VON LYCAON

 Last time i say the Apex Toys Von Lycan figure was my second Zenless Zone Zero official item, well this is my first one: the Von Lycaon Nendroid. Many years ago, before the pandemic, i used to buy a lot of Nendroids and i formed quiet a collection with my favorite characters but my clumsy sausage fingers had problems adapting to such tiny mini figurines and Good Smile company prices were the last nail on the coffin, making them the most overpriced toys on the market and i stoped buying them completelly.

But for some reason, Good Smile has been doing a ridiculous amount of Zenless Zone Zero characters on Nendroid form (and only the main characters as Pop Up Parade) and eventually they arrive to Lycan and of coure, i had to go back to collect Nendroids thanks to him.

This little guy feel kinda bigger than the rest tough its thanks to a convination of his body looking too bulky and his long ears but he is pretty much the same scale as the rest of the Nendroids and the good news is he can actually stand on his own using his tail as a tripod, something very unusual for this line but that makes him very confortable to play with.

This is a brand new Nendroid released a couple of months ago soo his articulations are...odd. He have the usually big ball joint on his neck that let him moves it around nicelly tough  limited by the hair sculpt and theres also a ball joint on his tail that lates him move it with much more freedom. He have basic cut shoulders that let him move his arms up and down but not open them, a basic cut joint on his biceps that let him rotate his arms and cut articulation on his wrists.

He have ball joints on his legs but they are pretty useless since they barelly move but thats all, theres no knee articulation or elbow or waist articulation soo he cant move his legs or have his arms straigth at all, his arms are perpectually bend and thats very strange given this is a combat character that use a lot his legs just like ChunLi.

Soo this is an action figure with very limited articulations that lets you pose in a few ways but you needs to be creative because all the posing is done by swaping parts and accesorys, not actually moving the character around soo he feels kinda like a 3D puzzle.

Sculpt is very nice, again, the snout have the perfect size and while the bangs on the front are not as stylish as in the Apex version they follow the design perfectly. The ears are huge but round at the tip, just like the spiky hair on his back, everything here is round and cute, theres no edges at all and unlike the Apex version, all the belts are part of the central sculpt.

The body is muscly and bulky in the same way as the Klaus Von Reinherz Nendroid, the buttons on the front of the vest, the scarf, the pocket clock on his chest, all details are there as well as the metalic parts on his hips, ass and back side. The hairy arms looks good as well as the big tail that, while not as impresive as the Apex one, is deffinetly more usefull but the most intrincate sculpt is on the prostetic legs. They are a miniatirized and simplified version but they still looks damn good.

Legs are all metalic black and only have the orange lines in front while his suit is plain grey and the shirt, tail and entire hairy bits are plain white, theres no airbrush or shadows here, every thing is a single color clean but i guess thats good in this tiny scale tough all details are clean painted, like the golden chain of the clock on his chest, his carimson scarf, the little sitches on hhis vest as well as the golden knockles on his gloves.

The black tips on the hair and the ears are still here and the mouth is both sculpted and painted with a black line and the red anime eye stands out a lot thanks to its big size.

He comes with 3 pairs of hands as well as a single extra left hand: a "relaxed" pair of hands, another pair with fingers possed to hold a cup and a plate, another pair with a left hand with a hole on the palm to hold a portait and a rigth hand pointing and a single open left hand with a square shaped peg in the center. Of course all htis little hands are easy to swap and are designed to hold extremelly specific items.

He also have 3 face plates; one with his basic stoic face expression, another one with a very subtle smile and another one with a perplexed face expression (his eyes wide open and his mouth smaller). All this face plates are very easy to swap once the front hair is removed and is quiet tricky find the differences with each other but it cant be helped, Von Lycaon is not a very expressive character.

Aside of the extra parts he comes with a dinner plate with a silver cover. I am not sure how to call this item but somehow it resembles a hotel bell, but its a plate with the dinner inside. Its painted on silver and shines a lot and includes a square shapped hole under it to use it with the specific hand and once on it, not power can mae this item to fall from his hand.

