Some of the more popular types of figures are nendoroids and nendoroid petits, miniaturized versions of characters with large heads. Because of their low price, high quality, cute appearance, movable joints, and accessories, it’s hard to find anyone that doesn’t like them. It’s no wonder that Good Smile Company, the rights holder of the nendoroid name, is churning out dozens of new nendoroids in the next few months. Below are just some of the nendoroids and nendoroid petits that were spotted over the weekend at Wonder Festival.

Nendoroids:

Millhiore F. Biscotti and Harlan from Dog Days – It is not known whether Millhiore and her chocobo-like ride, Harlan will be sold together, but they obviously are meant to be combined.

Miku Append from Vocaloid 2 – There are already a ton of Miku nendoroids out there, but this is the first one based off of the illustration on the Miku Append box.

Poplar Taneshima from Working!! – So far, Poplar is the only character from the anime Working!! to get the nendoroid treatment.

Ika Musume from Ika Musume – Other than the default pose, there doesn’t seem to be any indication of what will be included with Ika. Hopefully, the production version will have movable tentacles.

Elsie from The World God Only Knows – Probably one of the cutest death gods to appear in anime, Elsie is to be released in November.

Haqua from The World God Only Knows – Haqua will be released a month after Elsie, in December.

Minnie Mouse from Disney – It was strange to see Mickey Mouse in the nendoroid line-up last year, but it looks like his girlfriend will also get the nendoroid treatment. Someone at Good Smile Company must really like Disney.

Homura Akemi from Puella Magi Madoka Magica – Homura will come with a rocket launcher, grenade, and pistol, definitely one of the cooler nendoroids to be released.

Mami Tomoe from Puella Magi Madoka Magica – Preorders for this Mami nendoroid literally sold out within hours of going up in Japan, and for good reason. She will come with several muskets, her large “tiro finale” gun, and the snake-like thing that came out of Charlotte.

Jack Frost from Persona – One of the few game character nendoroids spotted at Wonder Festival.

Charlotte E. Yeager from Strike Witches – The next nendoroid from the 501st Joint Fighter Wing, at this rate it looks like Strike Witches fans will be able to have a complete set in a couple of years.

Kamui Kobayashi – It’s very rare to see a nendoroid of a real person. In fact, I think Kamui is the first. He’s a young race car driver from Japan.

Ai Nanasaki from Amagami – Ai is rumoured to be an exclusive nendoroid.

Haruka Morishima from Amagami – Haruka is also rumoured to be an exclusive nendoroid.

Ayase Aragaki from My Little Sister Can’t be This Cute – While there’s no prototype of Ayase yet, she will be the next nendoroid to join Kirino and Kuroneko.

Sonic from Sonic The Hedgehog – Sonic fans will probably want to get their hands on this one.

Sanada Yukimura from Sengoku Basara – Date Masamune (left) has already been released, but Sanada Yukimura is scheduled for a December release.

Erio Touwa from Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko – Erio was, in my opinion, the cutest nendoroid at the event. The UFO on a string comes from a popular illustration of Erio.

Meiko from Vocaloid – The sixth Vocaloid to get the nendoroid treatment.

Konjiki no Yami from To Love ru – Yami and Lala are seemingly in a race to see who can get the most figures, but Yami will be the first to get a nendoroid.

Yuzurizaki Nero and Cordelia Glauca from Tantei Opera Milky Holmes – These two complete the 4-character set of Milky Holmes detectives.

Ohana Matsumae from Hanasaku Iroha – Good Smile Company really jumped on this one by revealing an Ohana nendoroid before the anime series has even ended. I’m sure many people will be trying to get one soon.

Yozora Mikazuki from Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai – The only nendoroid character to come from a light novel series.

Yune from Ikoku Meiro no Croisée – Like Ohana, Good Smile Company really jumped on Yune. The anime she’s from has only been airing for a few weeks and her prototype is already out along with a few nendoroid petits.

Nendoroid Petits:

Puella Magi Madoka Magica – This set comes with all of the magical girls.

Fate/hollow ataraxia – If you like seeing the girls from the Fate series in maid outfits, then you’ll probably want to keep an eye on this set.

ClariS – For those out of the loop, ClariS is a 2 girl singing group that rose to fame after posting some of their vocals online. Since they are both in middle school, they use anime-styled representations of themselves rather than actual photos online.

