Yes that's right folks, Max Factory has revealed at the 2008 Miyazawa Mokei Exhibition that they will be releasing Haruhi, Mikuru, and Yuki in their rocker outfits from The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya in 1/8 scale PVC form. Only photos of Haruhi has surfaced online while poster pictures are available of Mikuru and Yuki.
(Edit: We found a photo of all 3 figures over at Goodsmile's blog which has been included after the jump)
Definitely loving the detail work on the guitar but again like Max Factory's previous sculpts of Mikuru, there's something odd about her. Yuki looks fantastic.
Haruhi will be released sometime in March 2009.
More pictures after the jump.
In the December issue of Hobby Japan, the first colored pictures of Griffon's Belldandy figure from Ah My Goddess! Prototypes of the figure appeared at several conventions in the past (can be found here and here).
Part of the 20th Anniversary celebration, she will be available for 12,390 yen around Spring 2009.
Full page scan inside.
New Ah My Goddess! Holybell Figure in Afternoon Magazine
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Japanese seinen manga magazine Afternoon has included a new Holybell figure from Ah My Goddess! in their November 2008 issue. As to who the four eyes is, I have no idea. Any guesses? I will have to assume your generalized otaku?
The magazine retails for 680 yen and can be purchased from amazon.co.jp (product page here) or a local Japanese book store.
Get it while you still can!
More pictures including magazine cover inside.
Akibahobby has gotten a few shots of a colored prototype of Nanako Sakura by MegaHouse. Judging by the noticable seamline on the figure's shoulder and unpainted prototype photos shown previously in Hobby Japan Magazine, it appears she will be somewhat castoffable. Click read more for the pictures.
While browsing the latest issue of Hobby Japan (#11, November 2008), one of the figures caught my attention, Nanako Sakura. At first glance I thought it was another Shana figure (Shakugan no Shana), but noticed the familiar Sakura Sakura logo.
I remember vaguely admiring artwork from the series over half a year ago, but never figuring out what exactly it was from. After a little searching, Sakura Sakura turns out to be a new ero game that will be releasing this month.
The sculpt looks excellent and overall character design exceeds my expectations. Definitely keep an eye out on this figure.
From what I can make out, this figure will be released by Megahouse's Brilliant Stage figure line for 7,040 yen.
Full page scan from Hobby Japan inside.
Apparently Alter is releasing a limited variation to the now famed 1/6 scale swimsuit KOS-MOS figure from the Playstation 2 trilogy Xenosaga. The new figure called "KOS-MOS swimsuit ver. another type [Orange]" will feature orange highlights instead of the blue found on the original, and can only be preordered through Hobby Japan's online store located here for 9,240 yen.
The last day to place your preorder is on October 9 so I suggest you might want to contact a deputy service soon.
The figure will be released in January 2009.
Click read more for the full sized image.
Volks has updated their site a few days ago with the 7th figure from the PVC M.O.E. (Model of Entertainment Collection) figure line, Aschen Brodel from the Nintendo DS game Mugen no Frontier: Super Robot Wars OG Saga.
The game was codeveloped with Monilith Soft most famous for their work on the Playstation 2 series Xenosaga hence Brodel's resemblance to one of the characters from Xenosaga.
Volks added a 1/7 scale Kaguya Nanbu, also from the DS Super Robot Wars game, a few months back.
The 1/7 scale Brodel will be available only to Japanese reisdents through Volk's online store for 7,500 yen and be released in 2009.
From the available stock photos, it seems Volks needs to work on their figure skin tones. It would be nice if they airbrushed a bit to add shadows and highlights.
The colored stock pictures are popping up on Japanese figure retailer websites everywhere of the 1/8 scale Asa Shigure by Kotobukiya from the emotional romance comedy series Shuffle!
Previously seen as an unpainted prototype at this summer's Wonderfest, the sculpt is amazingly detailed especially the should strap buckles, though the hair sculpt from the side angles looks a bit bulky.
The figure has a great resemblance to the character unlike Alter's offering.
The paint job looks a bit messy at places, but overall it's good to see Kotobukiya working on adding highlights and shadows by airbrushing.
This figure will be released around January 2009 for approximately 6,800 yen.
More pictures after the jump.
Probably one of the more exciting news to come out of the mostly gundam orientated convention CharaFest last week was the showing of two new Yoko Ritona figures from the anime series Gurren Lagann by figure maker Alter.
The first will be Yoko wearing her updated clothing after the timeskip with her jacket estimated to be released in 2009.
The second will be of Yoko in her teaching outfit scheduled to be released around March 2009. Both figures currently have undecided prices and are 1/8 scale.
Been waiting for a decent "timeskipped/pre-spaced" Yoko figure but I will wait for the painted pictures before deciding.
That's right folks, it's that time again and the Summer Wonder Festival has stated! We'll be bringing you all the latest information on the newest figures and toys as usual. So far you've probably already heard there was an escaltor accident during opening and over 50 people suffered minor injuries.
As usual, please remember that we take no credit for any of the pictures as we are only collecting and organizing all of them.
Check back this post frequently for updates.
More...
