I've seen anime make "this is Sparta!" jokes, so it's definitely pretty well known over there too. Not sure how relevant it is there now, it may be that it's something that just caught on more recently.

They're cute, fun and easy to display. And also happen to be incredibly popular. We're also getting a Darth Vader and Batman amongst others, so I don't know why Link would surprise you.

Yeah, Nendoroids are waaaaay more popular than Figma.

And I've heard them from actual people as recently as last night. But I'm not exactly clear on whether or not an old meme is equal to cultural relevance.

Understandably so, but no less frustratingly.

Nendoroids don't exactly fit in with Figuarts.

I don't get it. What is so great about them? They all look like chibi toys and have no articulation.

Because chibi sells, and from what I gather articulation isn't a priority for most Japanese collectors. Statues and scale figures command a much bigger market than articulated ones.

Plus they're fun and come with tons of accessories. That's what's great about them.

I really enjoyed my Sonic... up until I found out it was a bootleg.

The reason they're chibi is probably their selling point, plus they look great! They're nicely sculpted and really nice chibi representations of the characters. They don't have to be super articulated because they have all the major poses down via accessories.

Also toon Link is almost screen accurate and actually wouldn't look out of place in a Smash bros display.

Oh holy shit man, where did you buy it from?

I've been playing around with my Motoko Kusanagi today and I'm quite disappointed with her to be honest. The sculpt is superb, but the poseability isn't all that great (especially for a figure that's going to be primarily action poses) and my figure in particular is a loose, floppy mess. The faces don't stay in tightly, the static hairpiece is loose and the legs came off numerous times as I was posing her.

I hope if they ever get around to releasing that Arise version they do a better job of it. Or better still give me a movie version because that's the one I want the most.

I didn't know better, but I suspect the guy I bought it second-hand from did.

One of my few bad experiences on eBay.

Never understood why chibi is so popular either. They completely bastardize the design of the character in my eyes. I want my figures to be as accurate to the show/game/movie as possible, not completely inaccurate.