While I was obviously excited for the new Archer Link Amiibo, I was also really curious about the Guardian Amiibo. Maybe it was just in my mind but Guardian looked in the promo shots like one of the biggest Amiibos yet and it was going to cost more than any Amiibo outside of Mega Yarn Yoshi. Then the intrigue grew with rumors that Guardian was cancelled. Fortunately, that rumor proved to be false and in many ways, that makes me appreciate that Guardian is finally released now even more. I’m looking forward to sharing my review of this ground-breaking Amiibo so let’s jump into it!
Box – This is yet another example of awesome Nintendo artwork and design. That image in the background is striking and the fact that this Amiibo is so big doesn’t hurt! I forgot to snap a picture of the back of the box in my last review so I did it this time so you can see what Nintendo says Guardian can do in-game.
Size – The first thing I want to discuss is the size. The Guardian is a good-sized Amiibo but I wouldn’t say that it is actually taller than most Amiibo like I thought. In fact, I would say it is probably average height with really long limbs. The limbs are pretty interesting and I’ll talk about those next but I definitely was surprised Guardian wasn’t a little taller. In the end, it doesn’t matter too much since Amiibo aren’t in scale but it might have been cool if it was just a bit bigger.
Limbs – The most interesting feature on the Guardian are the bendable limbs that you can pose however you want. In some ways, it reminds me a bit of Mr. Game and Watch which is one of the only other Amiibo where it is easy to change the pose whenever you’d like. The limbs do not stretch but they can be positioned in any direction and you can bend them to make them pretty expressive. I had a lot of fun creating the picture with Waddle Dee. It would be cool if the claws could open and close for displaying but you really can’t fault this gimmick because it something different.
Paint and Details – The paint application is interesting on this Amiibo because it does not appear to use many decals and the paint seems to be sprayed on in many places. This leads to some nice shading and realistic color application. The limbs have a nice subtle paint job as well. While the Guardian doesn’t have any particular detail that catches the eye (outside of maybe the pink), it looks really good and Nintendo did really well with this part of the Amiibo.
Base – The only place I might criticize this Amiibo is that the ground that is breaking underneath the Guardian needed more color or texture or something. It looks kind of bland and you have to look very closely to be able to see what it is. The ground is not supposed to be a major part of the Amiibo but it would be nice if it had the same attention to detail that the rest of the figure had.
Closing Thoughts – The Guardian Amiibo is definitely unique and does many things right. Any complaints I have with the figure are either unrealistic or so minor I can hardly fault Nintendo in the design here. The Guardian has a very interesting look and stands out from other Amiibo we’ve seen as well. I love to see Nintendo taking chances and doing new and interesting things with Amiibo and they have definitely succeeded with this one. Guardian is worth the extra money and will look nice on your display shelf!
NintendoFigures.com 
Reblogged this on Miketendo64! The Place To Go For Anything Nintendo and commented:
It is one of the most expensive Amiibo released to date. Is Guardian worth owning? Find out in Kuribo’s latest review!
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The first thing I did with my Guaridan amiibo was take pictures of it grabbing other amiibo too, haha! Excellent review of it! You’ve covered all the points that I could even hope to bring up about it, even down to the impressive paint job. It matches the “open-air” artstyle of the game, and I love it. And I don’t mind the gimmicks since it makes it more similar to a regular poseable figure. Plus it’s so huge! It takes up the space of multiple amiibo and looks great alongside the other Zelda figures. I’d say it’s worth the premium price they’re asking, though I selfishly wish that it didn’t cost so much. Again, awesome job!
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Thank you for the kind words and great minds think alike! Guardian is definitely fun to play with and I think is a well-made Amiibo. I think it is worth the price as well, especially considering it isn’t much more expensive than the other new Amiibo that also have a price increase. I’m glad this one was worth the wait and the higher price!
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Poor Waddle Dee, haha. I really hated opening this spectacular Amiibo since I found the packaging was really impressive! Oh well. I learned long ago that I have no space for an “in box” collection 🙂
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Haha, I had fun taking that picture. I was going to do Kirby but I just felt like someone a little more disposable and less loved would be better! I’m glad I’m not the only person who feels that way about the packaging and I was an in-box collector when I started the site but realized quickly that I just didn’t have enough room for all those boxed Amiibo and have been opening almost all of mine ever since.
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こんにちは Kuribo,
Thank you for your well thought review.
I’m about to publish one article in my blog about this and other products.
I really like the picture you took with Waddle Dee.
Would it be possible to share it in my blog?
Obviously mentioning your site.
