Hi guys!
As promised, here is my first ever review of a figure which I recently purchased. It's a Nendoroid. For those who are new to the Nendoroid line of figures, they are basically a chibi formed of a famous character from anime (mostly) and games in Japan. Well then, let's cut to the chase.
Today I'll be reviewing Nendoroid Drossel, the main character from the Disney anime series called Fireball. Below is the picture of the figure itself within its cardboard coffin. Recently received her from online and the condition of the box is really good. The box itself has plenty of amazing pictures for you to look at and a lot of Japanese text on the front and even more on the back. I can't read Japanese, so I have no clue what it says :P
Front view of box
Here she is, exposed to the oxygen. Everything is nicely organised and taped right into place. Her accessories include Her jet-pack hair (which needs to be connected to the jet-pack centerpiece at the bottom most part of the picture above), The Capoeira helmet with 2 clear-blue add-ons (on either side of her), an extra pair of legs, 3 arms and 1 hand. I should also mention here that what appears to be joints on her limbs, are actually not. These 'joints' are only cosmetic so her pose-ability is quite limited, like all the other Nendoroids. Never the less, they are still very cool.
Here she is, the star of the show! Nendoroid Drossel in her normal mode with default, straight arms and legs. The built quality of this figure is amazing, the use of high quality plastic with glossy finish seems to fit in with all the new gadgets these days, like the iPod or the polar white Nintendo DS Lite. At this moment, I realised that her head is really heavy and the figure needs to be supported by the stand (included in the box) or her twintails. I couldn't really pick Drossel up by her head as the bottom half is not exactly secured tightly to the head so much. Hopefully this looseness doesn't happen to the other customers that bought Drossel. So far no complaints from anyone.
Time for some Karate choppin'
Above is a picture of her detached head (Oh No!). This is where the best part of this Nendoroid comes in. There's a small slide switch which activates her LED glowing eyes. Before that though, you must pry her head open (which is not too difficult to do) and pull out a white plastic tag that then enables the battery to connect properly.
Now comes the best part, displaying her with her eyes light up. I wish the batteries lasts forever, so I can display her like this and turn her into a night light. The eyes are really bright, but not too glaring. It has a nice soft glow, which is perfect when compared to the Chogokin Drossel, which is too bright and the LED bulbs are visible. No idea about her battery life, maybe it can last a few years with minimal usage.
This is how I display Drossel (without the eyes lighting up of course). Hopefully other Nendoroids will join her on this table which I cleared out recently just for them.
I did find some minor problems with this figure, firstly is the problem with the joints connecting with the head and body, which seems rather loose for comfort. Secondly the Capoeira Helmet for my Drossel has gotten a bit loose and stretched out, and wouldn't clip on to her head as securely as before. Very strange. Lastly, one of the wings on the jet-pack is also a bit loose, but it doesn't bother me that much. Hopefully these minor problems are not widespread to all Drossel models and the other people who have Drossel hasn't complained anything yet. So I'm just a bit unlucky, or just nitpicking.
This is my first figure review of my first Nendoroid, so I'm sorry if I made any mistakes or if my review is not to clear to understand. I would have liked it if I have posted more pictures but I'm having problems with my camera at the moment, so hopefully my future reviews will have plenty more pictures. Hopefully you guys have enjoyed reading this review. Thank you.