Bandai Figuarts ZERO's Take on the Curvaceous Gladiator

Last Saturday, the Tamashii Nations Summer Collection 2014 event was held at Bandai's Akiba Showroom. There's lots of new and upcoming Bandai figures. One of the freshest figure that debut there is the Figuarts ZERO - Rebecca from One Piece. Remember that we just broke the news about this release earlier this month? I thought we'll have to wait till June to see her, but here she is.

The Perverted Kid is Set for Another August Release

More POP announcements as MegaHouse gave us the release date of the last known unreleased POP prototype. POP CB-EX - Momonosuke is set to be released on August 2014 and will retail for 3,100 yen. I'm was actually wondering why this wasn't announced yet given that the prototype was already shown painted. It turns out that he will be released back to back with Rebecca on August.

The Third POP Trafalgar Law Gets a Release Date

The Dressrosa version of POP Trafalgar Law has been announced as a September 2014 release and will retail for 8,800 yen. And the best thing about this release is that it is NOT a LIMITED edition release unlike the earlier announced Cavendish and Barlolomeo. That's a great news for me as this is one of the Dressrosa POP character treatment that I am actually planning to get, the other one being Rebecca.

Another POP LIMITED Gladiator

Just after the announcement that POP Cavendish will be a limited edition release. Here they go again with another LIMITED. The POP Sailing Again - Bartolomeo the Cannibal has been classified as POP LIMITED. Well actually, we already saw this coming when MegaHouse launch the POP Special page on the MegaHobby Station. The page shows a silhouette of what turns out to be Cavendish and Bartolomeo under the POP Limited class. See below.

The Hyena Springs Into Action

I actually thought that there isn't any POP preorder for the month of April coz the announcement from Megahobby Station was a bit delayed for some reason. Well now here it is, our April POP preorder, POP Sailing Again - Hyena Bellamy. Preorders starts next week, Tuesday, 8th of April 2014 at 18:00 (JST).

A Sexy Gladiator To Heat Up The Summer

 

Summer isn't coming up soon, but MegaHouse is letting us feel the July heat as they announce the preorder for the next addition to our POP collection, the semi-naked warrior - POP Sailing Again - Gladiator Rebecca. Preorders for this figure will start next Wednesday, 5th of March 2014 at 18:00 (JST).

Wonder Festival 2014 Winter - GSC Fairy Tail

There are plenty of upcoming new figures from Good Smile Company, but what has really gotten the best of my attention are the new prototypes and announcement with regards to their 1/7th scale Fairy Tail figures. It's has been quite a while since they released 1/7th scale Lucy Heartfilia - their first Fairy Tail scaled figure and we haven't got any news to follow up on this line since then. But during last week's Wonder Festival 2014 Winter, we got not one... not two... but three announcements of Fairy Tail scaled figures from GSC.

They are going to release the first four main characters from the series. Yes, that's right, we will be getting Natsu Dragneel, Gray Fullbuster and Erza Scarlet. Isn't that a wonderful news to us Fairy Tail fans? GSC seems to be going along the returning popularity of the anime series which will resume by April 2014.

Wonder Festival 2014 Winter - POP

Wonder Festival 2014 Winter has wrapped up last Sunday, 9th of February 2014, and there tons of new upcoming great figures for us from various figure manufacturers like Good Smile Company, Kotobukiya, Alter, MegaHouse, etc. But for the usual MegaHouse's POPs, there isn't much to see aside from some updates of the previously showcased during the MegaHobby EXPO 2013 Autumn and Jump Festa 2014 events. That was expected actually since they usually show us their big guns during MegaHobby EXPOs. But these updates though small, are enough to get us excited, specially to those who are waiting for the release of these new POPs. Let's check out these updates.

Starting the Year with a Limited Edition Announcement

MegaHouse starts a new year with a great looking figure announcement but with a slightly annoying distribution scheme. POP Neo-DX (as it was classified during the Mehahobby EXPO 2013 Autumn event) Kaku is going to be a LIMITED edition (as was classified during the Jump Festa 2014 event). A really annoying move from MegaHouse.

