Cardboard Spaceship Post SDCC Custom Release (7.28)
Wonder Festival 2016 Summer: GoodSmile Company
This might be an unpopular opinion, but I don't actually rate GoodSmile Company as that great a figure company. Their output is solid but very rarely truly impresses. Then again, their output, with help from umbrella companies like Phat, Wing and the like really eclipses the other manufacturers so there's likely something to catch your eyes regardless of your tastes.
On the more impressive side from GoodSmile Company, there's a figure of Camilla from Fire Emblem Fates, a number of really impressive Idolm@ster Cinderella Girls figures (shame there are none from the original cast save for Ritsuko nor a Ranko in there.) and a placeholder for an Albedo scale figure from Overlord! Also, on a minor note, the Hatsune Miku figure is actually a garage kit sculpt from Grizzry Panda so it looks like GoodSmile Company are branching out from producing completely in house works!
On the more "eh?" side of things, there is quite possibly the lest Belldandy-looking Belldandy I have ever seen! It may be due to the angle but it really doesn't reflect the gorgeous Fujishima Kosuke artwork. There is also a figure of Mumei from Koutetsujou no Kabaneri with a really really uncharacteristic happy action pose and possibly the worst figure of Raimu-sempai from Bakuon! I mean... a school swimsuit? Really? Rin was great (though I would have preferred her riding suit rather than her school uniform) and I'm sure the Onsa they are teasing will look good as well but Raimu with a school swimsuit? That missed the target so badly, the audience is ducking in fear!
The Alisa from God Eater is already up for pre-order and the Lou Zhenhua from Chaos Dragon looks fantastic too. My order for Alisa is already in place and I'll probably get Zhenhua as well. What about you, readers?
[via Dengeki Hobby, HKDMZ & Amiami]
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SDCC 2016: Beefy & Co.
Strange and adorable animal toys are the domain of Beefy & Co. Artist Menh Voong brought some new plushies to SDCC, as well as a preview for NYCC.
NYCC will be seeing the release of the plush turtle and penguin (I think it's a penguin). The turtle's head and limbs are magnetized, so if you remove them it'll look like they've retracted into his shell. Awesome!
For SDCC itself you could get the Rexypoo exclusive, which was limited to 100 pieces. In the gallery you can also see the Orkipoo and Paiju plushies. If you missed out on the event exclusives, Beefy's regular plushies are just as charming and available online.
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SDCC 2016: Shiflett Bros.
The Shiflett Brothers have made a name for themselves with their fantastical, steampunk-y sculptures. What first struck me about them was the level of detail in each sculpt. But over the years their designs have gotten more elaborate and ambitious.
New for SDCC is the "Talula and the Stray" piece, featuring a little girl and her dragon. They're available as an unpainted resin kit.
I was shown some one-off pieces including the partially finished "Professor McElroy's Super Tank" (which was enormous) and a very cool sculpture of a dude dressed like a dragon. They also had a new work in progress on the table, depicting a scene of witches summoning up a wicked looking demon.
If you want to go off the beaten path for your figure collection, consider checking out their online store.
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Wonder Festival 2016 Summer: Aoshima
Aoshima are better known for their scale models of historical war vehicles so there might not be so much of interest for figure collectors but there were a few on display.
Rather unsurprisingly, Aoshima went heavy on the KanColle due to the link between that and their usual works. They also had some ships modelled on the warships from Aoki Hagane no Arpeggio as well. But what was really surprising was the single figure of Frejya Won from Macross Delta and the one really interesting thing for myself, which was the Macross Girl Concept photo. I saw an initial design online a while back but I'm really glad to see it here and if they actually do make it into a reality, I'll be sure to grab one!
According to the original images, there will be a certain level of transformation in the design so they won't be fixed pose kits. The only problem is that it looks likely that it will be a kit which requires assembly so it's going to be very fragile...
[via Moeyo & Dengeki Hobby]
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Wonder Festival 2016 Summer: Arcadia
Back when they were called Yamato, Arcadia had fingers in a few pots, with regular figure releases as well as other items in their catalogue but now, it looks like they have abandoned all that and, save for a number of small Katanamonogatari figures, they seem to be focusing on mecha releases, specifically releases of mecha from Macross shows not called Frontier or Delta, since Bandai have those licenses. That's fine by me though as the Yamato/Arcadia releases of Macross fighters are superior to the chogokin releases from Bandai in my opinion.
In any case, the most notable items on display are probably the VF-4G from the little known (outside Japan at least) game Macross VF-X and the reactive armour parts for the VF-0 releases from Macross Zero.
Man, I really wish these guys had the Macross Frontier and Delta Licenses. Then I might actually be interested in getting a few...
[via Dengeki Hobby & Amiami]
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