Inuyasha - New Moon (Toynami vs Nendoroid) review

In the Inuyasha series, our titular character went through a monthly transformation where he would lose his half-demon abilities and become fully human. This means his white hair becomes black, and he gains human ears. His sword, Tessaiga, also becomes a regular sword with no way of transforming into its powered up form. Of course, the series does bring up what the titular protagonist goes through without his New Moon abilities, but let's see if he can be just as recommended to get for merch as he would be with his normal white hair.

Here we have the ToyNami Inuyasha in-hand. This figure is a retool of the original figure, with the fitting black hair that he gains when he is in his human form. Functionally, he is the same as the regular versions. In fact, anyone find it interesting how this was sold as a convention exclusive despite us later getting a version in a blister card, but without the enlarged sword. The face also had an open mouth expression whereas this is more neutral.

Here is the original version, with the larger sword deployed as it was logical for this form to use. The articulation between the two is largely the same, but I do appreciate how Humanyasha has the head sculpt without the ears to better fit the look he has instead of merely painting it black. That being said, the nails are no longer painted yet are left unchanged in terms of scultpwork.

Up next, we gave the Nendoroid. Recently made by a few months back, this version of the character has a new faceplate that depicts him with a neutral glare, complete with colorless pupils in his eyes. He has sword-wielding hands that are angled downwards slightly to help him pose his Tessaiga as if he is ready for battle. Both of his alternate arms are bent at the elbow for gesturing and for holding the sword in its sheath. I appreciate that the sword has some dings to represent how old it is from the many battles it was used for. His alternate face plate has him looking to the left with a slight blush on him. Yes, those red marks simulate blushing. He comes with a Shingo permanently sculpted in a floating pose, with no articulation beyond the neck. He also has an alternate happy expression with eyes closed and a bigger mouth. 

As for a comparison, the tooling is about as standard as it can get for both versions of the same character; you'd think they would make the hair accessories part of the same box. The hair pieces are already noticeable, but the eye color helps make those differences more noticeable. Otherwise the tooling and deco on the body are identical. It's just that some accessories were swapped out or removed to make room for Shippo.

Speaking of which, here is a quick comparison between both versions. The one on the right is a collectable you could have gotten from those gashapons machines, which I remember getting at a few malls before they were removed. The Nendoroid has only one point of articulation and can peg into a flight stand, but it's about as static as the gashapon version.

And that about concludes this quick review. In all honesty, I would recommend the Nendoroid if you want a Humanyasha for your collection, what with him being recent and fairly affordable. The Toybami one is an option I would recommend if you have nostalgia for the line, as unlike most retro anime featuring statues and the rare Figuart/Figma options out there, there are plenty of Western fans who may have some nostalgia for the old Inuyasha merch (possibly moreso than the toys Dragonball Z or Sailor Moon had in the US). That being said, the convention exclusive is a rare version for a closed mouth expression and if you want him to wield Tessaiga. There should be a blister card offering if you want to save more.

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Toynami)

⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Nendoroid)