New 1/9 action figure line by Bandai.

Very little has been revealed for now but from what we can see in this teaser, it seems like a higher end type of action figure (compared to SHF) with a mix of regular SHF-ish joints and silicone like material covered joints.



It's purely speculation on my part but I guess this is what the seamless S.H.Figuarts project became.



Also speculation on my part but Bandai revealed a new Pegasus Seiya figure project about two years ago. It looked very similar to this new teaser.

 

Seamless bodies with an internal skeleton have been a dragon companies have been chasing for years. It never works out, though. No matter what material you pick it was always be too thick and look like shit when bent.

See, fabrics are one thing, because fabric behaves the same as fabric. A cloth suit at 1/6 scale looks about the same as a cloth suit at 1/1 scale if you properly scale down the materials. But skin isn’t the same as rubber or silicone. Skin stretches, creases, and distorts in highly specific ways due to being anchored to our flesh. A rubber bodysuit isn’t going to have that same organic stretch and squash, because it’s not organic.

I commend Bandai for giving it a shot, even if that promo placard shows a hideous seam line right down the side, but honestly I think it’s a novelty at best.

 

Agreed on the longevity of the silicone or rubber material they will use. No one wants a Goku with torn armpits or one that is limited purely by the outer cover.

 

Is this going to succeed S.H. Figuarts?

 

Also, I find it immensely frustrating that the arms are seamless, but not the neck or wrists. If you're gonna go seamless, go fully seamless.

 

I love the idea of this line and the idea of using seamless joints but as it has already been said, the longevity of such joints are questionable. I think that the reality is that unless you can develop a malleable material that has what is essentially regenerative quality, you'll never get a seamless joint technology that won't degrade eventually.

I'm also noticing an issue with the Goku figure in the initial post. You can see the clear difference in appearance in material where the bicep and deltoid meet. I assume this swivel joint can't be seamless so the deltoid is, I assume, made of a hard plastic whereas the "sleeve" making up the arm up to the bicep is of the seamless material.

I'm all for clever approaches to making joints look more natural but I've yet to be convinced that seamless joints are a worthwhile but who knows? Maybe Bandai has developed something that is cutting edge for such joint coverage.

 

Take another look at that pic of Goku. It’s not really a totally seamless figure.
Where the shoulder meets the bicep is not seamless and neither is the neck or hip joints. I think Bandai is just trying to make higher end figures in a bigger scale so they can hide the articulation as much as possible without sacrificing the figures ability to achieve dynamic poses.

 

Yeah, no one said it was a totally seamless figure. Hence why Split Lip said why not go fully seamless and I remarked how you can clearly see where the deltoid and bicep areas meet are not of the same material.

 

Nope. Seamless figures are a fleeting thing. These will last about as long as an ice-cream cone.

 

I can't agree with that at all.

The whole reason SHF grew to the size it did was because of the balance between accuracy/aesthetics and articulation/solidity. Same thing with Robot Damashii, Gunpla, or just about anything else Bandai produces. They're always trying to work in as much functionality and range into their toys as possible, even redoing them years later to push advancements and experiment with "playability." Look at how many times they've redone DBZ characters to fix issues with posability and joints despite the aesthetics being virtually the same.

If Bandai only cared about accuracy/being photogenic, that hideous Gundam G40 Industrial version would never have seen the light of day.  

 

This announcement made a few old pics resurface (I've seen quite a few people thinking they were also IW figures).

Those were revealed in 2017 (2018 for SSB I think, I'm not sure) with no announced line name. They were about 30cm tall (so about 1/6th). The first one featured LEDs that let you decide whether you wanted the SS or SSB form and also had sound effects. Little is know about the second one but I guess it's the same thing with the gimmicks removed (it's not just a second head, the sculpt of the gi by exemple is also slightly different). Again, this is purely speculation but it's possible these were just a step in the development of what would become this new Imagination Works line.

 

Seamless figures always look creepy and uncanny.

It isn't 3d graphics. You can't put corrective morphs on limbs on a physical rubber figure.  

 

Don't know of a company that went fully seamless. It's probably not possible yet even at this day and age. I know they went as far as feet and ankles being seamless, but even that had issues of its own.

I guess dependent on materials used. TBL is the top dog to beat for seamless bodies. Even Jiaou Dolls seems subpar to them (though they do offer a wider variety of skin tones compared to the basic two tones TBL offers). In this day and age extreme poses will definitely harm the figure if left in a long period of time. It will leave crease marks where it was bent. Also if something is in contact with and indents the skin, it will retain the indent/mark on the skin. It happened to me when one of the figure's thumb was pressed against the leg. Or a zipper on the upper torso.

TBL stainless steel armatures are still stiff after a couple years. Their plastic armatures were ratcheted, so they last quite as long as well. The silicone they use are still good (though I have heard of some users that had really bad degradation of the silicone). What caused the degradation is still not known as many of us who had these bodies for years, still have not seen any degradation.

Seamless figures (especially in 1/6) are still quite popular and still going strong. You still have companies making base bodies for many years and introducing new ones. Dependent on what Bandai does, this might be a failed project. It's an odd scale and we already have 1/6 and 1/12 scale seamless bodies being produced that they need to compete against.

This will be interesting none the less. Though it looks like they went the route of Very Cool or COO Model among other companies that make hybrid jointed/seamless figures. The jointed parts that are visible tend to be seamless while other (hidden under clothing) joints remain jointed.

This is what Bandai has to go against as a 1/6 seamless body collector   :
S26A Lady Dragon by Vicki Lee, on Flickr

S26A Lady Dragon 1 by Vicki Lee, on Flickr

Villa Sisters Action 1 by Vicki Lee, on Flickr

Femme Fatale Group 2 by Vicki Lee, on Flickr

S25B and S26A Fantasy 1 by Vicki Lee, on Flickr

Phicen Villa Suit 3 by Vicki Lee, on Flickr

Adora by Vicki Lee, on Flickr

 

I am not trying to be a dick or anything but those Phicen bodies do nothing for me. They look weird as shit and dead-behind-the-eyes. I don’t think a single one of those images is convincing. From an adding character standpoint Bandai already won. I am no DBZ fan, after my time, but that’s Goku up there loaded with character. My concern is the material holding up over time.... and I am dubious.

 

I think @NeoMatter could have chose some better examples but we can all find them if wanted. Some of those Gantz figures look pretty good I know they have the Vampirila license but I wish they or someone would make Vampi.

This Bandai line could be great but I don’t want to spend more on another line in another scale. Now, if they make characters I haven’t seen made yet like The Vampi I mentioned (not gonna happen before TBL) or NINJA SCROLL, I’m all in.

 

Yes, same here. Bandai quality can be hit and miss and I'm skeptical about that as well. Those images are old and I haven't had time to bash or take anything new. But I can say that the materials used are still good to date. Now if Bandai can come up with something that can hold as well as a TBL, they might garner some collector interest. But, as most collectors go, getting into another line/scale may not pan well for them.

Yeah, these are old pics I have up. The Gantz figures... I wish it was the full body suit. Definitely not to my liking. LOL

If Bandai succeeds in this line, maybe we'll see it being expanded to other series. But then again, only time will tell.