New Release Photo Review: Figuarts ZERO - Sogeking (Battle ver.)

The sniper of Syrup village appears. Just more than a week ago, 20th of April 2013, Figuarts ZERO - Sogeking (Battle ver.) was released. And as usual, we have here some early photos of the figure to review courtesy of ワンピース POP 予約＆新作速報 of blog.livedoor.jp.

As an addition to the Battle ver. series, Usopp or as Sogeking in this appearance, comes with a Firebird Star effect part which looks totally cool. Sogeking himself, like Boa Hancock (Battle ver.) is fine and looks close to the promo images, but I find the finish quality not very clean. The mask which is the trademark of Sogeking doesn't have a very finely applied paints, especially on the goggles. The cape seems to have a finish that can easily be scratched. The sash is kind of lacking in details.

I noticed a hole in the cape and a peg on the pocket of the slingshot. Is that suppose to be attached to each other? It does not appear to be like that on the promo images. It looks ugly with that hole and that peg sticking out. But I can't imagine the slingshot pocket attached to the cape. Guess I'll just have to find out when my copy arrives.

All-in-all, it isn't a bad release, but it's also not a strikingly awesome and detailed release either. Just somewhere in between. It has to be expected on every Figuarts ZERO release anyway. But since most of us will be displaying him together with the rest of the Figuarts ZEROs, I'm sure this will stand out. Afterall, it's Sogeking.

Still available on most hobby shops for 3,990 yen. You better get this one as there isn't much Sogeking collectible out there.

Figuarts ZERO - Boa Hancock (Battle ver.) and Sogeking (Battle ver.) Preorder Announcement

January preorder announcement for Figuarts ZERO has been lifted and it is going to be Boa Hancock (Battle ver) and Usopp as Sogeking (Battle ver.). Preorder starts on 8th of January, Tuesday at 16:00 (JST). These two figures were shown earlier during the Jump Festa 2013 event. I thought Bandai is going to hold their Battle ver series until all the Figuarts ZERO that were shown during the Tamashii Nation 2012 event has been released.

I was always waiting for Sogeking ever since it was revealed during the prevously held events and now he is going to be released with a nice phoenix flame effect parts. Boa Hancock is a surprise because there are already four or five versions of Figuarts ZERO Boa Hancock. I guess every Boa Hancock figure is a money maker for all figure manufacturers. In fact, this is going to be on my "must get" list. Love that outfit and those effect parts.

Below are the release date and pricing details

Figuarts ZERO - Boa Hancock (Battle ver.)

• Price: 3,990 yen
• Release: April 2013

Figuarts ZERO - Sogeking (Battle ver.)

• Price: 3,990 yen
• Release: April 2013

Update (2013-01-08): Preorders are now open at Amiami (Hancock | Sogeking), HLJ (Hancock | Sogeking) and Hobby Search (Hancock | Sogeking).

Update (2013-04-03): Official Release Dates

• Figuarts ZERO - Boa Hancock (Battle ver.): 27th of April 2013
• Figuarts ZERO - Sogeking (Battle ver.): 20th of April 2013

Celebrating Christmas with POP Sailing Again Straw Hat Crew

It's almost time for Christmas. My favorite time of the year. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for following and supporting my blog as well as my Facebook page. So in return, I'll give you these nice shots I made with my POP Sailing Again Straw Hat crew in front of our little Christmas tree. As you can see, POP SA Franky is missing since it isn't released yet. Hopefully he will make it next Christmas.

This post has been setup for you to be able to download and use the photos as wallpapers on your PCs or on your HDTVs. I made 16:9 and 4:3 desktop aspect ratios so you can download whatever is best suited for you.

Merry Christmas to All :)

Figuarts ZERO Film Z Battle Costume ver Preorders

The exact preorder date for Figuarts ZERO Film Z Battle Costume ver has been lifted and it will be on the 15th 14th of December 2012. No exact timing schedule yet, but I assume that it will be at the same usual time at 16:00 (JST).

It was announced earlier that it will be sold in sets on three (Luffy/Chopper/Franky set, Zoro/Robin/Brook set, and Sanji/Nami/Usopp set) with pricing details for each set. But now, Bandai has released the pricing details for each figure. See the individual pricing details below.

