Hello, and welcome to All Your Monies, where The Glorio Blog’s resident toy and figure collecting crew (and Aqua) 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 show more love to Silent HIll than Konami does.

Momoka Shijo (Magical Warfare)
FREEing, October, ¥18,334

Zigg: Interesting idea, bad execution. Everything is in place for this top be a top notch figure but there’s just a general lifelessness about it. If you ever want to know the biggest difference between A-grade companies like Alter and the others, look at the flair that Alter bring to their big ‘production’ figures. Not terrible, just a little uninspiring.

Timmy: I haven’t a clue who this is and she looks a lot like she would fit into the Nanoha series. Overall she looks interesting enough, and the giant weapon and what appears to be an actual chain are both pretty cool parts of the figure. The sculpting looks pretty good on everything and I really like all the detail of her belts and hair. Paint also seems perfectly fine, though Momoka does lack a little in the color department. Overall not a bad figure, though a somewhat expensive one.

Aqua: Magical Warfare is an anime that apparently aired a few seasons ago, but this is the first I’ve heard of it — and it comes as no surprise that this character design is equally forgettable. It’s anime art 101, this one: asymmetric, over-designed futuristic hotchpotch with an oversized weapon and a generically cute anime head put on top. The monotonous colour palette (or lack thereof) is an eyesore, though I gotta say FREEing at the very least made some effort in trying to polish this turd. There’s a nice, starlike shape to Shijo’s pose and that chain would look pretty realistic if it weren’t for its end seemingly having developed its own gravitational pull. Magical Warfare fans might be interested, but as far as I know, that particular subset of humans does not exist.

figma Charlie Tunoku Yu Narukami (Persona 4)
Max Factory, September, ¥6,000

Zigg: It’s always nice to see a male figma but honestly, the entire range has gotten expensive enough at this point that it’s hard to recommend them in good conscience. Yu’s design is also sort of purposely bland, so I think all but the most dedicated fans can safely pass.

Timmy: It’s great to see more awesome figma dudes out and normal figma joint quibbles aside, Yu looks pretty great. I especially like all the lines on his uniform, which is something I know Max Factory will easily pull off in the production run. He feels a little light on accessories though, which makes that 6k price tag all that much worse.

Aqua: I’ve never been a huge fan of figmas, and while Yu is definitely an iconic enough character to warrant a figure purchase, I’m just… not feeling it. For six thousand yen, this one just looks and feels a bit too cheap. Getting to replicate the P4A Ultimax promo art is a plus, but then why didn’t they include an open shirt and championship belt as well, so you can replicate the boxart? Over the years, Yu has become a lot more than the bland audience expy he was originally envisioned as, and it seems this figure misses some of that charisma.

figma Rin Tohsaka 2.0 (Fate/Stay Night)
Max Factory, September, ¥5,371

Zigg: Yawn. Also holy crap that spell effect looks terrible.

Timmy: Putting my adoration for Rin aside for a minute leaves this feeling a little lackluster for me. She is represented nicely enough, but she is a bit light on the accessory side of things. At least she isn’t outrageously priced I guess.

Aqua: Guys. Guys. Cheap plastic ‘effects’ with figmas. Stop doing them. They look terrible. Also, no fabulous red coat? They go through all that effort to update these ancient designs and then you don’t exploit them for all they’re worth? Go home, Max Factory, you’re drunk.

Rin Hoshizora Birthday Figure Project (Love Live!)
Kadokawa, October, ¥13,300 (Exclusive)

Zigg: Very smart indeed. I love the colour palette, the pose is very cute and the detailing appears to be up to snuff. Even the base is interesting and cool. A nice enough figure to get over my longstanding LL apathy.

Timmy: Very cute, and a great example on how to bring lots of color to a monotone themed design. Everything looks really good as far as sculpt and paint goes and lots of little details make this one a winner for anyone who is willing to shell out the green. Personally digging the transparent frills on her skirt as well as the bows all over the place, though I am a little curious as to what L-chan is doing there.

Aqua: With her fifty shades of green, this Rin is obviously intended to be displayed with the other Muse µ’s members, who are obviously all decked out in another colour. It’s gonna cost ya, of course, but Kadokawa are doing a pretty admirable job at bringing all the vivid colours and frills to life. The pose is adorable and despite the sameface that plagues Love Live!‘s art style, at the very least Rin here doesn’t look like she’s about to shiv you like some of the others do. She’s still gonna rob you, though.

Get it?

figma Bubble Head Nurse (Silent Hill 2)
FREEing, October, ¥4,260

Zigg: I can’t wait to see the awesome dioramas that come out of this thing.

Timmy: I found that scale released a while back to be delightfully creepy, but do we really need a pose able toy of her? Really? I guess those joints ARE really disturbing.

Aqua: I get the distinct feeling that if you buy this, you’re sort of missing the point of the Nurses in the first place.