Some of my interests can be described as being entirely different from one another. You have video games that are cartoony and realistic, IPs that are fitting for me or not-so-fitting, and of course, either various histories to explore or one consistent world. You have IPs that I have been interested in since I was a little baby like Pac-Man, while a series like Sailor Moon, which is something I was interested in since the early 2020s. So why are they, along with the Transformers, Sonic, and Halo series doing together for today's review? Well, why not we take a look at all of these random figures new and old? Well, mostly new since these came out before 2023.
Let's go in random order and take a look at Master Chief from the World of Halo subline. Based on the Infinite Mjolnir armor, Master Chief has a somewhat more saturated shade of green that stands out from the previous suits while also giving him a look sort of reminiscent of his older appearances when he was more green than when he was closer to gray by comparison. While the sculptwork was somewhat softer than the larger-scale figure, it is faithful enough to the way it looks in the series. The proportions are mostly good apart from the arms being lower than they normally would be though I believe that's how they look in the series. While he's mostly two-toned in terms of his color scheme, you do have a few paint apps that depict his battle damage from all sorts of war against the Covenant. And no, the copyright stamp on the back is not part of the suit.
Helmet is pretty faithful to the design from the game, though I admit some of the paint apps could either be crisper or better applied. Mostly the details on the sides. His visor isn't chrome but instead painted on, which is done so in a decent way without it coming off as too blobby. His articulation is somewhat similar to his Spartan Collection counterpart. Head can turn left and right and look up and down, shoulders move front and back, in and out, the elbows can swivel, wrists swivel and slightly bend differently. He has torso articulation, hips that move front and back, in ans out, slight thigh swivels, double-knee bends, and ankle hinges as well as rockers. His sole accessory (for this figure at least) is his iconic Spartan Laser rifle. Some accessories other variants had were either meant to be a pistol, an energy blade, or a gun from one of the grunts. He does come with a display base that can be connected with other stands as a way to make him a display piece.
His rifle can be pegged on the back for storage, which is neat that they retained that for a smaller scale. Next to the Spartan Collection figure, you get a sense that they each have their own pros and cons for the specific lines they come from, with the World of Halo version being suitable for the larger world display you could depict as dioramas while the Spartan Collection fits well for the 1:12 scale line that is popular in various markets.
Up next, it's the Battle Squad, consisting of Direct-Hit (front) and Power Punch (back), both of which combine into a cannon transport that makes them complete as a team. Earlier in the life of the site, I reviewed the Astro Squad, which was a disappointing release in comparison to this duo. I like how the Battle Squad turned out when it comes to being not just a vehicle made up of two figures, but also isn't shite. The hot-pink cannon may look gaudy, but it weirdly works for this design. If you wanted, you can use that 5mm clip to have him be a rocket launcher for a larger robot.
Their transformation first has them basically shift the legs down while the legs flip down to be straightened (with one of them having heels). Their robot modes are pretty light blue, dark blue, black, and hot pink for the thighs, which is an amusing color decision. Their faces are orange, and they both have Decepticon insignias. The subtle silver paint apps are retained from the vehicle mode.
Afterwards, it's time to go over the Pac-Man Capchara set. These figures would either be purchased by using a capsule machine found at a mall (especially since the Bandai Namco license meant you can get other IPs like Dragon Ball, Naruto, Gundam, Sailor Moon, Hello Kitty, etc). Of course, I chose the Pac-Man ones, because we never got any proper merchandise aside from the recent surge of the IP's merch in 2021. After opening the capsules and removing their plastic covers, you'll be amused to find that they sort of resemble how they'd appear in their basic forms, with the simple arm-less shapes for the ghosts and Pac-Man being a ball that can eat endlessly. It's not 1:1, amusingly, since the ghosts each had the basic eyes while Pac-Man would more resemble his appearance in Pac-Mania (basically the mouth isn't exactly shaped like a smile, and there'd be no eyebrows) in addition to not being left with a hole meant for the nose.
Once they're fully assembled, we have the ghosts as they appear in their current promo marketing. While Pac-Man's generally been the same as Japan's vision of the design (which means excluding the US interpretations of the character before they matched up to the original design as well as the New Adventures and the 2010 redesign), the ghosts are meant to resemble their classic appearances from Japanese promo art, which contrasts how they appeared in stuff like the World series, Pac & Roll, and their redesigns in 2010 (which remained the same for Ghostly Adventures while Pac-Man was tweaked further to be Pacster). The cutesy look of the ghosts does work well since you'd not expect them to be truly antagonistic compared to someone like Ganondorf or the Covenant. All of these figures have the same shoulder movement, though some of them can't move all the way around. While Pac-Man's iconic smile and wink are uniquely sculpted, the ghosts have their faces painted since it'd be easy to make them use the same base mold before using the specific colors and facial expressions, with Blinky as the red, angry ghost, Pinky as the self-explanatory pink and girly ghost, Inky as the cyan, happy ghost, and Clyde as the orange, dopey ghost. I like how Clyde's punching gloves are red since he's already orange, with the other characters having orange hands.
