Chobits Gashapon Part 1 (Crystal Version)

Product Information/Specifications

Introduction

When I saw these Chobits gashapons, I wanted to get the colour version.  However, I was very slow & managed to get the crystal version instead at Sakura Media.  I was told that the colour version were not longer available in the market.  These were the first gashapon set I have ever own which would later create my gashapon collecting frenzy.  Now, both versions are no longer available in the market.

Currently, I have these gashapons back in their capsules after displaying them for some time.  They have been in their capsules for a very long time now.  So, this will be an incomplete review in terms of having pictures.

Some of the pictures aren't clear & good.  If I have time, I'll redo the bad ones & repost them.

The Review

Chobits Part 1 Gashapon Paper

There are five gashapon figurines in this set.  There are no secret figurines & there are two versions as mentioned before: the colour version & crystal version.  The set mainly contains Chii.  Only one is Sumomo.  The set has Chii in in her bakery uniform, Chii in a school gym uniform, Chii with a pair of panties in her head, Chii taking a bath, & Sumomo writing on a piece of paper.

The capsules for the gashapon figurines is the same ones that K&M uses for their other gashapons.  It's a fairly round ball with the label wrapped around in the middle where the two capsule halves are connected.

Putting the figurines together, it was a challenge.  Even though this was my first gashapon set, it's still challenging to people that collect gashapons & build them before.  The pieces are delicate & can come off quite easily by lightly touching them.  Some of the parts are too close to one another; causing problems in putting some joints/pegs together.  Plus, they are fairly loose which explains how they come off easily.  You basically need to glue the parts together for some of them.  The worse one is Sumomo as she's small & the parts are a pain in the ass since they are connect fairly close together.

As for stability, the figurines stay pretty well on their own.  Sumomo is a bit of a problem to get her stability because of how delicate she is.  Once you get her displayed, it's smooth sailing from there.

Overall Conclusion

The Chobits Gashapon Part 1 set isn't a bad set to own.  It's a shame that I got the crystal version instead of the colour one.  However, I read that if you shine light on them, they look very nice.  I tried it before & they do look nice.  However, you can't have light on them all the time since it produce heat & can cause them to deform later on.  Plus, it's a waste of electricity & how often would you give them light just to display them?  Currently, I have them set away in their capsules & living in my closet.  I don't know if I plan to take them out again in the future after displaying them once when I first purchased them.

The Chobits Gashapon Part 1 set nets a 7.5/10.  The design is cute as gives it that CLAMP feeling.  The figurines have a lot of great poses & are very lively.  The bad part about them is how loose the joints are which can cause them to fall apart easily.  It's highly recommended to use glue on them.  From today's standards, they are pretty small & mainly consist of Chii.  However, at that time, the size is average & Chii was a very popular character in the series.  Another downside from this review alone is that I got the crystal version.  I would score it higher if I got the colour version.  The colour version's paint job is done very well & detailed if you are wondering.  This is based on when I saw them on display at some anime stores.

Although I would recommend this set to Chobit fans (the colour version preferred), this is extremely hard to get now.  Although I seen some of the figurines sold separately on online auctions, they are priced quite high at around US$10 a piece at the lowest.  I have never seen them sold as a set for a very long time now.  They are still highly sought after even though the series is pretty much close to dead.  Although the price for a set has gone down a bit, the price is still high.  When there was some available left & Chobits still being popular, the price was around the US$100 range.  Keep in mind that it's for the colour version.  The crystal version has little to no value.

Photos were taken using Sony DSC-F828 digital still camera.

Last updated on February 19, 2008