Well, that isn't so surprising considering they have done it before with Kalifa and Sadi. POP LIMITED - Kaku is going to be released on June 2014 for 8,424 yen. I think the price is too steep for a simple looking POP like this. And that's only the official pricing for MegaHouse's affiliated stores like Megatreashop, Premium Bandai, etc. Outside Japan, pricing will be way much more expensive. So be ready for that.

For a CP9 fan like me, there's no question why I should be getting this one. It's just too bad that I'll be paying more than it's overall value. Unless there's tons of optional display parts that would come with it. Notice that two swords that was seen during the Jump Festa event? Well for me, it's not enough to justify the price.

No exact preorder announcement date yet. So be sure to check this blog or my Facebook page from time to time for further announcements.

Update (2014-01-24): Preorders schedule POP LIMITED - Kaku will start 7th of February 2014, until late-March 2014. That's for MegaHouse's affiliated shops only being a limited edition. Still no word if this will have an international release.

Megahobby EXPO 2013 Autumn - POP

The Megahobby EXPO 2013 Autumn event has already wrapped up by the end of Saturday, 30th of November 2013. But the butterflies of excitement for the upcoming new figures are still clinging on my whole body. Of course the first thing that I watched out for are the new POPs by MegaHouse.

MegaHouse has a whole lot to offer, but as usual, they have to give the best priority to their most famous 1/8th figures of One Piece characters product line, the Portrait of Pirates. We got six new surprises. By surprises, I mean new figure prototypes that we haven't seen before. Two fully painted and four unpainted ones.

What's more surprising is that MegaHouse is on full throttle on bringing us characters that hasn't even appeared on the One Piece manga yet. The problem with this is that non-manga readers or anime-only followers may not even know these characters yet. So this is some kind of spoiler for them. So before you proceed reading this, I should warn you of some spoilers. But if you're a manga reader or you just simply don't worry about spoilers, let's go check out the photo and talk about it as we go.

POP SA Chopper Crimin Ver. Is A Jump Festa 2014 Event Exclusive

Remember the Chopper Crimin Ver. that we saw back at Wonder Festival 2013 Summer? Well it turns out that it's gonna be another event exclusive. Yep, that's right! POP Sailing Again - Tony Tony Chopper (Crimin Ver.) will be available exclusively at the MegaHouse booth during the upcoming Jump Festa 2014 event which will be held from 21st to the 22nd of December 2013.

I'm excited as I'm worried on the availability of this figure. I'm dying to get this one, but being an event exclusive, it's going to be tough to get from third party resellers outside Japan, not to mention the pricing which will be... oh well, let's just assume that it's going to be more than doubled. It will only retail for 3,000 yen at the event, but I'm thinking that I'll be slashing about 6,000 yen from my wallet before I can get my hands on the figure. Lucky of those who would be able to attend on the event.

Why would I pay 6,000-ish yen for such a small POP? Well, what I can I say? Aside from a cute looking Chopper figure, I love how he wears that pink Crimin shirt while holding a black flag with a Mugiwara jolly roger and the title "Portrait of Pirates" in it. It's also nice that the base isn't the usual POP base but a mock oak barrel top, giving the figure a familiar pirate touch.

This is the second Crimin ver. to be released. The first one being the Nami Crimin. I would really like to see all the Straw Hat Crew in their Crimin outfit to get the POP treatment as seen in Oda's illustration below.

Straw Hat Pirates on Fishman Island

Below are the details of this figure:

POP Sailing Again LIMITED - Tony Tony Chopper (Crimin Ver.)

• Price: 3,000 yen
• Release Date: Jump Festa 2014 Event Exclusive (MegaHouse Booth)

Jump Festa 2014

• Date: 21-22 December 2013 (Saturday-Sunday) 9:00 - 17:00 (JST)
• Venue: Makuhari Messe International Exhibition Hall 1-8
• Admission: Free

This maybe just another POP Chopper, but it's a very welcomed version of him, rather than those neverending Chopperman releases.

It's The Captain's Turn to Raid Your Wallets

November POP preorder has been announced and it is gonna be a follow-up of another Edition-Z. This time, it is none other than the captain himself - Monkey D. Luffy who will be taking your money. Preorders starts next Thursday (not the usual Wednesday schedule), 7th of November 2013 at 18:00 (JST).

