#76: S.H. Figuarts Pokemon - Team Rocket

Released alongside Ash is everyone's favorite duo of ne'er do wells, Team Rocket. Jessie and James (and Meowth!) are sold as a set. They look good and are well articulated, and have a couple alternate pieces. They each have an alternate screaming/alarmed face, as well as fists or open hands. Jessie gets an extra pointing hand while James gets the best extra hand: one holding a rose. James and his roses is one of those weird affectations that I really love, so I'm glad it got made into action figure form. There's also a stand, which I presume is for Jessie. With her outrageous anime hair, she can stand unassisted, but it does leave her with a pronounced lean. Meowth, like Pikachu, isn't particularly articulated. But he does get an alternate face with a stunned expression.

#75: S.H. Figuarts Pokemon - Ash and Pikachu

In honor of new ghost types showing up in Pokemon Go today, here's everybody's favorite kind of terrible Pokemon trainer, Ash Ketchum. In Figuarts form, he looks just like you remember from the original cartoon. The most important accessory in this set is Pikachu. It's got a couple points of articulation, and there's a plastic stand that can be used to help Pikachu sit on Ash's shoulder. Ash has a couple swappable right hands: a fist, a pointing hand, and one holding a Pokeball. His hat is removable, sort of. If you take it off, there's not a proper top of his head underneath, it's more so you can have Pikachu posing with the hat or whatever. There is an alternate hat-less head, however. There are definitely cheaper Ash figures out there, but this one is his classic look, has cool accessories, and is super posable.

#36: S.H. Figuarts Dragonball Z - Perfect Cell (Premium Color Edition)

The Cell Saga of Dragonball Z is what I consider its peak, before the whole concept of the Super Saiyan became almost meaningless. So Cell is probably my favorite villain from the series. Since I missed out on the original release, I was glad that Bandai was re-releasing him in the premium color edition. Cell gets the standard alternate hands, and faces (I'm amused that to swap faces you have to remove the entire top part of his head), as well as a solid piece that replaces his arms so they are crossed. But he also gets something different:

A big effects piece! This is a very cool display piece, featuring an energy blast kicking up dust on the ground.

#22: S.H. Figuarts Dragonball Z - Super Saiyan Vegeta (Premium Color Edition)

Along with Sailor Moon, Dragonball Z was probably the most prominent anime series on Toonami when I was younger. Fortunately, Bandai has been making Figuarts for this series as well, which are huge improvements over the five points of articulation DBZ toys they had at back then. Although Goku is the hero of the series, I've always thought Vegeta is a lot more fun as a character. It was an important moment for him when he finally achieved the ability to go Super Saiyan, and his Saiyan armor is much cooler looking than the earlier version with the big shoulder pads, so this is the best version of the character figure form for me. It's got the usual high level of articulation for Figuarts figures, as well as a dew swappable hands and faces. Since I'm just getting around to buying these figures, I'm glad that Bandai is doing these "premium color edition" re-releases. They are a way better value than the original releases which have shot up in price, and they feature more anime-inspired bright color schemes.

#16: S.H. Figuarts Sailor Moon - Sailor Saturn

Finally, I have Sailor Saturn, completing my team. For whatever reason(I've heard conflicting rumors of lower production runs/exclusivity), Saturn has become expensive/hard to find recently, making me regret not buying one a couple years ago at a reasonable price. Although I had to pay more than I would have liked, most of it was through gift card credit online so I only had to spend about 15 bucks out of pocket (for about the same price, you can buy a bootleg!). Since Saturn is younger than the rest of the Sailor Scouts, she's also the shortest figure (aside from Chibisua, of course). Her main accessory, the Silence Glaive, is bigger than her. She also includes the standard extra faces, hands, and a stand. Now that I've collected the whole team, I'm still deciding whether I want Sailor Mask, Chibiusa, or any of the others.

#15: S.H. Figuarts Sailor Moon - Sailor Pluto

Sailor Pluto is the penultimate Sailor Scout to be added to my collection. Not really a regular member of the team, she guards the Door of Time and Space. She includes the standard array of different expressions, various hands, and a stand. Her main accessory is the Garnet Rod, which splits into three pieces for ease of putting it into her hands for holding it. The Garnet Orb on top is removable as well, and there is a special hand that it plugs into so she can hold it. Given that Pluto is no longer considered to be a planet, I wonder if her character would even exist if Sailor Moon were being written for the first time today.

