Official Photos: GEM Gundam SEED - Kira Yamato

Joining the previously released G.E.M. Athrun Zala and RAH DX G.A. NEO Lacus Clyne, Kira Yamato's GEM treatment is finally here and ready to be preordered today. We saw him the first time in unpainted prototype stage at Wonder Festival 2012 Summer. Now we can see the fully completed figure in these official photos. He comes with his droid bird Tori, which can be placed either on his shoulder or on his palms. He can be display in pair with either Lacus Clyne or Atrun Zala with hands reaching out for each other.

Based on these images, it seems that he does not come with an alternate non-stretched left arm so there is no way you can display him without looking like he's trying to reach something. Anyway, this is the best figure of Kira Yamato that I have seen so far and as a huge fan of the Gundam SEED series, this one should join my collection.

An April 2013 Release for 7,665 Yen. Preorders for this figure starts today, 8th of November 2012 and it is now available on Amiami, HLJ, Hobby Search and Otacute

Official Photos: POP Neo-EX LIMITED - Marshall D. Teach ver. 1.5

The official photos of POP Neo-EX LIMITED - Marshall D. Teach ver. 1.5 has finally been released. From what I see, there are a lot improvements done as compared to the original DX. The first thing that you will notice are the eyes, it is now round unlike before which is kind of squinting. It seems that the head is a totally new sculpt while while retaining most of the features of the original, much as what they did with Rob Lucci ver 1.5 and Portgas D. Ace ver 1.5. The sailor hat is now larger. There isn't any noticeable changes on the sculpt of the body but it has now better color tone and overall paint application are much more detailed.

This is indeed new a and improved version of Teach and its still worth getting even if you do own the original DX, specially if you are a fan of a nicely detailed figure. A really nice companion to POP Neo-DX - Shiliew which will be available for preorder a few hours from now.

Preorders for POP Neo-EX LIMITED - Marshall D. Teach ver. 1.5 will start tomorrow, 8th of November 2012 and will be released on April 2013. No pricing details yet.

Update: Retails for the price of 8,925 yen (inclusive of tax)

Update: Preorders are now open at Animarket, Amiami, HLJ, Hobby Search and Otacute

POP Neo-DX - Ghost Princess Perhona

It is quite a while since the last time I featured one from my collection. And since the POP Sailing Again - Perhona is about to be released this coming January, I better feature my lovely POP Neo-DX - Ghost Princess Perona (or Perhona as written in the box) first before the newer version arrives.

This is the fifth addition to my POP collection and my second Neo-DX. As all the characters under the Neo-DX class, Perhona's design in this figure is based on her pre time-skip appearance, and as I have mentioned a newer Perhona under the Sailing Again class will be released which is then based on her post time-skip appearance. But that newer version doesn't mean its better than this Neo-DX. Both versions are really pretty awesome and their designs are totally different from each other.

Figuarts ZERO One Piece Film Z Battle Costume ver Preorder Schedule

This is crazy! It seems like Bandai is in a hurry to release all the Figuarts ZERO One Piece Film Z Battle Costume ver. I just got a news and from what I understand is that they will start accepting preorders on not one, not two, but all the nine Mugiwaras on mid-December. And what's crazier is that they will release them in sets of three. How that sounds to you? Is this a good news or bad news? See the set and pricing details below.

Figuarts ZERO Film Z Battle Costume ver - Luffy, Chopper, Franky set
Price: 8,505 yen

Figuarts ZERO Film Z Battle Costume ver - Zoro, Robin, Brook set
Price: 9,240 yen

Figuarts ZERO Film Z Battle Costume ver - Sanji, Nami, Usopp set
Price: 9,240 yen

This is also still not very clear to me, but keep an eye on this site for more detailed info in the future. You can also follow my Facebook page for updates.

Official Photos: POP Neo-DX - Shiliew

Here are the official photos of the most famous member of the Blackbeard Pirates, POP Neo-DX - Shiliew. We already have seen a lot of photos of this figure but in these images, it looks like he will come with alternate right and left arms, to display him differently.

And if you're into collecting Blackbeard Pirates, a newer version of POP Marshall D. Teach will also be coming as well. They would look really nice together. No photos of him yet though.

No price and release date yet but preorder information has been released earlier and can be found here.

Update: Release date is mid February 2013

Update: Retails for the price of 8,925 yen (inclusive of tax)

Update: Preorders are now open at HLJ, Hobby Search, Amiami, Animarket and Otacute at their own discounted prices.

