While convention season is pretty much over stateside, Japan had a big one up its sleeve with Tamashii Nations 2012! Bandai of Japan has been garnering a large portion of my collecting interest over the last couple years, and the 2013 reveals make it blatantly apparent that my wallet doesn’t stand a chance next year.
I want to start off with the biggest news (at least for me) from the entire event. Sailor Moon is getting the SH Figuarts treatment! The Sailor Moon cartoon was one of my first true experiences with anime, and I have a heavy amount of nostalgia for it. I even remember looking at the god awful dolls and wishing there were something better. Now, nearly two decades later, we’re finally getting the super poseable action figures that this anime staple deserves. Check out the great close-ups from Dengeki!
The next big announcement came from the SH MonsterArts line with the revelation of Biollante. Like the other kaiju in this line, her figure looks amazingly detailed and incredibly massive. You can already tell she’ll be more expensive than both King Ghidorah and Destroyah, but she’s also going to make for an amazing addition to the Godzilla shelf. Speaking of Big G, I’m pretty sure that’s a new Godzilla figure facing down with Biollante. Last but not least, there’s a lineup of the previous MonsterArts above the case and we get to see a good size comparison of Destroyah with the other Toho monsters.
In other MonsterArts news, Bandai has revealed seven of the Angels and an amazing diorama from Neon Genesis Evangelion. I don’t collect these figures, but I’m still damned impressed by the engineering on these insane looking character designs.
In Super Sentia/Power Ranger news, the Red Ranger shown at NYCC has now been joined by the Green Dragon Ranger. I’m pretty happy to see any Sentai figures, but like most Americans the MMPR were first. Getting Figuarts of the original team appeals to that same nostalgia as Sailor Moon. Now if we could just get Rita, Zedd, Goldar, and some Putties for them to knock around!
The Kamen Rider side is still going strong. I noticed the spiffy figures for the new Kamen Rider Wizard. What really made me happy was the revelation of the Showa era Kamen Rider X, Stronger and Tackle, and Riderman. But it was the inclusion of a Shocker Soldier that surprised me. Finally some goons for my heroes to fight! I just hope they’re not too expensive to army build.
A surprising addition to the D-Arts line of figures is the addition of Pokemon! There are some great pics of a super articulated Mewtwo and Charizard, but off camera there was supposedly a Blastoise and Venasaur. I’m definitely going to be picking and choosing from this line, but I would kill for a super articulated Magikarp!
Like the previous two Pokemon, not everything was shown. Over at TheDaytimeNinja, Suri listed some Super Robot Chogokin figures that hadn’t been photographed yet. Apparently they had Tetsujin 28 and Giant Robo, as well as Brave Police J-Decker, but the most interesting mention to me was a new Big O. How many Big O figures does one man need? I’ll let you know when I get there.
Other Great odds and ends were the Dragonball figures, including the revelation of Android 18. There were also Figuarts of Space Sheriff Gavan and Cyborg 009. Ultra Act had a pretty impressive display, unfortunately I don’t know enough about the characters to say who actually was there. Same goes for the Saint Seiya setup, which you can find some great pictures of here.
The pictures I used in this review all came from the official Bluefin Tamashii Nations Facebook. A lot of the figures shown at Tamashii Nations are still considered to be in the prototype stage, and may not necessarily get made. So if you like what you’re seeing at this convention, head on over to their Facebook and let them know. It’s the best way to show your support for these products and help guarantee they’ll get produced.
For even more in-depth armchair coverage and fantastic highlight pics, head on over to TheDaytimeNinja! You can also check out Poe’s take on the MonsterArts Biollante.
And if you’re just interested in looking through huge coverage galleries of the entire event, check out AmiAmi’s and Chara-net’s Facebook pages.
-Vault
Provided the Sailor Moon figuarts are at least as good as the Pretty Cure ones, they’ll be great. Nice selection of dragon knight/ryuki figuarts as well for Kamen Rider. More Showa stuff is sweet too. No Hibiki riders is sad. Android 18 looks sweet.
Super excited for Sailor Moon, Pokémon, and MMPR figures. That Mewtwo looks so good.
I believe 18 was revealed at SDCC, but that’s a good close up shot of her (though I hope she comes with arms sculpted crossing themselves like Piccolo).
Thanks for the mention!
I’ll be so happy if some of the Evangelion MonsterArts get released.
Nice roundup of info. Doesn’t look like much of interest will be coming out of Japan. Android 18, Krillin, and Frieza look great. I’ll probably grab them, maybe Napa as well. That just frees up moreroom for transformers.
Zedd’s pretty unlikely, since he was an America-only character and Figuarts is first and foremost a Japanese line. I’m not even sure the others (except maybe Goldar) would be up for representation, but I’d be happy to be proven wrong.
Rumors abound that more Zyuranger and Sentai Figuarts were there, but in a “No Photos” section. Several people who were there agree that other Zyurangers (possibly even the whole team) were present, and various attendees have claimed that Ryuranger and Kibaranger (of Dairainger. Kibaranger became MMPR White in America), Ninjaman (of Kakuranger. Ninjor in America) and Red Racer (of Carranger. Red Turbo Ranger in the US) were on display, though reports differ. It’d be a heck of a lineup if it were true, though, since those are some of my favorite Ranger designs.
Oh man, wish pics were available for the other pokémon. Lots of Nintendo merch this year – they really know my weak spot.
The Sailor Senshi I would love to get. Just hope do a soft skirt so do some action poses. The sentai figuarts I know bluefin gets them but think how cool a mass retail launch of these would be.
My jaw is still on the floor after seeing Biollante. She looks awesome. Man, an expensive hobby these do be. (Yeah that stunk but truth it is)
Thanks for the coverage!
A Super Robot Chogokin Big O would, I think, just make me more bitter about picking up Soul of Chogokin Big O and THEN discovering that the price of the accessory set went from “ridiculous” to “no way in hell”.
I’m holding out some hope that the recent news of a Gatchaman movie might in some high-end classic Gatchaman/Battle of the Planets figures.
Incidentally, I totally blame Vault and IAT for my sudden interest in high end import toys. Now if only SRC will release some Mazinger villains; my Shin Mazinger Z is lonely for some giant mecha battles.
These links don’t work anymore.