Hello, and welcome to All Your Monies, where The Glorio Blog’s resident toy and figure collecting crew (and Aquagaze) will run down the last week’s new pre-orders, turning a loving or scathing eye over what’s been put out for you to spend your hard earned cash on. This week we celebrate our return from a sabbatical by going all exclusive, all the time (and I use that as an excuse to put an unprecedented two Kamen Riders in).

Nendoroid Cynthia & Garchomp (Pokemon)
Good Smile Company, July, ¥5,000 (Exclusive)

Zigg: I’m not going to lie – I couldn’t name an individual enemy pokemon trainer to save my life (apart from the original Elite Four) but this is a snazzy looking girl. More importantly, Garchomp looks totally on point and together they’re a cracking combination. This thing is really hard to get hold of – only Amazon Japan and Pokemon Stores are selling it – but no doubt dedicated collectors will go all out.

Jel: Between this and the exclusive Pokémon Trainer awhile back, do Nintendo and GSC realize they are sitting on a mint? I’m sure the demand is off the charts and the series fits the nendoroid style so well. I’m not even a huge Pokemon fan and I’d be interested if the right character/Pokémon came along. Getting to the figure itself, Cynthia’s all black attire is a little dull to look at, but of course it’s Garchomp that makes it interesting. Hopefully this is a sign of more to come.

Aqua: Cynthia is objectively the coolest and best-dressed Pokémon character of all time, and in my humble opinion the last trainer introduced in the franchise who can truly call a certain Pokémon her own. That Pokémon is Garchomp, of course, the rare over-hyped, over-used dragon I actually really like. Cynthia’s cool design makes for a phenomenal Nendoroid, and the inclusion of Mega Garchomp is an especially nice detail, though all of that becomes sort of irrelevant knowing that this figure is virtually impossible to get for anyone outside Japan. It’s a bummer, because this stylish lady sure proves that black is, by all means, the new black.

Timmy: Daww, I would expect Cynthia here to sell on that cute face alone but with Pokémon in the mix I am sure the demand at least doubled. The all black paint scheme of her outfit makes it less interesting then it could be with those frills and such, but the inclusion of Garchomp makes up for it. The exclusive status makes this needlessly expensive but I doubt that is going to stop anyone.

S.H. Figuarts Imperialdramon Paladin Mode (Digimon)
Bandai, August, ¥8,000 (Exclusive)

Zigg: I have never really seen Digimon (sacrilege I know) but this thing looks cool as all get out. He more closely resembles some kind of super ornate mecha from Escaflowne or Rayearth than the standard digimon aesthetic. Great colours, a design that translates well into Figuarts form and an overall sharp look. Only issue is that price.

Jel: I can tell I’m not going to be much help in AYM this week as I don’t know anything about any of the figures, but I’ll do my best. As far as Digimon goes, I thought they were just tiny dinosaurs? I guess having angel robots with giant swords is also cool. Figuarts can be questionable on quality but this design hides the flaws well. And again, it’s an angel robot with a giant sword so you can’t really go wrong with that.

Aqua: This guy was a fist-bumpin’ badass back in the days, though it must be said the Digimon aesthetic is starting to look a bit dated in the year 2015. You can never go wrong with a white and gold robot angel, though, and the mecha-organic look is so ridiculously 90’s it kind of becomes endearing again. As expected of Bandai, the nice, chunky design and high number of joints make Imperialdramon a great buy for posing fanatics, though for an S.H. Figuarts, this figure is outrageously pricey. Eight thousand yen plus the hassle of exclusivity make no overload of nostalgia justify this purchase, so if you’re a big Digimon fan, you might wanna wait and see what Toei will come up with to commemorate the upcoming Digimon Adventure Tri.

Timmy: Looks like Digimon decided to show up to the party as well, and while I am not personally very interested I’ll admit Imperialdramon does look pretty cool. The gold, blue and white paint looks good and robot angel wings and a big ass sword are always neat to see. Joints are hidden pretty well too, save for the wings, so probably not a bad deal if you know who this is.