Theres also a cup of tea and a plate. They are very elegant, very cimple and the cup have actually brown tea inside and while theres specific hands to hold bot items, they are much more delicate and easy to lose than the dinner plate.

The second best accesory here is Corin´s borthday gift, a Von Lycaon postrait painted by her. The artwork is really adorable with a cartoony and super cute Lycaon with his tongue out. The print is super clean and and it have a long peg that fits on the left hand with a hole on the palm. This item is designed to be used with the pointing finger hand as well as the perplexed face plate to recreate a scene we only hear in the game.

And lastly, the best accesory is by far, Eus, the little Bangboo that works as main control drone of the proxys. This character is essential in the game and here is soo soo incrediblly tiny and yet, the sculot is spot on and the perfect too, with his orange scarf with the 01 printed on it, its green eyes and tail and the big pointy rabbit ears, as small as he is this count as a character of its own in this package.

Little Eus have a hole on his back as well as an articulated circular arm with a ball on its end side to fit him. Once there he can be adjusted to the sides and eigth soo he can be jumping around Lycaon or even sit on his shoulders, or even sit on the floor without the base.

Also the figure includes the same base as all Nendroids, the transluscent square shaped plataform full of holes and an articulated arm with a peg to fit on Lycaon back. Its kinda anoying but i guess it does its job nicelly.

Given the character nature it puzzles me they didnt included anything combat related, like effect or fierce face expressions of ice effects but instead only gives Lycaon pasive pose options but aside of that this is deffinetly one of my favorite Nendroids given how different he looks to the rest and how sturdy he is, that along side the inclusion of Eus make this guy the oonly ZZZ Nendroid i am interested to get until they release Ben Biggers of course.

GUTS

 I cant belive its been six years since the last time i get a Nendroid from Good Smile Company. There was a time when my collection of Nendroids grew pretty steady until Good Smile Comapany decided to follow SquareEnix road and started to sky rocket the price of theyr products to the point they had to create Pop Up Parade to get some money from collectors again. I miss a lot of Nendroids in the last years because i wasnt going to pay 3 times the price they had before the pandemic.

But i finally fall back at theyr graps, why? Berserk. I am actually surprised they took soo long to start release Nendroids of Berserk actually, and they start in the same point all other Berserk collections start: Black Swordman Guts.

This little Guts is the same scale as other Nendroids: pretty pretty small and he fits with the rest perfectly but wath surprise me the most is that he can stand on his own perfectly, for the first time, he dont need a base. Why? Because of his cloack that works like a tripod and keep his balance perfectly.

He is not specially articulated tough, only the head, the shoulders, wrists and legs and nothing more. The head have a ball joint as well as the legs but they dont have too much room to move, specially the head since the clack keep the head kind of static. The shoulders and wrists are cut joints soo he can rise his arms up but thats it, he has no way to open his arms at all.

He have a couple of extra articulations tough on his cloack, it is a 3 pieces construction with the main piece in the center keeping Gts standing and the two extra flaps at the side can open up an move around a little bit to give the impression the cloack is moving around. Open them too much and they look like insect wings soo its better to just move them a little to give them a discret pose effect.

The sculpt is very nice. Of course his face is extremelly simple with the cute little nose and giant proportions tough his chin is square too make him look more manly. His spiky hair is very nice but looks like a challengue to dust off. The details on the shoulder and legs armor is pretty incredible as well as the little mechanical arm.

But the best part is deffinetly the knifes on hi chest and the one on his belt, the puches on his waist and....it seems he have more on his back but i cant see them thanks to the hard plastic cloack. I can see chains and even his crossbow but they are completelly hidden under the cloack.

Theres no exture here, nothing at all. He is completelly clean of any texture and his cape looks specially simple thansk to this but i guess it helps to make him look like a little anime chibi.

The paint is good but keept as minimum since each part is cast in the dominant color of that section. His skin looks really nice as well as the hair and the brown belts with the knifes, tough the metalic armor part have black silverish paint that makes them looks, well....metalic (and this includes the mechanical arm, is actually darker than the rest of the outfit and the cloack).

