The Resurrection Of Marco The Phoenix

Finally, after two months of waiting since its introduction during the Megahobby EXPO 2013 Autumn, POP MAS - Marco the Phoenix has risen up for preorder yesterday (see the preorder announcement here). If you're still on the other side of the fence, then it's time for you to check out these official promo images and see the figure in all the interesting angles to help you decide.

These photos aren't much of a surprise actually. We've seen the figure's entirety on the exhibit photos. No optional interchangeable parts as we can see here, just like the previously released POP MAS - Rob Lucci (Leopard Kami-e Bushin Ver.). I suppose most of the POP in this class won't have any alternate parts.

We're Not Getting Four POPs For February After All

MegaHouse is down by one POP for next month's releases. They just announced the delay of the release of POP MAS - Tony Tony Chopper (Horn Point). It was initially announced as a February 2014 release, along with POP Edition-Z - Roronoa Zoro, POP LIMITED - Nami (Mugiwara Ver), and POP Edition-Z - Monkey D. Luffy, but was pushed backwards to March of 2014. This leaves us with three POP releases for the month of February.

This may be a bad news for those who can't wait for this POP, but this is actually a good news to those like me who preordered all four POPs. It's a bit of a relieve to our wallet. Still, three POPs in a month is a pain. Can't help it actually as these are all Mugiwaras and have to be a part of every POP collection.

MegaHouse Returns With Blue Flames of Resurrection

After a lame POP re-release preorder announcement last month, MegaHouse is back with something that every POP collector is waiting for. Finally, the preorder announcement for POP MAS - Marco The Phoenix. It will start next Wednesday, 5th of February 2014 at 18:00 (JST). I guess it would be another preorder battle for online hobby shops in Japan. Get ready with your F5 key to refresh your browser as soon as the clock ticks.

This is one of the much anticipated figure that was revealed during the MegaHobby EXPO 2013 Autumn. It's the third MAS (Motion Ability Statue) to be released and the second version of POP Marco The Phoenix. I missed the Neo-DX version so this one is a really must get for me. Can't wait for it.

No pricing and release date announced yet. So for more, stay tuned to this blog and my Facebook page.

The Cutest Battle Ready Zoan

Following my earlier post about POP Edition-Z - Roronoa Zoro. I'm now bringing in POP MAS - Tony Tony Chopper (Horn Point). Went up for preorder yesterday as well (check out the preorder announcement here), and the official promo photos are now available for us to check out this figure in full color.

Remember that the last time we saw this figure is still on the unpainted prototype stage. Seeing this official photos is really exciting. We get to see the amazing sculpture alive. I really love how it ends up painted. Those huge antlers had those shiny and textured effect, giving a sense of justice to the name Horn Point. The fur on the forearms looks amazingly realistic. I can't say much aside from a really nice sculpt and great color application with those shades of brown. There isn't any optional/alternate parts, but what else do you need?

This is the best looking Chopper form after the timeskip. We're not sure if MegaHouse is planning to make all the seven transformation stage, but with this Horn Point alone, I'm already satisfied. A much better form than the Kung Fu Point and a much more welcome addition to POP Chopper than those never-ending Choppermans.

Three POP Mugiwaras for a single month - POP Edition-Z - Roronoa Zoro and POP LIMITED - Nami (Mugiwara Ver.) and POP MAS - Tony Tony Chopper (Horn Point), all will be released on February 2014. A little heavy for the wallet since all of them are must have. We'll if I were to be asked to choose only two, I'll just be dropping Nami. I'm sure you know why.

Chopper will retail for 7,560 yen (inclusive of tax). Preorders are open (or have been closed) at Amiami, Hobby Search, HLJ, and Animarket.

Two More Mugiwaras To Join Your POP Collection

It's the beginning of October and it's time for another POP announcement. This month's MegaHouse's POP preorder offering is not one but two Mugiwaras. The POP Edition-Z - Roronoa Zoro to add to the Film Z POP line-up, and POP MAS - Tony Tony Chopper (Horn Point) under the new subclass called Motion Ability Statue. Preorders for these two must-have POP will begin next Wednesday, 9th of October 2013 at the usual time of 18:00 (JST).

There is no stopping MegaHouse in releasing all Film Z characters. Roronoa Zoro is looking kick-ass here with that dynamic ready-to-attack pose. It was first announced during the MegaHobby EXPO Spring 2013. Then it appeared in full color at Wonder Festival 2013 Summer, and again during the Chara Hobby 2013 about a month ago. I suppose most of you have decided on getting this Film Z version of Zoro, especially if you're planning to complete all the Edition-Z Mugiwaras.

Getting tired of too much POP Chopper? Well you shouldn't be with this Horn Point form of Chopper. I love how cute Chopper is in his original form, but this form is the next best Chopper for me. He's fun to look at with that smile and pose, adding to those fine furry details and huge horns. This is a cool fighting form of Chopper, preserving the cute factor and without looking like a beast. These photos shown here was taken during the Wonder Festival 2013 Summer. It is still in the unpainted prototype stage so it's really exciting to see him fully painted when the official promo photos are released.

These two is expected to be released on February 2014, coinciding to the release of POP LIMITED - Nami (Mugiwara Ver.). That makes it three POP Mugiwaras for February which would make our hearts happy while our wallets cry. No pricing details yet for these two POP but rest assured that I'll be giving you any update regarding this figures as soon as new information becomes available.

