Figuarts ZERO - Roronoa Zoro (New World ver.)

This is the ninth addition to my Figuarts ZERO collection. The swordsman of the Straw Hat Pirates in his appearance after the 2-year time skip as designed by Eiichiro Oda.

Roronoa Zoro is the second member of the Straw Hat Pirates and the one who can be referred to as the first mate of Captain Luffy (more about Zoro here). This is my son’s favorite character as well as mine. Well, I think this is everyone’s favorite character because of his strength and kick-ass swordsmanship.

This figure is one of the most hard to find of all the Straw Hat crew in the New World series. This was released late September for 2,310 yen. Just like the other Figuarts ZERO characters I featured before this, I was not able to preorder nor purchase this figure during the release date (see my reasons on my previous posts), and that’s really a pain in the neck.

February 2012, I browsed all the online retailers on the web and tried to look for the best price for this figure. I even checked ebay, and at that time, the lowest price that I can find there for this figure is 160 USD. That’s insane! Considering the original retail price is less that 30 USD. I almost gave up and crossed my fingers hoping for the re-release (which was announced already). But luckily, one of the online store that I was monitoring just miraculously appeared to have stock. This store is Hobby Frontier, a local online retailer, where I also got my Figuarts ZERO Robin and Chopper. I don’t know how they got a hold of it at that time since there were no re-release yet, and they were selling it for about 33 USD, a perfect deal. You might think it is a bootleg but it’s not, I swear it is genuine. I grabbed the opportunity and ordered it. It seemed that there was only one piece, because after I purchased there were no stock left. It must be some cancelled order.

Anyway so much for the story, this figure stands about 145 mm. A bit taller than Nami but shorter than Robin. See the size comparison below.

Figuarts ZERO - Straw Hat Pirates (New World ver.)

In this photo, I have the New World versions of Zoro, Nami, Luffy, Usopp, Robin, and Chopper. Missing are Sanji, Franky and Brook. I was unfortunate to get the latter three from the first release also, and were almost impossible to find those at that time, not at least at reasonable prices (those pricing on ebay sucks). Luckily, the re-releases of the New World series was already announced so I'm now waiting for it, so Kudos to you Bandai.

Box Art and Contents

Still thinking of this as a bootleg?... Here's the proof, see that silver Toei sticker on the front top part of the box?... Yeah, yeah I know, the sticker can be faked also, but I already saw a bootleg version of this figure and it doesn't look close, it is actually looking hideous!

Anyway, the box has the same look as the boxes of other characters in the New World series, with the exception of the highlight color, green for zoro. That silver sticker tells that this is an international version, that's because I got this locally. You may also notice the Bandai Asia sticker as well as the hologram sticker at the bottom, another proof of authenticity.

After you get Zoro out of the box, the two swords are separate pieces. Aside from the swords and the base stand, nothing else is on the box except the promo leaflet showing the other products.

Photo Gallery

I love this figure, it is one of my favorite Figuarts ZERO’s because of the amount of details that Bandai had given it.

The sculpt of this figure has a lot of small details, it is really hard to think how they have done it in this small size. The different finish that represents different materials is amazing, specially the boots. His green outfit’s likeness to the anime is spot on. I like the wrinkles and the shading in it. The tiny buttons on the lower part looks realistic at certain distance. The maroon sash also looks nice with some shades of black.
The sculpt and shading of the neck and torso is well done, really nice to look at. The scar on the chest though seems lacking in detail and it looked like there are some paint spills. I don’t know, maybe its really hard to make it look realistic on this size.

The details and the expression of the face is just ok for me. The scar on his left eye does not look natural just like the one on the chest. It does not bother me that much though. He has this grinning expression though he is rarely seen grinning in the series as he is more of a serious character. But I guess it is fine since all the Straw hat character in the New World series has a happy expression showing that they all are ready for the new world. And it is also fine since the POP version of Zoro (Sailing Again Zoro, need to get that) already has a serious expression.

The pose is not dynamic as in battle stance but it seems like how it should be since like I have mentioned, all the characters has jolly kinda looks. And there will be a Battle version series coming with Zoro in it, so I will still be able to pose him looking kick-ass.

The swords looks like how it should be. See the reference photo below.

On his left hand is the cursed sword Sandai Kitetsu, a black blade with the edge painted in silver. The hilt has a detailed sculpt and is painted black with gold in between. The shape of the crossguard is true to the anime and is also painted in gold.The scabbard has red color with gold and black in between just like in the anime. But this sword is a little loose on the hand because when I started to take these photos, it was inserted on the hands properly with the crossguard almost touching the hand. But by the time I finished taking photos, the hands is now holding the edge of the hilt. It won’t fall though and it will not move by itself. It will just slide down a little when you are moving the figure from time to time. It looks odd when it slides like that (see the group photo above) so make sure to check that on you display often.

On the right hand is the Shusui, the sword formerly belonged to Ryuma. The details are close to what I’ve seen from the anime. It’s blade has it’s distinct feature, painted black with that little red pattern near the edge. The crossguard, the hilt and specially the scabbard of this sword also has it’s distinctive designs. I haven't tried putting the two swords on their respective scabbard so I don't know if it fits properly on those.

But his special sword, the Wado Ichimonji is stucked on it’s scabbard and is one whole piece, meaning, it cannot be detached, so he will not be able to wield it. The details on the hilt and crossguard is also finely detailed though.

The base stand just like the others has the character’s personal jolly roger followed by Zoro’s name, a quote in japanese saying “I got on the wrong ship!” in English (how did I read and translate that?.. I read it somewhere) and a “dead or alive” print at the bottom. Zoro can stand properly on it’s own without the stand.

All in all, this figure is nothing short of outstanding. It is really nice to see how the manufacturer can do nowadays with their new technologies and techniques in this art. It is exciting to think what improvements they can do in the future for small figures like this. Hope you enjoy the gallery. Check out other One Piece Figuarts ZERO here.