Pokémon toys have pretty much vanished from every toy aisle in every big store I have been to. I was really surprised to find these figures when I totally didn't expect it. There weren't a lot of them, and when I saw that there was only one Jolteon left, I knew I had to get at least that one. The cost of one pack was 15,99€. Maybe a bit overpriced, but then again, they are quite big too. With a heavy heart, I left without buying Vaporeon and Flareon.
I didn't last long. I waited for four days, before returning to the store to get the two others. I was in luck as seemingly nobody else had been interested in the Pokemon toys. There were still two Vaporeons and three Flareons on the shelf, the same amount there was the last time I was there. I picked the figures that looked to be in the best condition. The other Vaporeon had paint splatters around its ear, and two of the Flareon's had their eyes placed a little wonky. The Flareon I picked had the best looking eyes, but it unfortunately has some tiny black paint splatters too. I haven't tried it yet, but maybe I can remove them with some nail polish remover or maybe they could be just scraped off.
Once I took the figures out of the packaging, I noticed on Vaporeon and Jolteon that one of the hind legs is shorter than the others. No matter how I try to place the legs to make them stand evenly, that one leg never touches the ground. I don't really see a point to why the legs even need to move at all. Moving the legs too far apart will only make the figure fall over.
My Vaporeon has a tiny streak of paint going down the eye and the eyes themselves aren't really perfectly placed. Looking past that, I think it does have a really cute expression, I like the open mouth, it almost looks like it's smiling. That tail though, I'm not sure I like that. I would have preferred if it had just nicely curved beside Vaporeon instead of being raised so high.
I really like this Jolteon! The pose and everything. I only wish they could have given it some more expression. Its eyes have this spaced out look. With the aggressive looking pose, I wish the eyes reflected that. Or close the mouth maybe? Or putting some teeth in the open mouth? Even though I like it, it needs some "oomph", because as it is, it borderlines looking a bit derpy. Or yes, it does look derpy with both eyes visible. But if you view it from an angle when only one eye visible it looks great! Also, I think Jolteon's spiky collar is a tiny bit over sized, or it appears to be if you look at it straight on from the front.
Oh Flareon, what did they do to you? I hate that clearly visible seam on the tail. And that fur collar is too big which makes Flareon's legs look even shorter than what they already are. This Flareon is a chonker.
Let's compare these new figures to the figures from the Eeveelutions Multi Pack
I bought three years ago.
The new figures are overall slightly larger than the old ones. I like the expression more on the new figure and the general shape of Vaporeon's head has also improved, especially the nose, if you view its profile. I do like the old Vaporeon's fin collar and ears better, the ridges stand out much better, which in turn makes it look more detailed. Also that little crevice on the tail makes it look less flat like the newer one does.
I can only give praise to the new Jolteon here. I see nothing but improvements. That the spikes on the collar are more varied in size is a good thing. And that the spikes on the back are layered! It looks so much better! The old figure looks very flat now in comparison. Old Jolteon's ears also slightly curved inwards, but the new one has straight ears, which look a lot nicer.
The new Flareon looks like a downgrade, now when comparing the two figures side by side. I recall me saying that the Flareon was my favorite figure out of the Multi pack, and I stand by my opinion. The old Flareon has those big cute eyes, vibrant colors and the sculpt on the flame-like tale flows much better. Also, the fur collar is the right size, which doesn't make Flareon look fat. However, I give the new Flareon credit for also improving the side profile view of the head, making the nose more defined.
Although I really liked this new Jolteon, now when I compare them all side by side. I actually think I'm leaning more towards choosing Vaporeon to be my favorite out of the new Battle pack figures. I would have preferred a little more detail on the fins and a different pose for the tail, but otherwise it's very proportionate.
