In which Meowth uses Payday, but it’s not very effective.
Every time I check the Pokemon Center USA website, I find myself looking at these Pokemon Gallery figures — I mean, anyone who reads this blog knows I don’t turn down many Pokemon toys or figures in general. Yet I’ve had some bad experiences with American/European figures (dear god, figures related to Doctor Who tend to be just terrible). While they’ve improved over time, Japanese figures have too, and I tend to avoid American figures unless I see them in person or get a review from someone I trust.
But this is my dear Nyaasu/Meowth!
I mean, it’s not actually the Nyaasu I like so much, since that’s specifically the one that travels with Team Rocket, and he can’t learn Payday (much like me and everything related to navigation, interpersonal skills, and money management, those move slots were allocated to languages).
I don’t have a single complaint about the quality of this figure. There are no paint or sculpting errors or anything that’s not put together right. I think it’s hard to get Nyaasu to look really on-model in 3D, but the job the figure does is about as good as I could hope for. And while Payday isn’t really all that exciting to look at, especially compared to something like Light Screen or Shadow Sneak, the figure is laid out well and has a dynamic feel. I give full credit for all of that.
But this is way closer to a nice gachapon than a figure, and that means that the price tag of $15 is just. Way. Too. Much. Nyaasu as a Pokemon species doesn’t have all that much eye appeal to me by default (until we get to the Galar variant, of course) compared to other, flashier Pokemon, and the one here isn’t particularly cute or unique in any way. They just look kind of mean as opposed to badass, or whatever, and in the end, a mediocre Nyaasu plus some coins glued to thingies is only worth about half of the price.
While this particular one isn’t worth fifteen dollars to me, if a given Pokemon Gallery figure seems cute to you, I wouldn’t tell you necessarily to avoid it. Some of them, like this Eevee or this Mew, seem cleverly designed and different enough from their typical figures that they may be totally worth it. As for me, while I’m slightly disappointed with the price point, this figure will still find a nice little place on a shelf. Honestly, I’ll never turn down a cute little Nyaasu!
hello somebunny 