Nendoroid Number 620; Zelda, The Wind Waker Version: Better then Funko Pops in every way?

I am not a fan of Funko Pops. Honestly, I hate them. I think they're quite bland, and either very generic or for those rare times when the standard mould can't be used, really creepy. It's why you'll never see a review of a Funko Pop on here that I bought for myself because I never will. I'm a huge Pokemon fan, not enough of one to look past the eldritch horror that the Funko Pop Pikachu is. There are other alternatives to it though, including a Japanese collectible line known as Nendoroids. At least when it comes to Australian releases, most never see the light of day here, but there are a few that do get a release here, including one that I picked up a few years ago, "Zelda, The Wind Waker Version", or as she'll be known as from here on out, Toon Zelda. Who's ready for a constant attack on Funko Pops?

It should be noted first of all that the Nendoroids are a lot more complicated then Funko Pops by nature, the reason for this is because there's a level of customization in how you display them. In the case of toon Zelda, you have three different faces, a standard smile, a shocked face, and something akin to a smug wink, 8 different arms, four for each side, with each one having removable gloves to allow for even more customization, the Hero Bow and a charging light arrow, along with the Master Sword and the Shield from Wind Waker. The only problem is that she can only hold either the Bow and Arrow, the Sword, or the Shield at any one time. Their intention is more for an older Nendoroid of Toon Link, one released a little over a year before Toon Zelda did, to give him the end game look. For the record, Toon Link has the product number 413, that should really tell you how many of these things they can make. In that regard, they're no better then Funko Pops. If Zelda was released a long time after Toon Link was, I'd be ok with her coming with the Sword and Shield, but a little over a year? When they probably knew they were going to do one? It's a little tasteless. The paint and sculpt work on the parts though are all well done, and feels more appropriate for the character, rather then the void holes Funko Pops have for eyes.

One other thing Toon Zelda has as an advantage, alongside (by the looks of the almost 1000 of these things?!) is articulation. Thanks to the stand pieces she comes with, you're free to pose her in any way. Her head's on a pair of swivel joints (a spare of which comes in the box), though are limited by her hair, arms and elbows, due to the connections not having any locking points, have swivels on them, her dress has a ball joint around the legs (though it could be another pair of swivels to do the same function, and even her legs under the dress have little ball joints. The armature she uses to connect to the base plate also has two hinges to assist in poses. I really like this as it gives a lot more display options for her, which I do appreciate as it allows for displays to further show the personality the character has, compared to the black eyes and stock pose. There are some disadvantages though.

For one, the price, like it or not, you'll need to import one or hope a local store gets one. The other problem I have is one I didn't think would affect it, Yellowing. What is that I hear you ask? Normally it's when White Plastic starts to turn yellow due to exposure to the Sun. What's weird though is that, because I know Yellowing is common here in Australia, until recently when I had room on my shelf she was stored away in a dark place. The spots that are yellowing are odd too, as it's not her face or the white feathers in her hair. One of her arms did, but it's most noticeable on her pink dress. Ironically it's the reason I bumped this review up over another Lego review. If anyone can point me in the direction of a way to fix this, that would be great.

So yeah, this whole thing was a barely hidden excuse to point out why I think Funko's are creepy, and look for help with yellowing... something more official next week I swear, where there'll be a mix of spooky and scary things in the lead up to that one holiday most of my audience participates in but is barely a thing here... See you next week!