These ROHTO Lycee eye drops are formulated for fatigued, tired eyes and treat redness. As far as I can tell this particular design released in early 2020, but it’s not the first time ROHTO has collaborated with Sailor Moon. There are lots of unique bottle designs available. Unfortunately they are disposable, and not refillable. This product also expires, so be sure it isn’t expired if you intend on using it (bottom of the box).
Advertising
Packaging
The box for these eye drops is quite pretty. It’s a really nice pink and orange-y tone, but it’s also covered in a holographic film. There is also a transparent sticker on top with Luna and the product bottle featured on it. It also comes with the info pamphlet below.
The bottle is one of their standards for this line, only printed with a Sailor Moon silhouette, with a crescent moon sticker behind her. I thought it might be darker than the items on the website I linked above, but it appears to be a trick of the eye as the product is darker to match Sailor Moon better, and the sticker in the background is red.
That’s right. These eye drops are PINK. That is NOT the bottle. The bottle is clear.
I absolutely questioned this initially, so I dropped 1 drop of the product onto some white paper and sure enough, it dried pink even. I am not sure how pink eye drops clear up red eyes… but I can’t imagine they don’t work if they have a whole product line geared towards women and a collaboration with TOEI for Sailor Moon.
But folks, hold on to your hat. That’s not the only non-traditional feature of these eye drops.
These eye drops are actually rose scented. I popped mine open and it definitely smells floral, but a little sweeter than your typical natural floral. It’s actually pretty pleasant, but it seems weird to me that eyedrops might be scented. My eyes don’t smell. If they did, maybe I could provide you with a sample. When I opened the bottle for the colour test that single drop was strong enough for me to smell a whole foot from my face. It’s now dry and if I put my nose to the paper it still has a slight scent.
While I am sure these eye drops are safe I did not test them on myself.
Identify Bootlegs
Because of the medical nature of this item bootlegs do not currently exist and will likely not be produced. (May 18, 2021)
Conclusion
Overall these eye drops are not a requirement in your collection, but if you collect cosmetic items it might be a nice unique addition. I particularly appreciate it for it’s box, but alone it’s mostly a nice space filler item on my cosmetic items shelf.
Every popular series has that one character or item that everyone recognizes and maybe even collects, despite having never seen the series, or knowing much about the character. Dark Magician Girl is one of those characters/things. She is not a character in the show per say, but a card! A lot of us know her because of Yu-Gi-Oh’s English dub debut, but I think even without the dub we’d still love this character.
Packaging
Packaging on this figure is beautiful and fun, maybe even a little flirty ;D The colours are bright and beautiful, pictures are crisp and well edited, and some of the graphics used are even humorous. This box just oozes the cute you expect when you buy this figure.
Authentication sticker. Important, but there are no bootlegs for this figure yet.
I have no idea where this leads. I haven’t tried it out yet.
Lots of thick, and organized plastic packaging. It was taped on each side, and kept everything securely in place.
This is my least favourite part of Cu-Poche figures. Instead of proper packaging spots they’ve provided a bag and packaged the hands in the bottom.
Assembly and Fit
Dark Magician Girl (DMG) comes in approximately 26 different pieces, including the parts that detach from accessories, the figure itself, and the individual base pieces. Overall fit seems good. Her hands were incredibly tight and difficult to pull off, and insert upon opening, but that isn’t particularly a negative thing.
Despite being top heavy with her hair and hat I was able to balance DMG on her magnet base on one leg, and without the base arm to hold her. While this was HILARIOUSLY fun for pictures I don’t recommend it for this figure during display. Due to her weight it may not hold for a long period of time, and if it DOES hold the risk of warping her leg still exists.
I’m placing this photo here for “fit”. The plastic gems attached to her outfit began sliding off almost immediately after removing her from the box and handling her. Once of them appeared on my finger and since I didn’t realize what it was I brushed it off and into my carpet only to be lost forever. I highly recommend gluing them on when you receive her. Use a toothpick or a needle to apply as these are INCREDIBLY tiny. They were definitely easy to slide off and around her arm simply by touching them without much force and most likely will require attention.
Sculpt and Posing
Despite her small size DMG sure has a beautiful amount of detail. She’s relatively easy to pose, although lifting her arms very high is difficult because of her hair and shoulder pieces. Regardless, everything flows and fits perfectly together, and she’s fun to play with. My favourite is the scared face.
