The Attack That Cuts Vergo

This is earlier than I expected. Remember the Figuarts ZERO release announcement that we talked about three weeks ago? Well Bandai Tamashii Nations didn't let us wait for too long and revealed today the official photos of their Figuarts ZERO - Trafalgar Law (Battle ver.). It wasn't as awesome as I have expected but it's not bad, not too bad at all.

Well, I was expecting more like their past releases and announcements like the Luffy (Red Hawk), Zoro (Rengoku Onigiri) and Sanji (Flambage Shot). Those three we're out of this world kickin' in style, with all those nice looking effect parts. This Trafalgar Law Battle ver. doesn't look as great as those three.

But don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that this isn't a nice figure. It's also looks like a really good figure in its own way. I do prefer this one over the previously released Schichibukai ver. Notice that they didn't give any attack title. It's simply because it isn't a devil fruit ability and there isn't any attack name. But for a real fan of One Piece and Trafalgar Law, this attack is epic, as it reminded us of how he cuts Vergo, as well as the whole laboratory and the surrounding mountains into two. Now that's something. I just wish it comes with a Vergo figure that was split into two :)

The effect parts that comes with it are just the cloud of dusts on his two feet and the swoooshing effect part on the sword, more like the one on the Dracule Mihawk (Battle ver.) sword effect. Another thing that I kinda dislike is the facial expression. It's nice to have that smirk but I prefer him to be in a more serious expression. I think it would look a lot better in this attack pose to relive that scene with Vergo. There aren't any photos telling that there is an optional head or face to swap, something that I'm hoping to be in the final production release.

Price wise, for 3,780 yen, I think it's quite expensive considering the lesser amount of effect parts compared to Luffy (Red Hawk) and Zoro (Rengoku Onigiri) which has a lower SRP of 3,360 yen and 3,675 yen respectively. Well, that might be caused by Japanese yen inflation rate or some other reasons whatsoever. Anyway, for every fan of One Piece, fan of Trafalgar Law and serious collectors alike, 3,780 yen isn't that much.

Below are the details.

Figuarts ZERO - Trafalgar Law (Battle ver.)

• Price: 3,780 yen
• Release Date: February 2014

No preorder schedule announcement yet, but I'm assuming that it would be on the 1st week of November. Keep an eye on this post or on my Facebook page for further announcements.

Update (2013-10-30): Preorders for Figuarts ZERO - Trafalgar Law (Battle ver.) will open tomorrow, Thursday, 31st of October 2013 at 16:00 (JST).

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.

The Fifth Addition to the Edition-Z is a Pirate Hunter

Preorder for POP Edition-Z - Roronoa Zoro and POP MAS - Tony Tony Chopper (Horn Point) has officially opened yesterday, 9th of September 2013 (check out the preorder announcement here). Along with it is the availability of the official promo images at the MegaHobby Station site. Let's check it out.

We're all familiar on how it looked like since we have seen tons of photos of it on past exhibits. But we would also wanted to see what display options it offers. First, it can be displayed with the familiar bandanna tied around his head, and the two swords - Sandai Kitetsu and Shusui on each hand. Second option is using the alternate head without the bandanna and the marimo head sticking out. The third one is with another alternate head with the Wado Ichimonji in his mouth, making him do the Santoryu pose. But too bad it seems that you can't put the red cape while doing the Santoryu.

That will be a total of three head option. I'm not sure if the Wado Ichimonji in his mouth is the same as the one on the scabbard, I'm assuming that it will be the same as the Sailing Again version where there are two separate Wado Ichimonji, one holstered in it's scabbard and one on his mouth. But it seems that unlike the Sailing Again version, the Sandai Kitetsu and Shusui cannot be holstered on the their respective scabbards.

This is the first POP of Zoro with a black bandanna tied around his head (the first Strong Edition doesn't count since it isn't really his regular black bandanna). But I find that the head without bandanna looked a lot better than with it. The bandanna hides his eyebrows which in turn hides his overall expression. Whereas without the bandana, Zoro's intimidating personality is clearly visible, giving more depth to it's attacking stance. My only problem is that when the bandanna is not on his head, it's supposed to be tied around his left bicep, it's clearly isn't there. Another thing to note is that there isn't a Santoryu pose option with the bandanna tied on his head.

Notice that the shoes has some brown mud paint details, really cool. It the first time I have seen this kind of detail in a POP. The red cape seems to be blown by the wind. I'm afraid that with this pose and that cape, the box is going to be huge. Overall, the figure looks amazing. It isn't perfect but it's one of the best Zoro figure out there.

