Surprise, I got a new figure – and a Nendoroid at that!
This Nendoroid Kirby was my birthday present to the wife, which I immediately hijacked for figure photos – much like the Nendoroid Isabelle a year ago. I am reminded of the Simpsons episode when Homer buys Marge a bowling ball for her birthday — an appropriate comparison considering Kirby’s shape, but I assure you that she has quite the obsession with the pink blob, being the lifelong Nintendrone that she is.
The coolest gimmick about this toy is the fact that all of Kirby’s limbs are connected to its body via magnetism, which enables its arms and feet to be positioned anywhere on its body with ease. This means that unlike most other Nendoroids, you don’t necessarily have to bust out the box of parts every time you feel like changing the pose.
Moving around Kirby’s little stumps brings a lot of expressive potential to the toy, but Kirby’s extra face plates really seal the deal. All the open mouths are indented and the expressions are spot-on. With the inhaling and stuffed faces, Kirby is the perfect companion to food photos!
As cute as it is, the Nendoroid Kirby isn’t without flaws. Both of Kirby’s “hats” are very heavy, so much so that the magnetism isn’t sufficient to keep them in place if the weight isn’t mostly centred. Furthermore, the indentations on the bottom of these hats don’t seem to be shaped right. They are not perfectly circular in shape, so the hats don’t hug Kirby’s bald head as closely as they can. If this this is a manufacturing error (which I have a hard time imagining otherwise), then it would be a painfully basic mistake that blemishes an otherwise fantastic toy.
I’ve owned and wrote about my share toys in these past few years, but my final impression have always been determined by how much I like playing with the toy. Some toys are frustratingly difficult to put in decent poses, while others are too prone to falling apart. The Nendoroid Kirby is neither of these.
When it was on my desk, I’ve caught myself fidgeting with Kirby while I was spacing out many times — much like I did with my favourite toys like the figma Drossel and Revoltech Gurren Lagann. I wouldn’t quite go so far as put Kirby in my shortlist of favourites, mostly because I don’t have any history with the character, but it’s still an exceedingly charming little toy that’s easy to recommend.
One reply on “Review: Nendoroid Kirby”
Nice photos! This is the most clever Nendoroid design as of yet. I totally get the thing about fidgeting too; I keep a figure by my desk for that same reason 😀