Figumate Mahou Sensei Negima Trading Figurine Vol. 4

Product Information/Specifications

Introduction

After collecting pretty much all the volumes of the Konami Figumate Mahou Sensei Negima Trading Figurines, I continued with volume 4.  When I went to J-Hobby, the owner had a new shipment come in & held an inner box for me.  For some strange reason, one inner box doesn't give you a set.  I ended up getting six out of seven.  Because of it, I'm missing the other secret figurine. 

The Review

Figumate Mahou Sensei Negima Trading Figurines Vol. 4 Box

Like past volumes, the box for vol. 4 is the same.  A standard Figumate box by Konami.  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. 

Figumate Mahou Sensei Negima Trading Figurines Vol. 4 Incomplete Set

There are five + two trading figurines in this set, so the amount of figurines have increased a bit from vol. 3.  Figurines in the set are Konoka Konoe, Asuna Kagurazaka, Haruna Saotome, Ayaka Yukihiro, & Mana Tatsumiya.  The secret figurines are Mana Tatsumiya in alternative clothing & Fei Ku.  Fei Ku was who I was missing  Although there's still the school uniform mold appearing again, the selection of different clothing is bigger now.  I'm pretty happy about that.  However, Konami decided to reuse some of the accessory molds, such as Asuna's paper fan.  Other than that, it's got a nice selection.  Personally, I think this is the better set so far at the time of writing this review.

Like vol.2 & 3, we get the same bases here.  Still has that magic engravings & still done nicely.  But in light green now.  Although some of the trading figurines in the current volume can stay upright ok on their own, I would still use them.

Like the previous volumes, 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.

The tightness of the joints is pretty good.  Better than volume 3.  But past mold problems, such as Asuna's left pigtail coming off, are still here for some reason.  I'm not sure why the manufacturers didn't take the time to fix that.  Again, the clothing selection is better than before.  But, the school uniforms with long sleeves are here again.  The clamp style hands are here as well, which is a good thing for holding accessories.  However, the hands don't seem to want to hold the accessories.  For example, putting that monkey into Ayaka's hands was a pain.  It won't go in & when it finally does, it doesn't really stay put.  And the twin fans was a bit challenging to put as well as the guns.

With the exception of Konoka's yukata, the designs are pretty simple & doesn't require a lot of fancy paint work.  However, the designs on Konoka's yukata is actually etched in, not painted.  Looking at the paint job, the workmanship isn't too bad.  Some bleeds here & there, but pretty minor.  Only noticeable close up.  The fine lines such as Mana's hair tie & the strings around her dress are pretty sharp & clean.  The accessories are better as they are more cleaner, even though they are mostly single plain colours.

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.  Even having the same Mana heads in the same volume is disappointing.  However, Konoka's face seems different from the past ones.  The changes are in her eyes.

Overall Conclusion

The Figumate Mahou Sensei Negima Trading Figurines Vol. 4 has some improvements over the past volumes.  Wide selection of clothing & better paint jobs.  However, it still feels limited & there is no life left in these figurines after seeing the same clothing & face molds from the past three volumes.  I stopped collecting the future volumes since I knew I would be wasting too much money on them as Konami continued to reuse the same molds over & over again.  I have sold these figurines away due to a lack of interest in them.

The Figumate Mahou Sensei Negima Trading Figurines Vol. 4 receives a grade of 8/10.  Although it has past characters in the other volumes, this one delivers the most value in terms of the wider variety of clothing.  But, past problems with the molds aren't corrected here which is a bit surprising.  However, this is still a pretty good set to collect.

If you plan to get this volume, chances are pretty slim now since this has been out for some time now.  If you aren't really into getting all the volumes, I would suggest getting this one since it has accessories & has a nice variety of parts to play with.  Prices for volume 4 is average, but higher than the retail prices when it first came out.   This is based on my personal experience when I sold them

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

Last updated on March 12, 2008