Looking past the paint job her face plates are very cleanly sculpted, and help accent the expressions perfectly, while still keeping an easy to make shape that’s fairly the same across the three. Although you can’t see them with her hair on her ears are cute and event tinted.
It’s mind blowing just how detailed her little hands are. Left and right are the same, so they’ve been positioned to show top and bottom.
The strange shape in her hat is the rest for her head. It holds the hat up and in place… which unfortunately means there isn’t much ability to pose it.
In regards to just the sculpt DMG’s spell book is nicely detailed. Considering how tiny it is the clean lines are. The book seems to be based on the Magic Formula card seen here: (ext link).
DMG’s staff is nicely detailed, and pulls apart at the top to allow for the staff to fit into her closed hand parts.
Upon my second pulling apart of this piece the peg broke off. I recommend being careful as mine was bent the first time I pulled the top off, and it was very tight. Due to the size of this staff repairing it won’t be easy.
Parts on the back of DMG’s top/cape move so that the shoulder pieces lift, and the cape separates and creates the illusion of movement. This is difficult to use though as when you put her head back on her hair hinders this option.
Magnets in her boots make her super easy to pose and hold position. This is a feature I hope makes it onto more figures. They’re strong and seem to hold onto the figure very well. Despite the strength of the magnet it shows no sign of becoming loose any time soon.
Although it took a lot of balancing DMG is able to be posed on her own without an arm too keep her standing upright. For a pose like this it’s not recommended that you let it stay that way for long. It may not hold and you risk the chance of damaging your figure.
These pieces are clean, cute, and great for expression. They fit into both the base holes, and her hat (there’s a hole on the (her) left side). While they look too basic for use, they’re surprisingly effective and entertaining.
Painting
The painted rectangles on top of her hands is definitely not of the best quality. There is a tiny bit of over spray probably from the template not sticking well enough.
Her faces are clean and adorable. If you haven’t noticed my favourite might be the scared face. It’s usually the quirky one of the bunch that I LOVE photographing (and I admit to doing it on purpose for these reviews). As a character who is actually a card meant for kicking butt though, I think she could have benefited from an angry face. These are certainly cute, clean and pretty enough for display though.
Her hat is painted rather nicely, but you can tell that the entire piece was either moulded or painted blue, and then the pink was added later. This is alright and not really an issue, but there are some areas where the pink is not quite thick enough and the blue shows through it.
The same issue appears on her breast plate and shoulder pieces. You can especially see it near the star/pentagram pendant holding her shoulder pieces together.
The outside of her book is painted spectacularly. The only issue I have is with the feathers on the front of the book. I didn’t even know they were feathers until I looked up the card for this review.
Err… no comment necessary…? If you close the book a certain distance the paint is no longer a problem, but it’s difficult to lay it flat and display the book. Alternatively, removing the paint would cause issues on the book spine when it is closed. So it begs the question, why didn’t they just paint the entire joint purple? Despite not depicting a book properly, it would have been much more eye-pleasing.
Identify Bootlegs
As of October 21, 2013 there are no known bootlegs of this figure. if you suspect one exists, or you’ve discovered one, please comment and link so I can update my review with a warning and guide on how to spot it.
Overall
This figure is so cute I have new cavities. Upon her announcement I fell in love, but held back as she was part of a series I didn’t care for anymore, and I wasn’t sure I’d care about owning her. Giving in and going for the order was well worth my time, and despite not owning anything else from Yu-Gi-Oh I am not disappointed, and she does not look awkward on my shelf!
Well worth the purchase, fun to photograph, and brings a happy vibe to my shelves.
In comparison to my other Cu-Poche, Madoka, she is also a better, more proportioned sculpt.
The manga version of Sailor Moon is incredibly rare in figure form. There are figures that resemble the chibi versions of the characters as drawn by Naoko, but they’re still primarily based on the anime. This Sailor Moon, as made by Ascii Media Works and released under the Figure Maniacs magazine, is the only Sailor Moon figure directly based on manga art down to the style she is sculpted in. She stands approximately 5″ tall, which is just slightly taller than the average standing Sailor Moon gashapon, but she fits in a display just fine with them without looking out of place.
