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Wonder Festival Summer 2015 figure exhibition completely dominated by hot male swordsmen

Scott Wilson
Jul 30, 2015
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Japan loves showing off the reasons why it is the king of the plastic model world. Two months ago we saw some amazing creations at the Amazing Japan Model Expo 2015, and now this month that tradition is continuing with Wonder Festival Summer 2015, an exhibition for artists to show off their sculpted creations.

But there’s something special about Wonder Festival. Whereas other plastic model exhibits focus on scantily clad female figures, Wonder Festival was completely dominated by sculptures of male characters, ranging from the dashing and handsome to the outright seductive.

Curious to see what an exhibit full of these plastic hunks is like? Read on!

Here’s why you should never shine a black light on a used anime character figure

Casey Baseel
Jul 30, 2015

With the unrelenting flow of new animated series produced in Japan, the country’s hyper-otaku could always use some extra cash to pay for the latest and greatest anime goodies. To raise those funds, many superfans eventually cycle out the stuff they’re tired of by selling it online or to a retailer specializing in used items. On the other side of that equation, if you’re an anime fan, but not the hardest of the hardcore, you can pick up used Blu-rays and DVDs at attractive discounts from their original prices.

You can even find anime character figures for sale in the second-hand market, but there are a couple of things you’ll want to investigate before buying a used statuette. First, you’ll want to make sure it’s in good, scratch-free condition. Double-checking that it’s not a cheaply made knockoff is also a good idea.

But while doing your homework in important, there’s also one thing to remember after the deal is done and you’ve got your used figure sitting on your shelf: Whatever you do, don’t shine a black light on it.

If you’re reading this at work, be advised that things are going to get pretty gross from here on!

Sailor Moon and her pals are ready for tea time with these cool cup-hugging figures

Casey Baseel
Jul 29, 2015

While each member of the core cast of Sailor Moon has her own personality, the one descriptor that works across the board for the Sailor Senshi is “helpful.” Even protagonist Usagi, for all of her lack of willpower regarding the temptations of junk food and video games, is always ready to lend a hand to those in need when the chips are down.

Case in point: Not only will the hit anime’s magical girls protect your town from interdimensional monsters on a weekly basis, they’ll even keep you company during your coffee break, in the form of these cheerful Sailor Moon figures that’ll cling to the edge of your cup as you sip your beverage.

Cute miniature collection reveals the everyday items used by Sailor Moon cast

Oona McGee
Jul 27, 2015

Would you like to know what Sailor Moon and her pals eat for lunch? Or perhaps you’re curious to find out how they study or what they’d take along to the local shrine. Well now you can find out all that and more, with this gorgeous miniature collection!

New children’s superhero BABYTECTOR comes straight out of the womb ready for action!

Jamie Koide
Jul 26, 2015

Usually when people think of a superhero, they imagine someone big or strong, like Captain America or Baymax from Big Hero 6. That said, it’s important to remember that heroes come in all shapes and sizes, and when it comes to superheroes, Japan has quite the variety. But among Japanese good guys, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that Anpanman, a superhero made out of anpan, a bean jam-filled pastry, definitely has a monopoly on the baby and toddler market. However that might be about to change with 441LABO’s newest superhero, Newborn Hero BABYTECTOR.

Venus de Milo gets her arms back thanks to Japanese figure company

Preston Phro
Jul 8, 2015

Even if you know nothing about classical art, there’s a good chance you’ve at least seen photos of the Venus de Milo, the Greek statue of a lovely woman without arms. With a height of 203 centimeters (6 feet, 8 inches), the statue is larger than life in every sense of the phrase, save her missing limbs. What happened to her appendages remains a mystery to this day, and, we imagine, it will likely continue to be that way for approximately forever.

But that doesn’t mean we can’t imagine what the sculpture looked like! And thanks to FREEing, a Kanagawa-based company, we won’t even have to stretch our imaginations too much, as they’re producing a “Venus de Milo” figure…with arms!

Flat tires, crumpled hoods, dented doors: These new miniature car figures come broken on purpose!

Preston Phro
Jun 24, 2015

We have seen plenty of weird miniature figures over the years, and while some of them have left us scratching our heads, none of them have been quite as unusual as this, the “Haisha Collection” (“Scrap Car Collection”). Beaten, battered, dented, and crumpled, these miniature cars probably won’t be high on anyone’s souvenir list…but then again, we might be wrong!

