Have You Included The Captain To Your February 2014 Plans?

It has been two weeks now since the preorder for POP Edition-Z - Monkey D. Luffy has began (check-out the preorder announcement here). We've seen the promo photos all over the internet already. But I haven't had a chance to talk about it yet here on my blog. 

The first thing that I would like to talk about is the release date. I mentioned in my earlier post is that I'm assuming this to be a March 2014 release, considering that there are already three POPs scheduled to be released for February 2014 alone. Those three are POP Edition-Z - Roronoa Zoro, POP MAS - Tony Tony Chopper (Horn Point) and POP LIMITED - Nami (Mugiwara Ver). But to my surprise, POP Edition-Z - Monkey D. Luffy will also be released on the same month. This makes four POPs to blow away your wallets in one go like a hurricane.

Every POP collector is probably worrying about these release schedules, especially those like me who is on a tight budget and also considering of getting some other collectibles aside from POPs. But this is Luffy, and like I said earlier, no strawhat crew collection is complete without the captain. Who knows, MegaHouse might end up delaying any of these February 2014 releases.

Release schedule aside, let's talk about the figure itself. It looks really nice on all angles but considering Luffy's character design, you're not getting much PVC meat. The upper body looks so thin, specially without the red/yellow vest. I think they should have added more bulk to his body since this is a post time-skip Luffy where he have gained a bit of muscles from the 2-year training. It should be just like the same body size of the POP SA Luffy. This one is definitely much more skinny.

A lot of fans were wishing for an optional Armament Haki arm to be included, but based on these photos, it seems that the only alternate parts included are one right arm and one left arm without the sleeves to go along with the vest-less display and an optional open palm left hand to be able to hold the straw hat. We also got a serious face. No black shiny fist for the Armament Haki. 

Overall, this figure really looks good. It looks a lot better as compared to POP SA Luffy, both being Luffy's post-timeskip appearance. Detail wise, everything is there. From the hair, face, vest, trousers and slippers, all are greatly detailed. Just like I said, my only complain is the less muscular body which I find a little awkward without the vest, specially in side view. I'm not planning to display it without the vest anyway, so I think it's not of a big deal.

POP Edition-Z - Monkey D. Luffy retails for 7,600 yen (inclusive of tax) and scheduled to reach store shelves on February 2014. Preorders and now open at HLJ, Amiami, Hobby Search, and Figmation. Better check out these stores and secure your order. I just find it weird that it hasn't gone sold out yet on these Japanese based hobby shops. Anyway, I'm sure this is gonna be one of the rare, high valued figure in the future. I'm still hoping for the version with red coat with sword and meat on his back though :)

Below are the official promo photos.