The first darling little item we have is another Gashapon collectible! This is from a series of Gashapon offering collectible versions of the compact brooch that Sailor Moon uses to transform. She goes through a rotating arsenal of them through the series, so there are quite a few to pick from. One of my coworkers went to an anime convention this summer and picked this up for me in the Dealer's Hall, where vendors offer various types of anime merchandise. She was able to pick this up for $15, which is about on mark; I normally see these going for anywhere from $12-$20 on eBay.
Gashapon, if you recall, are sold in vending machines (and are normally more expensive than vending machine toys we're used to), hence the little plastic capsule. I removed the little plastic bag that the compact came in, but I saved the capsule to show y'all.
It should come with a paper from Bandai absolutely plastered in corporate logos with pictures of the Sailor Moon characters, plus images of the various compacts that you can get.
This is the one that I got. If I recall correctly, this is the compact from the second season. It's called the "Crystal Star," and is the first powered-up version of Sailor Moon's compact. The metallic colors are very bright, almost gaudy. If I might nitpick a moment, Sailor Moon's compact was much bigger in the anime (it fit in the palm of her hand), and the colors were pastel and matte. But the compact otherwise is very faithful to the original design.
And it really does function like a compact! It opens up to reveal a mirror and a replica of the base where the Silver Crystal (aka the ginzuishou) is.
And the bottom flips up to reveal a secret compartment! Perfect for storing....er...secrets! This is a cute little trinket, but it's a bit disappointing that it isn't very functional or closer to the original design. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad to have it, but I'm not going to seek out the others. I wish this would have been more functional--either a clip on the back to actually wear it as a brooch, or maybe *something* in the bottom? Or just a slightly better-looking version of the bottom. Even just stickers or something instead of molded plastic.
The second item I have is a mini figurine that is simply too cute for words.
This darling Sailor Pluto figure is from the Petit Chara collectible trading figurine series. They're blind boxes, as well. The "Petit" is no exaggeration; these things are tiiiiiny. The figurine, when standing on the base, is just about two inches high. We're talking super tiny here. But it's surprisingly well-crafted and detailed. I bought Pluto here from a friend; she bought a bunch of the boxed figures at a specialty store, and ended up with this as a duplicate. I bought her, sans box, for $7, which is a little cheaper than if I bought her on eBay. The figures retail separately in Japan for approximately 500 yen apiece, which translates to about what I paid for it in dollars. If you find one of these babies on eBay, expect to pay upwards of $10 apiece, more if it's one of the rarer variants.
The paint job on Pluto is lovely, and the colors are true to her anime design; her long hair is a dark green that has an almost ombre effect in the back, and her eyes are a lovely magenta. The paint is metallic where it needs to be, and is pearly on her gloves.
The figure is connected to the stand through a simple clamp that you can pop in and out of the figure and stand as you need to. the socket to pop it into is in the back of the head.
It's hard to see, but the top of the base has a ribbon design plus a bow with her planetary symbol. The base color is a smoky quartz that isn't quite brown or quite gray.
She's not very movable; more for display only. The base clamp aside, there aren't any removable parts. A younger fan, say 8 or so, should be able to safely play with these if necessary, but I feel this is more for display only. Not bad for the price.
(My writing style hasn't seemed as fluid as normal lately. Maybe I'm in a writing slump? Pardon the boring prose as I try to flex my writing muscles.)
Miss Scarlett suggests: Despite their limited functionality, these gashapon and trading figures are cute, fun, and a cheap way to have some Sailor Moon fun.