Get your own angry mob of medieval Japanese peasant farmers with these collectable sets!

Fran W
Jun 20, 2015

Fictional depictions of Japanese medieval warfare tend inevitably to focus on samurai, the military nobility. Whether the medium is cult movies or collectible models, Japan’s common foot-soldiers barely get a look-in compared to their samurai masters.

Ukrainian company Redbox, however, aims to buck this trend by producing plastic figurine sets of the Japanese peasant infantry.

Can you guess which Pokémon character just got a super muscular shirtless figure?

Casey Baseel
Jun 17, 2015

The Pokémon series spends a lot of time focusing on how its adorable fighting monsters become stronger as they gain experience, but what about their human trainers? Sure, they may not be throwing any punches, but the core characters of the anime and video game franchise leave home at an early age to wander the world on foot and subdue wild beasts that, cute as they may be, can breathe fire, produce high-voltage electricity blasts, and squirt poison.

You have to figure the child mortality rate for would-be Pokémon Masters is astronomical, and those kids that do survive would become incredibly fit by nature of all death-defying physical activity their lifestyle demands. So maybe we shouldn’t be so surprised that retailer Bandai has just announced a shirtless figure of one of the most well-known human beings in the Pokémon universe, and it turns out he’s pretty ripped.

Japanese toymakers collaborate on amazing Hulkbuster you can call your own

KK Miller
May 29, 2015

Superhero movies mean big business for toy makers, and whenever Marvel releases a new movie, a slew of action figures are made to fulfill everyone’s toy needs. There are the cheap small figures that anyone of any age can play with, and there are also the larger, more expensive, but extremely poseable figures for those who want to seriously play. Then there are the really expensive versions that boast incredible detail and size. This Hulkbuster is one of those ones.

Many toy makers are producing their own version of the Hulkbuster from Avengers: Age of Ultron, but Bandai is taking its time and attaching all the bells and whistles including LEDs and real metal parts.

Bandai recreates everyday items from Sailor Moon in miniature, and the results are adorable!

Kay
May 28, 2015

Have you ever wondered what life as one of the “pretty guardians” in the hit manga/anime series Sailor Moon might be like? Well, the lovely Sailor Soldiers may be fictional creations, but toy maker Bandai is coming out with a line of delightful miniatures that give us a glimpse into their everyday lives. Yes, from the precious transformation pens to more mundane school items, objects from the Sailor Soldiers’ world will be recreated in miniature, and judging from the pictures, the miniatures are incredibly detailed, not to mention utterly adorable!

Bikini Warriors anime officially doesn’t care about its own plot, has 12 breasts by six designers

Casey Baseel
May 28, 2015

While a masterfully crafted plot twist or genre shift can be a satisfying thing for sophisticated media consumers, doing either of those things poorly can leave the audience feeling unsatisfied or even downright cheated. As such, you really can’t blame anime producers if they decide to play things safe and let viewers know exactly what a show has in store for viewers.

That’s why the team behind the upcoming Bikini Warriors is laying its cards on the table. Oh, and its cards are breasts. As a matter of fact, even the show’s official website says that there’s really no point in watching for anything other than a mono-faceted mammary motivation.

Evangelion razor stands being given away as Gendo shaves for the first time in years in new video

Casey Baseel
May 15, 2015

When I stop and think about it, I’ve actually got a couple of things in common in Shinji, the protagonist of hit anime Evangelion. We both live in Kanagawa Prefecture. In our teen years, we were both entrusted by our fathers with pieces of fantastic machinery (although Shinji’s Eva Unit 01 combat robot is more technologically advanced than the Mazda I drove through my student years). And for both of us, our mental images of said fathers are strongly linked with their facial hair.

But while I’ve never seen my dad entirely clean-shaven, Shinji’s old man, Gendo, occasionally gets rid of his signature Abe Lincoln beard as part of his sporadic spokesman role for razor manufacturer Schick. He’s once again answered the U.S.-based company’s call, and as part of his anime’s latest endorsement deal, the stoically mad scientist is appearing in a new animated ad and giving away some cool Evangelion goodies, including a motorized razor stand shaped like the mecha his son pilots.

Hideo Kojima confirms Metal Gear Solid V’s Quiet figure will have soft breasts you can play with

Casey Baseel
May 12, 2015

Recently, anime and video game fans have been sharing pictures online of the shoddily produced figurines that merchandisers have been foisting on them. This isn’t something that happens exclusively with low-profile franchises, either, as mega-hit Attack on Titan dropped the second of two plastic duds just last month.