POP Edition-Z - Roronoa Zoro will retail for 9,240 yen (inclusive of tax). It will be released along with POP MAS - Tony Tony Chopper (Horn Point) and POP LIMITED - Nami (Mugiwara Ver.) on Febriary 2014. Preorders are open (or have been closed) at Amiami, Hobby Search, HLJ, and Animarket.

Bandai Introduces A 1/8th Scale Figuarts ZERO

Nope, I'm not a fan of Sailor Moon and I'm not into collecting Sailor Moon figures. But as a huge One Piece Figuarts ZERO follower, I find this latest Figuarts ZERO announcement from Bandai interesting. So what's interesting with this Sailor Moon Figuarts ZERO you ask? Well, it's just going to be the first 1/8th Scale Figuarts ZERO.

Not that I'm interested in getting these Sailor Moon figures. I'm just surprised that they went to a standard 1/8th scale (about 220 mm height) instead of the regular Figuarts ZERO 1/10th-ish scale. This maybe some kind of Bandai's marketing strategy. They could just be testing the waters for possible production of more 1/8th scale Figuarts ZEROs. Now think about it, if this one becomes successful, they might start producing 1/8th scale One Piece Figuarts ZEROs. That will be a direct competition against MegaHouse's Portrait of Pirates.

Notice that the One Piece Figuarts ZERO is inclining towards their successful Battle ver. line. They might move their non-Battle ver. figures to 1/8th scale. I'm not predicting, this is completely just my worries. I don't like this idea since the things that I loved about Figuarts ZEROs are the size, price and range of characters. I'm a collector of both One Piece Figuarts ZERO and POP. I don't think I'll be needing a 1/8th version of the same character from both manufacturer if they're all going to be 1/8th scale. I prefer the current Figuarts ZERO size as it is. I hope this 1/8th scale will only be for their Sailor Moon line.

Anyway, if you happen to be a fan of Sailor Moon and planning to get this. Figuarts ZERO - 1/8th Sailor Moon, it will be released on March 2014 for 8,800 yen. Yah, the price isn't Figuarts ZERO-ish :)

The Wait For The 38th Is Over

"Jarvis, get Igor to steady this thing!" "...then take the money of those Hot Toys collectors". Yeah, just a mere few seconds of screentime and wasn't even seen fighting against the extremists. It just did some heavy lifting, but it became one of the most anticipated Hot Toys MMS.

The 1/6th scale Mark XXXVIII Igor is now officially being announced as a part of Hot Toys Movie Masterpiece. It had been in a number of convention and exhibits this year so this announcement wasn't really a big surprise. What's surprising now is that we're seeing it in lots of different poses. I have seen a prototype of Igor myself during the STGCC and it's looks amazingly detailed and it's totally huge, even bigger that the Iron Monger MMS.

The Surgeon Of Death Will Take You To His Operating "ROOM"

It seems like there isn't any other Figuarts ZERO release for January 2014 aside from the limited edition Portgas D. Ace (Cross-fire - Battle ver). which can't be considered as a regular monthly release since it is a web exclusive. Bandai must be slowing down a little since 2013 has been a big year for their Figuarts ZEROs.

They may be slowing down for the first month of 2014, but they sure know how to keep the new year sparkling 'til February. We got an early teaser announcement for February 2014, a follow-up to their battle ver. line-up - Figuarts ZERO - Trafalgar Law (Battle ver.). No official promo photos available yet as this is just tentative announcement.

I know some of you are wondering, why follow-up Figuarts ZERO - Trafalgar Law (Shichibukai ver.) so soon. This is going to be the third Figuarts ZERO version Trafalgar Law. I believe that Trafalgar Law is nearly as famous as Portgas D. Ace. Notice that there's also already three versions of Figuarts ZERO Ace. It's not surprising that Bandai is giving priorities to famous characters as these are 100% sure not be left out on store shelves.

Note the absence of the attack name like other battle ver. so we aren't sure if this will be a pre-timeskip or post-timeskip version. But I do hope that this is going to be a post-timeskip version because he is wickedly awesome in that look. It's exciting to think how his attack pose will look like. Is it going to be Shambles, Tact, Scan, Mes or Counter Shock? Is he going to wield his sword? What pose and effect parts its going to be? Really exciting just to think of it. Let's see later if it's going to be as exciting as I think it would be.

Check out the details below

Figuarts ZERO - Trafalgar Law (Battle ver.)

• Price: 3,870 yen
• Release Date: February 2014

Here's hoping for the best Figuarts ZERO - Trafalgar Law release. Please take note that this is just a tentative release announcement and may change before the it is officially announced for preorder.

Keep an eye on this blog, or on my Facebook page for further announcement.

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.

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)