By Ray H.

(Many of the images on this page link to larger versions.)

It's an Evangelion X-Mas

Kadokawa Comics is treating all good little Evangelion fans to great big treat this year... Toys. On December 14th, Kadokawa will release a special edition of the Evangelion volume 7 Manga, each special edition manga comes with a figure of...

Rei in cute X-Mas outfit

Or

Asuka in cute X-Mas outfit.

These are highly detailed Limited Editions and are designed by Yoshiyuki Sadamoto himself who does story and gorgeous art for the Evangelion manga. The special edition manga also has a special edition cover, depicting Rei and Asuka in the clothes that they are in on the figures. Each special edition manga with figure is 1200 yen in Japan, good luck getting ahold of them.

Final Fantasy 10 toys... By Bandai!

Those big Figures by Kotobukiya are excellent, but for those people looking for something to go along with all of Bandai's previous Final Fantasy Action figures fear not, regular sized figures on the way. Hobby Search has pictures of the first 3 figures being offered: Tidus, Yuna, and Seymour. This is the first time Seymour's been put into plastic, these are the first three and probably more will follow. Tidus and Yuna are 2000 yen each and Seymour is 2500 yen, they will all be available in Japan this January. Nothing officials been said, but Bandai will probably release these in the states too, like they have all the FF figures up to this point.

This year you'll actually want to get SOCs as a present

Hey, you try coming up with a bad pun for SOCs every week, I'm running out of ideas. HLJ managed to score a whole lot of pictures of upcoming toys from a recent toy show in Japan about a week ago. So check these out, HLJ also has these for pre-order as well.

Bandai's latest new Soul of Chogokin figures are all from the Mazinger series. We've talked about the GX-07: Mazinger Z OAV version before, so you know what's going on with that, nothing new there. But now we get to see the new pictures of GX-08: Aphrodite-A, fully poseable and comes with breast missiles. This robo-chick will be available in January for 3500 yen [about 28.50$ US]. Plus the all new GX-09: Minerva-X, who's also 3500 yen, this die-cast diva will be released this February in Japan. Lastly the lovable loser Boss Borbot gets SOC treatment too. GX-10: Boss Borbot is 4000 yen [about 32.50$ US], comes with interchangeable heads with different facial expressions, and will be out this March in Japan.

Alphonse in Action!

It seemed like Bandai was "testing the waters" with those Banpresto Patlabor prize items that were similar to Bandai's "In Action" line. Now with the new Patlabor movie on the horizon it's the perfect time for an official Labor in ACTION! The first release will be the AV-98 Ingram 1rst, AKA Alphonse to his friends. This figure comes with a bunch of guns for busting caps in robo-buttocks, but sadly no Labor Command Car accessory. Alphonse will retail for 1700 yen [about 14$ US] and comes out this March.

Cyborg Blowout

Cyborg 009 is an old Manga series that started in 1963, and became a Toei Animation series in the 70's. It's about a team of nine cyborgs who fight evil around the world. Bandai will be releasing the whole team as fully articulated action figures. Bandai will release three set, with three cyborgs in each set. Set #1 will contain cyborg 006, 007, 009. Set #2 will contain cyborgs 001, 002, 005. Set #3 will contain Cyborgs 003, 004 and 007. Each set retails for 2980 yen [about 25$ US] and all of the sets will be released this February. HLJ has these available in their pre-order section.

Gundam FIX line takes wings.

If you're unfamiliar with the Gundam FIX line, it's basically a set of 1/144 scale action figures based on art and designs by Hajime Katoki. The newest addition to the series will be based on Katoki's XXXG-01W Wing Gundam [early version] design. The picture is of the unpainted prototype. The Wing Gundam will fully articulated and have the ability to transform into bird mode, it will retail for 3680 yen [about 30$] and be available this February. Bandai will also be releasing a repaint of the G-Armor Fix, based on the RX-78-3's gray color scheme. The G-armor almost looks menacing for once in those colors... almost. Both of these are also available in HLJ's pre-order section too.

Solar Squadron

Medicom will be releasing its new Medicom Club exclusive, a set of Solar Squadron figures. Each is very articulated with a whole bunch of interchangeable hands for creating different sentai poses, plus some accessories are thrown in as well like sword things. These are 9800 yen [about 78$ US] each and will be out in April.