Figure Review: Nendoroid Kaname Madoka Maiko Ver. (AX 2013 Exclusive)

This month's review is a bit of a special occasion, since this is the first time I've covered a figure that's not widely available yet! I picked up Madoka Maiko Ver. during my weekend at Anime Expo, and I'm really pleased with her.

   

Here's a sticker I've never seen on a figurine box before.

I wanted to film another unboxing video, but the lighting in my room hasn't been great recently thanks to the crazy weather my area has been experiencing. Still, I wanted to share the box since it's the first of the new design that I've gotten. This box style has been adopted as of Nendoroid #300, Miku 2.0. It emphasizes pictures of the figure itself, as well as more windows to look at the blister packaging inside. I like it quite a bit, although I wonder if the minimalist style will be easier for bootleggers to copy...

   
Anyway, she's pretty gorgeous right out of the box. The applications on her kimono are crisp, and she was very stable on her stand despite me not being able to get the peg in all the way. The only paint flaws I could find on her were some bleeding on the hair accessories (purple into the white and vice versa), but it's not too noticeable. Overall, this is a better-than-average job when it comes to the Nendoroid line.

This version of Madoka comes with a few accessories and a lot more optional hand parts than I was expecting, so she's quite versatile when it comes to posing. As usual, I tried to replicate the poses on the box for review purposes, but there's plenty of room to get more creative. She comes with straight and bent arms as well as different shoulder parts depending on the kind of pose you're going for. That said, the shoulder parts only work with the straight arms; the bent arms have their own peg and attach directly to Madoka's body.

She also has three different sets of hands (four if you count the one meant for the umbrella, which we'll get to in a second): open with fingers spread, closed fists, and open with fingers together. These work just like other Nendoroid hands, although I did have a problem with one of the bent arms. The hole meant for the hand pegs wasn't big enough for whatever reason, and I had to widen it before taking more pictures. I've never had this problem with a Nendoroid before, since the line is big on using standardized sizes so that you can switch out parts between figures. It was easy to fix, but still surprising given how GSC has stepped up it's quality control after the problems with the mass release of Snow Miku.


That said, the hand was the only problem I had with her. Nothing but beautiful Nendoroid Maiko goodness from here on out! Her first accessory (and my favorite) is the umbrella, which can be easily set to rest against her shoulder, but with a little fiddling I think it could be set at other angles as well. You can see this in the top image of this review. They've clearly learned a lot since the first yukata Nendoroid, Yune. Instead of awkward pegs that encourage the umbrella to droop, it's held in place by a single hand that is much sturdier. There's also a closed umbrella as you can see above, which is a nice extra for photography and posing purposes.

This picture also shows the first of her two alternate expressions, a side glance. Maiko Madoka uses the new faceplate system, where they are no longer attached to the neck joint. The idea is to make it easier to swap out expressions and reduce the risk of breaking the neck joint, but I found myself popping her head off in-between poses out of habit anyway. The faceplates are compatible with older Nendoroids, but you'll have to take the new neck joint along with them since they snap into place over it. I like the way this works, but it will take some getting used to.


Anyway, the next pose is a kneeling pose! How elegant! Again, GSC has clearly gotten better at this since Nendoroid Yune's release. I still can't get Yune into her kneeling pose since it's a huge hassle to get the pieces together, and even then they don't fit together properly. Thankfully, this isn't the case with Madoka. You just pop off her bottom half, replace it with the kneeling part, and you're done! This is where the extra shoulder pieces I mentioned earlier come into play, putting her arms in the right spot. Her final faceplate has her eyes closed with a smile. This is probably my favorite one, since it'll be compatible with other Nendos in my collection, not just the Madoka ones.


Her final accessory breaks the Maiko theme, but is interesting nevertheless. It's a miniature Grief Box, which was an exclusive item full of Madoka merch that was released last year. It comes attached to yet another hand, and I'm pretty sure it's not removable. Even though I don't have one in real life, my Nendos can have fun playing with it instead.


Overall, I'm really impressed with the versatility of this Nendoroid. After Ultimate Madoka turned out to more of a statue than a Nendoroid, I was a bit hesitant about getting this version, but I'm really glad that I did! Madoka is starting to turn into the new Miku in terms of how many figures of her are out there, but this one manages to distinguish herself with her accessories and great quality. I saw a lot of posts after AX from people stating that this was the first Nendoroid, and they got a really good one! I highly recommend her whether you're looking to start your collection, or if you're are more interested in her accessories and outfit to switch around with other Nendoroids. I also like the extra faceplate options since they'll go nicely with my other two Madoka Nendoroids. She was definitely worth it for the price they were selling her for on the convention floor.

If you're interested in picking her up yourself, preorders are still open at the Good Smile Online Shop until August 5th, with a release date set for October.

Images by me. This post is also available on OASG.