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For years prize figures have been a staple for figure collectors. These budget friendly alternatives to costly scales can be a great way to start a collection or add more variety. What they lack in detail, they very often make up for in creativity and affordability. Game centers in Japan rely on a steady stream of figure releases from a wide range of characters from popular anime, manga, and video game franchises to keep people coming back.
Big names in the prize figure market, notably Taito, Sega, FuRyu and Bandai, have had a pretty peaceful coexistence. Each had their own strengths, their own unique concepts and franchises they focused on. More recently, there has been much more overlap between products and competition is ramping up. In another blog post, I recently compared Sega’s new Yumemirize prize figures line with Bandai's well established Relax Time line. The concept for both are basically the same, with similar quality (Sega could use some improvement), making the decision for potential customers to mainly consider the character and franchise. This puts pressure on both companies to take a gamble on what will be the next popular anime to air.

With 3D printing technology becoming much more efficient with significantly less issues, more and more new companies have been dipping their toes into the figure market and expanding their scope. System Service is by no means a new company, they have been making prize figures for years but generally put out a limited number with relatively unimpressive designs. Towards the end of 2024, I noticed a big uptick in their releases and now you can find a steady stream of actually good figures in the arcade. Designs have gotten more interesting and quality hasn't been an issue. FuRyu has been the main player of bunny girl figures with their BiCute Bunnies line, but System Service has put out a few bunny designs done as well, if not better.

More competition is almost always good for consumers and pushes retailers to be better. In the past, Bandai's prize figures were often criticized for their lack of detail, awkward poses, and cheap paint applications. Their biggest strength was their unique Ichiban Kuji prize figures that were significantly more detailed than the typical prize. They did have some good ideas but poor execution. Glitter & Glamours was supposed to be Bandai's bishoujo prize figure line, emphasizing what most men find visually attractive… However, it just wasn't it. Boring poses, unimaginative designs and playing it too safe along with their general poor quality look was always an instant pass for me.

How did they survive? They had a focus on shounen series, male characters and older franchises that the other big companies tended to pass on. Bandai also generally tries to put out a larger sized figure than most. Personally, I found about 90% of Bandai's figures to be underwhelming with a few gems every once in a while. After all, a big turd is still a turd.

With increasing competition and a more crowded market, it seems Bandai started to feel the heat and are making changes to improve quality, designs and introducing new concepts. Let's check out what they have been up to recently.

It seems Glitter & Glamours has gotten an overhaul. Most of the recent figures from this line have accomplished the goal of leaning into the bishoujo market. Outfits have gotten more revealing with more exposed skin. Poses have become more seductive. The ones that aren't so blatantly ecchi tend to be just better, standard representations of the character.

All around quality and paint/colors have improved. Bandai’s prize figures tended to generally have a matte finish with no shading. You could also see some very obvious seam lines which is unfortunate. While these complaints are valid criticism for prize figures as a whole, with a few simple improvements, Bandai has produced much nicer visuals. The way they have incorporated translucent plastic parts alone does wonders. It adds good variation without requiring detailed shading.

Changing up between plastic with a sheen and their usual matte finish is also a wonderful way to help improve the look of their figures. Just take a look at Madoka and Homura. Homura’s wings have very nice detail and there is contrast between the finish in her outfit. Madoka on the other hand is a bit disappointing. The less detailed design combined with an all sheen finish doesn't have the same allure as Homura. It is still an improvement from previous years offerings and shows they are heading in the right direction.

A good figure collection will have items to support the theme or the characters. Bandai has gone outside the box a bit with recent Frieren, Glasscape figures. Giving Frieren and Fern a stained glass background is a relatively novel idea for prize figures. Having them sit on the window sill with important characters shown in the background gives fans some heartwarming memories. They aren't perfect, with the background being partially obstructed and not the most sturdy, but will hopefully be improved in the future with more releases.

Similar idea was Bandai’s Panel Spectacle. Having Naruto figures with an extra acrylic display piece was supposed to make the background more dynamic. Their recent attempt compared to previous years is much better. Each character can be easily displayed next to each other revealing a bigger all around visual.

Expanding on unconventional ideas, Bandai has started their FigLife! line. This classification's goal is to take figures off your shelf and make them part of your everyday life. Bandai is attempting to make a useful component to these types of figures in a variety of ways. Some of their ideas so far has been to make smartphone stands…

…stationary holders…

…a bank…

…and the humorously well done pen shown earlier. Speaking of pens, they have another line called Penlife! specifically for figures designed to hold a pen. If you are going to clutter your desk with anime goods, it's always a plus when they don't get in the way. You'll never have to go rummaging through drawers again.

Finally, Bandai is taking risks by expanding the types of franchises they are bringing to collectors. Little Nightmares was a fun horror adventure game and did pretty good. It received mostly positive reviews, sold decently well and even won some awards. While a good game, it never really reached levels of hype or notoriety that demanded attention. It was a fun experience that many may have already forgotten. Published by Bandai, they have decided to add some prize figures from the series. With not much merch from the game, for diehard fans, this is terrific news.

They are also exploring original characters which is incredibly rare for prize figures. Figures based on rurudo designs usually do very well in the figure world. As one of the biggest artists in Japan, rurudo is well known in otaku circles. The sculpt and design of Sleeping Bunny Sugar looks incredible and is easy to recognize as rurudos’s work. This figure is a safe bet to be a success and hopefully that creates more original character prize figures in the future. I personally would love Taito’s Artist Masterpiece to try their hand at some OCs.

What's your thoughts on Bandai? Have you noticed all around improvements or is there something still lacking? We would love to hear your opinions in the comments!

Thank you for reading!