@ThreeSwordStyle:
While this thread is about non One Piece figures, it does concern other lines so I am putting this here and if it should be elsewhere, i apologise.
As much as I love my current One Piece POPs, it is becoming more and more clear that the line has gone seriously south. I am now re-evaluating where I want to go with my collecting of One Piece and also other series. (That doesn't mean I want to sell the figures I have, in fact I still want to finish the POP Milds as they are so great).
So which line do I turn to? WCF is ruled out right away as while I like the sheer variation of figures, I'm not a fan of the chibi look.
I would also like to visit other series like Dragonball Z and Sailormoon.
So that leaves me with two choices really. I can either begin the Figuarts line, which allows pose ability and caters to the three lines.
Or I can revisit Banpresto, which can be found for a decent price, although that would mean rebuying the Grandline Series which would be a little annoying, but also would open the way for allowing lines like Scultures and maybe Master Stars (Although I don't know too much about either) to add other characters that GLM haven't done like Paulie,
Thoughts, opinions, comparisons? I welcome any feedback from anyone.
Yeah, I'm pretty much in the same boat. It's sad to see a decline in characters coming to the POP line, which is why I started investing in a couple of other lines a few years back. Mainly Figuarts Zero, Stylings and Ichiban Kuji. This is what i've found.
1 - Figuarts Zero - Sadly, not only is Zero your only option, as SH Figuarts (posable) ended years ago after just Luffy, Ace, Nami and Sanji, but also it is now suffering the same fate as POP with fewer and fewer figures being released. Some of the older pieces like Caesar are great, but I haven't seen anything truly special for a while. They also have a habit of starting lines but not finishing them (Battle Ver., 5th Ani).
2 - Stylings - Great little figures for the price and a nice selection of characters. Only downside is the scale and material, which makes them quite prone to warping/bending. The peg stands they require to combat this are also quite ugly imho.
3 - IK (BP Prize figrues) - Some of these are really great, but like many other Banpresto prize figures, they lack consistency. I'd put them in the same boat as Figure Colosseum/MSP/SCultures/King of Artist in that if you like a couple of sculpts and would like them as a particular center piece for your collection then great, but as a series there is no consistency with style, colour, scale, bases, etc. That is why I never really got into them.
4 - WCF/Chara-Heroes - I'd agree with you. The problem with these is the chibi/big head element. Although they are highly collectable, they aren't my cup of tea.
5 - Variable Action Heroes - I'm still watching this line. Unsure what Megahouse are doing there days, so i'm waiting to see where it goes. Main gripe is the scale is to big. They should have stuck with 1/12 scale instead of 1/10.
And that's about it. As you can probably tell I haven't bought any OP merch this year, but SH Figuarts is where i'm at right now for DB and Kinnikuan figures.