Given the falling out between Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima and long-time employer Konami, you might think the famed game designer is taking a similarly apathetic attitude towards the merchandise for his upcoming Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. Kojima is a pro, though, and not about to let his acrimonious situation with the game’s publisher discourage him from making sure the title and all its related products are of the utmost quality.

That’s right, Metal Gear fans, you can breathe easy, because it’s been confirmed that the figure of the game’s female sniper has soft, squishable breasts.

Look again! This isn’t a drawing, it’s an amazing mecha model! 【Photos】

Casey Baseel
May 8, 2015

One of the things that separates great comic artists from merely good ones is the ability to apply screentone. By using sheets of flexible material that transfer ink to a flat surface, such as paper, a skilled artist can add texture and shadowing effects beyond those achievable with ordinary line art.

But while the technique is generally used to make a flat drawing look a three-dimensional object, it turns out the opposite is possible too, as demonstrated by these amazing photos of a model kit colored with screentone to look like exactly a 2-D manga sketch.

Amazing Japan Model Expo shows off creations creepy, cute, and undeniably gorgeous

Scott Wilson
May 8, 2015

It’s no exaggeration to sat that Japan is the plastic model capital of the world. There’s a tiny decorative version of pretty much anything you can imagine, from Gundam figures covered in actual moss to build-your-own gyoza.

To celebrate their love of all things models, Amazing Japan Model Expo 2015 invited model-crafters and sculptors from all over Japan to show off their goods built from a variety of materials, not just plastic. “Amazing Japan Model Expo” may be a bit of a silly name, but once you take a look at some of the incredible detail in these models, you’ll see that they easily lived up to the “amazing” part of the promise.

Are they all duds!? Another defective Attack on Titan Eren official figurine leaves us wondering

Krista Rogers
Apr 27, 2015

Despite the Attack on Titan franchise being massively popular on an international scale, why is it that the toy companies just can’t seem to get the darn character figurines right?

We’ve already seen the shoddy Levi figure that surfaced last year, and now there appears to be another disappointing officially licensed Eren model on the market, too. And we have to say, we really can’t blame one fan for lamenting the poor quality of her new toy at all…

How to perfectly recreate the death of Dragon Ball’s Yamcha using baked goods

Kay
Mar 29, 2015

With the release of the new Dragon Ball movie now less than a month away, the popular manga/anime series has had quite bit of exposure on the Japanese Internet recently. One related product that’s getting a lot of attention is a figure of Yamcha, one of Goku’s rivals- turned-friends.

But this particular figure doesn’t have the look of your typical toy. As a matter of fact, it shows Yamcha in quite a pitiful state. Nonetheless, fans seems to be getting a huge kick out of it, and one fan has even tweeted an easy way to create a realistic diorama scene with the figure using quite an unexpected item — apple pie!

DyDo’s coffee drink & Nintendo collab: We get nostalgic with limited edition 8-bit Mario figures

Megumi Matsuki
Feb 21, 2015

If, like me, you’re a tad obsessive when it comes to character goods and love the kitschy cross-promotions that often infiltrate Japanese convenience stores, here’s something that’ll perk you up: beverage company DyDo Drinco recently announced its “Super Mario Bros. Dot Figure Collection” campaign, to commemorate the anniversary of both its canned coffee drink and Nintendo’s worldwide phenomenon of a game.

Read up on the collaboration’s details after the jump and bear with me while I get a little sentimental. Also, thanks to excited YouTuber and goods enthusiast Satoshi Machida, you’ll get a close-up look at the pixelated (but not pixilated) cuties!

After 23 years, Sailor Moon figures are more amazing than ever at Wonder Festival 【Photos】

Casey Baseel
Feb 14, 2015

We recently made the trip out to Chiba Prefecture for the winter 2015 iteration of Wonder Festival, where we could have spent all day admiring the awesome anime, video game, and movie cosplay going on. But as eye-catching as the outfits were, Wonder Festival is actually an event for showcasing new figures and models, and taking a look around the booths taught us something about the anime industry.

Trends may come and go, but Sailor Moon is here to stay. More than two decades after the phenomenally successful magical girl series made its anime debut, modelers are still making new figures based on its characters, and they’ve only gotten better in the twenty-plus years they’ve had to practice.