The mouth is both sculpted and painted tough the scar on his nose and entire eyes section is only paint. Looks crispy and pretty clean and still amaze me that, despite the simplicity of the "anime" design, his eyes are totally different to the eyes of the other Nendroids, and the thick eye brows too. He have one black aye and his gaze is as serious and cold as Venom Snake.

He dosnt have too many extras tough. To begin with he comes with two extra face plates that fits into his head once the front hair part is removed. Is prettye asy to exchange them and one have an mischevious smile and the other is shouting. The screaming one is my favorite and fits him perfectly tough the addition of the smiling one is good, i think he looks way too much like an anoying breat in here, even his pupil lose all ligth to make it looks like he is in madness mode but it dosnt works for me.

His most important accesory is the Dragon Slayer tough, his giant sword that is,like always, taller than him. The metalic paint is good and i like a lot the bandages flapping at the wind in soft grey color. Of coruse the sword looks way too clean but it matches perfecty the extra clean look of Guts.

He comes with an extra left hand and an extra pair of hands to hold the sword. The hads are soo tiny and at times soo easy to lose but they are of coruse very important, specially the left one since is itself a weapon: his little mechanical hand is bend down and revealing his arm canon, just like the Figma (and just like with the Figma it makes me wonder why they just didnt articulated the hand....).

Since his arms are not articulated he also comes with a pair of extra arms with the elbows bend. The scult is nice as well as the paint and they can be exchanged by the bicep section, conects with the rest of the arm with a peg. And same way, since his legs are not articulated he also comes with a bend knee left leg. To my surprise is pretry easy to swap legs and this one helps for the more actiony posing.

He also comes with another pair of extra arms witout the bicep section. The missing biceps let him join the arms up front soo he can hold his sword with both arms at the same time. This is a pretty smart soluction since most figures cant join theyr hands up front to hold a gun or a sword (Not even the increedible expensive IconicQ Ryu can do it) and i even wish the Figma version had this arms.

And finally he have his base, the slasic Nendroid base made with trabsluscent plastic and an articulated arm thingy that conect to his back with  apeg, tough this time around the base is completelly inecesary except if you want to pose him jumping around.

And thats all, not much really and while i looooooove the look of this little Guts, he is pretty limited. Even with the extra leg and arms, he can only achive 4 or 5 poses and thats it, not only his design hinders his movement (he cant be pused with his sword over his shoulders because of his gigantic head), but the static nature of the figure as well. Is really not very fun pay with him to be honest, this is a figure once posed is best to let it rest on the shelve and thats it.

Or maybe i am just bitter for the price i pay....this guy is like 1/4 the size of a Gargoyle or a Pop Up Parade and i had to pay for him a little bit more that those. I still dont understand why this little figures are soo expensive since they are now basically statues, i even find it hard to call this an action figure at all.

Truth is i had this same issues even 10 years ago when i started collecting Nendroides with Metal Gear Solid, but the price they have now make things feel even worse. I am not sure if i will buy more Nendroids tough, despite how cute and cool looking they are, maybe i stop after Endeavor.

NATHAN DRAKE

Even if i am not a big fan of Nendroids, this was no brainer for me. Just by watching the prototype of Nathan Drake´s Nendroid i was sure i was going to get him. I really wanted him to play with Chris Nendroid.

Uncharted has been one of my most favorite games (even if i still dont play the fourth one) and soo far i been able to buy all action figures of the series - except that crazy expensive Sideshows statue - and i am really glad they continue to release merchadise of it even if its been a year since the last game.

Nate is tiny, really tiny. The same size of other Nendroids and in there is born my frustration: my big sausage fingers really strugle with this guy. Taking this pictures was a huge challengue for me actually, since put his gun on his hand is really tricky. But even if functionality is debatable, this guy is undenayable cute and cool at the same time.

He can stand on his own perfectly (something great considering his huge head and tiny feet) but still he comes with the elegant and usefull base with the mechanical arm that Good Smile Com always gives. His articulations works really good and allows all kind of poseability (with the design restriction of the small legs) soo he is a lot of fun.