Kagekatsu Uesugi (Samurai Girls)
Alter, November, ¥13,800 (Exclusive)

Zigg: Beautiful quality and detail as one would expect from Alter, and slightly less skeevy than most of the Samurai Girls figures too. That said, it’s still not exactly open display material, and while I get what they were trying to do with the pose but it seems a little off. Overall exactly what you’d expect from a limited edition – high quality, high price, for fans only.

Jel: I’m no archery expert but I’m pretty sure jumping is bad for accuracy. It does make this figure slightly more interesting though. I love the design on her giant samurai pants, although I guess “chaps” might be a more accurate description. Yes, Samurai Chaps™, only in anime my friends. I guess I can’t complain too much about exposure compared to some of the other designs from the series, and the rest of the figure like her awesome bow is all the level of quality we expect from Alter. Probably worth a look, I’m sure Timmy will be on this.

Aqua: I guess jokes about Samurai Girls being designed only from the waist up is officially no longer valid, because Uesugi actually seems to be wearing something that, with some goodwill, could be described as ‘trousers’. Damn feminists making it so hard for hard-working character-designers to find new and creative ways of exposing characters’ underwear while making them wear those dreaded pants!

Timmy: Now this is more my style, though seeing as this is a totally new character from the new OVA and not from the second season I don’t exactly know who this is or anything about her. Still, she looks great with her dynamic jumping pose and giant bow. And the stunning quality of the paint and sculpt of her outfit is pretty much what I expect from Alter and this line at this point. Her face and that ponytail both look great too, though it would have been neat to have it fade to green like in the image. Still, another great Samurai Girl from Alter so they can maintain their quota of at least one a year and my quota of buying at least one a year.

S.H. Figuarts Kamen Rider Drive Type Technic (Kamen Rider Drive)
Bandai, August, ¥6,000

Zigg: Man, Type Technic translates really well to figure form, with that chunky pistons-and-plates look perfect for the plastic medium. Kamen Rider Figuarts are pretty much a known quantity at this point, so I have no problem recommending it if you’re really that into Drive. 

Jel: My first impression of this figure is it looks like someone beat him with a tire and stuck it around his neck, but he’s getting up and trying to fight back with dignity. Yeah, I told you guys I wasn’t going to be much help on this one… I’m kind of torn with figures like this because while it looks really well made I feel like it loses something without poseability. I know you can’t have it both ways, so if you want to go to the static route this works well.

Aqua: Drive Type Technique is here to deliver cool justice at the anything-but-cool-and-just price of six thousand yen, and given the fact that this lime-green monstrosity is by far Drive’s least cool basic form, I’d be inclined to advice you pass on this one. Still, Bandai as usual do a bang-up job getting all the small details like the wrist changer right, and it also comes with the Door Gun for awesome poses and the Fire Braver Shift Tyre to make him lift up the skirts of your less fortunate figures. I’m pretty curious as to how you’d be able to replace the tire around his neck, though. Now that you mention it, there’s some really, really unfortunate implications going on there…

Chris: GREEN BOX MAN.

Timmy: I can’t get past his square head, and what is that tire suppose to be for? A flotation device? What is going on here?

S.H. Figuarts Kamen Rider Zeronos Vega Form (Kamen Rider Den-O)
Bandai,July, ¥9,000 (Exclusive)

Zigg: Let me say this to start…

Aqua:…The face on his chest is just for decoration. With the cape, shoulder-mounted guns and giant crossbow, Zeronos’ Vega Form is by far one of the silliest looking Kamen Riders, but if you’ve seen Kamen Rider Den-O, you’ll love this guy no matter how wacky he may look. The plastic, static cape and high price tag are a bit of a letdown, though, so please do consider before you take Deneb in. He can be quite the nuisance.

Jel: Bug dude with a crossbow and cape is WAY cooler than green car guy who looks like he just lost his lunch money. I’d be much more interested in watching this.

Timmy: Now this is better. As always I am digging the cape, and after seeing the last figure I really like the shade of green of some of his armored bits. Pretty snazzy dude in general, whoever this is.