MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ME!
This beauty arrived today as a Christmas present to myself.
It's been a while since I've been able to obtain a really rare item for my collection, especially something that could be considered a centerpiece. All the art prices have gone crazy, but the non-cel merchandise is still affordable. But since I own almost all of it already, finding something new to excite me doesn't come along often.
Cost me $234.99 to purchase and another $129.65 to ship it overseas (that's $364.64 total), but worth it: I expected it to have some scuffs and wear but it's actually in mint condition. It even came in the original box! How cool is that! I suspect they made less than 50 of these, and probably recycled most of them for their metal stand mechanisms. I'd estimate less than ten exist, that this is one of the three in best condition, and possibly the only one with a box.
The V16 life-sized stand I've owned for a few years but took a photo of them side by side for comparison. The F40 is a little taller (about 5'5" compared to 5'3" of the V16 stand), but the V16 is a little wider at the base (29" to 28" of the F40 stand.) These aren't actually accurate to life-sized as Akira is canonically 5'4" but close enough. If the two are taken to be proportionally equal, then Raika would be about 5'9" - besides the two inches taller her stand is, her right heel is about an inch closer to the ground and the top of her head about two inches closer to top. (More likely they aren't proportional - Raika is just pictured to fill the area more, since there's only her versus three girls - but its an intriguing thought experiment.)