Takara Tomy Mega Blaziken Plush Review
Hello there! I just got my new Tomy Mega Blaziken plush with the electronic Mega Stone in the mail today, and thought I'd do a quick review of him in case anyone was on the fence about buying him or Swampert or Sceptile and wanted a better look. I've got some pictures and a short video below!
First off, the plush itself is fairly small. I believe Blaziken is the tallest of the three, and he reaches just 10 inches to the top of his head, 11 if you measure to his head feathers. However, the plush is packaged in a box as Tomy seems to be doing now, which drove up the shipping cost. The plush itself retails for about 4100 yen, which is a bit pricey for something not so big.
I forgot to take a picture of my box, so here's one of the back from Pokevault. If someone wants a closer picture to read, I'll get one!
The big thing that drives up the price for these plush is the included Mega Stone. It has a motion sensor in it that causes the Stone to make noises when you shake it. It's also supposed to react to the Mega Ring, but I guess the one I have isn't compatible with these as I couldn't get it to do anything.
(Edit: I got the Mega Ring to work, and it's actually quite responsive! There's a video below!)
The Mega Stone makes a few different sounds, but none are too exciting. Just regular "bam"s and "zing"s-- attack and powery kind of sounds. I was hoping for game or even anime cries, but no. It's a little disappointing, though I guess I shouldn't have expected anything too different from what the separate Stones/Mega Ring do.
Looking closer at the plush, it's decently made. He's all velboa, with a bit of felt for some details like the forehead crest. He's got a nice shape overall, and I really like the shape of his face.
His flames are a bit odd, though. The yellow parts are felt, which seems thinner than other felt on him, while the orange parts are plasticized. They make the flames fairly heavy, and as the plush is made to be shaken, they clack together a lot. If this was given to a kid, I can see those getting damaged fairly easily.
The Mega Stone is on an elastic band, so it can be removed from the plush. The elastic is very tight, and my Blaziken already has an indent around his middle where the band cuts in. I may take it off of him if it starts to get worse.
Here's a comparison with the other Mega Blaziken plush-- the one from the Pokemon Center. The Tomy plush is a bit smaller, and a bit less bulky. Where the PokeCen one is a mix of minky and scratchy ivory fabric, the Tomy one uses velboa for all the main parts of the plush. He's not quite as soft as the minky parts of the PokeCen one, but softer than the ivory parts.
The Tomy plush has a nicer face with a slightly more accurate look. His eyes also look better since the pupils are easier to see.
While there's a lot of thin, non-double-sided details, I was surprised that the Tomy's tail is actually nicely done and stuffed, unlike the Pokecen's flat piece of fabric. There is not getting the Tomy's flames to stand up, though, where the Pokecen's stand up okay.
And of course I had to include the talons. The Tomy's feet have embroidered talons, where the Pokecen's are pieces of felt sticking out. I kind of like the Tomy's more here.
Mega Blaziken Video
Here's a video of him! He's supposed to be able to "charge" and go into "Mega Evolution Mode", but I can't seem to figure him out. Most of the sounds he makes are very similar, though, so the video should give a good idea of what these guys do.
Mega Blaziken With Mega Ring
And there's a video of him interacting with the Mega Ring!
Overview
Pros:
*Decent-looking plush with some nice details
*Including the Mega Stone is a decent idea
Cons:
*Not especially big for the price
*Electronic Mega Stone was a bit underwhelming
*A bit too much felt/flat details
Overall, it's a decent plush, but I feel like the Mega Stone, which is the main reason for the higher price, left something to be desired. If you just want a single plush of the Mega Starters, I'd recommend the Pokecen ones.
Finishing up, here's a picture of all the official Blaziken plush so far!
(And a side thought: Why do bootleggers insist that Blaziken is orange...?)
Well, I think that's all for now, but I'll have an actual collection update soon with a few new cool customs. If anyone wants any other pictures of the new Tomy Blaziken plush, let me know! Thanks for reading, and have a great day!
First off, the plush itself is fairly small. I believe Blaziken is the tallest of the three, and he reaches just 10 inches to the top of his head, 11 if you measure to his head feathers. However, the plush is packaged in a box as Tomy seems to be doing now, which drove up the shipping cost. The plush itself retails for about 4100 yen, which is a bit pricey for something not so big.
I forgot to take a picture of my box, so here's one of the back from Pokevault. If someone wants a closer picture to read, I'll get one!
The big thing that drives up the price for these plush is the included Mega Stone. It has a motion sensor in it that causes the Stone to make noises when you shake it. It's also supposed to react to the Mega Ring, but I guess the one I have isn't compatible with these as I couldn't get it to do anything.
(Edit: I got the Mega Ring to work, and it's actually quite responsive! There's a video below!)
The Mega Stone makes a few different sounds, but none are too exciting. Just regular "bam"s and "zing"s-- attack and powery kind of sounds. I was hoping for game or even anime cries, but no. It's a little disappointing, though I guess I shouldn't have expected anything too different from what the separate Stones/Mega Ring do.
Looking closer at the plush, it's decently made. He's all velboa, with a bit of felt for some details like the forehead crest. He's got a nice shape overall, and I really like the shape of his face.
His flames are a bit odd, though. The yellow parts are felt, which seems thinner than other felt on him, while the orange parts are plasticized. They make the flames fairly heavy, and as the plush is made to be shaken, they clack together a lot. If this was given to a kid, I can see those getting damaged fairly easily.
The Mega Stone is on an elastic band, so it can be removed from the plush. The elastic is very tight, and my Blaziken already has an indent around his middle where the band cuts in. I may take it off of him if it starts to get worse.
Here's a comparison with the other Mega Blaziken plush-- the one from the Pokemon Center. The Tomy plush is a bit smaller, and a bit less bulky. Where the PokeCen one is a mix of minky and scratchy ivory fabric, the Tomy one uses velboa for all the main parts of the plush. He's not quite as soft as the minky parts of the PokeCen one, but softer than the ivory parts.
The Tomy plush has a nicer face with a slightly more accurate look. His eyes also look better since the pupils are easier to see.
While there's a lot of thin, non-double-sided details, I was surprised that the Tomy's tail is actually nicely done and stuffed, unlike the Pokecen's flat piece of fabric. There is not getting the Tomy's flames to stand up, though, where the Pokecen's stand up okay.
And of course I had to include the talons. The Tomy's feet have embroidered talons, where the Pokecen's are pieces of felt sticking out. I kind of like the Tomy's more here.
Mega Blaziken Video
Here's a video of him! He's supposed to be able to "charge" and go into "Mega Evolution Mode", but I can't seem to figure him out. Most of the sounds he makes are very similar, though, so the video should give a good idea of what these guys do.
Mega Blaziken With Mega Ring
And there's a video of him interacting with the Mega Ring!
Overview
Pros:
*Decent-looking plush with some nice details
*Including the Mega Stone is a decent idea
Cons:
*Not especially big for the price
*Electronic Mega Stone was a bit underwhelming
*A bit too much felt/flat details
Overall, it's a decent plush, but I feel like the Mega Stone, which is the main reason for the higher price, left something to be desired. If you just want a single plush of the Mega Starters, I'd recommend the Pokecen ones.
Finishing up, here's a picture of all the official Blaziken plush so far!
(And a side thought: Why do bootleggers insist that Blaziken is orange...?)
Well, I think that's all for now, but I'll have an actual collection update soon with a few new cool customs. If anyone wants any other pictures of the new Tomy Blaziken plush, let me know! Thanks for reading, and have a great day!