REVIEW: Wonder Festival 2016 - Winter

Last night was one of the most important nights for every figure collector: Winter Wonder Festival. The event took place February 7 from 10:00AM until 17:00PM in Japan. Several figure companies showcased some prototypes and revealed some new figures to look forward to within the next year or so.

I have posted prior to the event the figures that I looked forward to seeing. Now that the event has passed and the hype has (somewhat) diminished, I have picked out the figures that I can't wait to order and ones I'll be keeping my eye on! I think overall, this was a very good Wonder Festival. Some new announcements were made that I'm very excited to see prototypes of (Cardcaptor Sakura figure that'll be designed by CLAMP themselves?!), so hopefully we see them within the next couple of months!

Here are the ones I'm definitely ordering:

The following are ones that I'm keeping my eye on:

What do you think? Did any figures shown above (or not pictured at all) catch your interest?

UPCOMING: Wonder Festival 2016 - Winter Edition

The first Wonder Festival (WF) of the year is coming up next weekend and I could not be more excited. Every WF, I hope that I see more figures from the series that I love, and this year is no different. With 2016 being the "year of anniversaries," I am crossing my fingers for figures for two of my favorite, beloved series: Card Captor Sakura and Kuroshitsuji. Both are celebrating big landmarks: CCS is celebrating its 20th anniversary while Kuroshitsuji is celebrating its 10th. We have already seen CCS booming with merchandise and figures last year; I can only imagine what this year is going to be like, if Sailor Moon taught us anything.

That being said, my list of figures I look forward to seeing prototypes of and/or painted are pictured below. Of course, I am still praying for a Syaoran Li nendoroid considering he was not present anywhere last year.

Note: This list does not include figures that I'm looking forward to that have already been painted.

Top row: Alter's Honoka, Umi, and Hanayo figures

Middle row: Revolve's Lesfie figure, Aniplex's Senjougahara figure, GSC's Genos nendoroid

Bottom row: New Vision Toy's Isla figure, Revolve's Marika figure, Alphamax's Sonico figure

Top row: Aniplex's Kaori figure, Kotobukiya's Mitsutada figure, Phat's Ranko figure

Middle row: GSC's Miku figures, Phat's Io figure

Bottom row: Union's SebaCiel figure, GSC's Link figure, Union's Hana figure

Left to right: Max Factory's Sakura figFIX, Aquamarine's Chino figure, GSC's Zero Suit Samus figma

What figure(s) are you looking forward to seeing a prototype of, painted, or just hoping a company will make? Leave your thoughts in the comment box below!

Wonder Festival 2015 - Summer Edition

The biggest figure event of the year occurred yesterday in Japan: Wonder Festival (WonFest)! Lasting from 10:00-17:00 JST, a plethora of figures - both new and already announced - were displayed. Compared to last winter's WonFest, this one was a LOT better in my opinion! There was a nice variety of figures from different series instead of a ton from one or two.

Unfortunately for me, WonFest started the exact same time as a Beethoven symphony I was attending. I had to quickly scroll through Twitter at the end of each movement and during intermission! Luckily for me, the figure I was looking forward to seeing the most wasn't shown until the symphony was over. Can you guess which one it is? (Hint: It's Ciel looking extremely fabulous)

Out of all of everything shown at WonFest, here are the ones I 100% plan on ordering once they go up for preorder! My wallet is definitely going to cry, but I feel it'll be worth it; these are real beauties!

First Row

-Nico Yazawa 1/7 scaled figure (Alter)

-Chitoge Kirisaki 1/4 scaled figure (FREEing)

-Nico Yazawa 1/8 scaled figure (Good Smile Company)

-Homura Akemi 1/8 scaled figure (Good Smile Company)

Second Row

-Ciel Phantomhive scaled figure (Aniplex)

-Ciel Phantomhive and Sebastian Michaelis scaled figures (Union Creative)

-Hatsune Miku Racing 2015 (Good Smile Company)

-Link (Majora's Mask ver.) nendoroid

Third Row

-Anna nendoroid (Good Smile Company)

-Hestia nendoroid (Good Smile Company)

-Marth nendoroid (Good Smile Company)

-Kirby nendoroid (Good Smile Company)

-Hatsune Miku 1/7 scaled figure (Max Factory) - might need to see colored version before I decide

The following are ALSO ones I 100% plan on ordering as well! As you can see, there's quite a lot that they couldn't fit in the above collage *nervous laughter*

Kafuu Chino nendoroid (Good Smile Company)

Alice Cartelet nendoroid (Good Smile Company)

Sailor Moon petit charas (Megahouse)

Tomoyo Daidouji figma AND Sakura Kinomoto + Kero figFIX (Max Factory)

Oshino Shinobu 1/8 scaled figure (Kotobukiya)

And now for the ones that I'm on the fence about...

Hatsune Miku 1/7 scaled figure (Max Factory)

Honma Meiko scaled figure (Aquamarine)

Sengoku Nadeko scaled figure (Good Smile Company)

Hatsune Miku 1/7 scaled figure (Max Factory)

Lastly, here is what I would buy in a heartbeat if I didn't feel terrible spending an exorbitant amount of money at once. She is so beautiful!

Akuma Homura 1/3 hybrid active figure (Azone)

What did you think of this summer's WonFest? What figures are you looking forward to preordering? Let me know in the comment box below!

Thank you for reading! Please look forward to my next post~

UPCOMING: Wonder Festival Summer 2015

It's that time of year again where companies display and announce new merchandise. There are two Wonder Festivals that occur each year. one in the summer and the other in the winter. Wonder Festival (WonFest) is basically the equivalent to Christmas to us figure collectors. We finally get to see that prototype for that character that we've waited almost a year to see. We get to hear new announcements and cry as we count up how many figures we plan on buying and realizing that we will most definitely become broke if we get them all. It's truly the most wonderful time of the year.

