Another month, another Nendoroid! This time I’m covering another Pokemon Center US release of fan-favorite Trainer N from Pokemon Black and White!
There’s also an interesting choice for the blue paint on his pendant. It’s only reflective at certain angles of light, and looks dark otherwise. The slight flashes of blue are nice to see in person! On another paint note, once again I’m a huge fan of the gradient painting on the spikes of his hair. Not only does it give a different sense of how his hairstyle works (I have other N figures where his hair is a matte color, and the gradient produces a different effect) but it also draws the eye away from some of the seam lines on his ponytail. The ponytail itself also has a little bit of articulation so that it can “move” with him in the more action-based poses.
The front of N’s hat works as part of the front bang piece, so it’s almost cut in half to allow for removal when swapping out his faceplates. While not part of his original design, I like that the seamen here looks like it’s just part of the hat, making the figure look much nicer from above than other bang gaps I’ve seen in this line.
Like Cynthia before him, N doesn’t come with a lot of accessories. One is a Pokeball, which is a little bit of an odd addition if you are familiar with his character. However, since this is a Pokemon figure, it’s little surprise that he would get a Pokeball. Also like Cynthia, he has a separate arm piece just for holding the Pokeball.
N’s other accessories include different hands (like the pointing one pictured) and some alternative sleeves so that he can hold his arms at different angles. He also has only one other faceplate, a smile accompanied with a dead-eyed stare. Truth be told, I was a little creeped out by that faceplate at first, but when I thought about it a bit more, I came to the conclusion that it’s very fitting for N’s character! In the game, he has a creepy edge that doesn’t come from any maliciousness, yet he’s scary all the same… This faceplate does a perfect job capturing that feeling. Finally, he also comes with a slightly bent leg in order to recreate his battle art, but it also works well to make the illusion that he’s walking. Why don’t more Nendoroids have a piece like that?
But once again, the surprise star of this release is the Pokemon that came with him! Reshiram joins N in a stunning recreation that gave me the most trouble putting together out of anything else that came out of that box. The head—which is attached on through a ball joint—was very fiddly, and the pegs for the legs were larger than the holes in the main body, which mean that I had to take a bit more time getting Reshiram set up than I’d expected. However, the results are stunning, so my complaints end there.
Reshiram is not as versatile in figure form as Cynthia’s Garchomp, but the movement range on the head as well as the slight articulation on the wings still allows for a lot of cool poses with Reshiram. But even without that, just as a piece on its own, it looks great. All of the smaller carved details coming out the white make me happy just looking at it!
A battle so epic that my light tent wasn’t big enough
Overall, I highly recommend this Nendoroid to any fan of the character, not just collectors. Just like Cynthia, this is a very well put together Nendoroid with small details that will make any fan of the games and the character happy. This figure is currently available from the Pokemon Center US store, so N can be home in time for the holidays! Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to keep crossing my fingers for a Trainer White Nendoroid so that these two can be reunited at last…
Until next time, happy figure collecting!
