Pokemon: Megahouse GEM Figure: Type:Electric Electric Power!

In which they’re no Ghost Types, but they’re pretty awesome as they are.

Remember last month or so when I got this Ghost Type Pokemon figure from MegaHouse and absolutely fell in love with it? That thing has a place of honor in our living room, where light from a high window hits it just right in the mornings to emphasize the transclucent parts, and I’ve only grown to love it more over time.

When I picked that figure up, filled as usual with 2020 despair and panic spending, I went ahead and preordered this Type:Electric Electric Power! figure — the next in that same line — and when it came in, it was even bigger than the ghosties. I’m starting to have the uneasy feeling that I’m going to need to locate room and money for every single type MegaHouse puts out one of these figures for (heaven help me when Water Type makes its appearance…or, oh god, can you imagine Steel?!) Let’s take a look!

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Every time I measure one of these, the result seems way too small — these figures have such an impact that they seem way bigger than the measurement — definitely the case with the mere 6.3 inches for this one! It’s hard to compare the Ghost Type figure with this because the Pokemon are distributed differently in each, but just like that one, it feels jam-packed with good choices….just not maybe quite as good.

Whenever you’ve got a figure representing an entire Pokemon type, there are bound to be quibbles about what is and isn’t included. Here we have Pikachu, Denryuu (Ampharos), Plusle and Minun, Magnemite, and Dedenne. I absolutely love some of those (Pikachu, Denryuu, Magnemite), and pretty well like the others (Dedenne and Plusle/Minun).

But especially because they didn’t restrict themselves to only pure Electric Types, it would have been cool to see Emolga or Togedemaru. Even if they had to stick only to pure Electric, I would have been happy to see some additional evolutions of Pikachu (I’d take an Alola Raichu or a Pichu over, say, Plusle and Minun) or Denryuu (I just can’t pick between them)). But while the choices for cute Electric Type Pokemon are pretty good, I also wish there had been more representation of other Electric Pokemon that might not be so traditionally cute — maybe Eleson (Toxel) or Jibacoil/Magnezone instead of Magmemite?

I go back and forth on how I feel about the stand, too. The fact is that it’s just plain. And while it’s not exactly out of character for Electric Types, it’s not a necessity for them either. The stand on the Ghost Types figure was much superior, if for no other reason than it was kind of rounded; flatness here takes away from things.

The real shame of the figure design-wise is that the cool neon sign we have the plug for and everything (I love that flexible plug for some reason ^ – ^) gets pretty much covered up when you look at the figure from all but very certain angles. I wish the creativity that went into that sign went into the stand instead!

The biggest source of appeal for me with this figure is the biggest thing on it overall: Denryuu/Ampharos! They just look amazing from any angle, sparking like crazy with the cutest expression on their face. You can say that about all the Pokemon shown here (though poor Dedenne kind of gets lost in the shuffle no matter how you turn the figure — I didn’t realize how small they are until I saw them here in 3D!).

There’s a great deal the figure does right in general — if I sound like I’m complaining more than liking the figure, that’s just me being grumpy; I really am fond of it. I love the chaining electricity that runs throughout the figure (it doesn’t photograph anywhere near its true color — it’s lighter and more vibrant in person) and, just like with the Ghost Types, there is a palpable energy and joyfulness throughout the poses and the sculpt that is just so very Pokemon to me.

So overall my recommendation for this figure isn’t as strong as the Ghost Types one, but it’s still a recommendation, and the lower rank is mostly only because I love my ghosties so much it’s hard for anything to compete. It’s still available at good old amiami for just about $100. I wonder which one MegaHouse will come up with next in this series…!