Sailor Moon was released in 2005 for 2,700 yen. When I purchased mine on Ebay in 2011 I purchased her for $80 with $20 flat rate shipping. This was pretty much the standard when you found these figures on Ebay for a very long time. No matter what the price, she + shipping would equal $100. Now-a-days (Oct. 2013) She tends to run for about $120 with shipping, sometimes more.
Is she worth $100 more than retail price? Lets find out!
The pictures above (click to view larger) show the small book that the figure comes with. It covers various series including all of the Sailor Moon gashapon, and various other series of Sailor Moon figures advertised throughout.
The box has virtually the same cover as the book, and is very strong. It’s made out of a thick cardboard, and I honestly wouldn’t even be worried about the figure being shipped in that alone.
Packaging is sturdy and beautiful. It’s just as nice to display the box with the figure as it is alone, although normally mine displays alone, while the box sits on a shelf.
Assembly and Fit
There are no fit issues with this figure. Everything holds together nicely, although you may have to adjust her on her base once every few months. While there are no leaning or warping issues in the plastic she may pull forward slowly over time.
Sculpting & Pose
If they were to pick any pose for manga Sailor Moon to stand in this HAD to be it. It’s iconic to both the anime and the manga, but the leg positions are almost manga specific, and recognizable for fans.
The sculpt is great. Besides a few hardly noticeable seam lines around her neck and legs the only real issue with the sculpt is the massive size of her hands. While it’s not particularly noticeable on display, once it’s pointed out or noticed it’s hard to stop seeing it (I’m so sorry). Don’t let it detract from the figure though. Her hands are still well sculpted, and the rest of her is still beautiful, especially for her tiny size.
Painting
A minor paint flaw at a seam line in her boot.
Some small flaws on her skirt at the waist trim.
A beautiful paint job on her face. It really gives her character.
Her collar could have been cleaner, but it’s not terribly noticeable.
Beautiful paint transitions in her hair from blonde to white.
Base
The base is fine in general. It’s basic and cute, but the leg support DOES leave some dents in the plastic. Thankfully it hasn’t removed any paint. These marks are NOT noticeable to the regular viewer. You have to remove her from the base and view her in good light to see the ones on mine. I do recommend avoiding adjustments as much as possible if you can.
Identify Bootlegs
There are no bootlegs for this figure as of October 2013! Please contact me if you think you’ve identified a bootleg.
Over all
Personally this figure was a benchmark in my collection. She was a grail piece despite her common status several years ago mostly because of the price tag. As a collector she is one of my favourite pieces ever released and regularly holds a featured spot in my displays.
Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, aka PGSM or Live Action Sailor Moon is a well known adaption of Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon that aired on Japanese television from October 2003 until September 2004.
PGSM is usually loved for its quirky cheesiness, and all of the things that similar 90’s Japanese Live Action series brought to the table. Despite being based on the manga and anime versions of the series the Live Action also brings its own plot points and character transformations, most notably a condition with Sailor Venus and Sailor Senshi transformation of Luna. Don’t let the silliness fool you though! PGSM has its fair share of tear jerking moments as well.
Despite popularity, Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon never saw release in North America or under any official English translation internationally in either dub or subtitles, and as of today there appears to be no plans for one despite the hopes of fans.
Packaging & Advertising
This is the cardboard ad that was displayed in the gashapon machines when these figures were for sale. The paper slips are below (click to see large files).
As these are gashapon these were mostly purchased in gashapon machines and were purchased inside the round plastic containers with their pieces individually bagged in a wrapper. Each container would have included 1 full figure and 1 paper slip.
These figures are not popular and are the cheapest set of all of the Sailor Moon gashapon on the second hand market for various reasons. I feel the advertising material for these figures is completely misleading in regards to the visual aesthetics of these figures and tries making up for where they lack.
Assembly and Fit
Sailor Moon
Sailor Moon comes in 13 easy to assemble pieces (possibly 12, her bangs appear to be removable, but they appeared to be super glued). Like most Sailor Moon gashapon the pieces are rarely tight, but JUST under sized so that you can’t really pick them up and play with them because they fall apart. This is mostly an issue along the body, so there are issues at the waist and neck, but I find her boots to be the most difficult.
Please note that I received Sailor Moon new in package, and her head was completely assembled. I believe it might have been factory glued so I do not recommend removing the face plate from her hair as it does make it a lot looser.
