Figuarts ZERO - Nico Robin (New World ver.)

Nico Robin, the archaeologist of the Straw Hat Pirates. The fifth addition to my Figuarts ZERO collection which is also a part of the New World series.

This is Nico Robin in her appearance after the 2-year time skip. She is the seventh member and the second female character of the crew (more details here). One of my favorite characters,... well actually all the characters the crew are my favorite, that's why I have to complete them all, Pokemon style (as well as the POP, hope my wallet and wife agrees).

This figure was released late November 2011 at 2,625 yen, but I was not able to get it since I am not yet into One Piece at that time (stupid me, watching some crap anime's when there is humungousaurus sized episode count of One Piece to marathon).

Last February 2012 (after me and my wife endured sleepless nights to keep track to recent episodes and got addicted), I tried looking for it online and fortunately I found an available stock along with Chopper at Hobby Frontier, a local online store. It was a good buy at discounted price, but too bad that store does not sell Figuarts ZERO releases regularly. But they have regular releases of POP though.

The figure stands 155 mm., the tallest of my One Piece Figuarts ZERO collection so far. See the size comparison below with the other straw hat crew in new World series.

Figuarts ZERO - Straw Hat Pirates (New World ver.)

But comparing to Ichigo, Robin is shorter as Ichigo is 170 mm tall.

Below are the box shots

Box Art and Contents

The box art is pretty much the same as that of Luffy's since the box design is the same for all the straw hat crew members in New World version series, except for the colors. The box sizes are also almost the same but with the exception of Chopper, which is small, and Franky, which is huge (I don't have him yet at the time of writing, waiting for the re-release).

On the front top part of the box, you will notice the silver Toei sticker, which means that this is an international version since I got is locally. On the left side, you will see the promotional photos of all the straw hat crew with Robin at the front center, this same style is present on all the rest of the New World straw hat figures, showing the featured character at the front center.

The figure comes with a base and a small clear plastic that can be used to help Robin stand without the base.

Photo Gallery

I have mixed feelings about this figure. First of all, the face does not look much like Nico Robin as in the anime or manga. It must be the nose because Robin has a specially drawn nose and the nose of this figure looks, duh! The face shape I think is not Robin-ish also. The eyes is detailed nicely though, and the eyebrows looks as that of Robin's. The lips also came out, blah! The face in general is actually not too bad but the likeness to Robin came out short. The sunglasses on her head also looks odd because of the bridge being too long. If you imagine her wearing these glasses it will look weird because the eyeglass will not fall on the right place on the eyes. And also the painting of the sunglasses have a lot of issues. Bandai need to put more attention to this if they are going to release more Nico Robin versions in the future.

Front and top part of the hair is nice and there is no visible seams, maybe because its black. But I'm not satisfied with the ends of the hair strands, it looks unnatural. It looks like a week of unshampooed hair, trying to be blown by the winds. I understand that this is plastic but come on, I think Bandai did better on Ichigo's hair in the Final Getsuga Tensho form.

On the plus side, the painting on the clothing is fine with different finish that represents the type material. Like the shiny jacket-like blouse looks made of leather and the skirt is made of cloth. I like the sculpting of the ripples and details of the skirt, it looks natural. The floral design on it is also fine. The fingernails are painted. There is a visible seam on the right shoulder and the sides of the skirt but not too serious.

The pose is fine. I can't think of any pose for her other than waving her hands to show some hints about her devil fruit ability. But I also think that just a simple pin-up girl pose would also look good.

The top chest part has some dark shading that looks unnatural. I guess it is too much shading. The butt crack and the butt itself though looks natural as the skirt conforms with it.

The figure cannot stand by itself without the clear plastic support if not on the base stand. So its either you use the base stand, or the clear plastic. The clear plastic does not look bad though as it hides at the back. Aside from Robin's name printed on the base, it has her personal jolly roger and some Japanese writing that I cannot read.

Overall the sculpt of this figure is okay. Not perfect but not too bad also. She may not look a lot like Nico Robin as far as the face is concerned but all the fans can still recognize her unique appearance. It still have the sexiness of a female figure. The crew is not complete without Nico Robin so she is still a must have to complete my New World series collection. I hope Megahouse will give a proper justification of this character in their POP Sailing Again release, can't wait for that.

I hope you enjoy the gallery. Check out other One Piece Figuarts ZERO here.