He is probablly my favorite Nendroid given how easy to the eye and simplistic is his design. He dosnt have all those belts, puches, wires and incrediblle details the Snakes and Raiden have, soo not only he is more colorfull than them, but hes much more resistant and easy to move too.

The buttons on his shirt, the way his collar falls down from one side, his watch (the damn little thing is perfectly painted and sculpted!!!!!), the level of detail in this dude is really astonishing and in perfect match with adult Nate. You can even remove the pistol from his holster under his arm…and this pistol is cut in half!! This is only for the moments when Drake have his gun on his hand, soo his holster is empty instead of having “two guns”.

The paint is clean and vibrant, and his eye brows have small little hairs painted on them. I am soo glad they give each of this Nendroids theyr own face soo they dont share the same face features (even if its not that evident at first), like his eyes, they are totally different than Snake´s eyes.

He is really handsome for such a cartoony design and he comes with a second face with a lusty look. With some scars and a mischevious grin showing his fangs (BOTH sculpted and painted) and one of his eye brows down, i find this extra face to be more sexy than anything and is my favorite deffinetly.

Aside of his basic gun (and the cut in half fake gun on his holster) he also comes with a riffle. While the Snake´s and Raiden have black riffles, this one comes with brown tones and is basically the weapon they always gives him on all action figures.

He also comes with a little golden coin with nothing sculpted on it but that is obviouslly the engine of his adventure on the last game. I find this item to be the most interesting one that is soo unique to this figure (even if it dosnt have sculpt).

And he also comes with a hook and a rope, tough the rope is just hard plastic… soo its only to be posed hanging from something. This means if he dosnt have something to make the “hanging illusion” he looks really strange, like if hes fliying with an invisible balloon. This item is soo bizarre but once you find a way to pose him he looks really spectacular.

The little rope with hook on the side of his pants can be removed as well but i just forgot about it when i took the pics.

I really love this guy in the end, and he looks like he cames from another dimension when he is side by side with adult Nthan Drake. I am starting to feel a little adicted to this guys.

KLAUS V REINHERZ

This year has been very troublesome for the import of figures (and other items too i guess) thanks to the new taxes the Mexican government is adding and the dollar value jumping every week, but things have been a chaos since last year since i buy both the Nendroid and Figma of Klaus V Reinherz at the same time....8 months ago....

I got the Figma Klaus a month ago (time really flys) and this week i just get by mail the Nendroid. Aside of Archer this two are the only character that have in both version and they looks really good displayed together.

Tough Klaus is a little bit odd compared to other Nendroids... for starters, he is actually the tallest of them all. The size difference is not that notorious but that extra inch make him stand out when he is around other Nendroids. 

The sculpt is really cute and adorable as always, with his tiny fangs and evil looking green eyes with shadows painted around them, he looks very mean for being such a tiny guy. Also his hair is really spectacular looking, with brigth red colors, i dare to say his hair is more detailed and better looking than the Figma version (maybe because his head is much bigger).

His glasses are a separate sculpt with transluscent plastic and can be removed once the front hair is removed as well. They look terrific and are easy to display but i am afraid they are too delicate soo i dont plan to play too much with them.

Articulations wise....we.., there is the thing and why he is soo different wo other Nendroids, he is not articulated at all. Only his neck, shoulders and legs are movable and he have a ball joint on his hips as well, but he feels much more like a tiny statue. This make him very sturdy and resistance because the articulation of this figures are usually delicate and fall apart very easy. Well, Klaus is a solid mass of plastic.

Instead of movable limbs, he comses with an extra pair of legs (open legs for battle stance) and 3 extra pair of arms modeled in different poses: flexed against his body, extended by the sides, etc... and of course, an army of little hands that can be put on any arm. This method of removable limbs is good for such tiny figures i guess but is actually confusing given you have to mix limbs to achive the poses you want.

Klaus is actually older than Geralt of Rivia and the Witcher guy still have the old articulations style. I wonder why did Good Smile decided to experiment with Klaus?