Cheers,
jS
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jS,
Thank you for the kind words and for checking out the site! Can you send me a link to your site? I always like to see who is using/promoting my content (more out of curiosity than anything else). Other than that, as long as you link to the site, I have no problem with you sharing some of this article on your blog. Thank you for asking and I look forward to seeing your blog!
Kuribo
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Kuribo,
Thank you, really appreciate it!
My site is tomucho.com
I am working in that article so probably will publish it around 4th of June.
I’ll send you a message once I publish it.
By the way the article will be in Japanese and is all about Japanese products that have a lot of attention in overseas.
I was very surprised to see that Funky looking figure had so much attention in the US!
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jS,
You are very welcome and I will look forward to the publication of the article! I may not understand it (I only know English and a little French) but I’m glad to be a part of the article and to show that Japan has a big influence in the US too. Many of us love Japanese stuff and companies like Nintendo! 🙂
Kuribo
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Oh Wau!
Then I should quote what you’ve just said in the article!
That’s something that I am learning everyday here finding common interests between people from the US, Japan, Spain, etc…~
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You’re more than welcome to 🙂 For the most part, the US has people from all parts of the world and there is influence from most countries. For example, tapas was very popular as a kind of restaurant in the US a few years ago when people found out how the Spanish did it. Japan has a stronger influence than most countries though. Anime and Manga have diehard fans here and many Japanese products like Hello Kitty can be found easily too.
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“Japan has a stronger influence than most countries though.”
Ha, ha!
That’s right, I really can see that living here.
I think that the love goes both ways!
Japanese people love lots of Made in The USA products
and even more “Made in Japan but Sold Cheaper in the USA” products.
Which is funny to me…
Like this Figure
By the way Spanish tapas it’s a classic hit dish here too, :))
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Well not all things the US exports are good but I think it is nice that other countries’ like what we do! It is definitely a compliment in its own way. Also, I love eating Spanish tapas when I can find it here. It is so good! 🙂
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Right!
That’s why I felt that sharing your review could be beneficial for those in Japan.
I guess this is the Power of Blogging!
Probably there are great Tapa’s blogs in the US and Japan as well~
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I appreciate that and I would love for my article to be shared with anyone who would enjoy it. Blogging can definitely bring people together and if I can find a way to translate your articles, I will definitely try my best to read them 🙂
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Great!
I’m not very familiar with figures but…
If you have written other articles that you feel are interesting please let me know.
If there’s an interest, I could write one article about hot/trending figures in the US…
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I think you may want to look into Nendoroids and Figma which also make Nintendo figures but their anime figures are popular in the United States and many collectors are quite rabid. I, myself, have a pretty decent collection of Nintendo Nendoroids developing and these Japanese made figures are known for being some of the highest quality figures around.
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Noted!
Thank you for sharing that information.
Yesterday I went to Yokohama’s Yodobashi Camera to take some pictures with the Guardian figure for my article…
According to the Japanese Nintendo’s homepage they started selling it this year around March in Japan.
And according to the local sellers it’s a very popular/demanded figure so…It was sold out!
…I felt like a kid with no toy to play with…
I think it’ll be pretty tough to find it in the local stores…
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I think that a restock of the Guardian and other Zelda Amiibo is coming to Japan relatively soon though I don’t know exactly when. It has been the same way in the US unfortunately. Nintendo released them a few months ago and they sold out quickly and they have not restocked them despite plenty of demand from fans. Your best bet for finding a Guardian Amiibo is to find out if you can preorder one for the re-release that is happening soon. Unfortunately, Nintendo seems to be getting very conservative with their production of Amiibo again and that makes it harder on fans to get what they want. I hope that information helps and you can track one down!
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Thanks Kuribo, I wasn’t aware about that huge demand and low production relationship…That’s very interesting!
I’ve just published the article:
https://tomucho.com/kaigai-no-hannou-kaigai-ureru-ninki-nihonn-seihin/
Let me know if you want me change or add something!
Cheers,
jS
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I had to rely on Google Translate but I read the article and really appreciated the kind words about the site and it was neat seeing my pictures in your article too! If you have any other questions about Japanese figures, especially Nintendo ones, you can always drop me a line through here and in the meantime, best of luck with your site. I’ll be following it as best I can 🙂
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Hey Kuribo,
I’m glad that you like it!
Your picture was far the best shot taken in that article.
Definitely it will be my pleasure to share your article or ask you questions regarding Nintendo figures.
It’s so nice to find bloggers like you that do their best to inform the world about their specialty!
Have a great week!
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Thank you for the kind words and I think it is cool to see what inspires other people to write. I would have never guessed a site like yours existed and I enjoyed contributing to it 🙂
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