Bandai stunned a lot of us when they announced the D-Arts line. Long-awaited figures of Digimon and Medabots was just the tip of the iceberg it appears. How many times have we cried out for a GOOD figure of Mega Man? Samus Aran? Well, Bandai is going to try and make that happen.

The company receives numerous requests for figures, and according the staff page of Tamashii Nation, they are now in the process of trying to make these reality for the D-Arts figure line. Among the names listed are Mega Man, Samus Aran, Grid Man (or as US fans may remember him as Servo from Superhuman Samurai Syber Squad!), Kuro-chan from Cyborg Kuro-Chan and yes, Izanagi from Persona 4!

I really, really want this to happen. With the weight of Bandai and their reputation for quality licensed goods, I think this is going to be reality. I can't wait to see what they'll come up with. Given that Bandai is moving in this direction, which figures would you like to come out in the line?

[Thanks tCi!]

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For all you Valkyria Chronicles fans out there, our lead girl Alicia is looking pretty sweet and is now available for pre-order. Not only does she come with a tank hatch platform, as an extra you get Hans (the piggy!) to add to your Valkyria collection. If you don't have one, this is a fabulous start. It's finally here, after being teased with the Wonder Fest PVC load. 

Hobby Search and AmiAmi have these listed for about 6,800 yen and it is set to release in December; meaning by January you can give this lovely, 1/8 scale PVC lady (and her winged pig) a home. 

What say you? I personally like her cute pose, and it looks like she won't wobble off the base very easily. Huge plus: She's got a rifle; now there's a girl that won't be messed with! 

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A few days ago we showed you the preview of the Makise Nendoroid from the video game Steins;Gate, which was illustrated by Huke, and now, this blue eyed little ball of adorbz is up for order. Coming with her cell phone and an envelope as accessories, as well as three faces, she's one pretty cute Nendoroid. I also love the translation of Huke's unique style of eyes onto this figure; it comes across so well. If you want her to go with the 1/8th scale Kotobukiya figure, the upcoming figma, or just by herself, you can order her for 2,429 yen at Hobby Search and 2,230 yen at AmiAmi and she will be a January release. Are any of you planning on buying her as a result of Huke's work on this or are you passing due to too many Figma and Nendo releases?

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NECA Toys has released new photos of its Assassin's Creed II figure Ezio, which we saw preliminary images of a couple of months ago.

Ezio Auditore da Firenze is not your average Renaissance man. He's a nobleman turned assassin in 15th-century Italy whose whose interests include espionage, da Vinci flying machines and retractable glove knives.

 The figures will come in a stealthy black or white, and offer a variety of poses. They are currently listed on Toys 'R' Us for $13.99 with a Oct. 20 release date, but NECA Toy's Twitter account said to expect it in late September or early October.

See the gallery for the killer (hurr hurr) images.

[via Toy News International]

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Okay, minor saccharin freakout aside, that is one cute frog Mario plushie. Deviantart user Misscoffee sewed him up recently and had him sold off, but we at Tomopop flipped our collective shizz when this showed up in our newsfeeds.

You will remember the frog suit from Super Mario Bros. 3, it allowed Mario to swim at incredible speeds but more or less hindered his land movement and is generally remembered as one of the quirkier power ups from that game. Looking at this plush just makes me want to dig out my NES and play World 3 all over again. 

You can find Misscoffee at the link above.  She has a lot of other plushies up for sale and she even takes commissions. Dig a little further in her gallery and you'll find some truly inspired 2D artwork as well. I've uploaded a sample of her gaming plushes here, but you really should go check this talented lady out. She claims she only started doing plushies a month ago, but that's either shenanigans or she's super duper talented. 

Fun challenge:  Browse through her gallery while listening to this song from the Scott Pilgrim game and tell me you're not fighting back some awesome nostalgia tears.

[via GamOvr]

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Altair, Alter's line of male figures, kept to their word when they teased us with the back of Flynn Scifo from Tales of Vesperia. At Chara Hobby we received our first full look at the hero of great justice! Now that the event is over, the Altair blog has updated with official photos giving a full preview of this Imperial Knight.

Flynn is looking quiet handsome with his boyish looks, charming smile, and wide eyes. The armor itself is astounding with the many tiny details for the guards, gloves, body, and even belt. But I expect no less from Alter. Just like Yuri, Flynn will include a stone road base and as I expected, it will connect to Yuri's base adding more fuel to the fire for fan fiction writers. Also like Yuri, Flynn will come with a super-deformed version of himself with the cutest grumpy looking face.

Now all we can do is patiently wait for the color sample photos to emerge. Not that it matters to me since this is already an instant buy. Anyone else see this as an immediate purchase? 

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Man, it really seems like Good Smile Company is popping out these Nendos like there is no tomorrow! Mikatan has just posted some preview pics of yet another one that is going up for order. This time it's Makise Kurisu from the game Steins;Gate, who was already made in scaled PVC form by Kotobukiya. There is also a Figma of her on the way, but surprisingly no word on whether or not other characters from the game will get the figure treatment! In any case, Makise will go up for order on Wednesday the 2nd in Japan and will be released in December. So many Nendoroids so close together! Are you guys fed up with the constant stream of them or looking forward to having your shelves packed with Nendos? Also, where does Mikatan get those little trees from? I totally want some to display with my figures!

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Well, that was sure quick. Hot off the heels of our review of Capcom's Servbot Bobble Budd, the Capcom Unity blog has posted the second Bobble Budd. It features Dead Rising 2's protagonist, Chuck Greene, but sadly, lacks a large mob of zombies to go with it.

If you'd like to pick one up and you're going to PAX Prime, they'll be at Capcom's store on the show floor. Price-wise, one wasn't announced, but I'm guessing US$9.95, the same as Servbot, is a really, really, really good guess. Anyone thinking about picking one up or having a friend going to the show get one for them?

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[As seen on Destructoid]

Didn't win Uber Entertainment's earlier statue giveaway? Well, if you have a buddy going to PAX Prime, or if you can probably wait for a little bit after the event, you can own your own Pit Girl statue. Or a Tank statue. Or Assault. Or Assassin. All four will be at the show (with maybe more to come?) at Uber Entertainment's booth (#3103,right near the skybridge).

No price info is available yet for these figures or for other Monday Night Combat merchandise at PAX Prime, but you might not have to be there to buy these. Several developers brought merchandise that was available after PAX 09, so we'll let you know if these pop up on Uber Entertainment's site in the future!

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I am now of the opinion that every game that is planned for release gets some sort of collector's edition, we just don't hear about all of them. As as a lot of them are getting progressively sillier (see: Modern Warfare 2's Night Vision Goggle pack-in), it's nice to see some people stick to things that collectors actually enjoy. Enter Epic Mickey from Disney Interactive. The game is being developed by Warren Spector, the man behind Deus Ex who promises to take us into a dark underworld side of Disney that we've never seen before (well, that those of us who haven't played Kingdom Hearts haven't seen before). 

Should you buy the collector's edition of the game, here's what you'll be getting: for $69.99, you'll get a set of faceplates and skins which apply to your Wii and Wiimote to make them look as though they've been splashed by the "dark ink," a behind the scenes DVD and a five-inch vinyl figure of Mickey, wielding the paintbrush weapon seen in the game and looking fairly grim and badass.

That vinyl figure is of importance to us, here at Tomopop, and we'll be anxious to see the quality level of it once it comes out. It's got to be better than that "figurine" I got with Street Fighter 4's collector's edition. Oy. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to see if the next Brunswick Pro Bowling game will have a collector's edition that comes with a bowling ball and a tin of sardines.

[via Joystiq]

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