Nanoha – Great for people who prefer their magical girls to be dark and evil-looking.

Sawako from K-ON – It’s nice to see the crazy school teacher finally getting a nendoroid petit to go along with the club members.

Menma from We Still Don’t Know the Name of the Flower We Saw That Day – The most popular member of the Super Peace Busters.

Ruri Hoshino from Martian Successor Nadesico – A Ruri nendoroid petit was really surprising considering it’s been 15 years since Nadesico first aired. Personally, I’m very happy they decided to make one, Ruri is by far my favourite anime character.

[Images via Hobbystock and Twitter]

If you really want a Miku nendoroid and don’t want to pay an exorbitant amount for her, you might be in luck. Good Smile Company is releasing a 12^th version of the Miku nendoroid , this time in support of relief efforts in Japan due to the recent earthquake and tsunami (creatively called Miku Hatsune Support ver). The new nendoroid will be exactly the same as the original Miku nendoroid with a few extras included.

Miku already comes with interchangeable faces, different arms and leg parts, and a leek accessory. The support version will come with an extra smiling face, a support flag that looks like a musical note (since Miku is a virtual idol/singer), and a pair of pompoms.

The best part about this nendoroid is that it will only cost 3000 yen, cheaper than a regular nendoroid, and 1000 yen from every nendoroid sold will go towards the Japanese Red Cross. So if you have wanted one of these for a while and are maybe feeling a little guilty about not donating to a relief organization yet, this is the perfect chance to take care of both.

The nendoroid will be available to Japanese customers up until the end of April 7, 2011 (Japan time), after which orders will be open to international customers on Good Smile Company’s Online Shop. Details about the nendoroid can be found here, and a review has been put up by Good Smile’s very own Mika-tan.

Last year the Sapporo Snow Festival sold an exclusive nendoroid Snow Miku figure which attracted both Miku and nendoroid fans. The figure itself was based off of the original Miku nendoroid, but with a few alterations to the colours and design in order to make it look more suited for a snow festival.

This year they’re at it again and will be selling another exclusive nendoroid. People who aren’t virtual diva fans may not be happy to hear that it’ll be a Miku nendoroid again, but I’m sure Miku lovers would be more than overjoyed to get their hands on one of these. This year’s Snow Miku is the “Play” version. Unlike the first Snow Miku sold last year, the Play version isn’t simply a repainted original. The Play version comes with a pair of snow-themed headphones, a pair of mittens, and a scarf. I know, that’s not much of a change from the previous version, but this one will also be a lot more flexible.

Good Smile Company, the manufacturers of nendoroids has been adding more joints to them recently, and that means there are exponentially more poses you can make with them. The Snow Miku Play nendoroid is one of these new releases that now have joints in their elbows and knees, allowing for a greater range of poses, and possibly enticing enough otaku to buy another Snow Miku. Seeing this makes me wonder what the Sapporo Snow Festival will come up with next year; a Snow Miku wearing a tuque and eating a snow cone perhaps?

The little chibi anime figures known as nendoroids have been gaining popularity over the last few years, and now with other a hundred of them out there, one has to wonder which characters they’re going to come out with next. Well, if you were following updates from last week’s Wonder Festival, you’ll know that Good Smile Company (GSC) is releasing two new nendoroids that I’m sure are going to sell like hotcakes.

The first nendoroid is of Yuki Nagato, but some of you may be wondering why they’re making another Yuki nendoroid when there’s already one out there. The first Yuki nendoroid was based on Yuki Nagato from The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, but this second one is based on Yuki Nagato from The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya (a.k.a. the Haruhi movie). So what’s the difference between the two nendoroids? First off, the newer Yuki has some shading to her hair rather than just a solid colour, and she appears to have more fine details like the lines in her shoes. Secondly, she comes with the coat and scarf that she’s seen wearing in the movie, certainly a must-have for many Yuki fans.

The second new nendoroid that is coming out soon is of Hinagiku Katsura from Hayate The Combat Butler.  Although not as popular as the Haruhi series, Hayate still has a rather large fanbase and Hinagiku is undoubtedly the most popular character in the series. She comes with not only one, but two wooden swords, and a cat costume, which is sure to make many people very happy.

Both nendoroids are now available for preorder at most figure stores.

