Figumate Mahou Sensei Negima Trading Figurine Vol. 3 Set

Product Information/Specifications

Introduction

After collecting Konami Figumate Mahou Sensei Negima Trading Figurines Vol. 1 & 2, I decided to continue collecting more from this product lineup.  I brought vol. 3 from J-Hobby & it was easier to get a set than the previous volume.  Opening one inner box gave one complete set.  I wasn't too happy with vol. 2, but I still got vol. 3 anyways.

The Figumate Mahou Sensei Negima Trading Figurines Vol. 3 does has improvements over the previous volumes.   But how good are the improvements?

The Review

Figumate Mahou Sensei Negima Trading Figurines Vol. 3 Box

Like vol.2, the box for vol. 3 is the same.  Konami has used this as their standard packaging for their Figumate products. 

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 the previous volumes .  The picture can be viewed here.  This time, the clothing in the display pic is from vol.1.  Notice the open hands in that pic.

 
Figumate Mahou Sensei Negima Trading Figurines Vol. 3 Full Set

There are five + one trading figurines in this set, so the amount of figurines have decreased a bit from vol. 2.  For some strange reason, Konami decided to picture the secret character in full colour on the trading figurine boxes.  Figurines in the set are Makie Sasaki, Chachamaru Karakuri, Yuna Akashi, Ako Izumi, & Akira Okochi.  The secret figurine is Evangeline A. K. McDowell in black witch clothing.  Strangely enough, this volume has no accessories.  I don't know why Konami did this.  Instead, we have extra frontal hair for each figurines. One with the maid cap & one without it.  Although we get a couple of maid outfits, this doesn't fill the loss of the accessories.  There is very little assembly required since you only need to put the head to the body.  For the maid outfits, you need to put the back ribbon on.

Like vol.2, we get the same bases here.  Still has that magic engravings & still done nicely.  But in purple now.  Although the trading figurines in the current volume can stay upright ok on their own (expect for Evangeline), I would still use them.

Like the previous volume, 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 since it still clips on the legs.  Plus, Evangeline's hair is still very long & gets in the way in putting the legs to the stand.

For some reason, the tightness of holding the pieces together isn't too good as vol. 2.  It's a bit loose & the arms & torso can come off pretty easily.  Although we get maid clothing & the witch outfit, the clothing selection is still disappointing.  School uniforms with long sleeves this time as well.  But all the hands are clamp style again.  What's worse is the molds are from previous volumes.  On to the paint job.

The paint job is the same as before.  I'm assuming it's leftover body parts from previous volumes.  As the molding, pretty much the same.  Some unevenness here & there, but nothing major.  Only noticeable close up.  But some slight improvements.  Look at Chachamaru's ear.  The molding lines look a bit better than the previous mold. One thing I would like to mention are the ribbons for the maid outfits & Evangeline's outfit.  Chachamaru gets a red ribbon for the back of her head & Makie gets a long white ribbon for the back of her waist.  The molding is very done & the pegs fit the holes on the body quite well.  But a little loose at times.  As for Evangeline's outfit, it's mainly black so it's very hard to see any molding problems in it.  At the bottom of her dress is a clear part.  It's possibly used to create a transparent-like effect on the dress.

Some of the faces of Negi Springfield's students

Although the paint job & expression are very well done, most of these faces are the same as the previous volumes.  I don't know why Konami is so lazy in not making different faces for characters that have shown up in the past volumes.  It really drives down the buying factor of these trading figurines.

Overall Conclusion

The Figumate Mahou Sensei Negima Trading Figurines Vol. 3 has very little improvements than vol. 2.  However, I think it's much worse.  The joints aren't as tight as before & there is no accessories to play with.  Although we get interchangeable frontal hairs if we want the girls to be in maid or other uniforms, it doesn't help a lot.  Plus, the clothing selection is still too small.  And the past molds are here again as well as past characters in the previous two volumes.  I have sold these figurines away due to a lack of interest.

The Figumate Mahou Sensei Negima Trading Figurines Vol. 3 receives a grade of 7/10.  It's really disappointing to see past characters here again & their old molds being used here.  That was the major downfall for the score.  Plus, the joints aren't as tight as before.  The good thing about it is having newer clothing, despite the fact there are very little of them.

If you plan to get this volume, chances are pretty slim now.  Prices for volume 3 was quite high when I sold them.  I'm 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