Welcome to a very action-packed edition of our pre-order roundup! We’ve got an absolutely massive amount of figures this week, so there’s something for everyone. Like girls with glasses and swimsuits? We got that! How about jaundiced magical girls? Hell yeah! There’s even an amazingly derpy Vocaloid and not one, not two, but three Nendoroids. So hit the jump to check out them and a whole lot more.
AlphaMax
Ichika Takatsuki | 1/7 | ¥6,800 | December
Leah: A girl in glasses and a swimsuit? This is something I would have jumped on a few years ago, but now I just don’t have the space or the interest.
Stephen: Ichika just feels incomplete to me.
Alpha x Omega
Cure Muse | 1/8 | ¥8,800 | December
Leah: The sculpt here is beautiful (except for the very weird bubble skirt), but the coloring looks very off to me.
Stephen: Too much yellow for my tastes.
Art Spirits
Catherine | 1/8 | ¥6,200 | October
Leah: She’s a bit pricier than I expected… I think this is a pass, though I still do like their Katherine.
Stephen: While Catherine is supposed to be demented, I feel like the face here is a bit TOO demented.
Clayz
Nene, Manaka & Rinko | 1/6 | ¥8,000 | Autumn
Nene: AmiAmi | Hobby Search
Manaka: AmiAmi | Hobby Search
Rinko: AmiAmi | Hobby Search
Leah: I feel like Clayz is a little late on the LovePlus train here.
Stephen: People still play Love+?
Daiki Kougyou
Kanu Pink Uniform Version | 1/6 | ¥14,800 | November
Leah: I actually like this better than the original, but it’s a damn pricey figure to have two of.
Stephen: I second what Leah says here; the pink really adds a different feel to the figure, but at ¥14,800, there’s no way I’m going for both of these.
Embrace Japan
Cat & Chair Alice Version | 1/8 | ¥10,000 | November | NSFW
Leah: I love love the first version of this, and I like this creative colorway (the chair is the Cheshire Cat!).
Stephen: This is a great recolor of one of the most unique figures in recent memory. A must get.
Exit Tunes
Gumi | 3.5″ | ¥3,500 | October
Leah: Wow, this is full-on derp. How disappointing.
Stephen: I don’t even know what’s going on here.
Good Smile Company
Saber Zero | Nendoroid | ¥4,000 | October
Nyaruko | Nendoroid | ¥3,500 | November
Gertrud Barkhorn | Nendoroid | ¥4,000 | November
Leah: Floods of Nendos! I though Gertrud was supposed to be Phat! but I guess they were just taking too long. Nyaruko is the winner here for me, she is just SO cute.
Stephen: Nyaruko, Gertrud, and Saber are all really great Nendoroid additions and take the line back to its roots perfectly.
Griffon
Ryofu Housen “Thin Shirt” Version | 1/7 | ¥7,400 | August | NSFW
Tenshi Hinanai | 1/8 | ¥7,600 | July | Re-release | Exclusive
Cirno | 1/8 | ¥7,000 | July | Re-release | Exclusive
Byakuren Hijiri | 1/8 | ¥7,200 | July | Re-release | Exclusive
Leah: A lot of figures from Griffon this week, but no orders. Ryofu looks weird in that colorway and we already own all 3 of the Touhou girls.
Stephen: This is a great chance to get some of the Touhou girls if you missed them the first time around, but that Ryofu just looks weird.
Kotobukiya
Lorna | 1/6 | ¥9,800 | November
Jaina Solo | 1/7 | ¥6,800 | November
AmiAmi | Hobby Search | Big Bad Toy Store
Leah: Lorna is LOVE. So pretty. Jaina is growing on me too, I think the face looks much better here.
Stephen: Lorna looks great and Jaina looks really interesting. I can’t wait to see what Star Wars Bishoujo figure comes next!
Lechery/Kaitendoh
Alice in Mirror World Blue & Black Dress Versions | 1/8 | ¥8,000 | October | NSFW
Blue: AmiAmi | Hobby Search
Black: AmiAmi | Hobby Search
Leah: This figure looks kind of dated to me, the potential is there but the execution is off.
Stephen: This feels like the Raquel girls gone wrong.
Max Factory
Karen Araragi | figma | ¥3,500 | October
Samurai | 1/7 | ¥9,800 | October
Leah: Karen is my least-favorite Bakemono girl, so I’m not sold on the figma. But Samurai is gorgeous, so stunning and a really unique sculpt!
Stephen: Karen does nothing for me and I’ll probably pass on her. Samurai on the other hand is one of the few figures in a long long time to really interest me and she evokes a lot of similar feelings as the original Black Rock Shooter figure.
Wave
Neito Mitotsudaira | 1/10 | ¥6,600 | December
Leah: Why is her hair the price of another Beach Queen?! Ridiculous.
Stephen: Neito: her hair is so ridiculous it gets its own price tag.
Well, that’s it for this week! We had a few surprises, some great Nendoroids, some really poorly executed figures, and a little bit of everything in between. What are you looking forward to and what are you passing on? Let us know in the comments below!
As much as I like Manaka Takane, I absolutely hate her figure from Clayz. It’s probably just bad lighting, but she looks like a noseless muppet. I settled with ordering the second set of iM@S 2 nendo petits.
I went for Ichika, myself. AlphaMax’ other swimsuit girls (like Sena) didn’t really interest me, but Ichika grabbed my attention right away. Nyaruko is nice too but I think I’ll wait for either the figma or a scaled pvc instead.
Too bad Catherine came out so derpy too.
Catherine is the only one up for pre-order? Sigh, why must they make me wait for my beloved Katherine?
That Samurai schoolgirl is the most beautiful thing–I love a more stylized figure. Instant preorder.
Oh, and a lot of these Yamashita redesigns of American characters don’t work for me, but that Jaina Solo is great (possibly because I have little idea who she is.)