We've seen the fully completed prototype before, in addition to those photos of the uncolored prototype, so it's not much of a surprise 'cause we have a clear idea of what we will be getting. We haven't seen much accessories though, just the strawhat and an alternate left arm to hold it. I am actually hoping for another one or two alternate facial expressions. I like the smiling face but I prefer him in some kind of serious or pissed-off face during his battle with Zetto. We should be seeing the official poster and promo photos anytime soon.

This is Luffy, and no strawhat crew collection is complete without the captain, so expect that most stores will declare sold-out in just a few minutes after preorders go live. Be ready with your F5 key, to quickly refresh your internet browser if you're after Japanese distribution version.

No pricing details and no official release date announced yet. I believe it is safe to assume a March 2014 release though. In any case, be sure to check out this post or my Facebook page for future updates.

Make Way For The Former Fleet Admiral

It seems that MegaHouse is on full throttle for the 1st quarter of 2014. Following the earlier announced Crocodile & Vivi  for January, then Nami, Zoro & Chopper for February, here they are again announcing their POP LIMITED - Sengoku as a March 2014 release, making it six confirmed POP releases just for the 1st quarter of 2014 alone.

This POP Sengoku was unveiled during the MegaHobby EXPO 2013 Spring. It was originally labeled as a Neo-DX, but for some reason, they decided to change it to a limited edition release, much like what they did with Kalifa. Probably because they'd realized that there's a lot of collectors planning to preorder. Making those limited would ensure that they meet the production demands.

As you can see, we only have photos of its uncolored prototype stage. It didn't appear on any other events following the MegaHobby EXPO 2013 Spring, so we haven't seen a colored prototype. But that doesn't stop the excitement and anticipation for this release. I believe that most of you had decided to preorder as soon as you laid an eye to this fleet admiral in his POP treatment. We should be able to see the official promo photos anytime soon. 

As mentioned, POP LIMITED - Sengoku will be released on March 2014, and it will be available for preorder at 9,240 yen. Being a limited edition, it will be officially available for preorder at MegaHouse's affiliated stores in Japan.

Can't Get Enough Of Nami? Here's Another One

If you were following my Facebook page you probably have a good amount of info about this release. But for those who haven't seen this before, yes, we are going to get another limited edition Nami. I'm actually liking this figure, but c'mon MegaHouse, isn't it time for Robin fans to get their fix?

Well, let's just assume that company has proven that Nami is indeed bankable that they kept releasing Nami POPs. But an equally sexy Nico Robin has to get some love also and not just some limited edition repaints. I'm not complaining about this Nami figure though. Nami look gorgeous here. She is actually wearing Luffy styled sexy outfit complete with a straw hat which is why it is entitled POP LIMITED - Nami (Mugiwara Ver.). It was unveiled at the recently held Chara Hobby 2013 (C3xHobby 2013)

At Last, Kalifa Is Now Ready to POP Our Bubbles

It was announced today that the long awaited POP LIMITED - Kalifa (yes, limited!) will finally be released on December 2013 for a price of 7,350 yen. That price is very much welcome, but sadly, only people of Japan will enjoy this pricing as this sexy CP9 is a limited edition POP.

We've seen her in a lot of MegaHouse figure exhibits and was tagged as Neo-DX but she was ultimately labeled as POP LIMITED during the recently held Megahobby EXPO 2013. I don't really understand how MegaHouse decides which one to be labelled as limited and which one is not. There isn't anything special about this figure to make it limited. I'm seeing her as just an average POP (a sexy one though). So why LIMITED MegaHouse? This will be a pain for all of us outside Japan.

Hopefully, she will have an international release just like other limited edition POPs, so we can avail her in a regular non-limited price outside Japan. No preorder schedule yet so be sure to keep an eye on this blog or my Facebook page for further announcements. 

Naruto Sage Mode in Minato's White Coat

MegaHobby EXPO 2013 Spring has lot's of surprises. One these is the unveiling of the fully colored prototype of G.E.M. Series - Uzumaki Naruto. We've already seen the unpainted prototype before but what surprised me are the colors of his coat (haori).

It's not the usual red coat with black flames-like motifs on the edges (the one he was wearing during his battle with Pain), but with white-red color scheme same as his father Minato's coat. I can't read Japanese but if I'm not mistaken, it seems that the kanji writing at the back says "Fourth Hokage" (四代目火影, Yondaime Hokage). Am I right?

