Welcome, dear readers, to another Mariobilia segment!

It's been a while since the last update, but that means today's feature is full to bursting point with cool new Nintendo gear to show off!

First under the spotlight today is the anticipated new S.H. Figuarts Mario toy, advertised (perhaps slightly incorrectly) as the first official Super Mario action figure. The standard figure comes with a few scant accessories, but real collectors will want to invest in the additional play sets that released at the same time.

The whole thing starts with a box...

Mario himself looks spot on, and the effort put into articulation on his limbs whilst maintaining the chubby cartoon style of the character is impressive. His legs can bend and twist into any manner of standing, running, and jumping poses. The basic figure has his hands clenched into fists, giving his arms slightly less possibility for expressive poses, but nonetheless they can move around just fine.

The paint work and detail is superb.

Sadly, his head leaves something to be desired. While the casting and paint finish are lovely, the bulkiness of his face leaves very little room for movement and he can only turn his head to slight degrees in any direction. There's also the matter that most figures of this kind come with a few variations of facial expressions to choose between, but Mario only has his cheerful, somewhat oblivious, smile. There does not appear to be any way to remove the face from the head, so unless a future play set comes with an entire new head model to swap to, that's the only expression we'll get.

The transparent stems make them look like they're floating!

By himself, Mario comes with a Question Block, a Super Mushroom, and a Coin. There are currently two play sets that add additional accessories released so far. Play Set A includes a Goomba, another Question Block, two Brick Blocks, another Coin, a green grassy base platform, and a little interlocking panel that you can swap with a piece on Mario's back, allowing you to plug in a transparent bendable arm (so you can position Mario in mid­-air jumping poses). There's also some connecting shaft pieces with pegs that slot into the bottom of any of the blocks released in the sets, so it’s possible to create mid­-air platforms of bricks and blocks. The base piece has three peg holes with some plugs that can be swapped around to fill in any unused holes depending on the pose you want to put Mario and his surroundings in.

Insert that classic Mario Pipe sound with your mind.

Play Set B comes with a Warp Pipe, another Goomba, another Coin, a Koopa Shell, and a pair of alternate hands you can swap for Mario's fists, so that he can hold the shell like in many pieces of art from across the series. Swapping the hands takes a little bit of effort to snap them into place, and to hold the shell properly requires you to use some tiny clear connecting pegs that attach to one side in the shell's leg holes, and on the other side into Mario's open palms.

Now all we need is a Koopa figure.

The Warp Pipe features two different tops, one with a black platform just below the rim so Mario or a Goomba can stand atop it. The other has a much lower platform that slips down inside the pipe's shaft so you can position Mario at mid-­height as he descends into the pipe. Each of the sets comes with a few little pegs on clear plastic bases that attach to the bottom of the Coins, so it’s possible to stand them upright as they appear in the games. It's sad to say, but the Goombas lack any articulation of their own, and are merely motionless props to decorate your dioramas with.

That's a lot of play set so far!

There's a decent breadth of fuel for creativity with this figure and the accompanying sets, and it absolutely boggles my mind to think of the potential S.H. Figurarts has for the Super Mario brand. Bandai Tamashii Nations are sitting on a gold mine here, and I can't wait to see how they'll expand this series with new characters and play sets full of items and enemies. Bring on Bowser and his castle full of lava pits and fireball traps!

It took a trip to New York to get the Spiny Shell bonus in America!

Next up is a quick look at the Limited Edition version of Mario Kart 8 released on Wii U in PAL territories. This set also saw a very limited release in USA as a Nintendo World Store exclusive. Those who purchased this special packed set of the game got, as the enlarged box calls it, a Spiny Shell Collector's Item. It's surprising how big this thing is. The shell itself is slightly bigger than a tennis ball, and the spikes serve to make it look even bigger. It's quite detailed, and sits atop a clear pedestal piece with the Mario Kart 8 logo emblazoned on the side. The whole thing slots into a black base that looks nice enough as a talking piece to keep on display alongside your game collection. It may be the most despised item in Mario Kart history, but it's hard to hate on this particular Spiny Shell.

Don't throw this at your friends.