Sailor Mercury
Sailor Mercury consists of 11 pieces (after Sailor Moon I didn’t want to pull her head apart just in case it had trouble going back) that fit similar to Sailor Moon. The pieces slide together easy enough, but when picked up they also tend to fall apart. As her body doesn’t separate at the waist like the rest of the figures she does hold a TINY bit better. Her legs do have a habit of shifting and causing issues with the pose though (as you’ll see in photos).
Sailor Mars
Sailor Mars consists of 12 pieces. Fit is the same as Sailor Moon. She tends to let go at the waist when being transported. Her base, although it holds her up just fine, will come loose when she is being moved. Her head also seems a little tight fitting. It is possible to push it down all of the way, but it’s easy to accidentally leave her with a small gap.
Sailor Jupiter
Sailor Jupiter consists of 13 parts (Her pony tail is glued on). As with the others she has issues with her pieces being a little loose and falling apart during transportation, especially her boots when the base is attached. During display there are no issues.
Sailor Venus
Sailor Venus is a total of 11 pieces. She has similar issues to the standing figures with detachment at the waist when being transported, but as she is sitting she also has the same issue as Mercury in which her legs shift and she no longer sits on her base properly. She will stay on the base, but her hand will float in the air. Besides that she fits together very well.
Sculpt and Posing
The sculpt of this series of figures is working to replicate a realistic style since it is based on real people rather than anime or manga designs. They excel in the costuming, but completely fall flat on the hair. In the television series the girls wear wigs when they transform into Sailor Senshi, but in their civilian form they have natural black/brown hair. Instead of designing the figures to appear to have natural hair as the wigs SHOULD appear in the series, they were sculpted as is and appear to be wigs on the figures as well. This detracts from the figures entirely, as you can see in the pictures below, because when you see their face plates alone they actually appear very nice.
There are lots of folds, the hair is supremely detailed, and, my favorite part about them, they’re unusually thick because of their much more realistic proportions compared to their anime counterparts. They have human proportions instead of anime proportions.
Because the hair is what detracts from the entire figure, but the rest seems ok I’ve given them a score of 7/10. For over all appearance based on sculpt I’d rate them a 5, but I feel unfair scoring them low based on 1 piece that looks off… even if it’s in such an important area as the face.
Sailor Moon
The prettiest part of Sailor Moons sculpt is in her folds and accessories. The folds look wonderful, full, and nearly realistic, while there are wonderful details in areas like her face and accessories (see earrings, choker, and brooch). Her worst feature is most definitely her hair. It looks like it sits on top of her head, instead of being part of her head., and her twin tails fall awkwardly down her front.
Sailor Moons pose could also use some work. While at first it appears to be her standard Oshiokiyo pose (and it is), her hands are much too high and in her face to make the figure aesthetically pleasing on a shelf. She has to be placed on a lower shelf to see her face properly or at a strange angle. As she should be as realistic as possible for the series she is most likely posed this way because that’s how the actress posed, but it just doesn’t translate nicely.
There are some seam lines, but nothing majorly noticeable.
Sailor Mercury
It may be a bias opinion, but Sailor Mercury has one of the better over all sculpts and poses of this set. Her sitting pose is comfortable, classy, and actually kind of cute with her expression. Sitting Mercury on her base is a difficult task though. Her legs have to be pushed in just so for her hand to sit perfectly on her seat. This doesn’t really take away from the overall display of the figure. It’s hardly noticeable when displayed.
Mercury’s best features are in her hair and boots in regards to detail. She is one of two figures in this set that make the hair work. Her flaws are in her face. She has baggy eyes that make her look exhausted. This would be less of an issue if the plastic wasn’t so shiny, but it highlights this feature, exaggerating it.
Sailor Mars
Sailor Mars deserves the same praise for the sculpt of her body as the rest, but there are some concerns with her that either aren’t as evident with the others or don’t exist. The “wig effect” doesn’t appear the same way on Mars as it does on Sailor Moon and other figures. Her hair appears flat and almost dirty looking because the long strands are thin and semi-transparent.
My second issue is with her feet. They’re large compared to the rest of the figure, and while real feet CAN be large the actress appears to have rather small to average feet. It’s a minor issue, but in comparison with the others it is noticeable as she wears heals rather than boots. This also appears to continue up the leg, making me wonder if they just used one of the girls wearing boots as a template and shaved off the fabric folds and boot tops?
