[something witty goes here]

My GE Sailor Moon brooch pin came in the mail today, from Hot Topic.

I’m not satisfied in the way this was handled, either by Hot Topic or the postal service (I’m not sure which is to blame. Probably Hot Topic, for not checking it.), because the pin on the back was somehow forced out of the prongs holding it, which were bent apart. So the needle was just sitting loose in the package. The tip of the needle was also bent, to where I couldn’t originally get it to fit in the clasp. Both of which I had to forcefully bend and fix.
Thank god I’m used to fixing metal clasps and such, because if I wasn’t able to fix this, I’d have been pretty pissed.

The product itself is nice, except for a gray spot right above the pink gem in the middle. I know people have had problems with the gold tone being too washed out, but this looks like an ash got stuck under the plastic coating. (I’m not claiming that’s what it is, just what it looks like.) So it’s really distracting, at least to me.
In such a case, I’d actually prefer that it didn’t have the plastic coating, so I could just paint over it. But oh well.

On the plus side, it’s a lot bigger than I expected, considering how much I’ve heard people calling it “too small.” I think the size is completely fine. I don’t really know what kind kind of huge, bulky item people were expecting, because her original transformation brooch in the show wasn’t enormous.




Overall, I’d have liked it if our local Hot Topic store carried these, because then I’d have been able to pick out one that didn’t have defects (or had less distracting defects).
But, at the same time, it’s nice to be able to have an official transformation item that doesn’t cost $300. Beggars can’t be choosers.