I'm honestly surprised the packaging didn't warn people not to throw the shell at other people though, while pretty light it still has enough weight in it to make those spikes potentially painful should it hit at just the right speed and angle... uh, you didn't get the idea from me... Moving on!

It's nice to see these outside of Japan.

While we're still in the Mario mood I'll also show off the Photos With Mario cards that released at Target in the States a few weeks back. These cards have been around for a while in Japan now, but it's really nice to see them get a localized version. Besides the English translation, the downloadable Photos With Mario app is exactly the same as the Japanese version, and since I talked about that in depth in a previous Mariobilia article, I'll instead focus on the difference in packaging and the cards themselves.

The differences in the packaging between regions.

The Japanese cards came in a little folder with the cards stuck to the inside using that clear silicone stuff they use to attach credit cards to letters from banks. The eShop credit code was printed on the back of the AR card itself along with the bar­ code and other miscellaneous info, and it was easy to accidentally smear the inky, silver residue from the scratch-­off code section onto the card itself. The US version, however, has the AR cards folded up inside a larger piece. Instead of a separate card stuck on with silicone, the American card is perforated and needs to be pulled (or cut) off the main cardboard piece. The plus side to this is that the back of the card is now clean and clear of any printed info, and the scratch­-off eShop code is on the packaging rather than the AR card itself.

The US version unfolds like a booklet and the card has to be cut off.

Also worthy of note is that the Japanese version of the Isshou ni Photo cards came at different monetary values. The Goomba card was 1000 yen, Mario was 2000 yen and Peach was 3000 yen, which roughly equates to $10, $20 and $30 in US Dollars. The American versions are all priced at $10 each, so while you get less eShop credit for your downloads, it's much cheaper and more reasonable to collect each of the cards. Japan had a second series with Bowser, Luigi and a Koopa Troopa, I hope these get a US release in the future as well. Until then, if you did import any of the cards from Japan, the second series is compatible with the American 3DS app, and you don't need to wait to create some tiny Mario VS Bowser battles on your kitchen table.

Animal Crossing fans should save up their bells for this.

Finally, we'll take a look at Good Smile Company's figures of every Animal Crossing mayor's favorite bipedal puppy assistant, Isabelle. Called Shizue (that's she-­zoo-­eh) in Japan, Isabelle has two figures in the company's Nendoroid line. The standard version, Nendoroid 327, released in October last year, and her Winter version, number 386, hit Japanese store shelves in April this year. Animal Crossing wasn't the first foray into Nintendo that Good Smile had with their Nendoroid series, as a Luigi figure also released just recently in Japan.

Isn't she adorable?

Both figures are designed to work with each other, the pair coming with a large range of interchangeable accessories, arm poses and facial expressions that can be swapped between the two. Her limbs, head, hips, and hair tuft can be rotated and swiveled to a reasonable degree, and the red hair tie/collar she wears around the little quaff on her head even features a real bell that jingles when you shake it.

"What's that, Mr. Mayor? You want to enforce tax laws on the residents?"

Both figures come with a base and some plastic arm stands to connect to Isabelle's back, and there's a neat collection of little emotion pieces representing various expressions seen in Animal Crossing: New Leaf that can be attached in various ways to the base or Isabelle herself to make them appear as if they're floating around her. Music notes can hover around her face as she gleefully smiles, stars of various shapes and sizes can exude from behind her back, and you can even attach a special hair tie collar to her head that lets you clip on a confused question mark. Making use of the different arm pieces, Isabelle can clap, wave, take down notes on a little clipboard, or stroke her chin thoughtfully.

"Why, that's brilliant! The civil servants will be rich while the lowly masses cower beneath us!"

The Nendoroid series is known for showcasing “chibi”, or small, cute, super­-deformed characters, and Isabelle fits the bill perfectly. She's simply adorable and fans of her New Leaf debut should definitely consider ordering this in before she becomes scarce. It seems Good Smile Company isn't finished with their Nintendo license just yet either, as a Nendoroid figure of Link from Wind Waker is due to release in August.

"You're the best mayor this town has ever seen!"

As always, you can check out many more photos in the gallery below, and thanks for reading. Until next time!

Thanks to UncleBob for pointing out a slight error.