Last, her face. The sculpt on this one isn’t so pretty. I hate to break form, but I spent a lot of editing time laughing at how you could probably put her face on a little old lady figure and she’d look like a grandma getting angry at small children for being too loud. While the expression is suitable for the character, the execution of it is not. I’m not sure if it is a sculpt problem, or a realism on this scale problem.
In regards to her pose it’s not very dynamic, but it does appear to be that she is going for a hair flip full of attitude… which, is completely in character for Rei
Sailor Jupiter
Jupiter is by far the best sculpt in this series. Her hair works, her proportions work, and her face doesn’t look horrifying with her hair. The fabric falling flat against her leg is a nice touch as well. The only real issues with her sculpt is in the round thing on the belt she wears on her waist. It should be a ball containing 2 roses. Instead they opted to just awkwardly place a ball on her waist. The details in her skirt and boots kind of make up for it a tiny bit, but it would have been nice to see them sculpt a rose instead.
Her left hand seems a little out of place and unsure of what it should be doing. Is she teasing the viewer? Taunting a Monster of the Day? Or is it just… there? It appears it should be a removable piece, but it’s factory glued into this position. The advertising shows it facing in towards the leg (I’ll fix mine later).
Sailor Venus
The “wig hair” on Venus, although second to Sailor Moon’s, is one of the worst in the set. Her bangs, although accurate, reach out over her eyebrows. The bangs don’t just look big, but they make her face look off and manly. The hair-do looks fine on the actress, but it just doesn’t translate well to figure.
Venus’ pose feels less casual than the others, and her facial expression tight. She isn’t smiling, but her head is tilted slightly. It’s not clear if she’s suppose to fit with the group, or appear slightly out of place as would be in character.
In regards to her other details she’s actually quite beautiful. Her accessories, and flowing hair down her back are beautifully done, especially the braided piece. It’s a shame the rest of their heads are so odd… or perhaps I’m just too use to anime figures?
Painting
Sailor Moon
Sailor Moon’s paint job isn’t horrible, but it has a few areas that don’t match or appear lazy. The back of the neck doesn’t match the rest of her skin tone. It appears they painted all of this space either red or blue (or both) and then they painted the skin in later, despite it appearing to have already been moulded in the proper skin tone.
The arrow pointing to her collar is actually pointing to the copyright information, but lets pretend that it’s pointing to her stripes. These aren’t painting on, despite being sculpted.
Both pictures above are of the paint on the transitioning area of Sailor Moons back and collar. No one ever seems to know what to do with this area. It’s either messy (as seen above), or clean cut, but still awkward because it’s thick, instead of portraying the thin piece of fabric that it should be.
Sailor Mercury
This series is pretty much incredible with the painting in all of the details you can see. As soon as the area is hidden by something quality drops. Mercurys transformation device is flawless.
It could be worse but there is some white overlapping what should be blue skirt. There’s also an issue with the sculpting vs paint on the left side that makes it appear as though there’s a chunk missing instead of it being a fold/pleat in her skirt.
See back of the neck and skirt where the bow should be. They tried matching skin tone again and failed. Well, maybe not failed. It appears they have a generic skin tone that doesn’t match their figures.
Mercury’s hair is an interesting metallic blue. It’s unclear as to why they went with metallic as opposed to light blue. It works given her hair is an icy blue in the series, although I feel it should be a lot more ridiculous.
In general her face is alright. For regular display it appears fine, but on mine you can tell the (her) left eye is dropped, and the eye lid paint is too far left. This isn’t as noticeable during display. In fact, I never noticed it until I was editing photos. Details in her bow gem and tiara are as neatly painted as they can be for their size. It’s actually quite impressive how smooth that gems gold detailing is.
Sailor Mars
Mars is adorned with very beautiful accessories in PGSM. The brooch on her skirt is delicately painted and beautiful. It really brings what this figure needs.
The rest of Mars seems painted cleanly, although mine appears to have issues with her right shoulder padding. There’s a small paint mark on her arm. This shouldn’t be an issue with all of them.
Sailor Jupiter
The paint on Jupiter’s face is actually my favourite. It’s clean, happy, and energetic. They appear to have lacked patience on her hair baubles though.
