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For figure collectors, February and July are usually pretty big months. That is when the biannual event, Wonder Festival, dedicated to figures is held. At Wonder Festival, figure manufacturers from around the world unveil their latest and upcoming products, generating excitement. The biggest draw at WonFes however isn't the professional exhibitors, it's the doujinshi garage kits. Individual retailers showcase their own creations, and sell very limited kits for enthusiasts to make their own recreation.
Kotobukiya wanted the spotlight a little early. To start February off, a week ahead of WonFes, Kotobukiya held a free hobby exhibition in Tokyo. At Kotobukiya Collection 2025 they showcased some figure prototype designs for upcoming releases, displayed some of their hot items and gave participants some hands-on time with their model kits.
Fans of Unicorn Overlord should definitely be excited! This highly stylized and overwhelmingly well received tactical RPG which was released early last year is going to be a focus for Kotobukiya’s future direction. At the exhibition 5 figures were highlighted with most being on display in various states of development.
Eltolinde, the ruler of the elves of Elheim, was looking stunning. The sculpt was perfect and the coloring looked vibrant. She looks mostly finished so Eltolinde may be available for pre-order in a short time.
Lighting at the event definitely could have been better but hopefully they will add a bit more shading to some areas with the paintwork. Etolinde’s sister, Rosalinde also made a showing. She looks to be a little bit behind in terms of development but Kotobukiya seems to be on the right track.
A paint master of Scarlett and sculpt of Yahna was also revealed. Scarlett looked perfect with sufficient detail, solid shading and a battle-worn vibe. One last figure of Melisandre was announced but we need to wait a while longer for updates.
All of these figures are modeled after their in-game default visual and should work well when displayed together. With sooooo many great characters from Unicorn Overlord, I am hoping they continue to bring us some goodies. A Ridiel or Chloe figure would be great!
Kotobukiya Collection had a pretty big focus on their model kits. It was a bit shocking to see just how many different model kit lines Kotobukiya offers. They have everything from mecha series like Zoids and Hexa Gear to numerous different girl x weapon concepts. They may be running out of ideas since there is now a Cutlery Weapon line…
Perhaps their most well known model kits are their heavily customizable Frame Arms Girl collection. The success of this line is in no small part due to the many designs created by Humikane Shimada, the illustrator responsible for sparking the mecha-shoujo boom of the 2000s. They have contributed character and mechanical designs for various military-themed anime, video games and even promotional material for the Japanese military. Shimada's creations commonly combine bishoujo and moe elements with mecha such as military-style weapons, armor and vehicles. Strike Witches is probably the most iconic representation of this combination style.
Fans of Frame Arms Girl aren’t limited to model kits and Kotobukiya showcased 4 upcoming scale figures, including one based on a Shimada creation. Magatsuki and Durga I are more ecchi focused than mecha-musume. Designs are cute and while the poses are a bit lewd, they are pretty solid bishoujo figures.
For those who want something a bit more tame, two sculpts were also featured. We have Kongou…
…and Shimada’s Arsia. I have always been a huge fan of Shimada’s Arsia illustrations so this is one I will be pre-ordering when they open.
Kotobukiya’s Bishoujo series is celebrating its 15th anniversary so a large collection was on display. Shunya Yamashita has been responsible for bringing the characters to life as figures. Taking big-name characters and illustrating them in their own original style, fans and collectors are more than happy to add these gems to their collection.
Not everything was on display but Kotobukiya did showcase some of their King Of Fighters figures…
…some Vampire/Darkstalkers girls…
…from Horror Bishoujo they gave a sneak peak of Vampirella…
…and Draculaura…
…and some of the My Little Pony crew. It is kinda neat that they give you the horse version along with their anthropomorphic counterparts.
With a new season of Uma Musume coming up, some of the figures and prototypes also made a showing. The sculpt of Daitaku Helios looks like it's going to be a fun figure.
Three of their soon to be released figures, King Halo, Agnes Tachyon and Manhattan Cafe were on display. Pre-orders are still open on our site!
The idol craze is very much still alive and well. Gakumas, the most recent iDOLM@STER game, has a few figures in the works from several manufacturers. Kotobukiya gave a first look at some of their sculpts.
A sculpt of Tororo from Tororo Channel was shown and it is a cute character. My guess is that this is yet another VTuber which is a craze just as pervasive as idols.
To wrap things up we also got a first look at two originals. First is Elisia by illustrator Luicent. One look and I know this will be a hot item. The expression is adorable. We get a shy but bold design. Kotobukiya usually does an excellent job with paintwork and prices are usually fair so this is one to keep on your radar.
Next up is Trick Bunnies by Kafun. If you live by the motto bigger is better, this one's for you. The original artwork it's based on is pretty complex and difficult to turn into a 3D figure but Kotobukiya looks like they pulled it off. The gravity defying pair of bunny girls have been recreated quite well and they have plenty of healthy squish.
Kotobukiya unveiled a slew of figures and more announcements will be happening soon. Check back with the Solaris Japan store page as we will do our best to add new figures as pre-orders open. Prototypes can take a pretty long time to complete, so we may have to wait until 2026-27 for some of them.
Thank you for reading!
Sneak Peak Of Upcoming Figures At Kotobukiya Collection 2025
par Timothy
Addicted to Kancolle Arcade. If I'm not raging with my fellow teitoku, you can find me hiking, playing the drums or taking pictures of random park benches to satisfy my love of anime pilgrimage!
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