for an all-plastic figure that's more what you'd expect from Figma (although even they've been experimenting more with soft goods in recent years). As such the way they've gone about Lucy's jacket is by having the top section (the part which billows out over the shoulders) separate pieces connected to the back of the figure. The pieces then slot over the arms to create the intended look. It works quite well in neutral poses, but aren't quite as effective when you start moving the arms about and gaps start forming. Whether a soft goods option would have been that much better is anyone's guess, but at the very least it would have been more in BUZZmod's wheelhouse.

Whilst the BUZZmod line isn't known for any particular innovations when it comes to articulation, it does nevertheless provide a solid array of movement that rivals most other collectible anime figures on the market. And with this in mind Lucy seems like a great figure on paper, altogether featuring; 

- Ball hinge head, shoulders, elbows, wrists, knees and ankles

- Ball jointed neck, torso and hips

- Hinged toe joints

- Bicep and thigh swivels

The on top of that we have the previously mentioned ball jointed jacket parts, which allow them to move independently of the arms whilst also being able to rest against them for a more "seamless" look. It all sounds great, but unfortunately the reality isn't anywhere as appealing. To put it bluntly, Lucy is a QC nightmare. Nearly all the joints on my copy and incredibly loose, to the point where the arms (and the bicep joint) and the legs (at the hip joint) will simply pop off with barely any provocation. The legs attach to an upside-down Y jutting down from the waist, and it can be hard to pose the legs without showing off the hollow area in and around the legs. Then of course there's the overcomplicated way the designers have decided to do the top of the jacket, which doesn't look or feel anywhere near as seamless as soft goods would have been. Lucy's small don't always make balancing easy either, so combined with the legs' tendency to fall off posing this figure can be really tedious at times. No waist joint doesn't come as a huge surprise (one would have been nice, but I understand wanting to keep the stomach as one piece), but no thigh movement is a surprise given that the cuts are effectively there in the sculpt anyway. There are parts that work - the shoulders, elbows, knees and ankles all have an excellent range of motion, but overall Lucy is far lesser quality than the three BUZZmod figures I've previously purchased.

In what could be considered an attempt to alleviate those issues however, Lucy does at least come with a rather impressive selection of accessories. Altogether there's four alternate faces (smiling, shouting, hacking and closed eyes), seven additional hands (pairs of closed fists, weapon holding and posed open hands, along with an additional cigarette-holding left hand), alternate "dynamic" collar pieces for the jacket, hand gun, blast effect, twin monowire (attached to alternate forearms), a "breach protocol window" netrunner effect piece, alternate back hair piece to use with the aforementioned part, and finally a pair of static crouching legs. Much like the alternate legs included with Ryuko Matoi, swapping the legs is incredibly easy (especially with how easily Lucy's fall off anyway) and provide far more seamless crouching poses. Swapping the legs does require you to remove the feet from the articulated legs and attach them, but again it's really simple to do. The alternate jacket pieces differ in that they have smooth edges rather than bicep cuts in them, giving the arms a wider range of movement when in use. In that respect they work well, but the gap around the arms they leave make them feel like separate floating pieces rather than being parts that should connect to the sleeves.

The range of faceplates on offer cover Lucy's range of emotion well and (like the default one) match the show well, especially the hacking one which sports orange eyes as opposed to her usual blue/lilac. The handgun is the smallest of her weapon accessories but very nicely detailed, again matching its appearance on the show. The translucent yellow effect part plugs directly into the gun, and perfect for making shooting poses that little bit more dynamic. The breach protocol window is my personal favourite of the accessories - a clear plastic pane of computer screens matching just how netrunning looks both in the show and game. The piece plugs directly into Lucy's alternate back hair piece, allowing it to wrap around the side of her head without any additional support. Finally we have the monowire, Lucy's signature molecular whip weapons. Interestingly the ones included with the final product don't quite match the ones featured in the promotional images or even on the box - whereas those were a quite vibrant luminous yellow, the ones included are more of a dull gold colour. The pieces have a bendable wire running through them, so can be bent and contorted as you see fit for action poses. The problem I ran into however was that, due to the looseness of the joints, the arms struggled to stay upright with the monowire attached. The wires themselves aren't really that thick either, so they too don't support their weight all that easily. With tighter joints and a bit of practice and I don't doubt these accessories can look a lot better, but straight out of the box they're another aspect to the figure that felt needlessly fiddly and frustrating.

Given that my previous experiences with the line have been nothing but positive I had high hopes for BUZZmod Lucy, but it pains me to say that she's one of the most disappointing figures I've purchased in a long time. Their baffling choices when it comes to the jacket aside Aniplex have delivered a good looking figure that matches her likeness from the show, but everything when it comes to posing the figure is beyond frustrating. Gaps in the sculpt, floppy limbs, said limbs not being able to support the accessories well, said limbs constantly popping off...the list is significant. The wide range of accessories is enough to win her back a few points, but overall given the high price tag of BUZZmod figures Lucy should be a lot better. Fingers crossed Aniplex have ironed out all these issues on Rebecca and David, because these should have been a slam dunk for them.