The paint job on her body is decent. There are no major flaws, and the only problem/inaccuracy I can see is that the loops around the pink beads on her waist should be gold. Considering the detail put into the other figures accessories it’s surprising they didn’t paint these details in. They do appear to have been a little messy with her bow gem as well.
The last detail they seem to have missed is her shoelaces. They could have easily been painted, but were just skipped. They should be white.
Sailor Venus
Although the glossy/metallic hair on Venus and Mercury seem a little strange it REALLY stands out on Venus. Between the sculpting, colour, and gloss, as well as the way the light hits the glossing it looks spectacular. The bow and heart are well done as well.
Venus’ belt looks nice until you look closer. There appears to be some details they got lazy with. There glove toppers are also a bit messy.
Her face is horrible. Between her eyebrows and length of her hair, it doesn’t matter how the eyes and lips are painted, it looks weird. Her eyes appear to be looking in slightly different directions and appear of much less quality than others in the set. Compared to Jupiter’s face this is horrible.
Identify Bootlegs
There are no bootlegs for any of these figurines as of September 2013. If there are bootlegs available I will update this section as soon as I know about them with information on how to identify them.
It’s always important that the copyright information match the below picture though:
Overall
I recommend these figures to people who like PGSM, collect the series merchandise in general, and aren’t uptight about quality. These COULD be top notch figures, but fall just short of reaching their potential.
Expect to be amazed when you receive them, but not so much after assembly. They look great, but their hair and face style creates a lot of awkward within this set, and actually ruins what could be really good looking. I do not recommend these as “must haves” in every collection.
Japanese Release Date: October 25, 2013 International Release Date: November 2013 Website:http://sailormoon.tamashii.jp/
Sailor Mercury is a fan favourite in Japan. While her crime fighting partner Sailor Moon is known to be rather useless in her studies, and motivation, Ami Mizuno is the exact opposite. She strives to do the best she can in school and receives top grades. She is kind, calm, and patient, and the only time you’ll see her break a sweat outside of a Monster of the Day attack is when Usagi falls asleep during the Senshi study group.
Ami starts the series off at 14 years old, and appears first in episode 8 as a new transfer student at Usagi’s school. Her identity is revealed as Sailor Mercury after Luna and Usagi suspect her of being a MotD, only to discover that she is actually the victim. Her Senshi symbol appears, and Sailor Mercury blasts her way into the series as a very valuable friend.
Sailor Mercury is known for using water and ice based attacks, as well as a visor and mini pocket computer that help calculate and identify enemies, as well as potential hazards.
Packaging & Advertising
S.H.Figuarts Mercury is a little different than Sailor Moon. While her box is virtually laid out the same there are some things we can expect on all of the boxes without confusion.
First, the TOEI sticker is located above the 20th Anniversary logo between Sailor Mercury’s legs on the Japanese Edition. On the international release it is located to the left of the international printed logo. Second, the international Sailor Moon logo is on every single box. Third, as this figure does not come with any “first edition bonuses” there is no sticker on the window of the box.
No real issues were found with Sailor Mercury’s packaging. Despite lots of Sailor Moon boxes being sent out after being factory opened and resealed presumably for a loose instruction sheet, Sailor Mercury’s came sealed with no second sealing sticker. Some of the instructions on the extra sheet with Sailor Moon appear to have been added to the only sheet with Sailor Mercury.
Sailor Mercury’s faces and hands are packaged in a wonderful little compartment that is removable and comparable to Sailor Moons. Only this one includes her hands in it as well.
Her other accessories also have nicely moulded storage in the blister tray.
In regards to advertisement for Sailor Mercury she did not get the “Moon treatment”. There were not really any special large displays, commercials, or paper advertisements. She mostly just displayed at various events from the prototype stage to completion. Now she also displays with Moon, and the other Senshi as they go through the same process.
Of course, she also received various promotional photographs on the Tamashii site, as well as in her AmiAmi blog review.
Parts, Assembly, & Fit
Sailor Mercury comes with 25 pieces, including everything that is removable, the actual body, and the base pieces. While Mercury is a little stiff upon initial opening, she is easy to pose, her bangs, and face plate are easier to remove, and her hands hold better.
To the left is Sailor Mercurys arm and to the left is Sailor Moons. Their hands are not compatible because the pegs which hold them on are different. After several reviews and complaints about how Sailor Moons hands did not hold very well it appears they adjusted the pegs to have a small ball on the end of it.
