Figure Collection Chat
I aaalmost wanted to jump into this in my last post, but opted not to unless I wanted to inflate it way more than it needed to be... so I want to talk about which figure lines and companies I like! I have been collecting for pretty much over 20 years now and definitely have opinions that have been fired off on some of these on social media, but I'll be collecting (no pun intended) these thoughts here.
I'll be going off of what I have the most of to least.
Nendoroid (Good Smile Company): Oh boy do I have a lot of these. My first Nendoroid was purchased at a now defunct anime convention that took place in NYC (RIP New York Anime Festival), and it was of Light Yagami to give you a peek at what my interests were at the time. I have too many of these little guys and generally, this line hasn't let me down... up until recently. Old nendos used to come with way more accessories or face plates, even if the sculpts seem a little nicer they haven't felt worth it lately. I can't even think of a nendo I'm dying to spring for this year that isn't the Ichiban one that got announced somewhat recently. They've been fun, but the price point hasn't been for what you're getting- and I may be reaching my fill. I also can't say I've been happy with basic accessory pieces or unique bases being locked as pre-order bonuses on GSC's online store. My rating for these would have been a 9/10 if you asked me years ago, but lately it's been more like 7.5/10.
S.H. Figuarts (Bandai): I have a couple of these. Begrudgingly. "So why did you buy them, Loz?" Because Sailor Moon was cursed to have Bandai as a merch IP owner, and because it's not DBZ, Gundam, or One Piece, they could give two shits about the quality of what they're putting out for it. I own the Inner (+ Super Sailor Moon) and Outer Sailor Guardians with the exception of Uranus, who I kinda just never got around to buying- then Bandai decided to re-release all of them in "animation accurate colors" to squeeze more money out of the figure molds, I assume, and now I can't find the original release unless I'm buying secondhand. S.H. Figuarts have the action figure sin of the creators being too afraid of drilling a hole in the back of the figure so that you can use a peg-based display stand. As a result, they have to "stand" with those god awful clip stands that go around their waist and barely secure the figure in place. I truly don't understand why they do this, and they're not the only company to use them either (Trust me, you're gonna hear from me on that soon enough)! They do not do the job they were made to do!! Any slight blow of wind or slight shake happening in the vicinity of the figure will knock it over. Thanks, I hate it. 3.5/10.
Pinky:St (GSI Creos): I know what you're thinking: Loz. They don't even make these anymore. The only reason you might see people even talking about them is because of the recent Heisei Retro boom on social media. But they are the third most collected figure I have, and I started all the way back in high school with a Tsuruya-san Pinky. Pinkys are figures with interchangeable clothes and accessories that are very much a time capsule of the time they came from, which was the early 2000s. They're a nice look into what kind of street fashion the girlies in Japan were probably wearing around then. Pinky:St also collaborated with a bunch of different series, such as Evangelion, Street Fighter, King of Fighters, Monster Hunter, My Melody and Kuromi, etc. etc. Anyways, I miss them dearly and kind of wish they had some sort of revival, they had a certain je ne sais quoi that I haven't much seen in recent figure lines. My only big critique about them is that they were made with this really soft, kind of malleable PVC- which means that they get the mean lean if you're displaying them in a warm or hot room over time. I haven't been able to display my Street Fighter and KoF ones because Sakura and Mai buckle underneath the weight of their hair and headband and snap in half every time, unless I decide to lean them up against a surface. It's a bummer. 6.5/10.
Bring Arts (Square Enix): I am going to be downright mean about this one- I think Square has no business making these figures, especially when they get away with charging however much they do. My first Bring Arts was the 2B 2.0 Bring Arts (2P Recolor). In fact, I only bought this because I was in love with the 2P palette so much, I preferred it over 2B's canon colors! I got her on a trip then brought her back home and unboxed her, only to slowly get more disappointed and try to justify the whole purchase with copium. The horrible waist clip reared its ugly head yet again when I lifted the top part of the packaging. Oh god. Then, there was the contraption you had to put together that would both hold up her Pod and accessory ring for the weapon attached to her back. I am not joking that it took over 40 minutes to make sure all these parts stayed together before I could walk her over to my display case. A damn DUST MOTE would have undone all my work in seconds. I recently had the pleasure of having to put her together AGAIN due to a move, only to discover that my favorite weapon (Virtuous Dignity) I displayed her with CRACKED. I did nothing to this figure that would warrant the damage, and it cracked at an integral area where you kind of take the top part off to slide the pole through her hands or through the accessory ring, so now the top half cannot stay on consistently for display. Amazing. I straight up passed on a heavily discounted Sho Minamimoto Bring Arts that was 40% off because even the amount due was too much for the trouble of assembling it later. If not for Square owning 2 of my most favorite blorbos, I'd have never bothered with this line. 2/10.
Figma (Max Factory/Good Smile Company): Another action figure line from the aforementioned companies. So, I only have one of these and I bought it back in... 2010 (Jesus Christ), to give you a little bit of perspective. It was the Kagamine Len Figma, and considering all the time that has passed with this one? He's held up spectacularly. No loose joints, still articulates really well, NO GODDAMN WAIST CLIP STAND because the company wasn't afraid of putting a hole in the figure's back for display, all aces 15 years later. I wasn't a huge action figure fan when I got him and my opinion on them has changed over time, but Figma is definitely one of the better action figure lines out there. I'm eyeing the anime version 2B that's scheduled to come out next year so I don't have to think about the 2P Bring Arts anymore. 8/10.
