Figure Watchlist 2020

Hello everyone and welcome back to Tiro Finale and we are finally back after our long unannounced break! Over the past two months, I have spent a great deal of it traveling both for holiday and in preparation for moving over to my new country of residence. Fret not, I will be going through all of my adventures over the past two months in future posts which includes a memorable trip to Japan in autumn. But for today, here is a list that I have been wanting to make ever since the start of the new year. As we begin the first year of this new decade, here are a list of the Top 5 unreleased figures on my watchlist for 2020!

First up, you could have probably already guessed it comes in the form of Stronger's 1/7 Holy Mami figure. First unveiled during Winter Wonder Festival 2019, Holy Mami's figure form came hot on the heels of her debut in the Magia Record mobile games and lit the flame of hope that more Tomoe Mami figures were in the works. Especially with a design as regal and intricate as her Holy Mami form, you certainly could not have expected manufacturers to miss out on the opportunity to bring her glory to life now would you? 

As far as uncolored prototypes go, Stronger seemed to have hit every mark with Holy Mami. Unfortunately, we have not received any further news or product information since her sole appearance at Wonder Festival last year. With luck, this year's Wonder Festival could prove to be more fruitful and we can finally get a release date for this ambitious Mami figure. Fingers crossed, Stronger does not mess up the paint work even if this means taking more time than usual with the prototyping process!

Another figure that sits high on my watchlist comes from a relative newbie to the figure manufacturing scene, Emontoys, with their Kusanagi Motoko SAC Version. While the release process for this Ghost in the Shell figure has been a long and slow one, we have at least gotten a colored prototype version shown in hobby shows. Since then, there has not been any word about pre-orders or a potential release date. Primed for more information at this year's Wonder Festival, I sure hope Emontoys is able to improve upon the paintwork for our Major before her final reveal. While the initial colored version does not look bad, there is certainly a lot of room for improvement especially for a 1/7 scale premium figure. Definitely looking forward to seeing how this one pans out!

After what seems like an eternity, there is finally a Sonico figure that I want! And for this piece, famed prize figure manufacturer FuRyu goes back to the basics with a Super Sonico Bunny version. Known for consistently getting Sonico's proportions right, FuRyu has absolutely knocked it out of the park this time especially since they kept her bunny outfit simple with no added frills or details. Just a classic bunny outfit with matching ears and a pair of heels. While I have no doubt this version of Sonico would be launched in mutliple colorways, I really hope FuRyu does not mess around with the formula too much and just give us the traditional black bunny outfit that we all know and love. 

Proportions aside, the details and sculpt are also stunning. Just check out Sonico's stockings which are made of actual fish net fabric! Considering the fact that this is a prize figure, I do wonder if they would be able to carry over such a feature to the final product itself. Even if this means driving up the price a little and positioning it as a "premium" prize figure, I would certainly love to get her still. Only time will tell how the final product will pan out. Hopefully, we will get a 2020 release!

One announcement that flew fairly under the radar, was Bandai Spirit's recent expansion of their Figurarts collection with the Figurarts Mini series. Scaled down with an almost chibi-like proportions, the Figurarts Mini series is akin to Bandai's take on Kotobukiya's Cu-Poche or Good Smile Company's Nendoroid series. Now expanding their line to include the Madoka Magica series, these mini-figures are set to go on sale from the middle of this year at a retail price of 2,700 Yen starting with Homura. There has not been any news about Mami's release date but, I am hopeful it should be either sometime this year or early of the next. Either way, new Mami figures can never be a bad thing. 

There has been a number of Tanya figure released since her Nendoroid hit the market as the first ever figure of this mini-tyrant. Some have been more impressive than others yet, the one that I am looking forth to the most has yet to even materialize in the form of a prototype. That is, GSC's newly acquired manufactuere Souyouku Sha and their plans to make a Tanya figure that was revealed in Wonder Festival. There has certainly been a long period of silence where we have yet to hear anything about it. Hopefully, plans for her figure has not been scrapped because we could certainly have more Tanya figures in the market. 

While there is a good chance that most of the figures on my watchlist will eventually be released, there is always the chance that the opposite would turn out to be true. While I have yet to pre-order or purchase any new figures in a long time, I am hoping that 2020 would be different. With that, we come to the end of my figure watchlist for the year 2020. What about you? What are the figures you are most excited for or hope to be released this year? Do let me know in the comments section below. Until the next time, thank you so much for reading and have yourself a wonderful day ahead!