Welcome to the Hobby Haven, everyone! I've got another round of Sailor Moon collectible goodness for you! So follow me after the jump and let's take a look!
Re-ments, why are you so tempting? So tiny and twee and perfect. Aaaaaaaaargh. I've kept my ear to the ground, but I haven't heard any rumblings of new Re-ments. So this might be the last; we'll see! Anyway, Momo and I decided to shop smartly this time, and bought a case. Don't worry, I did my due diligence and it is legit. (The white sticker on the box here clinches it, since it's from the manufacturer.)
We managed to snag a case for about $55, bringing it to just under $7 a set. Not bad! We divvied them up between us and our friends. I, of course, got Venus. Like I do.
The box is very colorful, eye-catching, and well-designed. It shows you the five Inners and their respective birthday cakes, which are all very cute! The others, which I didn't keep, are Jupiter (green tea/matcha cake), Mars (red berry tart), Moon (fresh cream cake with strawberries), and Mercury (soda jelly cake...whatever that is). Also included are Chibi-Moon (dome cake), Sailor Pluto (sachertorte), and Tuxedo Mask (dark chocolate and raspberry cake).
The back shows you the little detailed cake toppers that go with each cake. Lookit all the different colors!
The set comes in one big plastic bag, with sections to divide everything up. I'm guessing so nothing gets scratched?
The camera is my worst enemy, but here you can probably make out Sailor Venus's profile engraved on the cake stand. At first I thought the cake stands were interchangeable, but I was wrong!
The idea is that you can either put the respective girl's birth date on the cake (when you look at promotional pictures, that's what is placed on the cake), or a date of your choosing. Perhaps your own birthday, or that of a friend. The possibilities are endless, and Re-ment thoughtfully provides you with enough numbers to create just about any date.
Venus' cake was undoubtedly chosen to fit into her color scheme, more so than appealing to her tastes. Her cake is orange mousse. It's a heart-shaped cake with what looks like buttercream icing, maybe? Those are orange slices on top, so I'm not sure where the "mousse" comes in. Maybe the frosting is really mousse? Who knows! It's a mystery for the ages.
I HATE THESE CANDLES WITH A BURNING AND FIERY PASSION AND YES THAT IS MAYBE A BIT OF A PUN. The candles have to be forcibly snapped out of their little plastic prison, and it A. requires quite a bit of thumb strength, and B. will scratch you like a mofo. Be prepared to earn some battle scars here. The stupid little candle flames are microscopic, will blow away in a slight breeze, and will not stay in place once pushed onto the spokes on top of the candles. I glued mine in place. #noregrets
These are the cake's decorations, and I want to cry because they are so cute. These little figures are supposed to be molded chocolate. There's a heart-shaped lollipop in dark chocolate, an Artemis figure in white chocolate, and I don't know how you get yellow chocolate, but there is a teeny weeny super detailed Sailor Venus there. This is so aggressively cute that I can't stand it.
Unlike the others, there is indeed a proper way to set up the cake. Holes are provided for the candles and lollipop. Venus stands by herself easily, but Artemis just keeps falling over unless you prop him up juuuust right.
These are really cute to look at, but a pain to set up. Honestly, I like the School Life set more. Still a good purchase, but I don't think I'd go out of my way to get more of these.
The next item we're looking at has just about the longest name out of anything I've looked at on the blog. Next up are the Sailor Moon Crystal Premium Sebon Star Moon Prism candy toy necklaces and oh my god my fingers hurt already.
These are manufactured by Kabaya, and this project in particular is a collaboration celebrating the 35th anniversary of their "Sebon Star" line and Sailor Moon's 20th anniversary. The pendant designs are based on items appearing in the first season of the show (like the first transformation brooch and the Moon Stick) and designs based on characters (Usagi, the cats, Tuxedo Mask, etc.). I need to point out that these are called "candy toy necklaces" because they are necklace charms that are sold with in a box with candies or chocolates. Think Cracker Jacks, but a little fancier.
Now, as for this line in particular, there are a *ton* of charms. There are ten designs total, and you can get each of them in the colors of each of the five Inner Sailors. This means there are 50 total variations:
And of course, they're all random, so you never know which one you'll get. Miss Momo imported a box, and promised that I could have any of the Sailor Venus-themed ones. Alas, there was only one, but c'est la vie.
Miss Momo imported these via HobbyLink Japan, for those interested, A case contains 10 boxes, and costs 3,000 yen per case. With the current exchange rate, that's roughly $25-28 per case, so less than $3.00 per necklace. Very cheap! Of course, if you're the rabid collector type, you'll want them all (or at least all of your favorite character), so then the cost goes up...
Here is the box, after it's been opened (Hey, we had to figure out which boxes had which toys somehow). It's very bright, loaded with sparkles and large, flashy graphics. All the better to draw in the kiddos, I suppose. (Or the fervid Sailor Moon fans like myself, who am I kidding)
The back shows you some more varieties, but is mostly consumed with warning labels. Whatevs, though, The good stuff is inside!
This is the Venus-themed version of the "Princess Serenity" design, done in gold, orange, yellow, and blue. It's cute, but sort of on the tacky side of cute. It looks very much like costume jewelry (which it is, to be fair). You've got Princess Serenity in profile against an elaborate scrollwork, looking up at a crescent moon.
I do like the cardboard backing that the charm is wrapped around! It's quite pretty in its own right.
This is waaaay bigger than I thought, about and inch and a half tall and wide. It's surprisingly lightweight for its size.
The fill-in color on the back has the cutest little bunny cutout! But the plastic looks cheap and unappealing.
Overall, these are a seriously great collectible, especially given the price and design. It looks pretty sturdy, enough so that I'd be okay with giving these to a kid. Anyway, that's all for now! Miss Scarlett, signing out!
Miss Scarlett suggests: The Birthday Cake Re-ments are cute, but annoying to assemble; definitely suggest looking into the charms if you want to pick up some Sailor Moon merchandise on the cheap.