Update (2013-10-07): Prices for these two POPs are as follows
POP Edition-Z - Roronoa Zoro: 9,240 yen (inclusive of tax)
POP MAS - Tony Tony Chopper (Horn Point): 7,560 yen (inclusive of tax)

Half-man Half-Leopard for the First Motion Ability Statue

It's quite embarrassing that this blog post comes a bit late. Sorry about that. As I have mentioned on my previous post, I just went out on vacation and I'm a little busy lately. But again, this figure deserve some special treatment on my blog. You probably have seen this from other stores and sites but it's time to talk about this here on my blog. May I present the official promo images of POP MAS - Rob Lucci (Leopard Kami-e Bushin Ver.).

I hope you didn't miss the preorder announcement (see here) and you were able to secure one for you, as well as the POP Edition-Z - Aokiji Kuzan, because even before these promo images went out, those photos that we've seen during the exhibits left us in awe which made us decide to include it on our Christmas loot-bag.

Unlike POP Edition-Z - Aokiji Kuzan, this leopard Rob Lucci does not come with any optional parts. It is plain but quite fantastic figure with killer pose, ready to jump on you anytime. And based on these images, the colors really looks great and details were sharp. The figure really gives life to a vicious half-human half-leopard predator. It may look more of a leopard but you can still see the features of Rob Lucci with those curly hair and unique beard giving it a personality.

This is the first POP MAS (Motion Ability Statue) to be released. I love MegaHouse's creativity of giving classifications to new kind of POPs. It left us excited on what are about to come on these unique product line. I hope we can see more POP MAS in the future aside for the upcoming POP MAS - Tony Tony Chopper (Horn Point).

I can't wait to get my hands on this one and display it next to my POP LIMITED - Rob Lucci ver. 1.5. With a tag price of 7,980 yen, it will be released along with POP Edition-Z - Aokiji Kuzan on late-December 2013. Another late-Christmas present for all of us. How I wish this will be given to me as a gift. Oh well, I'll just have to make sure that I will be having it by securing a preorder and paying for it myslf. For those who haven't done it yet, check out these links, HLJ, Hobby Search, Amiami, Animarket, Hobby Frontier and Figmation.

A Logia and a Zoan as Post Christmas Presents to Ourselves

The Wonder Festival 2013 Summer has wrapped-up, leaving us a lot of new upcoming figures to look forward to. But the best ones are the product lines that you are following and collecting. And that's POPs for me. MegaHouse has unveiled some new and previously announced but fully painted prototypes. Two of those painted prototypes are actually going to be released as post Christmas presents to ourselves (assuming no more delays).

These two are POP Edition-Z - Aokiji Kuzan and POP MAS - Rob Lucci (Leopard Kami-e Bushin Ver.). Announced to be released this coming December 2013, preorders for these two POP starts next Wednesday, 7th of August 2013 at 18:00 (JST).

So let's talk first about what we will having on our display shelves after Christmas. First we have POP Edition-Z - Aokiji Kuzan. The first non-Mugiwara under POP Edition-Z. This POP may be falling under Edition-Z since this is Aokiji's Film Z movie appearance, but this can also be a Sailing Again POP since he appeared in this same outfit at Punk Hazard (sorry for the spoiler), not sure about the colors though. Making him an Edition-Z makes sense actually, since the first time we've seen an animated post-timeskip Aokiji is on Film Z.

I'm sure most of you has decided to include him on your must-get list even before he was fully painted. Seeing him now if full colors makes it clear that we will be crying if we're going to miss this release. The unpainted prototype shown back at MegaHobby EXPO 2013 Spring has his right hand inside his pocket. This time his right hand is fully transformed into an ice which is so cool. I really like seeing figures with a hint of their devil fruit abilities. So we can assume that he will come with two right arms, one with his hand inside his pocket and one with ice effect. I hope he will come with more accessories, but with a price of 7,980 yen, I think all we can see is one optional arm and a base.

The next one is POP MAS - Rob Lucci (Leopard Kami-e Bushin Ver.) or (Leopard Paper Drawing Fighting Form Ver.). It is under the new POP classification called MAS which means Motion Ability Statue. I really don't know what that means, but since there were already two POP that falls under this class, the other one being POP MAS - Tony Tony Chopper (Horn Point), I'm assuming this belongs to the Zoan transformed to their half-animal appearance. That's the case of this Rob Lucci POP and the Chopper that I have mentioned. Or it could also be as it name implies "Motion Ability" which maybe like a capture of their attacking form, more like Figuarts ZERO Battle ver line-up or Attack Motions, but without much effect parts. Anyway, we'll see about that later in future releases.

Getting back to this POP, Rob Lucci is in his half-leopard mode. This is actually his Seimei Kikan: Kami-e Bushin ability, which literally means Life Return: Paper Drawing Fighting Form. Kami-e makes the users' body go limp in order to avoid any attacks, and float like a piece of paper. This technique makes Lucci's half-leopard form smaller, lighter, and possibly increasing his speed. At any rate, he is much more agile in this form, and harder to hit - as opposed to his hulking normal half-leopard form.

It's nice to see MegaHouse come up with new POP class just to make character forms like this. I love how Lucci was posed in this form, showing a cat-like posture. Being the first of it's class, this is also a must get for every POP collector. I wonder if we can also see other CP9 or any other Zoan under this class. Marco is a good candidate. Or maybe he's better off being under Maximum with all the bells and whistles. What do you think?

Below are the details of these two POPs

POP Edition-Z - Aokiji Kuzan

• Class: Edition-Z
• Price: 7,980 yen
• Release Date: December 2013

POP MAS - Rob Lucci (Leopard Kami-e Bushin Ver.)

• Class: MAS
• Price: 7,980 yen
• Release Date: December 2013