The first prototype pictures of Goodsmile's recently announced Black Rock Shooter Nendoroid has been leaked online. Though not one of the best, we're expecting more photos to show up within the coming days. The figure is currently on display at Goodsmile's booth at Comic Market 77. We'll update this post as soon as we find more information. Full images inside.
Update: Added photos from amiami and Moeyo.
Code Geass Romantic Variation Banpresto Figures
Written by Theodore Mak
Some of the first prototype pictures of Banpresto's Ichiban Kuji Premium line's newest Code Geass lottery prize figures of C.C. and Karen wearing wedding dresses has surfaced. The figures appear to be castoffable as the concept art shows detailed undergarments.
Banpresto had previously released a popular figure of C.C. back in 2008 which now retails for over $100 and can only be found on the second hand market. Fans and collectors will not want to miss out on either of these new figures. Pictures inside.
With the pending Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha The Movie 1st, and the previously announced Nanoha Takamachi Nendoroid, it was only a matter of time GoodSmile announced a Fate Testarossa version. She will come equipped with her Bardiche, scythe, and a mini figure of Arf. Retailing for around 3,500 yen, she will be released in March 2010.
Goodsmile's blog has revealed that they will be releasing figures from the popular spring anime series Bakemonogatari. Only three characters have been shown so far including the show's male lead Koyomi Araragi, Tsubasa Hanekawa the class president, and the verbally abusive Hitagi Senjogahara. The figures will come with interchangeable parts with Senjogahara displayed having a hand with a pink stapler, a blue stapler, and a box cutter. Goodsmile has also promised to add more information soon, and we will update accordingly. Pictures inside!
Sora no Otoshimono the etchi anime debuted in Fall 2009 and already a figure of the well endowed Ikaros from the series has surfaced. She will be manufactured by Grands, a relatively unknown company and be released sometime in 2010 for approximately 9,000 yen. Currently only unpainted prototype photos are available taken from the 2009 Miyazawa Mokei Exhibition. Photos included inside.
Dolls Party 22: Mai Shiranui Dollfie and More
Written by Theodore Mak
The next major Dollfie event, Dolls Party 22, has been announced for December 6, 2009 at the Tokyo Big Site in Odaiba. The more exciting announcement, Volks will be releasing some new limited items including a Dollfie Dream doll of Mai Shiranui from the King of Fighters series and a doll of Mahiro Mito from Tayutama -Kiss on my Deity-. Mahiro Mito will also have an alternate clothing set available for 14,490 yen. Three older clothing sets will be rereleased including Rei and Asuka's school clothing from Evangelion, and Saber's normal clothes with a lion plush, and her casual outing wear from Fate/Hollow ataraxia.
More images inside.
AmiAmi Opens Website to International Customers
Written by Benjamin Chu
Surprise! AmiAmi has officially launched an English website, now allowing international customers to browse, purchase and pre-order all the items they sell on the AmiAmi Japanese website!
AmiAmi is pretty well known for selling exclusive items and previously the only way to get them was to acquire the help of a deputy service or have a friend who lived in Japan purchase items for you. It was pretty annoying and very expensive, but now AmiAmi will ship to international customers. AmiAmi usually has pretty low prices on their items compared to other online retailers like HLJ or HobbySearch, so this makes purchasing from them enticing.
Unfortunately, for now, they only accept PayPal for payment. For shipping they only provide EMS shipping. Which honestly is not bad, just a little bit on the expensive side.
Before you go rushing ahead and buying all the Touhou exclusives, take note and read through the AmiAmi FAQ, there are restrictions that you’ll probably need to be aware of. For example, you cannot cancel any of your orders; or if you do happen to order an item that is ‘Japan only’, they will promptly cancel your order.
Like many other shoppers online, I am very excited to hear AmiAmi has opened their doors to international customers. AmiAmi will probably become one of my top choices for ordering goods from now on. Sadly, this will push AmiAmi goods to become sold out even quicker than before. With the influx of international shoppers, I have no doubt I will be spending a lot of days pressing F5 and waiting.
Good Smile Company Marisa Kirisame Nendoroid
Written by Benjamin Chu
3 months after the successful début of the Hakurei Remiu Nendoroid, Good Smile Company has finally released their Marisa Kirisame Nendoroid (ねんどろいど きりさめまりさ)! With the Touhou fan-base ever steadily growing, this would mark as a 'must-get' for all Touhou/Marisa fans.
Kotobukiya recently released their prepainted HoiHoi-san figure kit to retailers and unveiled new ones at the recent Hobby Show 2009. Joining the lineup, Combat-san will be joining HoiHoi-san as well as a wide variety of HoiHois, equipped with different costume/gear variation (including a gas mask, cockroach outfit, a military uniform, and vacuum cleaning vehicle) and new faces. These lovable exterminators are coming Spring 2010. Until then, check out the photos inside!