Images via Mika-tan’s Blog.

Petits come with their own set of accessories and have movable joints like their counterparts. One major difference between petits and regular nendoroids are that petits can not change faces while the regular ones can. Usually having more parts for anime figures is a good thing, but if you’re one of those people that can’t decide on which ones to use, then a petit might be better than a regular nendoroid. Another advantage with petits is that they usually come as a set rather than individually. This is a big bonus to people who like to have complete sets of figures rather than just one or two. Sometimes these sets also have a special theme, like the recent Lucky Star nendoroid petits dressed as characters from Street Fighter, which are not released as regular nendoroids.

The main downside to petits is that due to their size, the overall quality of the figures is lower than regular nendoroids. Naturally, fewer details like pockets in jackets and buttons on shirts can be added to a figure that’s 2/3 the size it normally is. The paint quality also suffers a bit because sometimes it’s just not possible to place tiny dots or lettering in an area that only measures about 1mm². With these differences, it’s easy to see why some prefer one over the other, but they are both very cute types of figures.

10. Mickey Mouse

In tenth place is someone who everyone is familiar with: Mickey Mouse. Just recently unveiled at the Winter Wonder Festival 2010, Mickey is the 100th addition to the nendoroid series. Anyone who grew up with a tv will know who Mickey is, and I think you’d be hard-pressed to find a kid who doesn’t like him, which is why he made it onto my list of the 10 coolest nendoroids.

9. Saber Lion

At number nine is Saber Lion from Fate/Stay Night. There’s just something about a warrior in a lion costume holding a huge piece of meat that just borders on silly and neat at the same time.

8. Rider

Eighth is Rider, also from FSN. This nendoroid comes with a bicycle that it can sit on. Rider riding a bike, get it?

7. Melissa Seraphy Devil Queen Version

Number seven is the devil version of Melissa Seraphy from the game Wagamama Capriccio. This nendoroid was an exclusive at the 2008 Wonder Festival, meaning if you want one, it’s too late. What I like about this nendoroid is the fact that she’s wearing a pumpkin and comes with a fancy cape and crown, all of which are optional.

6. Miku Hatsune Race Queen Version

Race Queen Miku comes in at sixth place. Probably one of the most expensive nendoroids out there, Miku is also an exclusive item that was sold only at certain Japanese stores. She comes with a “leek” umbrella and her own car that she actually fits in. Did I mention that you can also customize the decals on the car.

5. Kemeko

Next up is Kemeko from Kemeko DX. Not only does it have a huge gatling gun, there are also two different heads for when the Kemeko suit is open or closed. What’s unique about this nendoroid though, is that it actually combines with a 1/8 scale MM figure from Max Factory to make it look like MM is climbing out of the Kemeko suit.

4. Drossel von Flugel

At number 4 is Drossel, the robot princess from Disney’s Fireball. I’ve already covered all the things that make this nendoroid special in a previous post which you can read here.

3. Reindeer L

Anyone who’s watched or read Death Note will know that L would do anything to reveal Kira’s identity, so it’s not too hard to imagine him dressing up as a reindeer. Although it’s not likely to happen, it’s still hilarious to see him dressed like that.

2. Nozomu Itoshiki

In second place is Nozomu Itoshiki, aka “Mr. Despair” from Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei. I think it’s very fitting to display a figure of the suicidal high school teacher by hanging him around the neck with a noose. I’m sure many people got this nendoroid just so they could do that.

1. Snow Miku

At the top of the list is the cool looking Snow Miku. She’s basically the same as the original Miku Hatsune nendoroid except for the fact that she’s winter-themed. Her hair and clothes are now a bluish ice colour and her leek looks like a crystal. There are also snowflakes printed into her hair and tie to give more of a winter feel.

Nendoroids are a relatively new addition to the world of plastic models/figures but they’ve been very successful in the last few years. The main selling point of Nendoroids are their small bodies and large heads, however there’s also another series of plastic models with these same features called SD (super deformed) Gundams.

Unlike Nendoroids, SD Gundams have been around for ages. You could argue that the idea for Nendoroids came from SD Gundams, but it’s possible that both the manufacturers of Nendoroids (Good Smile Company) and SD Gundams (Bandai) came about the idea independently of each other. So with both companies deciding to shrink down their models/figures into little chibi characters, which one has done a better job?

