Bootleg Nendoroid #97 Snow Miku

Sorry to keep everyone waiting,I didn't have a chance with the computer this past few weeks because we had our school's graduation practice,and the main graduation.The thing is I was too busy to be near the computer in the past weeks.And by the way I'd like to say sorry in advance for the photos because they were shot from the bedroom floor.

But,Setting that aside,today I am going to review Nendoroid #97 Snow Miku. Nendoroids are Japanese 4 inch action figures based on popular anime characters made by Goodsmile Company.They are made for ages 15 and up,which is appropriate because of they have very small removable parts. Snow Miku is a winter version of Hatsune Miku ( a singer from the VOCALOID 2 software) designed to be nendoroids for the annual Winter Wonderfest(popularly called wonfest).There are currently 5 Snow Miku Nendoroids produced as of 2014.The first 2 Snow Mikus (2010 & 2011) were designed by GSC. But the next batch of snow mikus were from GSC's snow miku design contest where users participate & design a themed snow miku.The winner gets to have their design used for the nendoroid.I actually participated at the last snow miku contest(the theme was magical girl),but I only did it for fun,so I didn't win xD LOL. Snow Miku was very popular with nendoroid collectors because of her rarity and her unique design. As with most popular things,Nendoroids also had bootlegs.And that is what I am going to review today.

Let's start with her box.The whole box sports a white and blue color scheme that looks good and keeps with the snow/winter theme. Hatsune Miku,GSC and Nendoroid Logos are scattered around the sides of the box. There are windows in the front,left and right sides of the box so you can peek through the contents.The Upper,Lower,Back,Left and Right sides of the box contains snow miku in various poses she can do.

Front View

Top View

Bottom View

Right Side View

Back View

Left Side View

Close Ups :

So here is our snow miku in her box

Even in her box she looks so pretty. :)

Onto unboxing! Based on my experience,Nendoroids(bootleg or Original) are easier to unbox compared to barbie type dolls(except for bootlegs).Most of the accessories are held with tape or sealed in a small plastic bag and they were never EVER held using twist ties.You just remove the tape from the top/bottom of the box,pull and open the plastic shell and you're done.(additional removal of tape are present in bootlegs.)

easy as pie.

plus the cardboard behind the shell is also removable.It looks really cute for photoshoot back drops.

It has Nendoroid written all over it.

Now here's the nendoroid with all of it's accessories.It has 1 spare hair piece,2 extra faces, an ice leek,a 3-piece stand,an extra bent arm,an extra hand and an extra leg.

Sorry for the grainy pic,the camera was being really weird.

I have to mention something about the stand though.I saw some blogs that review nendoroids with these stands and saw them whine about how they don't fit the nendoroid.The thing is,they're a bunch of idiots or something.All you have to do is place the "w" shape thingy HALFWAY the base so your nendoroid doesn't look like it's levitating.Seriously,my 7 year old cousin got it right the first time she encountered my nendoroids.

Here's another thing;bootleg nendoroids always have an indicator that they are fakes,some can be difficult to spot,but most of the times they are pretty obvious.Snow Miku apparently has obvious differences,she has shiny faces,discolored joints,low quality and most obviously...her eyes are on the wrong expression.

This expression was supposed to have forward looking eyes....

...and this one is supposed to have side glancing eyes.

Setting that aside.We'll take a look at the nendoroid first.One thing that makes this nendoroid stand out is her semi-transparent twintails,which help her stand(pun intended).Basically she has 10 points of articulation.2 on her twintails,1 on her head,2 on her arms,2 on her hands,1 on her waist and 2 on her legs.

Miku has this signature "01" tattoo,so does snow miku

closer look at her hair.

If you noticed in the back view picture,her joint on the right twintail is pink.It's original joint was the transparent joint and was replaced by another joint.This was because I accidentally broke it while opening.What you have to do before you play with her hair is to pull it out, DO NOT ROTATE IT UPON REMOVAL.You have to pull it to loosen it.

Nendoroids,as I have mentioned earlier,have many removable parts making them very poseable and customizable.

This was rude.But I had to include it since her skirt and her leg area are seperate pieces.
Blue ribbon xD

Another fun thing about nendoroids are their face swapping abilities.A majority of the nendoroids have extra faces with them.Changing faces is simple,just remove the head,pull off the bangs,pull of the face,replace it and return the bangs and body.

BAM! Instant new facemold!

Of course this nendoroid had other spare parts for more poseability. Here are some pics of NSM recreating the poses found at the box.

The last few accessories(face,hair,hand,ice leek) are inspired by Hatsune Miku's version of Ievan Polka(one of the songs that made Miku famous),but to keep with the snow theme,they were altered to look wintery.

Now there is a reason why there is an alternate hair piece.The reason behind it is that the Ievan Polka expression (A.K.A. Hachune Miku face) has eyes in a different position.The alternate bangs are there so that her hair doesn't obscure her face.

I've mentioned earlier that she is around 4 inches. despite the huge difference ,I wanted to see the scaling/differences of nendoroids and barbies.So,in keeping up with the snowy theme I used the bootleg elsa doll.

Before I end the review I'd like to show you some of my fave pics of  my nendoroid.

Random IronMan Appeared!

Final Thoughts? These things were made for adult collectors,and I think it meets up to the adult collector's standards. Personally,I would love to buy the original versions of these things but since I don't have any money,these are nice stand-ins.However,I recommend buying the real things,if you have a chance, because by doing just that,you'll be supporting the people who work hard for making these. Nendoroids are really fun toys for collectors and they offer a wide variety of animes and they look really cute.That's all for today.Thanks for reading.