For a size comparison, the ghosts are generally smaller than Pac-Man, both the Capchara figure and the Figuart. I do like owning the Figuart, though there really isn't much of a line-up for him to go with if you wanted to pose him with other characters from the series. Still, if you're not interested in the Capchara Pac-Man figure, you can get the ghosts and put them next to the Figuart. Still, why not get the entire set to expand the collection and show Bamco that they could do more than just shonen merch 24/7.
And going from a 5-in-1 group to a 2-in-1 group, this is the Figuarts Mini representation of Princess Serenity, or Princess Serena as she's called in the original dub of Sailor Moon. It's so common to find merchandise of the character as a Sailor Scout/Senshi/Soldier/Guardian/whatever they call them these days. I like the fact that the figure captures a chibi styl that fits the series' occasional chibi character art in the anime (and by extension, the manga), even if Serena's face is seen as happier than she's normally depicted in the show, where she looks somewhat somber. The figure's dress is nicely pearlescent while there are gold paint apps to add to her dress or her earrings (and the wrist band, too). Her hair is appropriately vibrant in yellow, and while the figure may be simplified, they didn't skimp out on any sculpted details for the fabric or the dress to the hairlines. I even like the crescent on her forehead as well as the small beads on her hair.
Her articulation is mostly just an expressively ball-jointed head and shoulder rotation, though you could remove the arms and replace them with a pre-posed set of arms that depict her hands cupped together. All Figuarts Minis come with a clear stand that is ball jointed and can connect to the hole on the back.
And here is her love interest of the past and present as well as her future husband, Prince Endymion, aka Prince Darien. While Princess Serena has been plentiful in different lines, Endymion wasn't as common as one would expect him to generally be in his standard Tuxedo Mask form. In fact, this guy surprisingly popped up before such a version of Tuxedo Mask was ever made. His suit is nicely detailed, capturing the look of a warrior with a regal influence that one would imagine as being reminiscent of someone like Marth or Roy of Fire Emblem fame. The paint apps are much more plentiful for this guy, with the silver for the torso and shoulder pads while the black and blue for the suit go well with the red of the inner part of the cape. The sword is sheathed on his belt harness, though it is not removable, nor does he have any way to hold it. His face, while chibified like Serena's, is a little more child-like compared to Serena's more on-point expression, but it still fits the appearance that Mamoru/Darien/Endymion would have.
His articulation is slightly more plentiful, with some slight hip articulation that Serena has because her legs (which are bare feet, by the way) don't even move. Endymion has a pair of arms, though one is for his right arm and the other is a left arm for Serena so they can be displayed holding hands. Certainly a great display if you ask me!
And finally, it's Sonic the Hedgehog. For some reason, it's not easy to get merchandise from the second movie, which says a lot of how people jack up the prices of these figures. Now, Sonic merchandise was always going to be a bit hard to tackle because a company like Jakks Pacific would make it a bit harder to obtain, and they might come up a bit short if you're not a fan of how some of their other figures turned out, not doing their unique character designs justice. That being said, Movie Sonic is better than the normal Sonic figures fans have had in the past. I like the textures that give him a more realistic appearance that better shows the animalistic nature of his quills or fur, especially with the muzzle and stomach looking a little more organic. The gloves and shows are decently sculpted, with the latter receiving red paint. Speaking of paint, there are subtle lighting paint apps that are meant to represent Sonic's glow just as he's about to run fast or attack a foe in a charge, much like when he went up against Knuckles for the first time.
Sonic's articulation is slightly better than the normal Jakks figures based on the games, with a neck swivel, shoulders that rotate as well as hinge up and down, elbow bends that are absent on the game characters, wrist swivels, hips that swivel as they're attached to the pelvis and then hinge front and back, knee bends, and ball-jointed ankle movement. The slightly thicker limbs do give Sonic that extra durability that I'm sure left various Sonic figures broken or warped. His sole accessories are a bag filled with rings he holds on his left hand and a map that leads to the Master Emerald, which was a plot point for Sonic 2 (and a much stronger one than the first movie considering how closer we are to the lore in this movie than the first). Generally speaking, even with the lightning paint apps, this is a nice figure that captures his design pretty well and is a strong iteration of the character.
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