Welcome to Pia Carrot!! 3 Figure
Collection Set (Trading Figure Version)

Product Information/Specifications

Introduction

When I heard that there was another Pia Carrot!! 3 gashapon set coming out, I was excited & quickly looked for pics of it in the net.  When I found some info & pics about it, I learned that there are two versions of it: a gashapon & trading figure version.  It took me a lot time to finally get a set of these figurines.  In fact, it took me a year to finally get them.  I ended up getting the trading figure version from eBay from a Japanese seller.  It was the only one that I found at a price that I liked.  It was cheaper than the gashapon version that I seen.

Some of the pictures aren't clear & good.  If I have time, I'll redo the bad ones & repost them.

The Review

 
Welcome to Pia Carrot!! 3 Figure Collection Trading Figure Box

Welcome to Pia Carrot!! 3 Figure Collection Paper

This Pia Carrot!! 3 Figure Collection set contains five figurines: Sayaka Takai, Tomomi Aizawa, Orie Amano, Takako Kinoshita, & Natsuki Iwakura.  Both gashapon & trading figure versions have the same set with no secret figurine.  The difference between the two versions is the price & possibly the quality as well.  Also, the trading figure set comes with an extra which are coasters.  The companies releasing them is named differently as well.  The gashapon version is by EXhaust & the trading figure version is by Toys Planning.  Both companies are actually the same. 

 
Welcome to Pia Carrot!! 3 Figure Collection Coaster Full Set

There are 12 coasters in the set & includes all the characters working in the Pia Carrot #4 branch.  Even Noboru Kinoshita gets a part of the action.  The coasters are basically the icons you find in the game.  The backside has the Welcome to Pia Carrot logo on it.  According to the box if I read my Japanese correctly, you get threes coasters with one figurine per box.  To get a full set, you must get at least one double figurine.  Luckily I didn't have to do this since the seller was selling it as a full set & did all the work.  The material of the coaster is kind of like cardboard with a Styrofoam feel to it.  Personally, I don't think these are suitable to be used as actual coasters.  They may work for awhile, but I feel that they will get worn out pretty quickly due to the warmth & the dew on the side of cups.  These are more like collectable display items.

Welcome to Pia Carrot!! 3 Figure Collection Full Set

The assembly work is pretty complicated.  Some of the pieces require them to get deep into some areas in order to put them together in place.  Sayaka gave me a tough time to get her inner part of her uniform in place as her hands were in the way.  Another one is getting Tomomi's hand to find snuggly on her hat.  It's got the shape on the top of the hat to keep the hand in place, but it required some force to get it in there.  Takako's broom doesn't have any pegs to connect to her hand, so you need to slide it in carefully without breaking it.  Plus, some of the pieces didn't fit well together like Sayaka's chair where the peg for the back rest part is too short to connect to the base.  It falls apart when you touch it a lot.

The poses in this set is pretty good.  They reflect the characteristics & personalities of the girls.  Although there are some static poses, they are quite lively with some energy.  Out of the whole set, I like Sayaka & Tomomi the most.  They look pretty cute with their poses.  Bases are provided even though Sayaka & Natsuki don't really need to as they can stand/lay perfectly well.  Probably used to make the set look complete or something.  As a note, Takako seems to have a tendency to have her left foot come off the base itself.  Probably because the pegging system isn't done properly.

The paint work & detailing of these figurines aren't too shabby.  Not much paint bleeding & the colours aren't very bright & bold.  It's quite dull.  The paint bleeds occur on areas that have detail patterns on them like Tomomi's Paro Paro dress & Orie's tropical skirt.  Pretty nicely done.  The Pia Carrot buttons aren't too great though.  It's blurry & quite hard to make out the letters on them.

The molding job is pretty good on some areas.  The Paro Paro & Tropical uniforms are molded into good shape.  Sayaka's legs shows a very bold molding line joint.  It's incredibly visible from a distance & sticks out sharply. 

The faces of Pia Carrot #4's staff

The faces are clearly etched as they are very bold & bright.  They seem to resemble their original game designs, but not very well.  The best ones are Sayaka, Tomomi, & Orie.  Takako is okay & Natsuki's face looks a bit long due to the position of her lipstick.  Looking at Tonomi's face, it seems that she's missing that blush mark on her eyes on the right side of her face.  The hair does seem a bit weird though.  They have this grainy appearance.  It's very noticeable on Natsuki.  It's like the molding process had some sand & air holes forming.  Plus, sanding didn't seem to be done well.

The facial expressions are pretty good on some of the girls are they fit their characters very well.  Natsuki has that expression she sports, but the long face doesn't give me that feeling that I like out of her.

Overall Conclusion

The Pia Carrot!! 3 Figure Collection set is not too bad in terms of the poses shown.  However, the workmanship is just above average in my view.  They look good, but don't seem to give off a good impression that it's made as high priced figurines.  Currently, I have these figurines in a display case & have no plans to put them into my storage.

The Pia Carrot!! 3 Figure Collection set gets an eight out of ten overall.  The poses the figurines sport is lively & facial expression matches their characters well.  The bad points come from the assembly area as some of the parts fall off & the detailing seem to lack something even though it's done well.

Getting these figurines may be hard now, no matter which version you are aiming for.  The gashapon version is sold out from stores & can be only obtained from online auctions now at a price close to the suggested Japanese retail price if you are lucky.  The trading figure version are rare to find.  Personally, you would be better off get the gashapon version actually since they seem to be the easiest to find overall.

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

Last updated on April 11, 2008