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 preorders, turning a loving or scathing eye over what’s been put out for you to spend your hard earned cash on. This week, we don’t do much to improve the hobby’s image as we feature a lineup almost exclusively comprised of scantily clad girls.

Magical Nia (Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann)
Phat Company, July, 6750JPY

Zigg: A super stylish reinterpretation of a beloved character from Gainax’s past, this was a complete but very welcome surprise. There’s tons of great little details here, from the individually modelled shooting starts to the Lordgenome head staff, and with an interesting pose and colour scheme it’s a real standout piece. I just wish that top was a little less brief – you’ll catch your death in that.

Aqua: If you are looking for a unique figure at a very interesting price, look no further. Gainax’ tendency to release imaginative artworks and radical reinterpretations of their characters on a monthly basis gave rise to this spunky version of Nia, now immortalized in plastic by the company with the most street cred, Phat Company. Nia’s oddly-coloured hair is beautifully brought to life here and both pose and craft are of magnificent quality. Three-dimensional incarnations of noteworthy promo art are figures I always love to see, not only because of their creative art design, but also because awkward poses and uncanny valley faces are ultimately averted thanks to replicating the original art. Gurren Lagann fans need to look no further. Also, if I ever use the phrase “both pose and craft” again, shoot me.

Elin (TERA)
Arcadia, May, 11000JPY

Zigg: Clearly a top notch bit of craft – that pose is really smart and I love the hair and bushy tail. Great iridescent paintwork on the jacket too. This is very much not my kind of thing, but I appreciate the skill and craft involved, I just wish they’d turn it towards maybe a slightly better purpose.

Aqua: Here’s a textbook definition of a beautiful figure rendered entirely impossible to buy because of its sheer creepiness. The Elin are a race from the MMO Tera Online, whose entire schtick is that they look like little girls. In fact, the many skimpy outfits you could dress your Elin up in were censored when the game made it over to the West. The glossy, reptilian scales on this particular Elin’s clothes are absolutely gorgeous and her hair has a golden shine to it, which makes it seem as if she walked straight out of the game. So far for the top half of the figure. Who the heck goes out to battle wearing only a pair of black panties? The entire figure seems to be focused on diverting all attention to the Elin’s oversized behind, and the fact that she looks like an elementary schooler certainly does not help.

Mikoto Misaka -Beach Side- (A Certain Scientific Railgun)
4-Leaves, June, 6150JPY

Zigg: Nobody has actually managed to make a truly decent Mikoto figure yet, but this is a good effort and refreshingly tame for a swimsuit figure.   My main point of contention is the face, which is clearly going for cutely embarassed but ends up just a little all over the place, with not much of a definable expression at all. Still, I love the polka dot swimsuits and the nicely sculpted ruffles, and that base is a really good addition, which adds a little bit of life to the figure. Not too shabby. 

Aqua: Why would you buy a swimsuit figure that isn’t a Beach Queen? While I have to admit that the sculpt of the frills on this here Mikoto’s swimsuit look exceptional and the water on the base is a nice addition, the price and the incredibly constipated looking face mar the overall quality of this figure. When can we have a cool Mikoto figure again?

Nanoha Takamachi (Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha THE MOVIE 1st)
Alter, June, 5430JPY

Zigg: Never thought I’d say it, but it’s a real duffer from Alter. Sure, the usual fit and finish is there, but it’s a poor, boring rendition of a character who’s been done to death, in a creepy, bland outfit. Even ignoring the fact that this is basically the exact same pose Gift used in their 1/4 version, there’s none of the life or colour that characterised the matching Fate released last year. I expect better.

Aqua: … How come she has a tube with her name on it? Who put that on there? Did she have it custom-made? She’s eight! Why would an eight-year-old have a tube with her name on custom-made? Did she buy it like that? Maybe there is an actual piece of Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha merchandise that is just a tube that says “Nanoha” on it to make the entire world know that they have to keep their kiddies away from you when you go to the beach? Did Nanoha buy a piece of her own merchandising? So meta, best figure ever.

Beach Queens Yukiho Hagiwara (The iDOLM@STER)
Wave, August, 3100JPY

Zigg: This is without a doubt the best Beach Queen we’ve seen in forever, and a real reminder that the range can produce good stuff if Wave put their mind to it. The pose is simple but elegant and speaks to movement and character, the swimsuit is delightfully styled and the riffles blowing in the wind really help bring the figure to life (it helps it’s also less revealing than many others). A real gem after too many bland offerings.

Aqua: Despite my seething hatred of all things lowercase i all caps dol at master, I find this figure to be amongst the top percentage of Beach Queens. I love the retro design of the bikini, as well as the beautiful sculpt of the top. It almost looks like actual cloth! Despite the low price tag, Yukiho also comes with a neatly crafted sun hat and a shovel, which as far as I know is supposed to be an in joke. Both pose and craft are natural, so if you like both idols and girls in bikinis, get your wallet o-*shot*

Figma Gon Freecss (Hunter x Hunter)
Max Factory, June, 2680JPY

Zigg: Gon keeps the male end up here, and fortunately it looks as though he’s been given a fine figma treatment. The sculpt accentuates the manga’s chunky, knockabout art style really well and they’ve managed to capture his trademark massive hair nicely. My one issue is, as it always seems to be with modern figmas, the paucity of accessories.

Aqua: What the hell kind of name is Gon Freeccss? Did the guy at the city hall press the buttons on his keyboard for too long when his parents went to register the poor bloke? Anyways, I just love it when they make figmas based on 90’s shounen heroes. They always end up looking super-chunky, like Megaman. Only Megaman is a robot. From the 80’s. No, I have no idea where this line of reasoning is going either.