Series 1 of the @wickedcooltoys Pokémon figures are here! I’ve been playing with them and examining them all day. This is a brand new line and I have been excited about it since we got to see the first images back in February. I like to remain positive about toys, however it is important for me to be honest. From a collector’s standpoint, these figures have disillusioned me. We were shown flawless and amazing product photos that show gorgeous toys. The real product however drastically fails to replicate those product shots and instead feel more like haphazardly produced copies. Great sculpts are met with both excess and lacking coverage of plastic in the molding process, and are finished with misaligned colors using thin (semi-translucent) paints. The resulting figures look average at best and fail to shine like their prototype predecessors. Figures like Alolan Rattata and Litten which are cast in dark plastics have suffered the most with the thin paint, resulting in dull looking figures. A more opaque or double coat of paint could have taken them farther. There are standouts in Alolan Muk who’s paint job isn’t as bad and actually adds to its character as well as Wobuffet and Sandygast which have minimal painted details. All other figures have issues here and there, like my Pikachu having an odd piece of plastic lump sticking out of one of its ears. It is too early to draw conclusions on this line and as with any new product, kinks must be worked out and improvements made as lessons are learned and mistakes minimized. I encourage Pokémon fans to support the line despite minor setbacks in quality control. We still have not seen the 4” figures and there’s a lot more to be released in the coming months. I know there are lingering questions about how these compare to Tomy’s toys and I will be contrasting and comparing individual figures in the coming days