Anyways, aside of the extra limbs and hands, Klaus comes wit the normal base with the arm attached to his back and, unlike the Figma version, the base can be attached to his back pretty easy.

He also have two extra face plates, one with a funny and ashamed expression with totally white eyes and another one in a fierce roaring for battle scenes. The most detailed is the last one of course, given to the sculpt of his mouth with fangs and the great painting on his green eyes, is really neat how much they stand out under the glasses and hair.

He also have an extra pair of totally white glasses. I dont see too much use to them since they block his eyes completelly, but i guess they are to be paired with his funny mortified expression. He also have a Libra presentation card that cna be placed between his fingers. The cool thing about this item is how the actual logo of the group is printed on it!!!

He also have an extra arm with the glove as well as the metalic knuckles shaped as a cross on his opposite hand for battle scenes, just like the Figma, but he also have a transparency card with a tiny base that can be placed in front of him and mimic his presentation scene. This card have his name in romaji and katakana as well as his Blood Battle Technique: Brain Grid, his sex: Make/Otoko as well as Lider Carismatic and Megane/Glasses Hyperopia legends over it with red ink. 

In photos is very evident is a screen of plastic on front of him but in real life the effect is really nice and more subtle.

And finally, my favorite accesory of him is a brown paper bag and a donut. He can be posed eating the donut but he is supposed to give it to Leo but in either case, this is one of the cutest scenes a Nendroid can participate with (along Grealt´s bath scene).

I find the replacable limbs quiet odd but aside of that i am very happy with this Klaus, he is easy to play with and have lots of amazing items with loads of personality and fits perfectly on my collection of chibi husbandos.

ARCHER

Last year i was thinking on the Nendroid Archer for some reason and wondered why i didnt got him. I know i am mostly alone when it comes to Archer love, most of the people i know seems to dislike him a lot because he is not as beastly as Iskander and toy companies dislike him because he has no boobs. Archer is too pretty for bara lovers and too manly for otakus….

And somehow, that very same day i found a store with Archer Nendroid and at a very cheap price because (like the shop keeper told me) hes too old and no one wants him….

And he is actually old because hes was released probablly 5 years ago given the number on its box. He is on the 400s number while now Nendroids are in the 900s!!!

Little Archer is really tiny and standar size for Nendroid tough, unlike Chris or the Snakes, he is very simplsitic in nature and colors, with clean white on his hair and brigth red on his outfit, i have to admit his legs are really really detailed with all the straps and leather texture.

He is articulated on the neck, shulders, arms, elbows, wrists, chest, legs and knees tough his legs dosnt have a lot of pose options thanks to the red skirt thingy around them. This part is not articulated and i am glad, it would be anoying and pointless.

I actually have a lot of problems posing him, thanks to my big sausage fingers. Its pretty difficult to move the legs or arms without them sepparating from the body. In the end most of the poseability comes from his arms that can be posed perfectly.

He comes with two faces; a serius one and an angry one and both can be exchanged easy and also comes with an extra pair of hands to hold his second set of accesoryes.

His first set consist on his two swords. But fist perfectly and looks amazing and super detailed and painted, exact replicas of the Figma swords. His second set consist on his bow and two arrows. The bow is simplistic while one of the arrows have a cool and stylish purple metalic tone while the other looks like a ridiculous sword-drill. The Figma comes with this same arrow soo i know is accurate to the original design.

The arrow can fit nicelly on a little hond on his hand, soo he can hold it with no problem, but the bow is really troublesome. It fits perfect on his hand, but given Archer´s huge head, is pretty difficult to pose the bow with such short arms.

He also have a super funcional and traditional Nendroid base as well as a little cute extra: a background with his Noble Phantasm. This is the very first Nendroid i have with a background tough, while its cool, it fits much much better to the Archer Figma given his scale.

The Nendroids stress me and this guy is no ecception, i prefer the Figmas any day tough he is pretty cute and fun to look at and i am glad to support my Fate husbando as much as i can.