Nendoroid Red
$49.99 from PokemonCenter.com
December, 2014 Domestic Release
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More and more Nintendo properties have been getting outside toy releases as of late, with S.H.Figuart’s Super Mario series, and Figma tapping into properties such as Zelda, Metroid, Kid Icarus, and Fire Emblem. Aside from Figma, Good Smile Company has been pumping out quite a few Nendoroid releases as well! Nendoroids are small chibi styled characters from various film, game, and television properties, similar to the old Chibi-Arts line from Tamashii Nations. Pokémon Centers in Japan decided to get in on the action by releaseing exclusive Nendoroid releases of various Pokémon characters! First up on the agenda was the trainer that started it all, Red. Red is designed after his FireRed and LeafGreen appearances. Included with the figure are small figures of Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle, as well as two additional faces and a number of additional hands, arms, and a leg for additional posing options. The figure was release domestically at PokemonCenter.com and Amazon.com for $49.99 in December, 2014.
Red himself is spot on perfect to his character design from FireRed and LeafGreen, and the chibi style the figure is presented in reminds me a lot of the graphical style of the characters in XY and ORAS. If the default pose isn’t enough for you, included is a number of alternate faces, hands, arms, and even a leg to get the character in different poses. A happy face is included for more lighthearted scenes, while a yelling face is included to get the character into a heated Pokémon battle. Arms and hands range from being able to hold a Poké Ball, throw a Master Ball, scan Pokémon via the PokéDex, point commands, or even an arm designed to emulate the characters hand in his pocket. Combo this with holding a Poké Ball in his left hand and you can emulate the look of the character in his default Ken Sugimori artwork. A stand is included of course since the design of Nendoroids basically make it impossible for the figure to stand on its own.
The small Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle figures are all really cure, and remind me of the currently releasing Tomy releases, which are at times just repackages of the Pokémon Monster Collection figures from TakaraTomy in Japan. They’re decently in scale with the figure after you take into account the fact that it’s in a chibi style. Again, it reminds me of the scaling used in the XY series of games. None of them move, but they’re still a nice little bonus to go along with the Kanto Champion.
Fans of Pokémon should do themselves a favor and hunt down this figure. It’s unfortunate that domestic quantities were so limited and stock from Japan was exclusive to one store, this means that, unlike Cynthia, this original release was much harder to get a hold of. If you’re willing to pay a bit more, auction sites will be your go to source unfortunately. It’s a wonderful little figure that belongs in any Pokémon collection, no matter the size.
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CollectorShuki.com