#1: S.H. Figuarts Sailor Moon - Sailor Uranus

The completion of my Sailor Scout lineup is in sight, and after getting Sailor Neptune the logical next choice was Sailor Uranus. While Haruka and Michiru were lovers in the original Japanese version, they were infamously re-worked into oddly flirtatious cousins for the American dub. Uranus is the tallest of the Sailor Scouts, and her figure follows suit. Like the rest of the figures, she gets several alternate hands and faces, as well as a display stand. Unique to Uranus is an alternate pair of arms that are folded, and her Space Sword. In a first for this series, she also gets an accessory for a different figure entirely: she has an alternate "heart eyes" face for Sailor Moon. Now that is a great way to add value.

#108: S.H. Figuarts Sailor Moon - Sailor Neptune

I've been slowly collecting all the Sailor Scouts for a while now. Having already collected the inner planet scouts, it's time for my first outer planet scout, Sailor Neptune. When Neptune and Uranus showed up in the cartoon, I thought they were cool because they were more experienced and more handy in a fight. Neptune comes with the usual display stand, as well as interchangeable faces, even more extra hands than usual, and her Deep Aqua Mirror. She also includes extra arms to allow her to be positioned in her transformation pose.

#41: S.H. Figuarts - Freddie Mercury

Freddie Mercury was one of the greatest rock vocalists of all time. If you disagree, you can just leave right now, because I don't need that kind of negativity on my blog. So when I saw there was a Figuarts Freddie Mercury coming out, you better believe that I pre-ordered one as soon as I could. Not surprisingly, this is based on Queen's appearance at Wembley Stadium. I think every figure based on Freddie Mercury uses this look. This is the typical Figuarts quality we're used to, although this is the first Figuarts toy I've bought that doesn't include a stand. There are the typical Figuarts alternate heads and hands, as well as a microphone (with and without stand). This is one the few figures I own that is based on a real person. Obviously, a lot of figures I own are based on people, but they're for the character they are playing, not the person themselves.

Here are the alternate shouting and singing faces for Freddie.

#59: Sailor Moon Figuarts - Sailor Jupiter

Sailor Jupiter completes my Sailor Scouts team lineup... Well, the original team, anyway. There's still the Outer Senshi, and Tuxedo Mask, and maybe Chibi-Usa? Like the other figures in the line, Jupiter has her share of alternate faces, hands, and a display stand. She also has an alternate front hair piece with the extended antenna that shows up for some of her more powerful attacks. Befitting Makoto's stature, she's also the tallest figure of the group.

#58: Sailor Moon Figuarts - Sailor Mars

Continuing with my Sailor Scouts team completion is Sailor Mars. Fun fact: my childhood nickname was Mars, so I've always liked things Martian related. Since this is my fourth Sailor Moon figure, there aren't any surprises. She's got the same articulation (including a couple extra flaps of hair that can swivel out to make it look more windblown), extra faces, and extra hands. Rei's unique accessory is the piece of paper with kanji on it that she uses in magical attacks, with a special hand to hold it. I've seen that sort of thing in multiple anime, so I'm assuming it's one of those cultural artifacts that I'm not privy to as a foreign observer.

#41: S.H. Figuarts Sailor Moon - Sailor Venus

Originally, I planned to get all the Sailor Scouts in the order they joined the team, but when it came time to get Sailor Mars, she was hard to find for a reasonable price, while Venus was relatively cheap. So we're skipping around a bit. The main thing that differentiates the characters visually, aside from color, is their hair and their shoes. So that means Venus gets her usual shoes (with ankle straps?), and her large mane of blonde hair. Similar to Usagi, her hair is articulated, with either end able to rotate out to make the hair more or less flared. Minako was actually out heroing before the rest of the Sailor Scouts, as Sailor V. Bandai are making un upcoming Sailor V figure, but for this release, she does include the Sailor V mask, both as a wearable option, or one that is held in her hand. She also includes the stand and various face and hand options typical of the line. Minako's main accessory is Artemis the cat. Unfortunately, she doesn't have a Venus Love Me Chain accessory, which would make for some cool attack posing.

