New Release Photo Review: Figuarts ZERO - Basil Hawkins

Officially released last Saturday, 16th of March is Figuarts ZERO - Basil Hawkins as Bandai's follow-up to their Supernova Figuarts ZERO series. Figuarts ZERO - X Drake was also released on that same day, but today we're just going to look at some early shots of a Figuarts ZERO - Basil Hawkins's retail release.

Judging by these photos, Bandai surprisingly produced another well done Figuarts ZERO. I was actually convinced that Bandai doesn't care with the quality their releases given their crappy releases in the past. I'm not really looking forward to this release, actually. In fact, I didn't even prerodered, Drake and Hawkins. But upon seeing these images, I am quite sure that I'll be getting at least Basil Hawkins sometime soon even if I had no intention of completing the Supernovas in Figuarts ZERO form.

From any angle, I don't really notice any offensive paint application mistakes on this particular figure. It looks close enough to the promo images. His cape/upper garment seems to be painted with silver glittery effect, something that isn't seen on any of the promo images. I love how they painted that metallic thingy on his left shoulder. The boots are also well painted with glittery effect.

The best detail that draws my attention here are the straw voodoo dolls. I was worried before that they might screw up in this part. But it seems that Bandai has pulled-it off. It can be further improved actually, but this finish quality is on an acceptable level. The only thing that I don't like is the lack of detail on his pink sash. They should've put a little bit of paint shading on it.

The details are absolutely impressive or it just gotten past my expectations. Either way, this is really not bad for a Figuarts ZERO release. Having said that, I highly recommend this one whether you're a fan of the character, or a Figuarts ZERO collector like me. Retailing for 3,360 yen, he's still available at most retail hobby shops for and I believe he isn't going to be sold out anytime soon. So you can just relax for now and consider your budget. 

Figuarts ZERO - X Drake and Basil Hawkins Preorder Announcements

Bandai is really in a rush! To empty our wallets, that is. They just announced that Figuarts ZERO - X Drake and Basil Hawkins will be available for preorder this coming Monday, 12th of November 2012 at 16:00 (JST). These two figures has been announced earlier for March 2013 release, but I never thought that preorders will be offered this early.

Somehow I think that Bandai knew what other manufacturers are up to and they are trying to offer preorders as early as possible before new product announcements are made. Yes, I'm looking at you MegaHouse. It's possible that there will be Supernovas and Film Z on POP's line-up which will be shown on the upcoming MegaHobby EXPO 2012 Autumn event, since they already have an upcoming Kidd and Killer, and there will definitely be some Film Z POP editions.

Back to the figures, these two are looking awesome (as most Figuarts ZERO promo images are). Figuarts ZERO - X Drake is wielding his sword pointing upwards with his four-bladed axe on his right hand. The cape is blown away nicely and his boots looks awesomely detailed, I hope they can do the same on the retail releases. Figuarts ZERO - Basil Hawkins on the other hand looks cool with his straw voodoo dolls coming out of his left arm. This left arm can be replaced with an alternate arm without those dolls but holding a card. I would love to preorder these two but I'm worried about the outcome of the final retail product. I'll better wait for the release availability before getting these two. And besides, MegaHouse might announce these two characters on their POP line-up. If that happens, I might end up not getting these Figuarts ZEROs.

As mentioned, to be released on March 2013 with the following prices

Figuarts ZERO - X Drake

Price: 3,675 yen

Figuarts ZERO - Basil Hawkins

Price: 3,360 yen

Update: Preorders are now available at Amiami [ Drake | Hawkins ], and Hobby Search  [ Drake | Hawkins ].

Figuarts ZERO's Waves of Supernovas

Looks like Bandai is preparing for waves of Supernovas as the following planned Figuarts ZERO releases were announced

February 2013

• Figuarts ZERO - Jewelry Bonney
• Figuarts ZERO - Killer

March 2013

• Figuarts ZERO - X Drake
• Figuarts ZERO - Basil Hawkins

No photos for any of these figures yet but we may be able to see them on the upcoming Tamashii Nation 2012 event which will be held on 26th to 28th of October (Friday to Sunday) at the Akihabara UDX 2F AKIBA_SQUARE/4F UDX Gallery. Visit the site (Japanese) for more details.

And also, expect more Figuarts ZERO Film Z editions to be revealed during that event.

Update: Preorders for Figuarts ZERO - Jewelry Bonney and Killer will start on Thursday, 1st of November 2012 at 16:00 (JST)