Pop-Up Parade (Good Smile Company): These kind of feel like Good Smile's response to the higher quality prize figures that have been coming out these days. They're a more affordable line of figures for the collector on a budget that aren't too big, but still look super great. I have two so far: Lilith Aensland and Yoko Littner. I like them a lot! Yoko might have lean issues down the line due to her standing on one leg which kinda sucks, but Lilith is really nice. Her wings are pretty detailed for her size! I would spring for another one again. 8/10.
Kotobukiya Scale Figures: Technically one of these is from a designated line but I'm slapping them together in one section for uniformity. Las year I got ahold of my first ever Bishoujo figure of Lilith Aensland. It is downright one of the nicest looking figures I own. Everything about her is perfect, so no notes, really. I truly don't think there are any flops in the Bishoujo line. My other Koto figure is from their Pokemon trainer ARTFX J line, of Dawn figure I had was stolen from my room years ago and when I finally saw it again at a figure thrift shop in Akiba: They were asking over $100 for it... which is not justifiable for a prize figure that came out forever ago. But that was okay, because this one was coming out for a little under the same price! And she looked waaay better! Everything that comes out of this line is equally amazing and there's a reason all the trainer figures go for crazy amounts of money in the aftermarket. Now if only they would make Kris from Crystal. It's as if they're avoiding her to spite me. Unless. 9.5/10
Max Factory Scale Figures: There's a reason this company is still around doing what they've been doing for years, they simply know their shit. You get what you pay for with them and I mean that in the best way possible. I have two of their Fire Emblem figures, Tharja and Camilla from Awakening and Fates, respectively. Camilla was actually one of my grail figures for the longest time, and due to a stroke of luck involving GSC's booth having stock of her at NYCC one year and a friend attending who was willing to pull a favor, I managed to get her. There are some old Vocaloid figures Max Factory did that I would still be willing to spring for if I ever crossed paths with them again. Oh Nuclear Fusion Rin and VN02 Miku, if I ever see you another time... touches window wistfully 9/10.
Ques Q Scale Figures: I only have one figure from Ques Q, but I've had my eye on this company for quite some time due to wanting a bunch of their Touhou figures years back. They have the honor of releasing the Koumajou Densetsu (the Castlevania/Touhou fangame) figures, which I was finally able to obtain one two years back. I decided on Reimu, I've long adored her look- half Belmont, half shrine maiden, she was just too cool. She was technically announced five years ago and finally released in 2023, it was a long wait but she was a grail to me in the sense that I was so obsessed with Koumajou in college and this particular Reimu design, I just HAD to have something of her. I'm sad finding out she apparently didn't do to well and even got bargain binned? That kind of sucks. Ques Q has also announced a Koumajou Yukari Yakumo that I absolutely will do anything possible to obtain once that goes out for pre-order. Good shit from Ques Q. 9/10.
Ichibansho/Ichiban Kuji/Bandai Spirits/Whatever the hell the prize figure line for Bandai is (Bandai): I realized I have a couple of these, so they're kind of worth mentioning. They're okay. Currently in my stock I have an Android 17 from the Solid Edge Works series, a Suletta Mercury from Bandai Spirits, and the Spirits Princess Serenity. They're really not much to write home about, they were affordable and make decent desk display pieces. My husband has a ton from this line as he's primarily a Dragonball collector and that's the bulk of their releases, I feel. 6/10.
QPosket (Bandai): Why do they all look like that. I own two of these monstrosities due to them being from Osamu Tezuka's Black Jack, my favorite manga and nigh impossible to find any merch of in the United States because we don't know any other Tezuka series that aren't Astro Boy or Unico. At least Pinoko looks appropriate since she's a fucked up teratoma-turned-babydoll homunculus to begin with. Why do they all look like that. I don't even want to talk about how the currently only official existing figures of the Sailor Guardians in their princess dresses from SM Eternal is locked to this awful line. 1/10.
Re-ment Miniatures (Re-ment): Okay, so these aren't the traditional anime figure fare but this is my list and they count, so I'm putting them here. I absolutely, ABSOLUTELY adore this line... HOWEVER. The fact that they come in blind boxes and I feel like you really have to put effort into making displays for them to really let them shine is what makes them so hard for me to collect more of. I am obsessed with miniature recreations of food, stationery, daily items, etc., and Re-ment perfectly fits that niche. I really wanted the Hatsune Miku room one because it comes with a tiny little drawing tablet with a Miku drawing and when I tell you this almost made me want the whole set, but alas. Currently in my collection I have one item from the Miku convenience store set (the shopping basket with chips), and about 75% of the My Melody and Kuromi Diner set. It is absolutely tearing me apart that I cannot find the two remaining parts of that damn diner set, and I have been tempted to spring for a full box and just sell my extras, but I don't know yet. Anyway. I love Re-ments. 8.5/10
Toonize (FuRyu): I've been a fan of Gashi-Gashi's artwork for years now, so when I heard there was going to be a prize figure line based on their art I was excited! Toonize figures also get sold in two palettes, one being accurate to their official colors and a "toon" color that reads bright and saturated (my persona favorite). Currently in my collection I have Miku, the Kagamine twins, and Luka. I like the little guys I have, but it's just unfortunate every other figure that's come out for it has just been some popular anime of the week series that I don't really care for. The closest I kind of came to buying another was Denji from Chainsawman, but I decided against it. 6.5/10
And I think that's it for now! There are maybe two other lines I'd touch on but they're not ones I feel too strongly about? Maybe for another post as this one's pretty long. Let me know about your favorite figures/figure companies, I love hearing people's opinions on this kind of thing!