While I was disappointed last winter in 2014, I am truly excited for this summer's WonFest. There are so many prototypes I am looking forward to seeing, many of which have already been revealed!

Here are the figures I've been looking forward to that have already had some sort of updated prototype.

Here's what I'm looking forward to (hopefully) seeing that hasn't been shown this past week!

I'm not a huge Love Live or Sengoku fan, but I'm very interested to see what the prototypes will look like!

WonFest Summer 2015 is this Sunday, July 26. Please look forward to a review post by me after the event!

What figure(s) are you looking forward to seeing?

Wonder Festival Summer 2014

Yesterday marked the first day of this summer's Wonder Festival! For those of you unfamiliar, Wonder Festival occurs twice a year in the Winter and Summer. It is a massive event in which many companies announce new products, show prototypes and upcoming products, etc. It is also the event in which many collectors, including myself, lose their cool and freak out as many of the major companies announce products featuring our beloved characters. Our poor wallets!

Here are some of my favorites from this summer's Wonder Festival:

Mami Tomoe 1/8 Yukata ver. figure (FREEing)

Previously uncolored before, the colored version was displayed at FREEing's stand! She looks beautiful!

Retail price: 8800 yen

Mami Tomoe 1/8 maiko version figure (Aniplex)

The third in the line of maiko girls comes Mami Tomoe and Bebe/Charlotte! The prototype was first revealed at Aniplex's stand. Can't wait to see a painted version!

Akuma Homura figma (Aniplex)

The painted and final version of the Akuma Homura figma was shown at Aniplex's stand alongside the 1/8 scaled figure. She comes with a dark orb and Kyubey (as shown in the photo). She looks absolutely beautiful and Aniplex+ Japan has already put her up for preorder on their site!

Release date: February 2015

Retail price: 5900 yen

Homura Akemi figure (Good Smile Company)

Another Homura figure is in the works! This is from the Gekijouban PMMM line of illustrations (the first one was Madoka Kaname, as seen here).

This was on GSC's newly announced products, so no prototype was available. We can expect to see one of her probably later this year!

Homura Akemi figure (Kotobukiya)

Probably my favorite announcement so far is this Homura figure! Yes, another Homura figure is coming, but what's so great about it is that it will be the first PMMM figure done by Kotobukiya, a fantastic company known for their quality and attention to detail!

Kyoko Sakura 1/8 yukata ver. figure (FREEing)

A prototype of the Kyoko yukata version figure was revealed at FREEing's booth! Now to wait for her and Sayaka's painted versions.

Sakura Kinomoto figma (Max Factory)

GSC's Mamitan announced a Sakura Kinomoto figma is in the works! I am really looking forward to her and wondering what outfit they will put her in! (Most likely the 1st OP battle outfit, as pictured here and for her nendoroid).

Tomoyo Daidouji nendoroid (Good Smile Company)

Tomoyo's nendoroid was announced a while ago, but GSC finally put this promo photo up on their "new/upcoming products" board! So glad they will be including her signature camera!

Sakura Kinomoto & Syaoran Li figures (Kotobukiya)

I will tell you that I literally screeched upon hearing this. Kotobukiya is amazing, what with the PMMM figures and now these CCS ones. From the ARTFX J line comes Sakura and Syaoran! I am VERY interested to know more about these, particularly whether or not they will be matching figures!

Release date: 2015

Cardcaptor Sakura Petit Charas, Ochatomo, and Fortune Chara series (Megahouse)

More CCS merchandise is on the way! The 90's anime have never died; they are coming back! Megahouse is making a petit chara set of the CCS characters (although it's not confirmed which ones), as well as ochatomo and fortune chara sets!

Satsuki Kiryuin figure (Good Smile Company)

As expected, a scaled Satsuki figure is in the works!

Satsuki Kiryuin figma (Max Factory)

The prototype for the Satsuki figma was shown at Max Factory's stand! And KLK fans, DO NOT FEAR! This video confirms that Satsuki-sama will have her luscious butt that Medicom's RAH forgot to put!

Release date: 2015

Hatsune Miku "Mikuzukin" 1/7 figure (Max Factory)

This painted figure was displayed at Max Factory's stand as well. I'm not a huge Vocaloid fan, much less of Miku, but this figure, as well as a couple of GSC's other ones, are really adorable!

Release date: January 2015

Hatsune Miku "Tell your world" version 1/8 figure (Good Smile Company)

Another beautiful Miku figure coming by Good Smile Company!

Hatsune Miku "EV mirai version/racing 2014" 1/8 figure (Good Smile Company)

Yet another racing Miku figure in the works, created by none other than GSC!

Elsa nendoroid (Good Smile Company)

Frozen fans, rejoice! GSC x Disney have finally decided to create the ice queen as an adorable nendoroid! Photos were prohibited, but this photo was leaked onto the internet. It looks like she will have an Olaf accessory and a snowflake! Perhaps this will spark a new line of Disney nendoroids?

Asuka "Eva racing version" nendoroid (Good Smile Company)

FINALLY some Neon Genesis Evangelion nendoroids! Asuka and Rei Ayanami were confirmed, although they will be part of the "eva racing" line and they don't actually feature them in their traditional plugsuits. Perhaps in the future? I am honestly surprised it took GSC this long to make NGE nendoroids.

Ciel Phantomhive & Sebastian Michaels 1/8 figures (Kotobukiya)

Leave it to Kotobukiya to steal everyone's hearts away, especially when it comes to characters that other companies refuse to make! I am very excited to see these lovelies painted, as their design is magnificent. They are from Kotobukiya's ARTFX-J line.

Release date: 2015