Official Bandai (Japan) Thread 2.0

[Creature22]

Shin Kamen Rider? Is every Japanese franchise getting a “Shin” update now?

Yes. It has been in the works for awhile; there is a trailer and everything. One of the teasers was a shot-for-shot remake of the original intro.

No idea how the film will be but considering Anno is a huge fan, it will probably be good.

[CyberZilla]

Ok that KR is a MUST!

[Shenanigans]

Man, I love these things and I hope they keep 'em coming. They're so damn adorable! Rodan's cuter than I was expecting.

Hedoji and Moshu-Moshu next please! And Bagan of course.

[LSD Jellyfish]

Rodan and Angurius look fantastic. They strike a nice balance of being stylized, but also close to their film counterparts. The Egg-Rodan will go nicely next to my Showa Rodan. I do understand the other people on here wishing we'd get just new Showa MMS stuff for Rodan though.

I very recently got into Kamen Rider, so I'm excited for the upcoming film and figures.

[Creature22]

Similar; I was aware of Kamen Rider for a long time but only recently picked up the translated manga and jumped into the old show. It’s very fun and the new movie looks like it’s going to be a love letter to the original series.

The new Godziban figures are up for preorder on HobbyLink, along with the three new Shin Kamen Rider figures. The trench coat version will be out this month, but the other two are listed for March.

I think I’ll wait and see how the Godziban stuff looks in person, but I’m excited for the Kamen Rider vinyls. Very classic designs.

[Rody]

I know MMS can be 'deceptive' on articulation, but that Gamera 1996 looks like it has more joints than my 1995 (which, with legs, arms, and tail, is more than most). I wonder if those elbows and knees actually work, or if they're just where parts are glued on for attachment?

My Gamera 96 is in now (photos soonish?), so I can confirm the figure's articulation is... almost nonexistent. The tail swivels fine, but there are no moveable joints in the neck or head. There are unglued joints at the hips, but the legs are sculpted in a fashion that prevents proper movement unless one really, really fights with it.

Those Godziban figures are very cute, but I haven't been following the show so I'm not too interested in them myself (although, that Rodan might end up tempting me anyway...). It's good to see the line staying steady, though.

[Platypus Prime]

Oh, well, I had hoped. Thank you for posting how the new Gamera actually worked!

[Legion1979]

I dont understand how anyone in 2022 goes into new Bandai releases expecting ANY useful articulation. Especially on Gamera figures.

[Platypus Prime]

Wishful thinking, honestly. That's why I said it was deceptive, it sure LOOKED like some possible joints, but I doubted it, and Rody confirmed they weren't what I thought. Looks like I will wind up with one of the MonsterArts ones eventually.

[Creature22]

Honestly, I’m not entirely sure why Bandai decided to make the new Gamera sculpts with locked arms/legs and a cut directly through the shell and neck. From my memory the Showa figure from the 2000s had limbs that popped onto the shell and could all articulate; kind of a weird case of “don’t fix what ain’t broken”.

[Legion1979]

Are you referring to the Showa Gamera from the Memorial Box in 1999? Please remember that Showa Gamera had arms and legs that were basically tubes that stuck into the body. The arms and legs on the Heisei Gameras are nothing like that. They're larger with overlapping folds that don't lend well to a simplistic vinyl figure. Even the older Bandai Heisei Gamera figures didn't have useful arm articulation, if they had it at all.

[Executive Hamster]

This type of thing has been beaten to death when discussing Bandai. I understand both sides of the argument, but ultimately fall on the side of "you're gonna put it on your shelf and never touch it again so why need articulation". Regardless of which side I think people need to lower their expectations a bit for Bandai figures. We see a clear trend towards less articulation so everyone should expect that will be the case with any new release. Who knows, maybe their will be a pleasant surprise down the road.

[JVM]

This type of thing has been beaten to death when discussing Bandai. I understand both sides of the argument, but ultimately fall on the side of "you're gonna put it on your shelf and never touch it again so why need articulation". Regardless of which side I think people need to lower their expectations a bit for Bandai figures. We see a clear trend towards less articulation so everyone should expect that will be the case with any new release. Who knows, maybe their will be a pleasant surprise down the road.

I wouldn't say it's a clear trend. Varan still has four points of articulation. Gorosaurus and Megalon have five. Godzilla almost always has four and Godzilla '74 reaches six. Kong has three because they gave him a waist cut which is pretty unusual for these, and Jet Jaguar follows suit. All but one of these are recent releases. I think it's reasonable to expect that most figures would have three to five points of articulation and those that do not are exceptions and I definitely think it is false to claim that these figures have 'less' articulation than they did when the 6-inch line was launched. G92 had five points, Mothra 92 had one, Rodan93 and Mecha93 had three.

I didn't expect Gamera 96 to have crazy articulation but I think it was a good question to ask and having just one point (I'm hearing?) is categorically less than what is current right now.

[_JNavs_]

From the Robjira video i just watched, Ol'Gammy boy has three points, both legs and tail.

But Bandai was incredibly lazy for not adding elbow swivels. That much was expected since promo pics.

[Legion1979]

From the Robjira video i just watched, Ol'Gammy boy has three points, both legs and tail.

But Bandai was incredibly lazy for not adding elbow swivels. That much was expected since promo pics.

How is it lazy if moving parts just wouldn't work with the design? Just looking at the figure and knowing everything i know about Bandai toys I KNEW the arms wouldn't move.

[StardustGenius]

I'm looking at the elbow design of that Gamera, and I don't think its unreasonable to assume some kind of elbow articulation would have been possible.

[Rody]

In Gamera 96's case, the design itself has enough... how should I say it, corners and folds? ... That all the joints, glued or otherwise, kind of lock into place. If Bandai REALLY wanted to, they could have made articulation cuts where possible anyway (like the first Gamera99 release), but evidently they decided not to.
It's fine without them, in my opinion; the figure is already posed a bit more dramatically than the other two, so it's got a good pose already.

[Rody]

Alright, I've got photos!



The 96 suit has prominent "sleeves" which can make the figure look more articulated than it is; however the arms aren't really round enough for ideal movement, even if they weren't glued. The legs are separate pieces, but again, they're really not shaped roundly, so I don't think they're meant to move much.
Not that this is a particular flaw - just look at this guy! Bandai is pitching a perfect score on these Gamera sculpts. Paint apps are very good too - minimal and subtle, but detailed in the important spots. I don't know if I would call this the BEST of the three Gameras, but that's only because all of them are so good that if feels like I'd have to nitpick them for a ranking, and that's not fair in this case. They're all great.


The three guardians about to drop some fiery hits on their enemies.


Gamera 1996 with Legion. Although they're (obviously) not made to scale, honestly they don't look bad together at all.


The whole gang together - "perfectly balanced, as all things should be".

Bonus shot with Salunga and Jet Jaguar Mk. II, who were Gamera's shipping buddies from HLJ:



It occurs to me that Salunga would probably be right at home in the Gamera universe, aesthetically speaking.
...And since we've been talking articulation, JJ there has seven joints - shoulders, elbows, knees, and waist. JJ's design is a lot more agreeable for articulating, however.

[canofhumdingers]

Wow, Gamera ‘96 is an absolute must have! And I need to get on with grabbing Irys and Legion too. What a fantastic lineup!

[Legion1979]

If I hadn't promised myself I was only going to stick to Showa stuff from now on, I'd be all over those Gameras.