Official Photos: POP Neo-EX LIMITED - Boa Hancock ver. Blue

After much speculations from fans, official images of POP Neo-EX LIMITED - Boa Hancock ver. Blue has been finally released. And much to many collectors dismay (specially to the owners of the original), she is just a alternate/recolor of POP Neo-DX Boa Hancock with an additional winking eye alternate face. I'm not sure if there are some other slight improvements made on the sculpt, but based on these photos, it is basically the same. It's just like what they did with Luffy JF Special, only with lesser new parts. MegaHouse probably would like to get the most out of this famous POP.

For those who have missed the original red color (like me), this was still a good news. This blue colored dress is based from the manga chapter 598, where Boa Hancock is wearing the same dress but in blue (remained red in the anime) during the time when he met with Luffy after the two year time-skip. So this can be regarded as the post time-skip version of Boa Hancock.

So much for wishing a different non-swimsuit Boa Hancock. I hope we can still see a completely new Boa Hancock like the Marine Ford version and with Salome some time in the future.

No price and release date yet but preorder information has been released earlier and can be found here.

Update: Release date is late March 2013

Update: Retails for the price of 7,350 yen (inclusive of tax)

Update: Preorders are now open at HLJ, Hobby Search, Amiami, Animarket and Otacute at their own discounted prices.

Official Photos: Figuarts ZERO - Jewelry Bonney and Killer

Less than two hours left before preorders for Figuarts ZERO - Jewelry Bonney and Killer starts, but before that, take a close look at these official photos of the two figure. These photos might help you decide if you're still arguing with yourself whether to join the preorder battle on the Japanese market or not. These photos looks really nice, but it does not mean that the final retail version would look just as nice. Recent Figuarts ZERO releases are hit or miss specially on the One Piece product line. So let's hope that these two will not suffer a poor quality as some others and stay as much as they look like in the photos.

Jewelry Bonney has an alternate head option with a different expression and an alternate left arm. Her sailor hat is removable and can be used on both heads. For Killer, I noticed that he is a lot taller than Figuarts ZERO - Eustass Kidd as shown in the photo below. Is that accurate? I understand that these Figuarts ZERO are not scaled so no point arguing in this matter, but since you would normally display Killer side by side with his Captain, it might not look appropriate, unless Killer is really this much taller than Kidd.

To be released on February 2013, these figures priced for 2,940 yen each. Preorder details can be found here

Update: Preorders are now open at Amiami [ Bonney | Killer ], Hobby Search [ Bonney | Killer ] and Hobbylink Japan [ Bonney | Killer ].

POP November 2012 Preorder Announcements

The November POP preorders has been lifted and we are getting not one but three exciting POP announcements. First off is POP Neo-DX - Shiliew, this wasn't much of a surprise since this is the only remaining fully completed figure that was shown from Chara Hobby 2012.

The second one, POP Neo-EX LIMITED Boa Hancock ver. Blue was a surprise since none of use knew this one coming. As the name implies, she is a limited edition and only few stores will offer this figure. No available photos of this figure yet so we're not sure if this is only a recolor of the previous DX Boa Hancock or a completely new sculpt. This is the one I'm totally excited for since I missed the previous release.

And the last but not least, POP Neo-EX LIMITED Marshall D. Teach "Bleackbeard" ver. 1.5. This is a limited edition as well and also not photo yet. This is probably a release decision to coincide with the release of DX Shiliew. They should have made this release strategy with Rob Lucci ver. 1.5 by releasing Kalifa as well :) ...(wishful thinking).

Below are the preorder schedules

November 7, 2012 at 18:00 (JST)

• POP Neo-DX - Shiliew
• POP Neo-EX LIMITED Boa Hancock ver. Blue

November 8, 2012 (timing unknown)

• POP Neo-EX LIMITED Marshall D. Teach "Bleackbeard" ver. 1.5

No price and release dates yet for any of these three POPs and as I have mentioned, no available photos for Hancock and Teach yet. For Shiliew, only the photos from Chara Hobby 2012 event are available so just check 'em out below. I will post the official photos of these three figures as soon as it is made available.

As for POP Sailing Again - Franky, no word from it yet but since it is the onely remaining prototype that was shown from the events earlier, we might get to see him fully completed in the upcoming MegaHobby EXPO 2012 Autumn event this coming 25th of November. And if it is indeed fully completed at that time, it is safe to say that it will be the next preorder to be announced.