Alter and Megahouse both represented with some delicious items at Wonder Festival, offerings made all the more intriguing due to what seems to be a robust partnership emerging between the two companies spanning several projects over the coming months. Are they positioning themselves to rival the Goodsmile / Max Factory coalition (which Alter left behind only recently)? We’ll be watching… for now, the scoops:

As usual, a considerable segment of the garage kits at this summer’s Wonder Festival were not at all safe for display at the workplace (or in most other locations). What follows is a sample of the new ero-ero resin kits we managed to spot at the event; note that we’re generally trying to avoid repeats from previous events so if something is missing that’s probably why. ^^;;

Haruhi’s not dead! With a second season of TV anime in the works, games for PSP and PS2 on the horizon and the manga and serial novels still running strong it’s no surprise that the Haruhi kit presence remained a potent force at this summer’s Wonder Festival. Lucky Star started its TV run after the circle application deadline was closed for this event so its small footprint is understandable – we can no doubt look forward to a much more substantial presence next winter.

The Goodsmile / Max Factory collective was out in force at Wonder Festival, with dozens of past, present and future kit offerings on display. We’ve got a roundup of most of them here, including all of the new figures with officially speculated dates and several that were “display only” – lots of great stuff in the pipeline that it is highly advisable to click upon and peruse at your leisure!

Check this post for an updated compendium of all HD news on the topic of garage kit and figure convention Wonder Festival 2007 Summer, as well as the epic saga underlying our coverage of the event (coming soon!). Stuff will be added here regularly over the next several days, so you might want to bookmark this post or leave it open in a Firefox tab or something…

We begin our Wonder Festival garage kit coverage today with a look at the array of Code Geass figures on display at the event. The popularity of the anime at the time circle applications were due last spring, along with Bandai’s relaxed restrictions, resulted in a bumper crop of really nice kits that I’m guessing we’re only going to be seeing more of in the future – great news for all the Geass fans out there.

After meeting up with random people from both hemispheres in the tremendous line, we were all set to Wanfesu. Shingo and I had agreed on a system – he would stalk the resin and garage kits and I would shoot the new releases. I think I got the better end of the deal.

A few representative samples from the garage kit (amateur unpainted / unassembled resin cast figure kit) dealers hall at today’s Wonder Festival. Full scoops of Wanfesu garage kits, PVC figures, and cosplay will be coming soon, along with the HD official event report – stay tuned. :3

A few final Wonder Festival industry notes before the big event tomorrow, including Akiyama Koubou’s 1/1 scale Ayanami Rei, the surprise appearance of voice actresses from Kodomo no Jikan and Potemayo, and the world’s first ever tote bag made from a gym uniform. We’ll be bringing you coverage of all the Wanfesu action starting tomorrow night, so be sure to stop by and check it out!

Wave’s Wonder Festival 2007 Summer page has been unexpectedly fleshed out with details on (and pictures of) what appear to be all of the upcoming items they’ll have on display there. The newly pictured bishoujo kits include a 1/8 scale Yoko from Gurren Lagann, the earlier-announced 1/10 scale Haruhi, Yuki, Tsuruya-san and Kyon’s sister from Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu, non-scale Bushido no Onna no Ko and Paladin no Onna no Ko from Sekaiju no Meikyuu, 1/10 scale Aisaka Taiga from Toradora!, 1/10 scale Louise from Zero no Tsukaima, 1/10 scale Buster Machine #7 from Top wo Nerae! 2, 1/10 scale Suzu from Nagasarete Airantou, 1/10 scale Amami Haruka from The Idolm@ster, 1/10 scale Tsuyuri from Doujin Work, and 1/8 scale Sendo Erika and subsequent character series from Fortune Arterial. We’ll be revisiting Wave’s lineup with photos and more detailed information after the event, but for now here’s something we can all salivate over in anticipation… here’s hoping the other makers present have similarly robust lineups in the offing! (no more)

Here’s one that slipped through the cracks in our survey of the new garage kits present at this summer’s Wonder Festival, and it’s a doozy. Circle Jet Stream just finished the coloring job on their Code Geass C.C. kit, and thus far it’s ranking as the closest thing to this year’s Bubba Haruhi I’ve seen from anyone yet. Wow. WOW. …yeah. Pictures below:

As we prepare for this coming Sunday’s Wonder Festival 2007 Summer we bring you HD’s second and final preview of the new garage kits scheduled for release at the event. Again, only dealers with some online presence and the stated intent to release new items have been listed; the first part of the preview can be found here.

