Bandai
From Dragon Ball Encyclopedia
This article is a stub. You can help Dragon Ball Encyclopedia by expanding it, or perhaps you could contribute to discussion on the topic. |
Bandai (バンダイ, Bandai) is a Japanese manufacturer responsible for numerous Dragon Ball merchandise. Its headquarters is located in Taitō, Tokyo.
Contents
History
Figures
One of the most popular action figure lines offered by this company is the “Super Battle Collection”. A very rare and highly sought after piece, the large-scale Great Monkey Baby is included in this series. The initial set contains 42 characters. Another series is the HG collection offered by Bandai. The original “Soul of Hyper Figuration” set was released in 2004 by Bandai, including both grey versions and colored versions of the same figures in the set.
Also released in 2004, the grey version of the “Soul of Hyper Figuration” release is the same exact figurines but lacking in the color department. Like the colored version, however, they also come with a base to stand on.
Bandai has released a slew of Gashapons in the HG collection. This series is likely one of the best in terms of assortment and wide variety of characters. It also incorporates numerous sagas from the entire series run.
The Chara Puchi releases by Bandai were not limited to the phone strap series. In 2006, there’s also a mini-figure set that was released and incorporated plenty of characters from the series run. In this set, all the characters came sitting on top of a mini-Dragon Ball or another item (such as an Attack Ball). Also, the initial releases of these mini-figurines came with a small piece of candy.
Later, these mini-figurines sitting on a Dragon Ball saw a re-release and included into the base was a round paper that showed the character’s name around it and the collectible number attributed to it.
There has been a chibi set released in 2008 by Bandai entitled “Imagination Figure”, incorporating numerous popular scenes from the series. These figurines stand at about 5 cm (2 inches) and the chibi figurines are made in a more cute style and showcase memorable scenes from the series.
Bandai has also released a "Super Deformation” series in 2008 with the figurines standing at about 5 cm. The black round base of the figure reads the character’s name and allows for the mini-figurine to stand on top of it.
Another release by Bandai is the "Chara Puchi Phone Strap" series in 2009. The figurines in this set stand at about 4 cm and all the figures included in this set come with mini-Dragon Balls dangling alongside their chains, which are intended to be used as phone straps or for other attachment accessories.
A very unique set released by Bandai in 2010 is the “Mask Collection Lineage of F” series, which portrays the sculpted heads of Freeza's Force in a statuesque manner. Two versions of each character in this set are available: one colored version and one completely black version with red eyes. The base portrays the character’s name in solid neon highlights. This collectible statuette series is one of the most highly detailed and also very thorough in its initial construct and replication, staying true to the original look and feel of the manga and anime alike.
The other version of Bandai’s 2010 release of the “Mask Collection Lineage of F” is the black variant. All characters in this set are featured with a completely black paint job and a very distinguishing detail: they all have piercing red eyes. This is likely to signify the evil aspect of the characters and makes for a great addition to any collection.
