Veg 1_R

Bandai’s next Dragon Ball figure will be of Vegeta, the fiercely proud Saiyan Prince, and yes, he really will be shaking (or vibrating, actually) with fear!

Remeber the figure of Yamcha looking very much dead after being blown up by one of the Saibamen, a bioweapon used by the Saiyans? Well, Japanese toy maker Bandai has announced another amusing and incredibly realistic Dragon Ball figure, this time of Vegeta.

Nowadays, Dragon Ball fans have gotten used to thinking of Vegeta as Goku’s fighting partner and Bulma’s husband. (In fact, based on what this writer has been seeing on the currently airing anime Dragon Ball Super, it even looks like Vegeta is becoming more and more a caring husband to Bulma.) But fans will also recall that there was a time when Vegeta was a ruthless monster who thought nothing of mass destruction and murder.

The new figure shows us a Vegeta from such a time, specifically Vegeta trembling and sweating in fear and even crying after being confronted with the then impossibly powerful final form of Frieza, one of Dragon Ball’s best-loved villains. And the best part is that the stand comes with a battery-operated vibrating function that realistically recreates Vegeta’s trembling movements.

▼ The detailed facial expression clearly shows the fear and sense of utter hopelessness Vegeta feels upon realizing how unbelievably strong Frieza is. It’s a powerful scene in which Vegeta feels true terror for the first time in his life.

Veg 2_R

▼ Here’s the figure from the front …

Veg 3_R

▼ … and the back. Even the hole in the fighting suit made by Krillin when he purposefully blasted Vegetal to near death so that Vegeta could take advantage of the Saiyan ability to recover from grave injuries stronger than before, is accurately recreated.

Veg 4_R

Veg 5_R

The trembling Vegeta is the newest in Bandai’s NEXT VENDOR’S INNOVATION line, which was first released in 2014 and includes previous figures of characters such as Gon and Hisoka from HUNTER×HUNTER and Brock (Takeshi) from Pokémon Red & Blue, in addition to the dead Yamcha figure we’ve already introduced. The series has been well-received so far, and this latest Vegeta figure looks to be no exception, as Japanese internet users have already responded in a huge way, many saying that they love this hilariously silly yet expertly designed idea for a figure — so much so that at one point, it was one of the most trending topics on Japanese Twitter.

Unbelievably enough, eight months of work went into trying to get the figure to vibrate in just the right way to simulate an actual body shaking as accurately as possible. Now, that’s a lot of effort to put into one trembling figure.

The Bandai staff responsible for creating the shaking Vegeta says he had a hard time coming up with a product to match the impact of the previous Yamcha figure but eventually came to the conclusion that getting the figure to vibrate actually just might do the trick. Apparently, when the people working with him first heard the idea, they all asked, “Does it really need to vibrate?” but hey, we think it’s great!

The HG (high-grade) vibrating Vegeta figure, which will be priced at 4,949 yen (US$43.53),  is currently available for pre-order on the Premium Bandai website until 11pm on March 23 and is scheduled for shipment in June.

We certainly hope the folks at Bandai will continue to make us laugh with their zany yet amazingly real figures!

▼ Don’t forget to check out how realistically Vegeta trembles in this promotional video from Bandai:

Source: Narinari.com, TOKYO-SPORTS web via Premium Bandai website
All images: Premium Bandai website