Tomopop Review: Phat! Company's School Life Nendoroid playsets

11:00 AM on 03.21.2009   |   Topher Cantler

Quite possibly, the greatest thing about Nendoroids is the way they pack tons of adorable personality into such a small figure. The downside of that, however, is that they've got so much personality that it almost seems criminal to just let them sit there on the shelf. Something so lively and charming demands to be played with, right? But you can't play with them all the time; you've got places to be, underground drug cartels to run.

And thus enters Phat! Co., a new startup working under license for Good Smile Company. They know Nendoroids, and they know what a shame it is to see them sitting lonely on a shelf with nothing to do. They also know that hardcore Nendoroid collectors will buy anything branded with the GSC logo, but let us ignore that and pretend everyone's only got the purest of intentions at heart, shall we?

To see to it that your little friends don't have to look bored, Phat! Company has begun producing official, diorama-styled Nendoroid playsets, filled with all sorts of cute things for your Nendos to ... you know, mess with. We've got our hands on the first two sets in the series, and you're welcome to check out my full review of both after the jump.

The School Life playsets are the first two in what now looks to be a rapidly growing line of products from Phat! Co. The boxes are more or less identical to each other, and should fit right in with the ones your Nendos came in. Many people might not care, but if you're a big collector you'll appreciate that the layout matches the standard in size and design.

Inside, you'll find that this was achieved by cramming ten tons of crap into a very tight space. Everything is packed close together with very little breathing room, and taped to death. 

The floors and walls are individually wrapped, and you can see the dark prophecy of tape on the floor segment here. Get ready for that. It is my sincere hope that Phat! Company learned a thing or two about packaging (and how not to do it) from this first venture. The tiniest pieces in the set are left floating freely in the plastic packaging, so when opened, they pop out and fly all over the room like a true Nendoroid product.

Anything that doesn't get a home in the plastic tray gets wrapped in a plastic bag and taped. And then taped again. And then again. It's almost like they wanted it to be waterproof. Here's a tip for next time, guys: If you've already put it in a plastic bag, then tucked it behind the parts tray, then put that whole deal into a box and sealed it, I don't think it's going anywhere. Unpacking these was not fun, and we will hereafter refer to the experience as TapeRape.

If you manage to survive the TapeRape™ ordeal, there's still the matter of putting it together. Luckily, this turns out to be a reasonably simple process, and aside from discerning which of those little clear tabs goes where, you're not going to need the instructions. The only part of either playset that actually needs to be assembled is the room itself, and it's as simple as inserting the tabs into their respective holes and then popping on the chalkboard and corkboards after you've got the walls up.

The only other work that stands between you and playtime is deciding which label you want to have on the drink box that each set includes. Playset A comes with either plain ol' boring regular milk or awesometastic strawberry milk, and set B gets either coffee or juice. Choose wisely, and then prepare your Nendo friends for their first day at school.

Set A includes a desk and chair, laptop, juice box, opened book, pen, chalk, eraser, sandwich and baseball bat. The front wall of the room holds a corkboard and half the chalkboard, and the left wall has a set of windows in it that can be washed by Nendoroids who are serving detention after class. They're pre-assembled out of clear plastic, and let plenty of light through so the room doesn't get too dark when you're displaying it. It should also be noted that the chalk doesn't actually work, and the writing you see on the chalkboard in the photos is shamelessly shooped.

Set B includes another desk and chair, this time with a full desktop PC. There's a tower, flatscreen monitor, keyboard, and even a tiny mouse. Evening things out are a closed book, pen, drink box, and another sammich. (I got the sandwiches and pens mixed up in the photos -- the big meaty hero and the black pen actually go with set A, while the triangle sandwich and red pen go with this set. Hey, the stuff is tiny and hard to keep track of.)

The front wall is a mirrored version of set A's, and the right side wall has a sliding door with a window over it. The door actually slides, too, which is awesome. This also comes pre-assembled, so you don't have to snap anything together but the walls and floor themselves.