Figuarts ZERO - Monkey D. Luffy (Film Z Battle Costume ver)
Price: 2,520 yen

Figuarts ZERO - Tony Tony Chopper (Film Z Battle Costume ver)
Price: 1,890 yen

Figuarts ZERO - Franky (Film Z Battle Costume ver)
Price: 4,725 yen

Figuarts ZERO - Roronoa Zoro (Film Z Battle Costume ver)
Price: 2,835 yen

Figuarts ZERO - Nico Robin (Film Z Battle Costume ver)
Price: 2,835 yen

Figuarts ZERO - Brook (Film Z Battle Costume ver)
Price: 4,200 yen

Figuarts ZERO - Sanji (Film Z Battle Costume ver)
Price: 2,835 yen

Figuarts ZERO - Nami (Film Z Battle Costume ver)
Price: 2,835 yen

Figuarts ZERO - Usopp (Film Z Battle Costume ver)
Price: 3,570 yen

I'm not sure if these will be sold individually, but it is a huge possibility. Maybe on the release date. We'll find out about that later on. This is a good news for those who are not planning to get them all but a few specific figures only. But for now, what is certain is that preorders will be in sets of three.

Update: It turns out that these Figuarts ZEROs are Premium Bandai Web Exclusive, which means that the price will be about twice as the original price outside Japan. I guess I won't be seeing any of these figures in my shelf. I will just have to wait for the POP Film Z versions then :)

Sanji/Nami/Usopp - Figuarts ZERO Film Z Battle Costume ver

Completing the three sets of Figuarts ZERO One Piece Film Z Battle Costume versions of the Mugiwaras is this Sanji/Nami/Usopp set. This third installment of three set figure will be released on July 2013 for 9,240 yen. following the first two sets, Luffy/Chopper/Franky set (May 2013) and Zoro/Robin/Brook set (June 2013).

All the figures on this third set seems to be packed with details. Sanji has a removable coat as well, same as Zoro. Nami is sexy as ever, even with those armors. And Usopp is looking really funny but with a lot of small details. The problem with these Figuarts ZEROs is that, the more the details are, the more paint issues the final versions will suffer. But let's hope not in these awesome designs. Crossed fingers for that.

To wrap up, here is the summary of the three sets (click the links for the official photos).

Luffy/Chopper/Franky set

• Price: 8,505 yen
• Release Date: May 2013

Zoro/Robin/Brook set

• Price: 9,240 yen
• Release Date: June 2013

Sanji/Nami/Usopp set

• Price: 9,240 yen
• Release Date: July 2013

Preorders starts on mid-December 2012 for all three sets so keep an eye on this site for the announcement of the exact date and time.

POP Sailing Again - Usopp

A fellow POP collector requested that I do a photoshoot of my POP Sailing Again - Usopp. I guess I'll just have to feature this first before the previously released ones. So now I'm presenting one of my recent POP acquisition, the sniper of the Strawhats from Syrup village, Usopp. This is my 15th POP and my 9th from Sailing Again series. And being under the POP Sailing Again class, Usopp is depicted in his appearance after the two year time-skip.

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.

New Release Photo Review: POP Sailing Again - Usopp

The awesome POP Sailing Again - Usopp was just released last Saturday, 29th of September, and here are some images taken from one of the retail product. Looking great as expected from a MegaHouse release. The paint details are very sharp and no noticeable paint and mold issues. This is one of my favorite from the Sailing Again subline and probably the best in my opinion, well at least until the POP Sailing Again - Franky is released. Checkout these photos, so you will see what you will be expecting if you already preordered or if you need some deciding factors in getting this figure.

Figuarts ZERO - Usopp (New World ver.)

The sniper of the Straw Hat Pirates, Usopp. This is my tenth Figuarts ZERO and my eighth from One Piece characters of this product line. This figure is based on Usopp’s appearance after the 2-year time skip and so is a part of the New World series collection.

Official Photos: POP Sailing Again - Usopp

The official photos and poster of the upcoming Portrait of Pirates Sailing Again - Usopp has finally been released. We've seen the colored prototype from the Megahobby EXPO Spring 2012 before, but this time, these images shows that there will be a lot of option parts for Usopp for him to be displayed in different styles.

Preorders: POP Sailing Again - Usopp

Another new preorder announcement for June. Portrait of Pirates Sailing Again - Usopp. This figure will be released September 2012 for 7,980 yen. Preorders will be opened this Wednesday, 6th of June 2012 at 18:00 JST (Japan time) along with POP Sailing Again - Roronoa Zoro re-release