While it’s unfortunate that the hands can’t be used interchangeably, it’s better to have this improvement so that the figure is easier to pose and display.
A lot of people seem to think that the visor is part of a faceplate, or a separate piece from everything else. It is actually a piece connected to a separate bang piece and does not disconnect from them. (As a note for Sailor Venus, it’s assumed her mask will be made the same way).
As far as parts go I feel Bandai made a great choice in what they included with Sailor Mercury, but I think most fans will agree that an attack piece similar to Sailor Moons “Moon Tiara Action” hand would have been great with Mercury. Most fans were hoping for a hand set that included a bubble for Sabao Spray (Mercury Bubbles Blast).
Sculpting & Posing
The sculpt is nice and clean, and I think it’s a safe bet that Sailor Moon is being used as a base for the rest of the Sailor Senshi. The only real issue on mine is a bit of extra plastic on the front bow. The rest appears smooth and fine.
There are some small seam lines in the back bow, and on her sides, but they’re mostly not noticeable.
Sailor Mercury is SUPER easy to pose. She doesn’t have the added weight of long hair, so it’s really just a matter of balancing her limbs and body. I took plenty of shots both with and without the stand, and it never took me more than a couple minutes to balance her without her base to hold her up.
Painting
The face plates are fine in regards to paint, but I do want to point out the tiara gem on the last plate. It doesn’t seem to have enough paint, and appears slightly green from the gold showing through the blue.
One of the major issues I had with Moon was that her boots were VERY poorly painted. This issue has been resolved with Mercury. While it could still use some improvement, the issues on her boots are very small when looking at the full figure.
The collar lines are painted VERY cleanly on both the front and back of her fuku. Even the puffs on the elbows of her gloves are painted nicely. The only real paint problems with her is the small dab of dark blue from her bow gem that’s on her actual bow. There also appears to be some slight transfer from the elbow pad to her joint in the bottom picture, but nothing terribly noticeable, or not fixable.
Base
This is where my real disappointment with the Figuarts line begins. Upon opening sailor Mercury I thought she would come with a base that was exactly like sailor Moons. While the flat display piece is exactly the same, although with customized decals for the different Senshi names and symbols, the arms are completely different.
Sailor Moons arm comes in 6 different pieces that then attach to the base. This allows for a wide variety of display options and flexibility. Sailor Mercury’s arm is only 2 pieces, the claw, and the arm. The arm only goes up and down, and because of the hole placement on the base it is virtually impossible to display Sailor Mercury directly in front of the base.
Another issue is with the claw. The claw is too large for Sailor Mercury’s waist, and despite no limitations on how far the arm can go in or out, it still leaves Sailor Mercury with too much space for her to be held properly.
In fact, I dislike the arm on this base SO much so that I am looking to replace it. Feel free to contact me or post links if you know where an arm more like Sailor Moons can be purchased.
Identify Bootlegs
Overall
Despite issues with her base I feel Sailor Mercury is a step up from Sailor Moon in regards to improvements. They learned from the issues with Moon and and that’s great to see.
As Sailor Mercury is my favourite character getting this one was exciting. I wasn’t disappointed. She’s top quality, and I look forward to playing with her!
Website:CreerBeaute Store:P-Bandai MFC:Link Release Dates: October 25, 2013; November 20, 2013, December 24, 2013
Purchased from: BiginJap.com Paid: $56 USD When: Purchased June 2013, Received December 2013
This post was updated on November 1, 2020.
The Crystal Star Compact is used by Usagi in season 2 (R Arc) of Sailor Moon to help her transform in combination with the Silver Crystal. Traditionally in the Sailor Moon fandom merchandise of this item has sold for high prices. Being that most merchandise of this item consists of RPG toys from the 90’s, finding one in good shape and a box is difficult.
In regards to this particular Crystal Star Compact, ordering it has proven to be JUST as difficult. The compact is a P-Bandai exclusive item, but due to the popularity of the item various websites grabbed orders from P-Bandai, marked up the price, and sold it in their own shop. As demand was high it proved difficult to get on the P-Bandai website during the ordering period, and a lot of people missed out even if they had proxy services to order.