The two sets can be put together to form what is effectively half a room, with the chalkboards meeting in the middle. Each set comes with a few exra tabs to be inserted into the floor pieces for this purpose, as well as some alternate pieces for the corners that let you stack another playset on top to create a "second story" as it were. While this is a great idea, the holes are configured so that the rooms can only be assembled one way -- which means you can't stack set B on top of set A.

I would have liked to have seen a little more versatility in that respect. It would have been cool if they'd put holes on all four sides of each piece, so that you could put 4 sets together to make a full room. Hell, put eight of them together and make a gymnasium, or make a big room with lots of windows. That would be expensive of course, but it sucks to know that if I strike it rich one day I still wouldn't be able to do it. But you take what you can get, and the playsets are still loads of fun with only two at a time.

Contrary to what some might expect, things can get a bit crowded in there. The playsets work best with only a couple of Nendoroids at a time -- I would recommend maybe two per playset at most. That is, unless you want to recreate a classroom mosh pit scene, in which case, by all means.

The room might not be quite as spacious as you'd like, but all of the furniture and doodads are perfectly sized, and work very well with any accessories that might have come with your Nendoroids. Asakura's bookbag hangs neatly on the desk hook above, and if you've got the alternate hands for your figures, they can hold any of the smaller items as well. Everything is custom-tailored for their use and enjoyment.

Some pieces can live in their natural habitat, such as the chalk here, but the eraser is too big for the ledge and is forced to go elsewhere. You'll get the best results if you're only using some of the pieces at a time rather than all of them -- a lunchtime scene, a reading scene, a computer scene, etc. Trying to fit everything in there at once and then tossing your Nendoroids into the mix usually makes for a mess, especially since heavy-headed Nendoroids are not exactly the most ... stable of figures.

I didn't put them like this on purpose, it happened naturally. If you're a Nendo collector, you already know that their favorite thing in the world is to fall over. They love it. It's like a sport. The only thing they like more than falling over is taking out everything around them as well. Take that into consideration, and be sure to place everybody carefully. Otherwise it makes for a lovely tornado simulator.

On that note, while the playsets go together tightly enough that you can easily make some cool scenes, they're not something you'd want to pick up and move around as a whole. But when it comes to their intended purpose, they make an awesome setting for when you want to liven up your shelf with a nice display or take some fun photos.

It's a big day for Binchou-tan. Fans know how she's always dreamed of going to school with the other children, and today she'll finally get her chance.

Kaito's ready to get his learn on, too. All he needs now is the proper uniform.

At least Miku's on top of things. Looking marvelous, darling.

That's a nice effort, Kaito, but I think you're doing it wrong.

Haruhi even brought along her bat. She's all about those extra-curricular activities.

Now to help Binchou-tan find a uniform. I hear J-List carries them.

Eh ... I think the place Kaito got his might be a different kind of website. Probably best not to get caught browsing that during class. Poor Binchou is so innocent.

Looks like Hachune doesn't have one either, but that might be the least of her worries today.

After a hard morning's work, there's nothing like lunchtime. A chance to stretch your limbs and take a well-deserved break.

Maybe have something to eat, and daydream for a while.

Or think about what you'd like to be when you finally finish school.

Some students are hungrier than others. Is that how idols keep their figure?

It's also a great time to chat with friends. Or people who you think are your friends.

Mikuru is enjoying her favorite lunchtime beverage, strawberry milk.

The Hiragana reads "awesome."

Looks delicious. Got another one of those?

Ah, I see. You gave it to Haruhi, and she sure as hell isn't gonna share.

You know, that selfish attitude is no way to make new friends at school.

And you wonder why no one replies to your tweets.

But I suppose not everyone is here to make friends.

Well, regardless of whether all of your Nendoroids get along with one another, Phat! Company's playsets are pretty awesome. The pieces are as pleasantly detailed as anything else that carries the Good Smile Company brand, and everything is scaled perfectly for your little friends. Figma collectors might also take these sets into consideration, as they work surprisingly well with those, too. Definitely worth the fun you can have with them, especially when priced at right around what another Nendoroid would cost you.