#9: S.H. Figuarts - Luigi

I got the Figuarts Mario last year. So of course, I had to get the Luigi to go with him. Basically, he's the same as Mario. New sculpt and all that, but he's engineered in the same way. Luigi's accessories are a little different. Fortunately, Luigi includes a base and stand, so that he can be posed in mid-jump.

There is also an extra pair of hands and a shell that he can hold. I forgot to include it in the pictures, but there is a brick block as well. There's a concurrent release of an accessory pack which includes a red pipe with piranha plant, and a buzzy beetle. That's actually somewhat tempting. At least there aren't two accessory packs like when the Mario figure came out.

There's a Yoshi coming out, but I've never really felt a need for a Yoshi figure. On the other hand, Mario or Luigi will be able to pose riding on Yoshi's back...

#75: S.H. Figuarts - Super Mario Diorama Playset A

The other item I got at the toy show was the other accessory set for the S.H. Figuarts Mario figure. While the other set had the very cool pipes, this one has a more important accessory: a stand. All in all, you get a base, a stand for Mario, an alternate back piece for Mario that the stand plugs into, a Goomba, two brick blocks, a ? block, a coin, two stands of varying heights for the coin, a stand for the blocks, and a platform for all three blocks to rest on (so you can have one block or all three floating above Mario at once). Ideally, the stand and base would have been included with Mario in the first place, but it is cool to have the addition to the figure. It does drive home the point that Mario's arms are too short to actually hit anything, so he looks like he's hitting blocks with his head. That's not a knock on the figure, that's just how the character is designed.

#72: S.H. Figuarts - Sailor Moon

With the current release of Sailor Moon Crystal, a new adaptation of the original manga, I've been in something of a Sailor Moon mood lately. Fortunately, Bandai is ready to capitalize on the collecting instincts for everyone else, as they've been releasing Sailor Moon Figuarts figures for a while now. I figured if I were only to get one, Sailor Moon herself would be the way to go.

I've now got enough fancy Japanese figures to have a good idea what to expect from them. Plentiful accessories, interchangeable body parts, great articulation, all around looking good, and not cheap price tags. Sailor Moon doesn't disappoint in any of those areas.

Sailor Moon has four different faces, several sets of hands, two Moon Sticks (with and without the silver crystal attached), and a stand. Also included is Luna, her talking feline advisor. It's great that a stand is included, unlike the Gundam figures, because she has small feet, and it really helps with more extreme poses. Even her hair is articulated!

Now that I've got Usagi in hand, I'm tempted to get the rest of the Sailor Scouts. My only complaint is that one of the faces isn't a crying face, which would be a perfect fit for the character.

#64: S.H. Figuarts - Super Mario Diorama Playset B

My roommate knew I was going to buy the Figuarts Mario figure, so he asked which of the accessory packs I liked better and got it for me as a birthday gift. Good deal, since I wasn't planning to get either of them myself. Basically I picked this set because it has green pipes. There are two pipes, one tall and one shorter. The tall one has a very shallow platform inset, so Mario appears to be standing on top of it. The short pipe has a much deeper recess, so it will look like Mario is going into or popping out of the pipe. Also included is a coin (with a short stand and a tall stand to give it the appearance of floating), a Goomba, a Koopa Troopa shell, an alternate pair of hands, and some clear plugs that help the hands hold the shell.

Now that I've got this accessory set, I'm kind of thinking about getting the other one, which has a base and a stand so Mario can do some jumping.

#63: S.H. Figuarts - Super Mario

Since Figma made Samus and Link figures, I hoped that they would make a Mario as well. For whatever reason, Bandai ended up being the company that made a comparable Mario figure, in the Figuarts line. I pre-ordered a few months ago, pleased that the anticipated release date was my birthday. The figure arrived the day after my birthday, so that was pretty good timing. Mario's appearance was kind of variable for the first few years, but was basically settled by the time Super Mario Bros. 3 was released, and this is the Mario we all know and love. Mario's pretty well articulated, although due to the relative thickness of his limbs, they don't bend as much as they might if they were thinner. But really, it's good articulation, and fairly well coordinated with the sculpt so that it still looks good.

For accessories, Mario comes off a little light in comparison to other figures of this variety. But he's also notably cheaper as well. And if these aren't enough accessories for you, Bandai has released two sets of extras to supplement the figure (more on those later...). But for this figure, there's a "?" block, a coin (with stand), and a power up mushroom. The block has a notch in the bottom for attaching a stand (not included).