I'm a huge fan of Naruto but I prefer to follow the Anime only and avoid the Manga (well at least until I cannot hold it much longer). So I don't know if he has worn this coat of his father already. But for me actually, it looks way much-much cooler than the red-black color scheme. I don't know if it looks powerful, but for me it is, since it pays respect to his late father Minato.

Some may not like this pose as it seems to be a little bit odd, but it's totally fine with me. I'm just having a hard time thinking how it will look next to G.E.M. Series - Hatake Kakashi Ver. 2. But with the next in line G.E.M. Series - Uchiha Sasuke, these three will totally look awesome. It won't be long 'till MegaHouse announce a G.E.M. Series - Haruno Sakura.

Oh, and before I forget! G.E.M. Series - Uzumaki Naruto has been announced to be available for preorder starting next Thursday, 6th of June 2013. No release date announced yet though, but I'm assuming this is an October 2013 release.

Update (2013-06-04): Set to be released on October 2013 at a price of 8,190 yen.

The Master Swordsman is Now Ready for You

The master swordsman's updated POP version, POP Neo-DX - Dracule Mihawk Ver. 2 has been announced by MegaHouse to be available for preorder starting next Wednesday, 5th of June 2013 at 18:00 (JST). Along with him is the re-release of his rival/student, POP Sailing Again - Roronoa Zoro.

This was unveiled during the recently help MegaHobby EXPO Spring 2013 and it's the only newly announced prototype in full color. As announced on that event, he will be released on October 2013 and priced for 8,400 yen. SA Zoro will also be re-released at the same month.

It seems that MegaHouse knew what their fans wanted. The first POP Neo-DX - Dracule Mihawk is already on the now-rare/hard-to-find/expensive/extinct/classic POP list which is not a practical buy in my opinion, unless of course you're a completist. This is the answer for all our agonies. Kudos to MegaHouse!

Update (2013-06-04): Preorders are now up at Figmation ( JP | Int. )

Iron Man 3 Hot Toys Collectible Figurines Exhibit by Action City

It's almost time for Iron Man 3 and there's a total craze of Iron Man 3 everywhere. Adding to the hype are these Iron Man Hot Toys merchandise. From 29th of April until 5th of May, Hot Toys and Action City are bringing every Iron Man 1/6th scaled figures released to date (and some upcoming releases) to Singapore, in an exhibit at Action City Bugis Junction.

GSC Lucy Heartfilia's Updated Colors

We got some new shots of Good Smile Company's Lucy Heartfilia. This was a part of the exhibition at Tokyo International Anime Fair 2013. It's interesting that they have changed Lucy's boots color. Remember when we first saw her colored prototype back in Wonder Festival 2013 Winter? The color of her boots are black. But now they have changed it to shiny brown.

I never actually noticed the color of her boots in the anime, but after googling her image, I saw some pictures of it black but sometimes it's brown. Maybe I will see the Anime again later to check on it's color. Well, for me it doesn't really matter actually, as long as they keep the overall look close to the manga and/or anime.

No pricing or release date revelation up until now. But I believe it would be announced be very soon. So Fairy Tail fans, keep checking this blogsite and our Facebook Page for future updates on this lovely figure. Getting her will at least immortalize Lucy in our shelves since the Anime broadcast will be going on hiatus.

Update (2013-03-25): Finally! She’ll be up for preorder starting tomorrow, 26th of March 2013

At Last, GSC's Lucy Heartfilia in Full Color

At last, I've been waiting ages for this. The first Fairy Tail character to be produced by Good Smile Company is now revealed in fully colored prototype during the recently held Wonder Festival 2013 Winter. And all I can say is.... it's incredibly awesome!

The eyes are so alive. Cool colors with yellow hair, white dress with blue trims and the skin tone is perfect. It's really is a sight for sore eyes. We have seen this great sculpt earlier during the Wonder Festival 2012 Summer and now we are looking at a completed and totally high class figure that can only be produced by none other than Good Smile Company. I really am excited to get my hands on it but no price and release date announced yet. I hope preorders will start soon.

It's really great that GSC picked up the Fairy Tail license and I hope they will continue with more character figure from the series. I'm thinking Juvia, Mirajane, Cana or Erza with all those elegant equipment/outfits. Please GSC, please!