Remember those Dragon Ball model kits that were solicited a few days ago? 1:12 scale Super Saiyan Goku and Final Form Frieza? Well, it looks like there’s going to be a lot more characters in the line. A whole lot more.
The Shizuoka Hobby Show is currently underway overseas and model companies are showing off all their new wares. While I was hoping for some new Star Wars kits to be shown (there hasn’t been any to be found, as far as I know) these Dragon Ball models still have my eye. And the Dragon Ball Figure-rise Standard display is an eyeful.
While most of the figures on display seem to be prototypes that don’t have articulation, there are a few that may just have some points of movement. Maybe some are in different stages of development. At first I thought these may be a different line, but no, they are right there in front of the Figure-rise Standard banner and they are directly next to the show samples of the aforementioned Goku and Frieza. Look at the sizes of the figures between the two displays, it’s spot-on.
So maybe all the parts and joints are cut in afterwards? I don’t claim to be a prototyping or manufacturing expert, I can only speculate. It just throw me off that Bandai is just going “Hey, here’s most of the most prominent characters all in one go, enjoy!” But then again, it’s Bandai, who has shown more than a few S.H. Figuarts Star Wars figures that haven’t been solicited yet, even after a year or so. Gimme my Han Solo!
Notice that the tags on these four say “On sale in 2016.”
The rest say “Reference Exhibition.” So we’re more that likely looking at several years worth of product here. They also say “Tentative” so we may see changes or even cancellation. I try not to get my hopes up, but I can’t help it. Like I’ve said, I’m not a huge Dragon Ball fan but I like the characters and I love figure models.
Even more interesting are vehicles. The Saiyan Space Pod, Trunks’ Time Machine, and Frieza’s Pod. Again, tentative. Take a look at the first form Vegeta in the pod with full articulation scheme. The Frieza on pod is a little more hard to see.
Looking at the overall display, the vehicles are in scale with the rest.
That makes me even more excited! Tentative. Bah!
Now for the slight bummer, and this may even be something fixable. It could be that these are protos, or that they were assembled wrong, or they were just handled too roughly and worked themselves loose. But the already solicited Goku and Frieza on display are a bit ugly in the seams.
Some look fine, but some look gapped hardcore. Like I said, this may just be carelessness. Or it may be manufacturing error. I’ve seen some pics of Star Wars kits like this, where the builder didn’t take the care to trim the sprues as nicely as they could, or wrenched the limbs to get the pic. Then again, I’ve also built a couple where it took several tries to get the damn seam to close. So yeah, in-hand analysis is needed. I already have these two on pre-order so now it’s just a waiting game.
Is it just me or does Frieza have toe joints? Also, scroll back up and check Super Saiyan Trunks. He has toe joints whereas none of the rest do.
