Nendoroid Complete File

An extended catalogue
A new review to start off this new month. ^^

Here's something very unique: the third publication-related collectible to be reviewed this year after "Wild Flower" and "One Voice", this is the "first ever official Nendoroid album" (from the product tagline given by Good Smile Company), "Nendoroid Complete File". ^^


Published by Hobby Japan with collaboration from Good Smile Company in June last year, "Nendoroid Complete File" is pretty much a printed catalogue of all Nendoroid figures released in the past. ^^ Just on the subject of past Nendoroid releases, the book offers the benefit of showing off all the items in beautifully printed all-color hardcopy format, as well as some form of categorization based on the items' origin. Other than these two perks, the book doesn't seem all that important to me as the figures' pictures used in the book are all from Good Smile Company's official site. Plus, for folks who prefer viewing the items according to their release year, the arrangement of the book may not be very helpful. ^^;

Then again, without going into some of the other goodies in the book, ^^ compilations of existing materials to be released as a new publication is not something new attempted by Hobby Japan. ^^ The company has a long history of compiling completed Gunpla work featured in its flagship monthly hobby magazine into a series of publications entitled "Gundam Weapons". This is the first collaboration between Hobby Japan and Good Smile Company I believe. Given the close connection between Nendoroid and Figma releases, I wonder if there's any similar plan for collaboration between Hobby Japan and Max Factory to publish something related to the Figma series, since the number of figures released from that merchandise series over the years is more than enough as materials for a book I believe. ^^

Then again, "Nendoroid Complete File" is more than just a compilation or a catalogue for the Nendoroid series. The package comes bundled with Nendoroid Saber in casual wear, which is a figure limited to this book. ^^ I think many people were aiming for this limited Nendoroid figure when they got the book. It's the usual case you get with shokugan I believe. "Who cares about the candy, the bundled toy is more important." ^^; While it's illegal to sell the figure separately from the book, I've seen certain online stores that offer just the limited Nendoroid Saber at a discounted price. They realized that many customers just wanted the figure and not the book, and a lower price would seem even more enticing to them in obtaining the figure. Personally, the limited Nendoroid Saber was the bigger attraction between the two when the book was released last year, but I decided to give up on it since I had no interest in getting the book - paying the price for both when I just wanted the figure I mean. Luckily, a local online store was having a sales and this happened to be one of the offer items. ^^ The price I paid for it was equivalent to that of a normal Nendoroid figure without the book, so it was quite a bargain. ^^

I realize now that I'm treating the book as the prize and the limited Nendoroid figure as the main item in focus. XD The book is definitely more than just a product catalogue with nice colors and pictures. There are actually many coolsome and interesting sections embedded between the main segments. I can't read Japanese, but the images shown in those areas are helpful enough for me to know what they are about. ^^ You can get the idea about those special sections are for through this review. ^^



Front and rear views of the unopened package.


Front cover of the box with the plastic wrapper removed.


Since she's the special prize bundled with this book, a large picture of Nendoroid Saber in casual wear can be found on the front cover of the package.




Closeups on the labels and images on the front cover.
A parcel or a small box is the design theme for this package maybe, judging from the "Fragile - Handle with Care" and "Important - Open Immediately" labels. ^^



Gumako and another picture of Saber on the package's left side.


Top and bottom views of the package.


The rear face of the package is designed to mimic the front cover of a Nendoroid set. The opening that shows the front window of Nendoroid Saber's box is cut accurately to match the latter. ^^


Closeup on the Nendoroid figure. ^^


(Left) Instead of using the same but more meaning title as her Figma version, this limited Saber is (almost effortlessly ^^;) named "Nendoroid Complete File Edition". ^^;
(Right) "Not selling separately" (分売不可).




Comparison between the box and a standard Nendoroid package, in this case, Super Sonico Tiger Hoodie Ver..


Box open.


Just from the top view of the content, it's easy to see that the Nendoroid box itself takes up about 90 percent of the entire package's thickness. ^^


The book and the Nendoroid box are contained on a hard cardboard holder.
A look at the book itself: ^^


Front cover of the book.



Saber Hetare Limited Ver. with Saber Hetare's lion on the first page of the book. ^^




Many interesting scenes featuring more than one Nendoroid figures for the table of content.


A mini guide on the organization of information for the product introduction section.



The first section of product intro focuses on the world of Vocaloid - Hatsune Miku's universe. ^^
Her importance and popularity in the Nendoroid line are the main reasons why she is chosen to kick start the book I suppose. ^^


Releases from another hot series, "Black Rock Shooter" are shown right after "Vocaloid".


Special segment 1: Interview with Mikatan, who runs Good Smile Company's official blog that keep everyone informed of new releases from the company. ^^





The "Animation" segment takes up the biggest chuck of the production introduction section, since most of the figures releases came from various anime series.



Special section 2: special accessories and a discussion on how Nendoroid figures are designed.




Special section 3: very helpful pictorial guides with amusing pictures on how to repair various problems that could happen to your Nendoroid figures. ^^


A very small segment on Nendoroid figures grouped under "Character".




Releases under the "Game" category.
Interestly, Saber in casual wear is one of the items introduced in this section as well. It's meant for folks who completely gloss over her when opening this package I suppose. XD




Another very interesting special segment: a look at how Nendoroid figures are being mass produced. ^^ The figure shown in this "factory visit" is Saber in casual wear as well I think. ^^


Introduction on the Nendoroid Petit series, and many other miscellaneous lines that I have no idea even exist in the world of Nendoroid. ^^


The upcoming figure segment showcased some of the announced but yet to be released figures (those coming out after June 2012).


The index listing all the products introduced in this book.



Yasagure Rin is featured on the last page of the book. ^^


Back cover of the box.
A very colorful book this is. ^^ As mentioned before, it's full-color print from the front cover till the back. ^^ It's certainly an interesting flip from time to time, but is it really helpful in introducing the various Nendoroid releases? Not really. ^^; I can get larger images of the items on Good Smile Company's official site, and since it's very easy to surf the Net nowadays, browsing the official site has become my preferred method to obtain information about the products. Furthermore, because of the publication date, there's a limit on the coverage for the book as well. So, the "catalogue" portion, which is the main focus of the book is not as interesting as some of the special segments inserted here and there to me. I particularly like the "rescue plans" (fixing broken joints and scratched paint on a Nendoroid figure) and "factory visit" (brief introduction on Nendoroid figure production) segments. I think the book would be a lot more interesting to me if those special segments were longer and with a wider topics covered. Then again, maybe there's reservation for the next compilation. ^^


Without associating her to the book, Saber in casual wear (or following her official name Saber Nendoroid Complete File Edition ^^;) is actually a pretty standard Nendoroid release. She's of the "Super Movable" type (referencing her Armored version), so her articulation design is way more extensive than most other Nendoroid figures, a design feature I consider unique about her. Even so, the figure can be separated from the book to be featured in a completely different review in the future. ^^