Both products have interchangeable parts and movable limbs, allowing you to make a variety of poses. The difference here is in how many combinations you can make. On one hand, Nendoroids usually come with three different faces for the same character, allowing you to display different emotions along with different poses. Naturally, SD Gundams don’t display different emotions (they’re robots after all), but where they have an advantage is in interchangeable parts. While Nendoroids can only use the parts that were made for a particular character, it’s possible to put parts from one SD Gundam model onto another, making up for the lack of facial expression.

Although both Nendoroids and SD Gundams are pretty similar in terms of size and the different numbers of poses/configurations, what they differ in is their cost. Generally, Nendoroids sell for 3000-4000 yen while the majority of SD Gundams go for 500-3000 yen. Obviously, collecting SD Gundams would be the more wallet-friendly option compared to Nendoroids. Then again, cost might not be a factor to some people when it comes to collecting plastic models/figures.

Ultimately though, whether Nendoroids or SD Gundams are better depends on who you talk to. Considering both products are basically the same thing (moveable chibi versions of larger models), what really matters is whether you like anime girls or robots better.

This Drossel nendoroid is one of the more recent nendoroids to be released and it contains quite a few more features than a standard nendoroid. If you’re not familiar with Drossel, she’s the main character of Disney’s “Fireball” series. Her full name is Drossel von Flugel and she’s the robot princess of a future world controlled by machines.

I’m sure a lot of people have noticed major similarities between Drossel and virtual pop idol Miku Hatsune, but it’s all probably a part of Disney’s plan to gain a larger presence in the Japanese market, and the fact that there’s now a nendoroid must mean that it’s working. The inclusion of some rather impressive accessories (for a nendoroid) will probably increase Disney’s Japanese fan base even further. I’ve taken a few pictures of Drossel with some of her special equipment below:

If you’ve seen the Fireball series, then you’ll recall one episode where Drossel installed a new hairstyle which actually turned out to be a jet pack. Well, they’ve decided to included that jet pack with this figure. Like in the show, the jet pack looks like some weird hairstyle, but with the press of a button the jet engines will spring out and you can fold out the wings. Unfortunately, Drossel doesn’t actually fly, but it’d be cool if she could.

The back of the jet pack has some nice flower decorations on the back along with Drossel’s family name “Flugel” in gray. There’s also some extremely small German writing (or so I assume) on the bottom which says “Vorslcht! Spitze Gegenstande machen die knie weich!” anyone care to translate?

Drossel also comes with this second headpiece. I thought it was kinda cute, but there doesn’t appear to be any buttons like on the jet pack.

My favourite part about this nendoroid would have to be the light-up eyes. Drossel’s head is hollow so the makers were able to place a battery and some lights inside. The switch to turn on the lights is on the back of the head, near the neck. In the Fireball series, when Drossel found out that she had nightvision installed in her eyes and tried them for the first time, they were extremely bright. I thought the creators of this nendoroid did a good job duplicating that; the eyes are a lot brighter than I would have expected. In the dark, Drossel’s eyes look about as bright as a cellphone’s display.

Overall, I’d say this is one of the best nendoroids out there. Although there are no interchangeable facial features (it’s a robot after all), I think the different “hairstyles” and the light-up eyes more than make up for that. It’s certainly more playable than other nendoroids which are meant more for display.

Those of you not familiar with anime figures might be wondering what a nendoroid is. Nendoroids are basically what you see above, small figures that are a few inches high and have extremely large heads relative to the body. I guess you could also say that nendoroids are the chibi versions of anime figures. Unlike most figures though, nendoroids give you the ability to change their poses with jointed arms and legs, and interchangeable faces.

This particular nendoroid of Nanoha Takamachi is due to be released in February 2010, one month after the Nanoha movie comes out. Personally, I think this is one of the more adorable nendoroids coming out soon and I just love the fact that they’re including her weapon with the figure. Of course, fans of Nanoha may want to get the other Nanoha nendoroid that’s coming out:

This nendoroid is only being made available when you purchase a ticket to the Nanoha Movie which is coming out in Japan in January 2010. It’s quite a bit smaller than other nendoroids, but equally adorable; certainly a must-have for any Nanoha fan (though you would have to get to Japan somehow to get yor hands on one).