Release Date: January 2023 RRP: $124.99 Among all of Bandai Tamashii Nations ' toy lines, the current state of the Meisho Movie Realization line is perhaps the thing that confuses me the most. After years of both retail and Tamashii web exclusive releases in Japan, this rather unique take on the Star Wars universe seems to no longer be a thing in the company's home territory - with the handful of releases since 2021 seemingly exclusive to the US and Europe. Nevertheless as Star Wars continues to grow on Disney+ so does the line itself, with a brand new Meisho Movie Realization Daimyo Boba Fett figure released on the former bounty hunter's title role in The Book of Boba Fett . While the Movie Realization line usually has to bestow a title upon its figures, here the work had already been done for them - with Boba Fett taking up the role of Mos Espa's "daimyo" in the series itself.

Release Date: April 2021 RRP: $100 Given the clear inspiration it takes from Japanese stories such as Lone Wolf and Cub , The Mandalorian is the perfect candidate for representation in Bandai Tamashii Nations Meisho Movie Realization line. Previous releases Boba Fett and Jango Fett prove that the Mandalorian armour lends itself particularly well to line's reimagining of classic Star Wars characters as feudal era samurai, and the popularity of The Mandalorian would make the figure an almost sure-fire seller. But while it's extremely pleasing to see the release of the Meisho Movie Realization Ronin Mandalorian  figure, the circumstances of its release are some of the strangest Bandai have done in a while. The figure was produced as a Tamashii web exclusive , but only made available via the US version of the web store. Whether this means Japan have their own plans for a Movie Realization Mandalorian in the future (maybe based on the full Beskar armour version of the suit?) is un...

Release Date: May 2017 RRP: 9020 yen If there’s one thing you can almost certainly guarantee with any Star Wars toy line, it’s that one Stormtrooper variant is never enough. And with a line with as much imagination as Meisho Movie Realization , you can bet that Bandai Tamashii Nations intends to milk that design for everything that it’s worth. The Yumiashigaru Stormtrooper is the fourth of five original trilogy variants to be released, reimagining the Galactic Empire soldiers with the aesthetics of jeudal Japan’s infantry. “Ashigaru” means “light of foot” and refers specifically to an infantry class, whilst “Yumi” is the Japanese word for bow. Like most of the variants released after the original, the Yumiashigaru Stormtrooper was a Tamashii web exclusive .

Release Date: May 2016 RRP: 8856 yen While Bandai Tamashii Nations' Meisho Movie Realization line seemed like a brilliant idea right from the get-go, the fact it's managed to last so well over the years is a testament to just how perfect samurai versions of iconic Star Wars characters really is. Admittedly the line so far has been particularly villain-heavy, but when those are the designs that lend themselves to best to that aesthetic who can blame Bandai for sticking to the bad guys. The ranks of the Galactic Empire have been filled out rather nicely with two versions of  Darth Vader and a legion of Stormtrooper variants, but for real prestige look no further than the Meisho Movie Realization Akazonae Royal Guard . "Akazonae" translates to "blood-red armour", and specifically refers to the crimson armor worn by famed Sengoku era General Sanada Yukimura. The perfect reference for Emperor Palpatine's elite bodyguards, which are among the figure...

Release Date: November 2015, September 2019 (Reissue) RRP: 9680 yen If there's one regret I have as a toy collector, it's taking until 2019 to get into the Meisho Movie Realization line. Bandai Tamashii Nations' Super Imaginative Chogokin -esque reimagining of iconic Star Wars characters styled like warriors from feudal-era Japan was a stroke of genius, and judging by the price some of these figures command on the aftermarket collectors seemed to think so too. The third release in the line way back in 2015 was Meisho Movie Realization Ronin Boba Fett , and much like any limited run figure based on the original (though no longer canonically) Mandalorian bounty hunter it's one that will cost you a pretty penny on the aftermarket. That is until four years later however, when a surprise reissue was announced for Western territories such as the US and UK. This was a particularly unexpected move on Bandai's part, since there's no sign that the figure ever r...

Release Date: December 2014, November 2016 (Reissue) RRP: 9504 yen Though its scope is much more limited and releases much fewer than other Bandai Tamashii Nations toy lines, it didn't take long for the Meisho Movie Realization line to mark itself as one to look out for. There are dozens of companies out there making Star Wars  figures, but ones reimagined as if they walked straight out of feudal Japan? It's amazing that it took this long for a toy company to think of it. This line is to Star Wars what Super Imaginative Chogokin is to Kamen Rider , and just like SIC some of the ideas they come up with are nothing short of ingenious. Designed by Takayuki Takeya and sculpted by Junichi Taniguchi , Meisho Movie Realization Samurai Taisho Darth Vader is the one the one that started it all.

Release Date: October 2017 RRP: 9504 yen Bandai Tamashii Nations has more than earned its reputation for high quality and screen-accurate figures through its S.H. Figuarts and Robot Damashii lines, but among some collectors is equally renowned for the ingenious re-imaginings it's given to franchises over the year. The most prominent of these are the Kamen Riders (as well as other tokusatsu properties) of the Super Imaginative Chogokin (SIC) line, but in 2014 it also turned its attention towards Star Wars with its Meisho Movie Realization line, and then the Marvel Universe in 2016 with the similarly named Meisho Manga Realization line. Both lines re-imagine its characters with traditional Japanese styling, and given how much George Lucas borrowed from the samurai aesthetic when creating Star Wars it's truly a match made in heaven. Meisho Movie Realization Ronin Jango Fett is repaint of the Boba Fett figure released nearly two years prior in November 2015 – w...