Toybox REVIEW: S.H. Figuarts Ultradad [Ultraman: Rising]

Release Date: January 2025

RRP: 8250 yen

Ultraman: Rising proved to be quite the surprise hit last year, telling a heartfelt story about parenthood all through the lens of one of Japan's most iconic superheroes. Although both critical and fan reception was pretty positive, for now it seems Netflix aren't all that interested in exploring a potential sequel. It's a massive shame because it feels like there's still so much left unresolved, but unfortunately this is the way many things seem to go these days. That said, at the very least Bandai Tamashii Nations are still showing it the love it deserves - with a number of S.H. Figuarts releases coming in 2025 off the heels of their Ultraman & Emi release last year. The first of these is S.H. Figuarts Ultradad [Ultraman: Rising], the true form of Ken's father Professor Hayao Sato. Though retired, Sato adopts this form once more at the end of the series to assist his son in the battle against Mecha Gigantron and the KDF. Ultradad is a Tamashii web exclusive release.

Toybox REVIEW: S.H. Figuarts Portgas D. Ace -Fire Fist-

Release Date: January 2025

RRP: 9900 yen

While the rebooted One Piece S.H. Figuarts line has gone far beyond what it originally did 15 years ago in terms of character selection, it's undeniable that all of the characters it covered back then could also do with a bit of an update. With the 25th anniversary of the One Piece anime prompting Bandai Tamashii Nations to go back and produce the cast from those early episodes, now seems like the perfect time to go back and redo another fan favourite. Jumping a little forward from the "Romance Dawn" era the line is currently covering, S.H. Figuarts Portgas D. Ace -Fire Fist- marks the first figure from the Alabasta Saga – in which Luffy reunited with his sworn blood brother as they journeyed to liberate Vivi's homeland. This new version of Ace is also the first Tamashii web exclusive from this pre-time skip range of One Piece figures, with plenty more surely to come in due time.

Toybox REVIEW: S.H. Figuarts C-3PO -Classic Ver- (Star Wars: A New Hope)

Release Date: November 2024

RRP: 9900 yen

While Bandai Tamashii Nations could never dream of properly covering the Star Wars universe, there's still plenty of obvious candidates for S.H. Figuarts out there that they've never even touched. Nevertheless it's clear that they like to keep things both simple and classic - returning once again to Star Wars: A New Hope for a series of "classic ver" releases that revitalise some of their older releases with more screen-accurate paint jobs. S.H. Figuarts C-3PO -Classic Ver- (Star Wars: A New Hope) is particularly notable in this regard, finally returning the iconic Protocol Droid to his shiny greatness.

Anime REVIEW: Dragon Ball DAIMA

On March 1st 2024 the world was shook by the passing of Akira Toriyama, a manga legend best known for the Dragon Ball series and Dr. Slump but also as an iconic character designer who worked on video games such as the Dragon Quest series, Chrono Trigger, and Blue Dragon. His death came just months away from the release of Dragon Ball DAIMA - a brand new instalment in the franchise that was written by Toriyama himself. It's a much sadder world without him, but this is one final gift from the man himself. Unlike previous Dragon Ball series, DAIMA tells a single story rather than multiple arcs, and at a mere 20 episodes is the shortest by some margin. The series ran from October 11th 2024 to February 28th 2025 - rather fittingly concluding the day before the first anniversary of Toriyama's passing.