Are There Any Figures at WonderFest for Retro Anime Fans?
by Ken Iikura-Gross,The anime figure showcase Wonder Festival 2024 [Winter] is here, and the latest anime figures are on display. But can you find figures of retro properties at the festival? Well, that all depends on exactly what you're looking for.
The bi-annual Wonder Festival always showcases the latest and greatest in recent anime, manga, and video game figures. But what about figures for fans of the retro series? That all depends on how you define retro and what exactly you want. Are you looking for official figures of a retro series, remade retro series, or unique and original figures of a retro series from an independent seller? If not any of those, perhaps it's a vintage figure of a retro series from a reseller. And what exactly is a retro series? Thankfully, Wonder Festival 2024 [Winter] covered all those fronts. The real question is whether it is worth the time and effort to look for that one figure at the event.
When it comes to addressing the question of what exactly a retro series is, we're looking at anime and video games from the 2000s that are older than 15 to 20 years. This would make the series older than 2009 as retro at the earliest. But to be completely honest, this feels a bit too modern considering you're looking at series like K-ON!, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Summer Wars, and Evangelion: 2.0 You Can [Not] Advance, among many others. So, we will look at anime series made before and ended before 2000. Is it a bit arbitrary? Unfortunately, yes. But them's the breaks.
So, now we know what constitutes a retro series for this article, can you find figures of retro anime series at Wonder Festival, in this case, Wonder Festival 2024 [Winter]? The simple answer is yes. But it boils down to what exactly you're looking for.
You'll have an easier time if you're going for new official figures of retro and remade retro series. Wonder Festival always showcases thousands of official figures. Among them are always new figures from retro and remade series. In fact, at previous Wonder Festivals, you could find these figures strewn about at different booths, such as Good Smile Company.
Wonder Festival 2024 [Winter] was no different. While you'll have to walk the floor a bit, figures from Fist of the North Star, Kinnikuman, Mazinger Z, Gunbuster, and older series like Astro Boy to even some obscure anime like Jarinko Chie or robot anime from the early to mid 1990s had a good showing at the event. Not to mention the vast number of retro tokusatsu figures by figure maker Shonen Ric. Granted, Wonder Festival 2024 [Winter] celebrated the 40th anniversary of Fist of the North Star, so it was a bit easier to find figures from that series this time around. But, in general, official retro anime figures aren't that difficult to find. It just takes a little sleuthing.
Even figures of remade retro anime series aren't that difficult to find. This is mainly due to the massive popularity of Neon Genesis Evangelion and the Rebuild film series. But, for the most part, many Evangelion figures have been exhibited at past Wonder Festivals. So, you won't see much new there. In turn, Wonder Festival 2024 [Winter] had a small showing of figures from series like Urusei Yatsura and Rurouni Kenshin. Like the figures of retro anime, you can find new material based on remade retro series. While it's a bit of a time-sink, it's still worth going to Wonder Festival because you don't know exactly what you'll find in terms of figures of retro and remade retro properties.
Independent sellers are a whole different can of worms, though. Where there are about 70 official booths, you're looking at well over 1,500 independent sellers at any Wonder Festival. So, it stands to reason independent sellers have more offerings of retro anime figures. Sadly, this isn't the case, as sellers are generally split between original figures not associated with an anime property and those that are. And of those independent sellers exhibiting figures inspired by anime, only a handful make figures based on retro anime series. To be incredibly blunt, I only found four independent sellers of retro anime figures at Wonder Festival 2024 [Winter]. This means, at best, .3% of the independent sellers sell figures based on retro series. These aren't the best odds, to say the least, but when you find a seller of original retro figures, it's a real treat. But, considering the time and effort to find those sellers, you may want to stay home.
That leaves the handful of resellers who set up shop at Wonder Festival every year. These groups generally occupy one corner of the independent seller halls, making them relatively easy to find. The concern here, though, is a large percentage of plastic model kit resellers. Yes, you'll find figures strewn among the model kits, but the kits take center stage. And even among those kits, you have to dig deep, and I mean deep, to find a vintage kit. So, there's no guarantee you'll find what you want from a reseller at Wonder Festival. To the point, it's easier to find a vintage anime figure reseller online.
It is possible to find figures based on retro anime at Wonder Festival. But, as stated above, what you're looking for changes the ease at which you'll find something. Official sellers will almost always have something, even if it isn't exactly what you want. This makes the trek to the event well worth it. Especially if we think of retro as something 15 years or older, then you'll find stuff. But if you're looking for a figure based on retro anime from an independent seller, you'll be hard-pressed to find something you like. It may be something you didn't expect, but the time sink doesn't seem worth it, at least to this writer. And if it's a vintage anime figure reseller you're interested in, you may as well not go to Wonder Festival and shop online, even if it comes at a premium. But, if you're so inclined to find or get a first look at figures of retro anime series, Wonder Festival will have you covered. Just remember you may spend more time looking for those figures than you wish.
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