I'm also hoping for that but also in Sakurajima colors. Or first appearance colors.

Sakurajima was already a 2018 Event exclusive.

I'm hoping for both!

I've been waiting for a seihou Ichigo in original colors. It's my favorite look of his

SHF Build Genius incoming?

Oh? What's this?

Probably one of those handouts/catalogs some Tamashii Nations-themed dudes or girls give to you while walking around shops. I remember getting a similar one for the SHF Avengers Endgame and Ultraman when I took a trip there 2 years ago.

I got Saber in today.

He's not great.

He looks amazing, but articulation limits, lack of detail, and near inability to hold his sword drag him down hard.

Lack of detail? I'm guessing you mean sculpted in suit creases, since the figure itself sculpt-wise is pretty accurate to the suit itself.

What's up with the sword, though?

I mean painted detail, the sword, the chest "blade" also being grey, and the books.

The sword just falls out of his hand, his hand feels like it was designed to hold something with a thicker grip.

Maybe it's because of the unpainted sword? Like how paint usually make accessories a wee bit thicker?

Don’t remember seeing the reviews having any issues with holding the sword

But on the topic of paint, I went back and used the auto translate on the Bandai stream from a couple weeks back. It wasn’t the best translation, but it seemed they cut back on paint to keep the price point at that entry level 3,000-3,500 yen and meet the release date. Other Saber figures will be sold at higher price point so they’ll have a higher paint budget

That's a relief, I guess. Hoping Blades doesn't suffer the same fate indeed. He's the most I'm looking forward too, since his base form imo looks better than Saber.

On the topic of Saber SHFs, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZWw...hannel=808Impz this showcase of Dragonic Knight has the silver lookin a bit dull. Also, pretty hilarious they decided to have Rekka sheathed for some reason.

As I said a few months back I feel as if the value of Figuarts is dipping. The proportions and are getting better and better but at the cost of accessories and tiny detailed prints on the Driver and trinkets. All while the price rises.

Of course I know that inflation plays a factor but still...

The only exception I see are the Seihous. Those are good value for their price.

Pretty sure the Rekka is sheathed because it is assumed you have the sword from Brave Dragon.

Would be pretty screwy of them if they actually did exclude Rekka from the package. Fortunately though, Kaeken Rekka is indeed included in the package according to the website.

Pretty much inflation, oil costs, and occasional price gouging I suppose. Altho, I do commend them that they haven't price gouged as much as other companies/manufacturers like Sentinel or Max Factory. You can still get Blades, a pretty standard rider release for 50$ and he, supposedly, would have rectified the faults on Saber.

As previously mentioned by Mr. WilliamGraham, according to the translation on the stream, Saber's "silver" parts weren't painted to keep up with the 3000 yen entry price and also to meet deadlines. Let's not forget Saber came around the time of Chinese New Year, so stuff may have been affected. Instead, Saber uses grey molding plastic with a bit of glitter in them to give the impression that it's silver. Does it suck? Ye. Unforgivable? Maybe, maybe not.

It sucks that the WRBs aren't decaled, but this has been going on since Ex-Aid so it doesn't really bother me anymore.

I think the increase of Web Exclusives (bith number and price) has exacerbated the problem of higher prices/fewer accessories. When Web Exclusives started creeping above $100 I got priced out.

New Ultraman Tiga figure, but this time done in shinkocchou seihou

https://mobile.twitter.com/whenaiyy/...56863323938819

Heard somewhere he's like the Kuuga of Heisei Ultra?


...Fuck, I'm gonna need to buy him, don't I? He's gonna be one of those important characters that I'll fall in love in either Trigger or his own show and if I don't buy his SHF now, he'd be in 200% mark up everywhere else.

YESSS! This is THE release I was waiting for; I was sure he'd come out this year on his 25th! Looking forward to seeing more of him :D

Tiga!! It's been a long-time coming, but he looks beautiful... I'm gonna try not to greedily right away go 'dyna when' and instead be glad that this icon of icons is getting the figuart treatment! (RIP to anyone who was hoping 80 would be next though)

I mean, judging by the release order they've gone in for non-new gen SHFs; Dyna should not be far off at all!

Nah, 80's hype was only as far as UGF:TAC so not disappointed at all. *writes ONORE TSUBURAYA on blackboard like it was detention while dressed up as Narutaki*

Ooh, I don't own any Ultraman figures but seeing that Tiga, he looks good! He also looked familiar so I did some digging and realized I used to watch some Ultraman episodes on a VHS my parents got from somewhere (dubbed in Cantonese too...lol) and it was Tiga! That Halloween episode was one of the memorable episodes I've seen. I might try and snag this as my first Ultraman figure if he doesn't sell out too fast (which I have a feeling he might).