Those following our Wonder Festival news may have noticed the appearance of a listing for a Cerberus Project Ignis kit buried deep in our recent rundown of garage kits present at this summer’s event. Yesterday afternoon Cerberus updated with pictures of said kit, and it’s safe to say the heroine of 2005 Nitro+ release Jingai Makyou has recieved a glorious new lease on life… I hope and pray that a PVC maker who can do justice to this will pick it up. Pictures below:

News is in today that rookie maker Piccolo will be producing a 1/8 scale (22 cm) Lala Satalin Deviluke PVC figure, heroine of the popular Shounen Jump manga To LOVE Ru. She’s scheduled to retail on December 21st at 5,000 yen (tax included), well before the recently announced TV anime begins its run in April 2008; I can’t vouch for the quality of this figure as Piccolo has yet to actually produce anything, but we’ll be keeping an eye on this. A pre-production prototype of the kit is expected to be on display at Wonder Festival this weekend, and a picture of the sculpt as it currently exists can be found below:

Our third Wonder Festival industry update includes official representation from the event’s sponsor Kaiyodo, an update from Toys Planning, item listings from Musashiya, Aizu, Amie Gran and others, news on a Max Factory Tsuruya-san, Orchid Seed’s Mogudan kit in full color, Konami Busou Shinki news, a T’s System Mitsumi Misato-designed PVC figure, a Nitro+ Royale play preview, and more!

What follows is a list of circles and their (new) wares present at Wonder Festival this summer, as defined by a few factors: a) some web presence, b) the specific declared intent to produce a new kit for the event, and c) my arbitrary interest in the subject. I’ve tried to be thorough here but a few circles will inevitably fall through the cracks; a continuation of the list will be forthcoming in the next day or so. Thus, in random order:

I went down to Akihabara again this weekend, this time in pursuit of the guidebook for Wonder Festival 2007 Summer. Some pictures were taken along the way, presented below along with amusing anecdotes which you might like to read! Including: Nami SOS being molested by tentacles, Ruuuuuuuuuuu!, a creative use for Bust Emperors, Evangelion coffee, some very nice cosplay, and why you should never, ever carry a knife on you while you’re in Japan.

Cobra Kai Shiranui Mai coming in PVC from Daiki Kougyou, Sekirei Tsukiumi and Matsu figures coming from Movic, Orchid Seed‘s Wonder Festival lineup includes a resin kit based on a Mogudan-illustrated [ERO] Comic Unreal cover, [ERO] Onegai Onsen (Onegai Teacher / Twins) trading figure set from Max Factory, [ERO] Cobra Kai Kanu Unchou PVC from Yamato, Kyon’s sister 1/4 scale PVC from Freeing, Ignis the Black via mailorder from Hobby Japan, next Megahouse Queen’s Blade figures to be Nix and Airi, Shining Wind Xecty, To Heart 2 Another Days Chie, Pani Poni Dash trading figures coming from Kotobukiya, Queen’s Blade book series sequel Queen’s Gate launching this fall with Nitro+ and Moetan characters, Code Geass breast mousepads coming from Bandai, Shirley and Suzaku independent resin kits featured. Pictures below:

We initially reported on the Wonder Festival offerings from Goodsmile a few days ago, and this evening their special event page was fleshed out with more pictures, details on item availability, and the identity of the item formerly listed as secret (WE CALLED IT!!). Already having the Shiranui Mai on preorder I have to admit the thing that has my attention the most right now is the plush Saber… she’s just too. Damn. CUTE. ;_; The majority of the items on display here will subsequently be available via the Goodsmile online shop; whether other shops will also be supported is unknown, but we’ll be keeping an eye on this. (no more)

