[Toys] Pokemon Plamo - B/W fire starter line

So here's something that isn't Kamen Rider, but still Bandai.

Bandai of Japan (not sure how that translates over here in the US) makes a series of Pokemon model kits which are called Plamo (Plastic Models), which involve Pokemon from the DS era with Diamond/Pearl, HeartGold/SoulSilver, and of course, Black/White. They're all fairly simple (something you'll see me say here multiple times) but boy, they... you'll see.

As a precursor I will warn you; Do NOT go by what's on the front of the box when it comes to quality. The models provided on the box are painted model kits. The idea is you're given stickers to add all the colors needed, but the detailing is there for you to paint if you so choose. So yeah - keep in mind that model kits will only come with a few basic colors of plastic, the rest is paint work. Or stickers, if you wanna take a somewhat easier route.

I chose the wonderful firepig line because I'm doing a Nuzlocke run of Black and chose it as my starter, so I do kinda have an attachment to this one.

Let's get to the point now, shall we?

The packaging is pretty simple to start with, just a box with some sprues (the parts practically just pop off, no cutting needed), a large sheet of stickers and a pamphlet that provides easy to follow assembly instructions. As you'll notice, there is a bunch of yellow, so let's start with that...

IT'S PIKACHU!

So yes. As he's the mascot of this little franchise, you're given a Pikachu as a bonus piece. Pictures of other kits online tells me a lot of the starter Pokemon come with a Pikachu as well, each in a different pose depending on the set. Nothing to write home about, but it's a nice thing for them to toss in.

Pikachu's a very simple one since he's a bonus, only 4 parts that snap together. Everything here that isn't yellow is sticker work (except the nose thank goodness, I had to add that myself with paint), which gave me a good practice for what I'd be in for. Let's explain that then...

So, these designs in particular have a lot of rounded spots that need sticker work. To accomplish this, the stickers have these cuts on them which allow them to sort of wrap around the figure, like in the case of Pikachu's ears. These result in a type of look that resembles crumbled papers. It's really not that good looking and if I had paint, I would do that instead, because wow. Some of these get nuts in the other figures.

Also, there's some crazy intricate stickers too. Pikachu's tail has three stickers just to add a patch of brown on the bottom of it, including a thin stripe that is made to run down the zigzaggity sides. I can't say it enough; you have been warned.

Ka-BUUU

Right, so Tepig! Tepig is posed much like his character art, with no real articulation. His stickers are fairly acceptable on the face, though the patch of yellow is not sticking well. The troublesome bits are... for one, the back half of the body requires one sticker that wraps around the body, which doesn't work so well.

Also, the front feet have a tiny sticker that is applied at the bottom and is supposed to wrap around the front. Very tricky to do at this scale.

I added paint to the mouth myself. But that's besides the point. Tepig is a nice representation of himself.

Next up is Pignite. Okay, so first things first, he is also just a statue, posed like his character art as well. Second, his arms require way too many stickers. See, to get all those colors, more stickers are wrapped around them. Specifically, there's a front piece and a back piece to both arms.

Also, the feet have more of those kind of stickers, and in this case I think his feet are even smaller, so... yeah, trick. He has an interesting cheat with the teeth where the eye stickers have a spot of orange to blend in with the body, but nothing else of notice.

I also added paint to the mouth here, and the eyebrows (which as you can see got on the eyes, whoops...) Pignite is not my favorite, but he gets the job done I guess.

So, here's the big boy, Emboar. Man. MAN. Okay. So this guy has a lot more going on and is probably where most of the budget went seeing as how he's got more parts AND some articulation! The arms can move up and down on a swivel and the elbows can bend, which means you can have him with his arms splayed open as to prepare for a bro to come at him. Or you can have him posed like his character art with the arms flexing downward.

An additional gimmick is which you have the arms raised up, the mouth opens. I like this a lot personally, the fun part in model kits is building mechanisms and finding out their purpose later.

So, stickers... There's some nice ones here, actually. Some simple red and yellow stripes are seen here. The feet, once again, have those kind of stickers. The spiral pattern Pignite has are present here as well. The fingers, well, you can see how messy they are, if I had paint I would fix this really fast.

My favorite part of the stickers however are the teeth and mouth, because they make sense. The teeth are made up of stickers that wrap around, sure, but because of how they're built, they are easy to apply and hard to mess up. Also, the tongue and roof of mouth are stickered, which is a nice detail. The eyes also look good and thanks to the eyebrows, are not coming off anytime soon.

Additionally, this model adds in an extra color by making the flames out of clear red plastic! How they built the piece makes it nice and almost seamless considering it's three pieces, however you don't have the option to remove them because... it looks really weird without the flames. Also, the flames had some yellow stickers on them to add more color, but I took them off because I like the clear red on its own.

So, well after writing the writing and photography portion of this review was over with, I ended up taking off most of the stickers on all three models and just decided to add paint in what ways I could. I lack colors, so... I added many coats of white, then applied marker. Yeah. Despite that, they look alright. It was a hassle getting this all painted, but somehow more satisfying, and especially more pleasing to the eye than those silly stickers were.

I think that from this point I'll follow the wisdom of Vangelus, who always says he will paint parts that very much need paint and use stickers only when he has to. It seems like a smart way to go now that I've got one of these... That said, reviews on model kits might not be quite as sticker-centric if I do this. For the better. I mean really, I'm ranting a lot and I admit it. But to wrap things up...

So, that's what Bandai model kits are like, huh? Well. I certainly wouldn't mind buying another set, but the simplicity is something to keep in mind if you take interest. You're more or less getting a physical representation of the character artwork, which requires stickers or paint to really look good, but if you like Pokemon and like model kits, where's the wrong?
(As an aside, this is not a candy toy, so there is no candy included with this model kit. I know, right? Geez, Bandai.)