Artist Tony Taka has been getting a lot of attention within the last year by figure makers who finally realize the popular demand of his art. Figure maker Native has been cashing in with limited releases of figures based off of Tony's art, and now another company hopes to do the same. Etsu, a spinoff company by Clayz, will be releasing a 1/6 PVC figure of cat earred maid girls in March 2010 for 14,800 yen. These can only be obtained from Japanese online retailer amiami or from the manufacturer's site.
More pictures as well as the orginal illustration inside.
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Fans of Korean MMORPG Lineage II will instantly recognize this figure donning the rank A Majestic Robe Set. The figure will come with a staff and a sword. Her jacket is removable; however, there is a rather obvious seems line visible on the arms. Not much more can be said about this figure until it's release. Orchid Seed has had a rather mixed history with overall quality of their PVC figures. So far from the available pictures, the figure looks pretty impressive.
More pictures inside.
Seen previously at Wonder Festival Summer 2009, Alter will be releasing a new 1/7 scale Takamachi Nanoha figure based on the upcoming Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha movie. It appears she will come with interchangeable arms and 2 forms of her weapons. Fans may remember Alter had previously made a mediocre figure of Nanoha back in 2006, this time around we can safely say they have made significant improvements. Lets not forget Alter has also made a grown up version of Nanoha set to be released in October. Will Alter remake Fate Testarossa? Based on current trends, most likely yes. More pictures of Nanoha inside.
A lot of you have probably been waiting for it, and here is our compilation report on Wonderfest gathered from various blogs and news sites. There are a ton of exciting new figure announcements especially ones that are going to make many fans' wallet cry. If you are familar with our previous Wonderfest reports, check back here (this post) frequently as we will be making new updates as they come out!
Last Updated on Monday August 3, 2009
Announced a while ago on Max Factory's blog, amiami has gotten some in hand shots of the 1/7 scale Hatsune Miku. A bit late to the party though, as Volks and Goodsmile released their renditions some time ago. I definitely like this one better than Goodsmile's 1/8 scale version. She will be released in November for approximately 8,000 yen.More pictures inside.
Touhou fans rejoice, apparently Goodsmile Company will be releasing a Reimu Nendoroid. Unfortunately as of now, it will be be a Comiket 76 exclusive. We'll keep you up to date if we get any more information, other than that we will definitely try to pick up a few while we are at Comiket. A couple pictures inside.
While strolling around the convention hall, we found a pleasent surprise sitting behind the glass display case at the NIS America booth: a sample figure of Pram by Griffon. They were taking preorders for her at the convention for $70 which I would assume included tax and shipping. She will be retailing for around 5,880 yen in Japan, and can be preordered from rozenqueen for $59.99. We were also able to take a few shots of her out of the glass case, check it out inside!
Mentioned previously as a prototype at earlier hobby conventions during the year, Alter has unvieled the completed stock photos of thr adult Takamachi Nanoha from Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS. Gorgeously sculpted, she is significantly better than Volk's rendition, though I wished the wings on her feet were transparent. I also do wish that Alter would do something about their plain based. Sadly for my wallet, I might have to pick up all of Alter's previous Nanoha related figures also. She will be released later this year in October for 13,440 yen. More pictures inside.
Looks like Alter pulled a fast one over us, else we've been too out of the figure loop recently. Anyways, Alter will be releasing a 1/8 scale PVC of Rise Kujikawa from the hit Playstation 2 game Persona 4. Alter did an excellent job making sure the figure resembles the character accurately. She will also come with 2 accessories, her glasses and cellphone with a Teddie phone strap attached. She will retail approximately for 7,140 yen and released around September 2009.
More pictures inside.
Famed garage kit maker Bubba's latest kit Velvet from the Playstation 2 cult hit Odin Sphere is getting the PVC treatment. Figure maker Yamato has a less than stellar record in figure quality in the past, but in recent years made large improvements which we hope will be represented in this figure. For the concerned buyers, supposedly Bubba himself is supervising the PVC rendition. Bubba has made stunning figures in the past including the Haruhi bunny garage kit and Max Factory's Etna from Disgaea.
Though I am a bit disappointed that Max Factory is not releasing Velvet, I will probably still be picking this figure up; hopefully Yamato will be able to replicate the paint job as wells as the sculpt accurately. The figure will be released later this year, and we'll keep you updated on any new developments.
More photos of the painted kit as well as the PVC sculpt mold inside.
VOLKS USA has their preorder up for either Dollfie we reported about previously until Sunday April 19 at 11:00 AM PST. Interested buyers can also order from VOLKS' international site, the deadline for preorder there is Monday April 20 at 4:00 AM PST. VOLKS USA will deliver the Dollfies around the end of September while the international site will deliver around mid July. Nia will also feature a limited edition clothing set including a short haired wig, a hoodie, socks, and shoes. Do note that the doll modeling the set is most likely not the DD Nia.
Interestingly, VOLKS still has not released full finalized pictures of either Dollfies even with the deadlines approaching fast. A few pictures have surfaced on VOLKS' blog and on Gainax's blog which we have included inside. Will update when more pictures are out.
UPDATE: Finalized pictures have been released.