A Desert Princess, A Far Away Nakama

A couple of weeks ago, POP Neo-DX - Nefertari Vivi and POP Neo-EX - Sir Crocodile (Repaint ver.) went out for preorder. And it's usual for nice looking POPs like these to be declared sold-out at Amiami and Hobby Search minutes after it went live. It is either these hobby shops has a very limited number to offer, or it's just there's too many collectors who are after these POPs. The latter is probably the case since we all know that POPs are very much sought after, especially for female characters.

And who wouldn't want and POP of Nefertari Vivi, she is one beautiful character from One Piece World. Keep in mind that the first POP Vivi, the "Neo" version has become one of the most hunted POP that its price skyrocketed to more than 6 times its original price.

I never really dreamt of owning that absurdly expesive Neo Vivi, but this new DX version is something not to let pass by. Unlike the Neo, Vivi is in her royal princess dress. This particular outfit wasn't really shown a lot of times in the series but rather just a few moments towards the end of the Alabasta arc.

As you can see in these official promo images, the colors are really fantastic and a sight for sore eyes. Vivi's blue hair complements the pink cape and the white dress is truly majestic with those gold accessories. Her body has that hourglass curves and really looks nice at every angle. Her face of course is very lovely with that smile. She comes with two hairstyles, one with her hair down but held by a clip, and one with ponytails.

I don't see any reason not to get this POP so my money will definitely be going for this one. She is slated to be released on January 2014 along with POP Neo-EX - Sir Crocodile (Repaint ver.) with the price tags of 8,190 yen and 8,400 yen respectively.

If you have missed the preorders for Vivi and you're after the Japanese distributions, unfortunately she is already sold out on most Japanese based stores. But these stores sometimes reopens preorders so do check-out these links from time to time for your chances - HLJ, Amiami, and Hobby Search. For international distributions, don't worry these stores can get you covered - Animarket, Hobby Frontier and Figmation.

Bringing Back the Memories of Alabasta

Rewinding a few years back to give way to some of the characters to remember in the world of One Piece. This month's MegaHouse's POP preorder offering are the two characters from the Alabasta Saga. POP Neo-DX - Nefertari Vivi and POP Neo-EX - Sir Crocodile (Repaint ver.). Preorders for these two POP starts next Wednesday, 11th of September 2013 at 18:00 (JST).

We've seen the completed prototype of these two figures before during the previous MegaHouse exhibits. POP Neo-DX - Nefertari Vivi is so pretty with all those nice colors. This is a great chance to own a POP Vivi figure without spending too much on the now absurdly expensive POP "Neo" Nefetari Vivi. And unlike the Neo, this time she is dressed to show her royal status. I hope a new POP Carue will also be released sometime soon.

POP Neo-EX - Sir Crocodile (Repaint ver.) isn't entirely new but as its name implies, it is a repaint of the older POP Neo-DX - Sir Crocodile. It's pretty obvious that Crocodile is being released to go along with Vivi as both were characters of Alabasta. Well I also noticed earlier that POP Shichibukais were being re-issued or being revamped for some reasons. Starting with Boa Hancock ver. blue, then Blackbeard 1.5, Mihawk ver. 2, Trafalgar Law re-issue, Doflamingo re-issue, and now this Crocodile. Jinbe, Moria, and Kuma were the only ones missing from previously released Shichibukais. Does this mean we're gonna be able to finally see a Buggy POP? Oh, sorry if that's a spoiler to you.

Anyway, back to Sir Crocodile (Repaint ver.). As most of the revamped POPs, this is under Neo-EX. I wonder why they decide to do just a repaint and not a ver. 1.5. I really don't notice any difference compared to the previous release aside form the much shinier gold hook. I don't have the original so I can't really tell much. Well, I'll be getting this so I don't care much about the older version.

Both figures will be released on January 2014. POP Neo-DX - Nefertari Vivi has a price tag of 8,190 yen, while POP Neo-EX - Sir Crocodile (Repaint ver.) doesn't have any pricing details yet, so make sure to check this blog post or my Facebook page for updates.