There are a few issues when it comes to SM’s paint job though. They paint they used is a little thicker than what you normally see from most Japanese figures. This unfortunately allowed for more slop and overpaint in some areas. There’s nothing that ruins the figure, but there are definitely some noticeable areas when you’re holding her.
Serena comes with a ton of accessories, most of which are alternate body parts. She has six different faceplates: smiling, determined with mouth open, determined with mouth closed, and determined without her tiara on. The two other faceplates are winking with mouth open, and crying. These last two are first edition bonuses, and won’t come with any rereleases of this figure.
As for alternate hands, she comes with a pair of open fingers spread and fists. Then there is one doing the Dr. Strange pose and another loosely grasping for her left side. The right side has one pointing, one doing the peace sign, one for holding he wand, and a last one with her tiara disc attached to it for attacking poses.
Serena comes with two versions of her wand: one with the crystal and one without. She also has a heart shaped stand labeled Sailor Moon.
Lastly, and probably most importantly, they included Luna in the package. She’s a very simple figure with only two points of articulation: a ball jointed head and tail. The paint job is also simple with most of the body being in that dark blue, light black color. I wouldn’t mind seeing a couple more versions of her as the line progresses. It’s good that she’s standing, but I’d also like to have a sitting and laying version as well. And of course, hopefully Artemis will come with Venus.
This isn’t the perfect Sailor Moon figure, but I’m going to give some leeway to Bandai on this one. Their first MonsterArts Godzilla had some issues also, but Bandai has fixed almost all of those problems and they haven’t cropped back up since. I’m hoping the Sailor Scouts will be given a similar treatment. If you are planning on picking up these figures, and they’re your first Japanese imports, I strongly suggest being careful with them when handling. Don’t force anything. Use hot water if necessary, and slowly work it free.
-Vault
Do you have / are getting the Figuarts series? I have them on order / in my loot pile at BBTS.
Yeah, I’ll be getting all the Figuarts Scouts and probably anything else they make from the series.
Thats good to know. Was hoping to find one at the toy show. Maybe next year cause the Ohio Comic Con ticket lrice is out of my wallet range.
Fan indeed.of the series and same boat was waiting on cool figures for this series. If ever do get, will take that care to heart. Had or still have just dunno where, the Microman Batman and Batgirl and took care.
With Mercury, Mars, and Jupiter shown so far hoping the same.
Keep an eye out at Amazon around Christmas time. They had some pretty good sales on Monsterarts last year, I wouldn’t be surprised if there are some Sailor Moon sales this year too.
I never noticed how Supergirl’s Linda/STAS outfit looked like sailor Moon before.
tempted to ask if this was ghost-written by Maneko or something snarky, but then I remembered watching *every* episode of CardCaptor Sakura. (still waiting for HER figures! LOL) 😉
also, the “continue to p2” link just sends you back to the top of p1.
Hey now, Sailor Moon was the first true anime series I got into. (Sorry Transformers, you don’t count…) 😛
I had Sailor Moon on pre-order at BBTS, but cancelled it after I saw some early reviews of her that highlighted some breakage issues–snapped wrists, neck joints. I haven’t regretted not picking her up, but she doesn’t seem to be skyrocketing in price like some would have assumed.
Funny how that works–Kamen Rider Figuarts sell out in a matter of minutes (I’m having Matty flashbacks!), but with Sentai ones, you don’t have to rush.
I think Sailor Moon is going to be a lot of people’s first Japanese import. There’s going to be a certain amount of quality control with any figure, but a lot of western fans are also going to be inexperienced with imports, so I wouldn’t be surprised if there are more problem reports than normal (Similar to King Ghidorah).
In my opinion, she doesn’t really feel any more fragile to me than most adult collector imports. If you really want her, order her from Amazon or BBTS. Someplace you can be sure to return it to if there are any issues.
I entirely agree about the Kamen Rider Figuarts. I don’t even begin to understand how those sell so fast compared to other Figuarts or Monsterarts.
The only issue i have had with mine is the pig tails popping out when trying to pose the figure and this is more of an annoyance than a real issue.
Yeah, one of my pigtails is a little looser than the other. I really wish they would have gone with a swivel/hinge for those joints.
The Kamen Rider selling out, is because they rulez