Yeah... that.

I honestly dread retail releases nowadays. Every single pre-order is a giant pain in the butt. Even if I do manage to get an order in its up to an hour of refreshing, getting error messages, waiting, refreshing again - it's way too stressful.

Tiga is very popular, he's the first Ultraman Seihou and its the anniversary. Knowing Tamashii they'll also put up a Metal Build Gundam at the same time, so AmiAmi's servers will melt faster than snow upon the surface of the sun.

It's just not very fun anymore seeing a great looking figure revealed only to question myself if I'm even going to be able to order it.

This

While it's been getting easier stateside with Bluefin bringing over retail figures, you never quite know when the orders go live. You're either trying to push through amiami/HLJ at 3 am or refresh BBTS/Tokullectibles/EE for days on end

Sure, you'll be paying more for the P-Bandai figures, but at least you can
somewhat confidently find the best price for you at your own pace before the deadline

BTW, has anyone ever ordered P-Bandai through Zenmarket? I know their site has a tutorial but I wonder if there's any real upside to it versus just using any of the other hobby middle man sites

Unless you are combining multiple orders into a bigger package, it will cost you about the same as a middle man.

They can also be a little slow on ordering, so if something is prone to selling out or has a limited time window, it will definitely sell out before zenmarket will get an order in.

I've used Zenmarket for a few things. I basically completely agree with ShiShiLeo -- they're reliable, but a bit slow and ultimately will cost you about as much as a middleman would anyway. I personally find them good for things that middlemen feel will be popular so they jack the price up on; but on the flipside stuff middlemen don't think will be popular can be a bit cheaper and quicker to get with them. I've switched to NinNinGame for pre-ordering Super Best OOO Driver, Juggler and Naki, for instance.

How's the shipping cost on 'em, though? Like, say, one SHF? Haven't tried them myself, but I've been meaning to use 'em ever since some of my local resellers have hesitated on stocking up on P-Bandai stuff.

It's actually odd how I have an easier time on grabbing retail releases over P-bandai stuff.

Same as any other Japanese import in my experience. I'm in the UK granted so I can't speak for America but I can't imagine it's much different.

I have a few pre-orders left with NinNinGame but after that I might stop ordering from them.

A while ago I pre-ordered a Minipla kit and it released but their site still said pre-order. About a month later, I inquired through customer service email and they said it will ship "soon". Then the paypal transaction was about to expire so I messaged them with no answer. I escalated the paypal transaction before they finally did anything, which was just print a mailing label before finally sending it weeks later.

I currently have something that was labeled to release "February" and as of now theres no sign of it shipping so I hope I don't have to go through that ordeal again.

My first order from NNG a long time ago went really smooth but ever since then, the lack of communication has been really off-putting.

Sounds like me and Nippon Yassan

I have undelivered items that have been released ages ago that's sitting in their warehouse, only because my original shipping method is unavailable. I've gotten almost no response when I request a shipping change, even after they email me saying I need to create a ticket for it. Unfortunately I think my PayPal window closed for any disputes

Hmmm. Well... hopefully just having 3 things means it shouldn't be too bad...

Ugh, I still remember when Nippon Yassan used to be a fantastic avenue for TWEs and Figuarts in general. Then once they implemented their "full payment up-front on preorders" system it felt like the quality of their service dive-bombed.

I ordered Para-DX from them last year since he was in-stock, chose a shipping method not impacted by the pandemic and it still took me like 3 messages to customer service and a month or so plus for them to actually ship the thing cause they kept telling me it would ship the following week after I messaged them. Not to mention all the horror stories I've been hearing lately on other boards about preorders not being shipped and service tickets being ignored.

At this point they've become a huge example of a retailer to avoid when it comes to this sort of thing.

It's only two items thankfully. I was still new to ordering new figures and only choose them because amiami had sold out. Any chance I get I advise against using them haha.

Seihou Dark Kiva!

Idk if he's P-Bandai or not

https://livedoor.blogimg.jp/t_n_blog...a429dd33-s.jpg

I hope this guy comes with a weapon.

He needs two weapons.

Saga's Rapier, and a Zanvat-less Zanvat Sword.

Product shots don't seem to have him hold either weapons. Just the violin from the bike set.

I hope this means we're getting a Saga SHF soon...

I'm so glad he's finally releasing! He's gorgeous!