MRS Monster Hunter Girl #3

Insert cat pun for opening text. Something to do with Pussy Galore perhaps.

First up, a recap of what’s the Motion Revive Series (MRS). MRS are a line of 3.75” figures from Bandai, primarily based on their Kamen Rider property. They’re pretty much the best 3.75” figures out there, being on par or surpassing Hasbro’s 25th Anniversary G.I. Joe. Back in the middle of 2008, Bandai also released a wave of MRS based on the Monster Hunter game property. These were more expensive than regular Kamen Rider MRS, but boasted a greater number of accessories and paintjobs. After fruitlessly searching for over 6 months, I finally found them. Due to the pricing, I only picked this one up, but I plan to get a couple more.

I call her Monster Hunter Girl #3 (MHG3) because there are 8 figures in the Monster Hunter (MH) wave, but only 3 molds. So the base figures are all repaints, but with different accessories. In any case, MHG3 is obviously the “third” use of her mold. She’s a tanned blonde with a quirky set of accessories.

Aesthetics
As mentioned, MHG3 is a tanned blonde anime game girl. So the main issue is regarding her compatibility with other 3.75” toys, particularly with the size of her eyes. Thankfully, this is not the 90s, so while MHG3’s eyes are relatively large, they’re not the stereotypically huge orbs you expect from anime. She can still pass herself off reasonably well with your other 3.75” figs. While we’re on the subject of her eyes, I should say they’re very well applied. I’ve seen many a 3.75” toy with their eyes dotted too small and too high, giving them a “rolled up eyes” look that makes it look like they’re having an unpleasant toygasm (so do be careful when choosing your Padmé or Leia figures).

Being an anime game girl, MHG3’s got nice smooth skin; but they are subtle details, such as the curves of her abdomen and she even has a belly button. But in case you think that means she lacks detailing overall, that would be wrong. While her exposed skin is mostly smooth, her clothing are all extremely well detailed and have really great paint applications. You can can see it in the pics, her clothes (what few she wears) have full detail, and in fact, give a very nice textured feel.

Joints are generally well hidden, partly thanks to sculpt. The only ones that show are her knees and her elbows, though only her inner elbow is an egregious offender. Her neck is really thin though, so it’s not recommend that you remove her collar piece. With it, she looks fine. But hey, that’s why they made her neck so long, to go with the collar. While we’re on the neck, I’m glad to say she has an upright neck that’s well proportioned when you got the collar on. I’ve seen many a 3.75” figure’s neck that for some odd reason, are as long as an ostrich’s and slanting wildly to the front (*cough*Hasbro’sStarWarsAndG.I.Joe*cough*EspeciallyThatMandalorianChick*cough*). I don’t know why that is, it’s just some weird fetish the Hasbro sculptor guy apparently has.

If there’s on problem with MHG3’s sculpt though, is that her arms are too long. It’s not something that’s noticeable right away, but when you do notice, it can be bothersome. Were it not for that, she’d score perfectly for Aesthetics.

Articulation
Near articulated perfection. The only downside is that she can’t do a full side splits (she can still open her legs mind you), partly due to her skirt getting in the way and partly because they there’s an insufficient gap on the top of her hip balljoints. A matter of form over function.

Beyond that, articulated perfection with well hidden joints and well… she’s perfect. Balljointed neck, torso, hips and ankles. Like other Motion Revive Series, she got a double balljointed shoulders, but aside from being well hidden, the outer balljoint is a hinged balljoint. Thus fixing the only flaw in the MRS articulation. MHG3 can lift her arms up to the sides and up, with no restrictions to the range. She’s also got double jointed knees and elbows as well as swivel biceps, wrists and thighs.

There is no point of articulation that MHG3 is missing. She does not have any weaknesses from the regular MRS line. She is clearly superior to regular MRS, which means she’s also superior to G.I. Joe, which also means that Star Wars is left even further behind in the dirt, and that the Mattel figures are… well, they’re looking even worse than before.

Accessories
MHG3 has the quirkiest set of accessories amongst the Monster Hunter Motion Revive Series. She’s obviously the “joke” character. She has an alternate stitched up Cheshire Cat head, a barrel with a fuse, a cat paw club, a cat emblem buckler and an alternate set of hands with holes to peg into for better weapon holding stability. She also has a fluffy tail purse that attaches to the back of her skirt, but that probably shouldn’t be considered an accessory as the skirt doesn’t look right without it.

Not the most impressive assortment of items available, but I have enough “serious” weapons and specifically aimed to get MHG3 for her quirky tool set.

Overall
Where I am, Star Wars are expensive. A single carded figure typically cost over 35 local dollars. This is why I enjoy MRS and even G.I. Joe, both of which only cost around 20 bucks here, while being far superior to Star Wars in terms of justifiable variety and articulation.

Note: Incidentally, a McValue Meal/Combo costs around 10 bucks.

Monster Hunter Motion Revive Series cost about the same as Star Wars, but I gotta say, I’m a lot more willing to drop the cash for them, and in fact, I plan to grab a couple more later today. While I’m not familiar with the characters, what I do know is this:

The Monster Hunter Motion Revive Series offers what is easily the best 3.75” base figure out there right now, with top notch sculpting and the best articulation available. And even comes with a nice and varied set of accessories.

4.4 out of 5

———————————–
0.0 – 0.0 = I’d pay to get rid of it
0.1 – 0.5 = I’d give it away
0.6 – 1.0 = I wouldn’t take it for free
1.1 – 1.5 = Very Bad
1.6 – 2.0 = Bad
2.1 – 2.5 = Average
2.6 – 3.0 = Good
3.1 – 3.5 = Very Good
3.6 – 4.0 = Excellent
4.1 – 4.5 = Worth high pricing
4.6 – 5.0 = Worth inflated secondary market pricing

* 4.1 – 4.5 is for slightly inflated secondary market or unreasonably high (retail) pricing.