I’ve been trying to wait for substantial chunks of Wonder Festival news to appear before grouping them together into a post, but this one is so phenomenal it deserves immediate scoopage: Orchid Seed has just unveiled the limited edition of their Ignis the White PVC figure set for sale at the event, and boy is it a jaw-dropper. The phrase “alternate color version” doesn’t do this justice… if anything I’m even more tempted by this blood-red and black incarnation than by the original. There will be 200 units available at the event, but even at the rather steep price of 11,700 yen I’m expecting they’ll be gone within the first half-hour… ;_; Orchid’s gallery is reproduced below:

Hatsumi of sculpting circle 83℃ posted on his blog a few weeks ago to the effect that his C.C. resin kit had been given the OK for sale at Wonder Festival 2007 Summer. This is significant not only because it’s looking like a really nice kit, but also because it indicates a shift in Bandai policy toward figures based on its intellectual property. More below:

Wonder Festival 2007 Summer updates today from Wafuudou Ganguten (Iris alternate color versions), Nitro+ (Joy Max hand puppet, Al Ajif and Konoe figures), Volks (gargantuan Uesugi Kenshin, Rozen Maiden, Rei and Asuka), Takara / Tomy (Soreyuke Josei Jiekan limited editions), and Azon (epilogue ver. Haruhi doll).

Some news from the Wonder Festival industry scene gathered over the past few days, including updates from Orchid Seed, Griffon, Wave, Daiki Kougyou, and Kaiyodo’s Revoltech division. Also: speculation as to the nature of Goodsmile’s SECRET ITEM.

Many of the major figure makers have begun taking the wraps off plans for their presence at this summer’s Wonder Festival, with some of the heaviest hitters weighing in already. We report on the event activities of Goodsmile, Max Factory, Yamato, Toys Planning, Toranoana, Orchid Seed, and New Line in this installment:

Heisei Democracy will be out in force through the coming weeks, bringing you the latest news from the twin Meccas around which the otakudom of Japan circumambulate in the hot month of August: Comic Market and Wonder Festival. We will have multiple pairs of boots on the ground at both events, so coverage will be more thorough than ever! Watch this space for further developments coming very soon. :3

Alter has a page up on their official site today for a limited edition pair of figures from Type-Moon’s Fate franchise (the new Fate/Zero novels, specifically), including a smartly dressed corporate Saber and the first figure incarnation of Iriya’s mother, Irisviel. The set is limited to a production run of 5,000 units, half of which will retail at Wonder Festival Summer 2007 on August 12th with the other 2,500 to be made available via general sales outlets. Sets will street for 3,000 yen for the pair of ~14 cm figures, with sculpting duty handled by Adachi Akatsuki (Saber) and Numakura Toshiaki (Irisfiel). I’m glad Alter is going the sensible route here and releasing half of the batch via online stores, as this will allow those of us unable to make it to the event a fighting chance at scoring the set for a reasonable price, and hopefully place downward pressure on the secondary auction market in the process. Edit: further info on Fate/Zero can be found at its Wikipedia entry. (no more)

Shipon represents for HD at this winter’s event for figure lovers, garage kit maniacs and devotees to hypothermia.

Kotobukiya‘s Wonder Festival contribution consisted mostly of kits already slated for release in the coming months, but they did provide a few new items worth watching for toward the end of the year and into the beginning of ’07. Catch up on their selections from Fate, Nanoha, Da Capo II, Pia Carrot, the Tales series, and more.

Alter had some fine new items on display at Wonder Festival, among which were selections from Ghost in the Shell, Fate, Pani Poni Dash, School Rumble, Zero no Tsukaima, Black Lagoon, Honey and Clover, and more. HD even got some pictures this time – check it out!

Max Factory represented at Wonder Festival with new announcements from the loli world of Kodomo no Jikan, confirmations of several Gun x Sword items, a well-appointed Emma (of the Victorian Romance variety), entries from the SOS-dan in the form of Haruhi and YUKI.N, and several other pending releases sure to amaze and delight.