Prices have ranged from a decent 3790 yen on the P-Bandai website before taxes, to outrageous $250 USD price tags on Ebay, and scammers have been making a pretty penny offering “Pre-orders” that don’t exist and take buyers out of their time-period to dispute the stolen money.
As this item is sold out EVERYWHERE I recommend taking extra precaution if you come across a seller online. Do your research before getting scammed.
EDIT: Since this items initial release it has had several releases online, and in-store where P-Bandai cosmetics are sold (In Japan). It should be much easier to get it than when it was initially released.
Advertising
If I remember correctly there was no warning when this compact appeared. The first of three listings appeared on the P-Bandai website, and all hell broke loose. It crashed the site and prompted P-Bandai to make 3 extra release dates, and a pre-order option at the Sailor Moon La Reconquista merchandise table. All of which sold out before most people could even realize they were up.
P-Bandai, during this time, set up a page for the compact which consisted mostly of this image http://myfigurecollection.net/picture/720949 (linked for large size) advertising what it was, the packaging, and a comparison between the bulky 90’s toy, and the sleek, smaller compact we have today.
(Header image from P-Bandai listings)
Packaging
This box is flawless and fits the more adult theme of the Miracle Romance line. The pink has a soft pearl finish, and metallic foil is used for Luna and Serenity. There are lots of beautiful florals, gems, and popular motifs from Sailor Moon across all sides of the box. No side is boring. Even the back and bottom has small details that add to the aesthetic.
Assembly and Fit
There is really no assembly for this piece, but there is a button on the front of the compact for opening it and locking it shut. It holds well, and the hinge on the back of the compact is tight, so the top doesn’t just fly up. There is very little chance that if you use this compact as a regular make-up item that the lid will just pop open often, unless you wear down the hinge enough to loosen it.
The powder is covered by a plastic slip that represents the Silver Crystal and bows on the inside of Sailor Moons anime compact. It fits in nicely between the powder and the puff that sits on top of it. As a collectors item I DO NOT recommend throwing this piece out. It will be important to collectors.
Sculpt and Design
Everything about this compact depends on the lid. If the star is messed up then P-Bandai can go home with their money. Fortunately they seem dead on. I can’t complain about it at all. As a Sailor Moon fan, collector, and reviewer I have zero complaints about how the lid of the compact was designed. As a make-up compact vs a brooch that Sailor Moon would have worn on her dress it is a little bulky, but this compact is filled with make-up, instead of a mirror and stone.
While taking photographs I handled my compact as carefully as possible, and both dusted it with a camera brush, and wiped it down for finger prints with a microfiber cloth. There were no visible flaws in the moulding.
The bottom is actually quite irrelevant. In fact, the plainer the better, because the focus was on the lid and the inside.
I believe the 382 is a batch number of some sort for the make-up? I’ve seen comments from people with the same numbers, so it does not signify that you have ### out of ###. The compact was exclusive, but not seemingly limited by Bandai.
The boarder around the mirror is quite detailed and pretty. It should match the one around the 90’s compact.
Painting
BEWARE of the paint on the lids of these compacts. It is known to scratch and it’s impossible to fix. The mirroring effect is created with a special process in plant. Spray paints will not do the trick.
That said, the paint on mine is flawless. There are no scratches, no imperfections. No transfer at all.
Make-up
Lets be honest. How many of us bought this or want it because of the powder?
The make-up is kind of additional for most collectors, but is also a major selling point of the new compact for Bandai. It’s important to collectors because it proves that P-Bandai wants to cater to the adult fandom.
Edit: I have since purchased a second compact to test and it is just a transparent, shimmery powder. In Japan I have seen some decent reviews for the P-Bandai line, but for North American users I would warn that Asian make-up trends are much lighter than ours. This product is not highly pigmented, but it was manufactured that way on purpose.
Identifying Bootlegs
No bootlegs for this item as of December 18, 2013. If bootlegs have been spotted please send me a PM or comment and I’ll update this section with information on how to spot the bootlegs and help you avoid getting ripped off!
Overall
This is totally of bias opinion, but I LOVE this compact. It is easily the best purchase I’ve made for my Sailor Moon collection, at less than $60. There isn’t currently another Sailor Moon Crystal Star Compact readily available that I could buy for cheaper than this, and at this level of quality.
Overall I think this is an A+ must have item for any Sailor Moon collector. If you collect RPG items you will love it!
Sailor Moon Collection 
