While SDCC was happening last weekend, there was another big nerd event going on an ocean away: Wonder Festival, the show for high-end figures, toys, and collectibles by Japanese companies. While half of Wonder Festival is dedicated to limited-run garage kits (which are cool, but exceptionally difficult to obtain and build for all but the most devoted hobbyists), the other half is about figures that, while still limited in run, will be a fair bit easier to get your hands on. Many of these figures are based on games we know and love, so I’m here to chronicle everything cool that was showed off at the event!
I’ll be honest, though: this particular WonFes was disappointing for me. There weren’t any huge surprises like the Virtua Fighter figmas or the Iron Fossil this time, though there were a few retro-themed bits and bobs here and there. I think what got my motor running the most was this assembly-required Night Striker resin kit (see what I did there? Ho HO!) that’s coming from RC Berg:
I suppose having less “shut up and take my money” is good in the long run, and we did get a color version of Iron Fossil and Jet Set Radio Beat, so there’s that. As usual, I’m focusing more on stuff that has a fairly limited figure presence – stuff like Fate/Initials and KanColle and Tony’s Sameface Shining also fall into the “games” category, but have spawned so many high-profile figures that you can see on any other WF roundup that I’m specifically excluding them. Obscurity is part of what this site’s built on, after all! We’re also focusing on stuff that is newly announced has has advanced since it was last shown (i.e. a color prototype), so things you can pre-order are
Anyhow, onto the image galleries! Images are primarily sourced from WHL4U, Figsoku, and Dengeki Hobby. They’re organized by manufacturer, with the exception of Nendoroids and Figmas, which I’ve put in their own categories. Click on any of the small images for a bigger view!
Alphamax
Kurisu Makise from Steins;Gate
Alter
Gwendolyn from Odin Sphere: Leifthrasir
Purple Heart from Hyperdimension Neptunia — now in color!
Aoshima
Nekone from Utawarerumono: Itsuwari no Kamen
Aquamarine
Caroline and Justine from Persona 5
Elphelt in her Guilty Gear Xrd -Sign- costume — now in color!
Jack-O from Guilty Gear Xrd -Revelator-
Kuraboberi Jam from Guilty Gear Xrd -Revelator-
Rise in the “Arabian Outfit” from Persona 4: Dancing All Night — now in color! And, uh, that’s quite a sultry face on Rise there
Broccoli
Neptune from Hyperdimension Neptunia
Figmas Figmas Figmas
hoo boy, are there a lot this time. Most don’t even have prototypes yet.
Hunter from Bloodborne
Crow from Gravity Rush 2
Link from TLoZ: Twilight Princess
Princess Zelda from TLoZ: Twilight Princess
Hero from Persona 3
Hero from Persona 5
Iron Fossil from Darius Burst: Another Chronicle
Ulala from Space Channel 5
Goro Majima from Yakuza
PHOENIX WRIGHT, ACE ATTORNEY IS ON THE CASE
Flare
Gwendolyn (dress ver.) from Odin Sphere
Samurai girl from 7th Dragon III
Oswald from Odin Sphere
Good Smile Company
Alisa from God Eater: Burst
Camilla from Fire Emblem Fates. The info card for this figure lists Intelligent Systems as the retailer, but it was in the GSC exhibition area… so they’re probably involved in production.
Kaitendoh
Noire from Hyperdimension Neptunia
Kotobukiya
Marie Rose from Dead or Alive 5
May and Mudkip from Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire
Serena and Fennekin from Pokemon X/y
Velvet from Tales of Berseria
Max Factory
Mage from 7th Dragon III
Samurai (dual-wield) from 7th Dragon III
Marie Rose from Dead or Alive 5
Ramlethal Valentine from Guilty Gear Xrd. Let’s hope the stand functions better than Freeing’s version.
Nendoroids
Chris Redfield from Biohazard/Resident Evil
Dragon Knight and Mirana from DotA 2. Are these the first Nendoroids based on a Western game? Overwatch can’t be far behind at this rate.
Elise from Fire Emblem Fates
Rockman.EXE, Breath of the Wild Link, and Corrin
Kyo Kusanagi from King of Fighters
Mai Shiranui from King of Fighters
Meta Knight from Kirby
X from Rockman X. He looks pretty odd in this scale, no?
Kojima Productions’ mascot Ludens
New Vision Toys
I’m not too familiar with this manufacturer, but they seem to be tied to Koei-Tecmo, given their figure selection. Also, jeez do unpainted prototypes look creepy without eyes…
Arnice from Nights of Azure
Lyllise from Nights of Azure
Prachta from Atelier Sophie
Another Prachta from Atelier Sophie
Rorona from Atelier Rorona
Phat Company
Aty from the Summon Night series
Julius from God Eater 2
Parform series Gwendolyn from Odin Sphere
Ques Q
The same God Hand (7th Dragon, not Gene) and Selvaria protoypes/announce cards as last time were shown. Also, I don’t post Touhous much because they fall into the “there are a bazillion figures of this” category, but this Koumajou Densetsu Reimu is too darn good:
Sentinel
Cutman from Rockman/Megaman
Lan Hikari and Rockman.EXE
Megaman in augmented armor
Megaman X
Union Creative
Arthur from Makaimura/Ghosts n Goblins
Beat from Jet Set Radio – now in color!
Vertex
Ikaruga from Senran Kagura New Wave G-Burst
Yurianna in Christmas gear from Valkyria Chronicles
Santa Selvaria from Valkyria Chronicles
Fiona from Border Break, designed by RAITA
Next Purple Heart from Hyperdimension Neptunia VII
There are also 2 Dota 2 figmas coming too:
http://secretshop.welovefine.com/anti-mage-figure-12055.html
http://secretshop.welovefine.com/windranger-figure-12056.html
and I think there was a League figma announced earlier too.
Just to clarify, Nendoroid #411 – Ahri is the first Nendoroid based off a Western game (League of Legends.) People might have forgotten about her because she is a ultra rare Nendoroid who was only sold at the LoL Worlds Championship in Seoul, Korea in 2014. So the DotA 2 Nendoroids are not the first Nendoroids to be based off a western game – though they may be the first to be sold generally (though the International 2016 is coming soon, so maybe they may pop up in Seattle at that time and like Ahri may be limited to that event.)
Additionally, a GSC – Blizzard partnership would be a big surprise, considering Blizzard works closely with FUNKO and Happy Worker but it is GSC so it can’t be completely ruled out.
I did see Takanori Aki (GSC Prez) hanging out at E3, no doubt scoping and meeting for licensing deals. I definitely wouldn’t rule it out.