They're blind-boxed trading figures. They've done bust sets as well, and if you think they're weird you're obviously a light-weight when it comes to just how odd the Japanese can be.



Passed that, the Japanese produce what is currently popular. Which is to say overkill-merchandising on what is popular. Which is also to say what is popular to THEM.


Ninja Scroll almost without fail always lands somewhere in the top 10 of a western anime fan's "Best" list. Not so in Japan. The movie was pretty much a wash-out. Therefore, no super sweet Kaiyodo figures with 25 points of hidden articulation. Not even a Revoltech, which other than mecha seems fairly content to rehash Evangelion and Transformers.

1/18 also isn't as "big" a scale with them as it is with us. I'm fairly certain there were Macross(or maybe Gundam) figures in 1/18 scale. They were static though, and hung around TRU forever.

But seeing as Gundam and Macross are inextricably tied to vehicles, they may see no point in doing figures in the scale. Because let's face it, how many collectors can or will shell out for a 1/18 Gundam( yes, i know about the 6ft Gundam statue)? And you KNOW that a 1/18 Valkyrie would be hugely expensive.


The thing you have to keep in mind, in the end, is that these are for the Japanese domestic market, and are to feed current trends. They could care less about western tastes because they aren't marketing them here. There isn't a lot of love for doing toys for a series past it's prime and without a current or upcoming revival. Though i thought i heard something about Macross coming back, and Gundam, much like Evangelion (nix that, Rei and Asuka) never go out of season.



Whoa, too much to read.

There are a few auctions for the Build N Brawl WWE 3 3/4 wrestlers.

http://shop.ebay.com/build-n-brawl_W0QQ_nkwZbuildQ20nQ20brawl?ftbdr=1|1198911599560

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I saw the wave 2 wrestlers at TRU yesterday so they are out.

In my plundering around looking for toys I've only seen them once. Okay I say them when all that was left was Edge, which I really didn't want but I wanted one of the figures to see if they could be used to customize the new Joe figures.

Not sure but if I was going to hazard a guess they are also suffering from the distribution problems so many toys lines have been hit with lately. Seems to be something people want you just can't find the darn things anywhere because they are not movie toys.

they have them at toys r us but that's the only place I've seen them but $7.99 is way too much for them.

I was thinking the same thing

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Yeah, I won't buy them at TRU either. WM has them for like $1.50 cheaper. Too bad Target doesn't seem to carry them. All the WMs around me lately seem to be choking on Lashleys. The brother can't catch a break, it seems.

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found wave 2 at one of my local TRUs as well. Was very tempted to pick up some of 'em.

I saw SERIES 2 of the WWE Build 'n' Brawl figures today (which means I suspect if I want Edge and HHH, I'd better get 'em soon) The background of the cards is BLUE compared to the first series red, and consists of:

BATISTA (carried over from assortment 1 for some reason, but I'm not complaining since I don't have him yet either); RANDY ORTON (decent likeness); MR. KENNEDY (also a decent likeness with his mouth wide open), SHAWN MICHAELS (a fair likeness), KANE (a disturbingly good likeness) and REY MYSTERIO (didn't see him).

Clearly these little guys are popular. The ones on the racks at Wal-Mart all had slightly dented cards, which meant to me that the "pristine" ones had already flown the coop. With the distinct exception of Halo 3, I don't think I've seen an action figure line do this well in some time.

And yeah, Target seems to have taken a pass on them. I don't get Target sometimes. They also passed on Halo 3. Granted they do well enough with Star Wars and G.I.Joe, especially exclusives, and they're the reason Justice League is surviving. Conversely, Wal-Mart is refusing to carry DC Universe Classics. I juuuuust don't get it.

Is K*B carrying the Build 'n' Brawl line? It'd be one more place to look. I'm prepared to pay a slightly higher price if that's what it takes to finish an assortment that's otherwise going away.

And Edge seems to be the straggler here. No one likes a miserable heel. Lashley lingering, not too big a surprise since he's not with the WWE anymore.

Lashley has been the only straggler here, and he was a straggler long before he and WWE parted ways. I think he wasn't as popular as some thought he was. Edge was actually difficult for me to find. As was Triple H (who seemed to be first to sell out each shipment).

Still its seems only 2 out of each interest me (This wave only Orton and Shawn Micheals). So I guess I will take a look tomorrow for them.

PS is it still the same ring parts in the box, while I want the ring if they keep it up I won't have to buy a bunch of figs I don't want to get it.

Series 1 has been peg-warming my area WM's & TRU for months, but TRU has had series 2 for about 3 weeks now. $6.99 at TRU and $6.43 at WM.

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Seriously? I didn't think much of anything in this line was peg-warming that much. Seen HHH lately?

And yeah, Series 2 looks to have the same ring apparatus as Series 1. Really, what else are they going to do? I suppose they could provide sections of a "steel cage", but I don't know if the package design is big enough.