Figumate Mahou Sensei Negima Trading Figurine Vol. 2 Set

Product Information/Specifications

Introduction

After collecting Konami Figumate Mahou Sensei Negima Trading Figurines Vol. 1 & was a bit frustrated about it, I brought vol. 2 from J-Hobby.  I noticed that one inner box will not provide one complete set, which is interesting since an inner box usually has more pieces than a set.  Luckily, I got one complete set after nearly opening all of the owner's box pieces with three remaining.

The Figumate Mahou Sensei Negima Trading Figurines Vol. 2 does has improvements over the previous volume.   But how good are the improvements?

The Review

Figumate Mahou Sensei Negima Trading Figurines Vol. 2 Box

Unlike vol.1, the box for vol. 2 has changed & probably decreased in size.  It's like a cereal box style instead of a cube.  Konami went with this packaging for all future Figumate.  This box is more space efficient for the contents inside.  Plus, packaging cost could be cheaper for the company.

On the side of the box, it tells you (by visual picture) that you can use the figurines in this volume with others to interchange the parts like from vol.1 .  The picture can be viewed here.  Like in vol.1, the display pic there doesn't have that alternative clothing.  That's just for display purposes.  That clothing isn't featured in vol. 3.

 
Figumate Mahou Sensei Negima Trading Figurines Vol. 2 Full Set

For the first time, there are secret trading figures in this series.  There are five + two trading figurines in the set.  Figurines in the set are Setsuna Sakurazaki, Yue Ayase, Kaede Nagase, Evangeline A.K. McDowell, & Chachamaru Karakuri.  The secrets are alternative variation of two characters which are the ones on the right of the pic:  Evangeline in what appears to be her nighties & Kaede with her eyes closed.  Each comes with an accessory that pretty much fit their characters, like Setsuna's katana.  There is very little assembly required since you only need to put the head to the body.

There have been improvements in this volume & they are very welcomed!  This time, there is a stand & base to place the figurines upright.  Although the figurines stay up better than vol. 1's, I would still recommend the bases.  Plus, they are quite nice.

The base has that magic engravings & it's done quite nicely.  The funny thing about this base is that the stand holds the legs at the middle, not the waist of the trading figurines.  Putting the figurines on the clip of the stand requires some force & I was concern that I would snap the clip.  It's recommended that you put the body on the base first, then the head.  It's much easier that way.  Plus, Evangeline's hair is very long & gets in the way in putting the legs to the stand.

Another improvement is the tightness of the pieces.  The pieces aren't loose as before.  But moving the pieces are stiff.  Chances are you need to pull the piece apart, adjust the position, & secure it.  The waist & feet are very tight.  However, the arms still fall off if you touch it forcefully.

The hands are major improvements.  Vol.1 had hands that are flat open.  Vol. 2 have slightly clamp hands like Lego.  Now you can put a lot of accessories in their hands.  However, you need to force them in a bit since they refuse to accept them correctly.  This is very good since the accessories now serve a purpose than being simple display extras.  However, I put some of them away since they are just display use & can be easily lost since they are loose.

For this current lineup, the figurines are still very plain.  The body is the same mold as the previous volume, but the sleeves are short.  So the body clothing is now a vest.  Socks are different a bit, but it doesn't really do much.  The only special one is the Evangeline in nighties.  For Setsuna, you can remove her pony tail & Chachamuru has a key on the back of her head.  Now for the paint job.

The paint job isn't too good & I don't think it has improved a lot from the previous volume.  It's probably a bit better.  There's barely any bleeding involved.  It's very well done.  The problem is actually on the lining & evenness where some parts are higher than others.  The most noticeable would be the joints of Chachamaru as the lines are a bit higher than others.

The molding is a bit worse than volume 1.  Look at the headband of Yue.  The middle part isn't molded evenly.  There are other molding problems in other parts not shown here.  However, they aren't noticeable from a distance; only close up.

Some of the faces of Negi Springfield's students

Although the eyes are designed the same way, they somehow look different like in volume 1.  The eyelashes, colour tones, & probably the expressions from their mouths.  It's very adorable.  The painters here did a good job in bringing life to these figurines by somehow making them look different when they actually aren't.  The facial expressions matches each girl's characteristics very well.  Oh so kawaii!  However, the facial expressions of the two Evangelines are the same.  It would have been nice to have different faces for her for some extra varieties in interchanging.

Overall Conclusion

The Figumate Mahou Sensei Negima Trading Figurines Vol. 2 is much better than vol.1.  Almost all the problems from that past volume has been fixed here.  However, the interchanging of parts between the figurines is still there as there is very little selections to play around with.  I sold these figurines away due to a lack of interest in them.

The Figumate Mahou Sensei Negima Trading Figurines Vol. 2 gets an 8/10 from me.  The major improvements are what help hold up this score.  The addition of the bases, clamp-like hands for the accessories which are now useful, & the improved tightness of the jointed parts are wonderful.  However, the clothing are still too plain with the same clothing they are wearing again with the exception of the secret Evangeline figurine.  And a different head of Evangeline would have been better.

If you plan to get this volume, chances are pretty slim now.  If you aren't really into getting all the volumes, I would suggest getting this one instead of vol.3 since it has accessories.  Plus vol.2 has new characters.  I would recommend getting vol. 2 since the improvements are good.  Prices for volume 2 was quite high when I sold them.  I was actually surprised when it nearly hit the US$100 mark.

Photos were taken using Sony DSC-F828 digital still camera & HP scanjet 4470c.

Last updated on March 12, 2008