With approximately 2 week left before one of the largest figure and hobby show, the Summer Wonder Festival, begins, figure maker Daiki Kogyou announced that they will be selling a 1/6 scale rendition of Kanu Unchou from Ikki Tousen. Sadly only 40 kits have been made retailing for 18,000 yen each. I wouldn't be surprised if this gets turned into a PVC figure later due to the popularity of the original art . Definitely keeping my fingers crossed.
More pictures inside.
Been hectic since it's convention season. Still recovering and working on articles from FanimeCon and Anime Expo. Onwards to figures.
Kotobukiya has announced they will be releasing a 5,800 yen 1/7 scale 'castoffable' beach Haruhi Suzumiya figure . You can remove her top this November.
Fans from the west probably haven't heard about this series, but Kotobukiya will also be releasing a 1/8 scale Index figure from an up and coming title To Aru Majutsu no Index, that will also be recieving an anime adaptation soon.
Probably more exciting news is Kotobukiya's 1/5 scale Chizuru Minamoto from Kanonkon releasing under the new "4-Leaves" risque figure line. She will also be releasing in a limited edition version where she is in her kitsune form (blonde, tailed, and earred.) She will be released this October for 12,800 yen.
Alter will be releasing a 1/8 scale Haruhi Suzumiya and a 1/8 scale Asa Shigure from Shuffle both releasing this November for 5,800 yen and 6,800 yen respectively. Unfortunately I am not a personal fan of Asa's facial design or her pudgy leg sculpt.
More pictures after the jump. Who's your favorite Shuffle character?
Figure maker Alpha Omega will be releasing a 1/8 scale Klan Klan figure from the series Macross Frontier. She will retail for 5,775 yen.
More pictures over at Moeyo .
Kaiyodo is busy keeping little Yotsuba company with the youngest Ayase family sibling, Ena (from the manga Yotsuba&!, of course), making her PVC debut. Ena is a cast-off figure, allowing you to trade her regular clothes and teddy bear (Jularlmin, as Yotsuba would call it) for a bikini and towel. Standing 135mm tall (that's approx. 5 inches, for the lazy), this figure will see release on September 01, 2008 with the price point of 2,940 yen. Check out more pics over at Ami Ami, where you can also see pics of Kaiyodo's new Ayase Fuka Swimsuit version . 
Medicom brought out the big guns at their Toy Exhibition this weekend in Japan, and judging by their list of projects, they're dipping their brush in a wide palette of colors, bringing to the canvas a varied range of figure licenses such as Star Wars, Dragon Ball Z, Metal Gear Solid 4, The Dark Knight, Indiana Jones, and much much more. While known for their 1/6 scale premium action figures, Medicom also produces smaller action figures as well as Lego-esque Kubricks and Bearbricks.
Akibahobby today posted preview shots of figure maker Wave's 1/8 scale space Yoko. The paint job and sculpt looks really clean, a definite plus, but I am not a real fan of the figure's proportions. Wave will also be releasing a limited edition version with Yoko's cape being clear. Both versions will retail for 6,600 yen and be released in late October 2008.
As you can guess, hobby news are back!
Yes I know, we haven't done any figure news in ages, but I couldn't let this slip by. Eye Up, formerly a figure producer and contractor, announced they would be starting their own figure line. Their first figures shown were a 1/8 scale Kamina with detachable glasses and cape, and a 1/8 scale Yoko with what a appears to be bullet accesories and a detachable Boota from her bosom. Eye Up has recently posted pictures of a their next products, including Simon riding the Lagann! They will also be making various keychain items you can hang off your phone such as one of Boota , and of Darry's stuffed animal. Their last figure annouced appears to be Darry wearing her pilot suit. You can bet that we will be reviewing the full set of figures. Kamina will be released in August 2008 for 8,190 yen, while Yoko will be released a month later in September for the same price.
Read more for more pictures!
I'm a moderately big Indy fan and I'm quite excited for the release of the 4th flick in the series. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is set to fill up cineplexes May 22nd and is expected to be one of this summer's biggest hits. The film is a big deal in the U.S. but, surprisingly enough, it could be just as big across the globe. Japanese figure producer Kotobukiya is just as excited, you see, and as such has immortalized Dr. Jones and company with the cutest little figures you'll ever see from the films. These little Indy trading figures stand at approximately 2" (5cm) and will see release around June for about ¥500 apiece or ¥40,000 for the whole set of 8, which includes characters ranging from all four films.
Hit the jump for the full sized images. (Click "Read More")
Source: Slashfilm and IndianaJones.jp
The stand-up people at Cacom USA want to give us cool Street Fighter IV figures, but are unable to produce the ENTIRE cast of characters in beautiful pvc form. They can't decide which characters will get the figure treatment, so this is where we, the fans, come in. Capcom USA is asking the gaming community to vote for their top three favorite SF IV characters. That's right, We get to decide! Who will you choose? Will you stick with classic Street Fighter stalwarts, or choose the new kids on the block? Let yourself be heard, drop your votes over at the Capcom blog.
Source: Kotaku
"Oha-Lucky!" The lovely ladies of Lucky Star charm their way into the Figma line by Max Factory, to the surprise of possibly no one. Let's cross our fingers for Akira-san and Shiraishi-san, hosts of the ubiquitous Lucky Channel, to get the Figma treatment down the line. Hit the jump for a larger version of the title image. (Click "read more")