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under General Tokusatsu News, Ultraman

Yesterday, Bandai managed to acquire the license to release products from the successful  SSSS.Gridman anime with a prototype of  Minipla SSSS Gridman himself is the first of those products revealed.

In an unusual and bizarre turn of events, two of the shows most popular female characters: Akane Shinjo and Takarada Rikka will be getting Minipla model kits of their own. This will be a first for the Minipla line as it’s mostly done mecha or support vehicles until now.

For now, no other information exists on these two kits aside from the fact that they’ll be released in two sets and they’ll stand at 120mm tall, more information regarding the two will be revealed at the end of January 2019.

under General Tokusatsu News, Ultraman

Yesterday we got our first real look at color prototypes for the upcoming Figma Gridman & Grid Knight from SSSS Gridman. Both look phenomenal in what little we could glean from the Figure Oh scan. Today however GSC has released a single hi-res look at this fair together for the first time! This offers the absolute best look yet at either of these Figma’s and I have to say, they look incredible together. The post this image was attached to also indicates that Figma Gridman pre-orders will begin on January 19th. 

In another surprise teaser, Goodsmile has announced that they are indeed working on at lest one Kaiju from the series. No, we don’t just mend the adorable clay model Kaiju that Nendoroid Akane Shinjo comes with, this is apparently going to be some sort of full size figure of Ghoulghilas! The cyborg like dragon monster which Gridman faced in the first episode of the series. While GSC has not indicated if this will be some sort of full scale DX, Figma, or maybe even just a vinyl figure, it’s pretty promising to see a Kaiju from the series being worked on. It was anounced in the same GSC blog update as the new Figma image.

As more information about Gridman, Grid Knight, and Ghoulghilas becomes available we’ll be sure to keep you informed.

under General Tokusatsu News

Bandai has announced a new release for their highly successful Minipla figure-building series!

This new release features SSSS Gridman, from the Studio Trigger anime of the same name. SSSS Gridman has proven highly successful and this announcement is merely the latest in a long line of tie-in merchandise.

At the moment only Gridman himself is shown but based on previous Minipla releases it seems likely that Gridman’s Assist Weapons will be included as well.

No price has been announced yet but SSSS Gridman is tentatively scheduled for release in Summer 2019!

under General Tokusatsu News, Ultraman

Via the GSC blog, we have a full set of official images for Good Smile’s upcoming Nendoroid Akane Shinjo!

While GSC is also working on a Figma Akane (and Rikka!), the Nendo will satisfy many collector’s needs, especially given the wonderful accessories she includes:

  • – 3 alternate faces
  • – headphones
  • – her cracked glasses(which evoke the Shattered Glass Optimus Prime she’s based on)
  • – a cellphone with a cracked screen, like the one she threw at Anti
  • – a juice box
  • – alternate bare legs
  • – several alternate hands
  • – the box cutter used for a, certain stabbing
  • – her computer monitor with Alexis Kerib’s face on it
  • – as well as two Kaiju clay models! Ghoulghilas & Devadadan!

That is QUITE the hefty accessory count, though undoubtedly something will be included as a GSC online shop exclusive. Possibly even one of the above revealed items. At this time, GSC has not confirmed Akane’s price but orders will open for her on December 26th, so we’ll know how much she’ll run you, at that time.

 

under General Tokusatsu News, Ultraman

“Access Flash!”

Previously, Good Smile revealed prototypes for both an upcoming Figman Gridman, and most recently after some spoiler-y developments in the last couple episodes, teased a Figma Grid Knight. Now that the most recent issue of Figure Oh has been released, we finally have our first full color image of both prototypes!

This image shows Gridman for the first time in vibrant color, wielding the mighty Gridman Calibur. Grid Knight is looking equally gorgeous in purple & orange, though for now at least we haven’t glimpsed the Grid Knight Calibur he almost assuredly comes with. This image does however confirm Figman Gridman’s size at 160mm (roughly 6.3″) which is larger than the average Figma, and larger than the Gridman figure GSC is releasing in the DX Assist Weapon Set.

For now we still don’t have specific pricing or release information, but when we do, we’ll be sure to update this story.

under General Tokusatsu News, Ultraman

In an exclusive being reported by THR, Tsuburaya has just tapped Jeff Gomez and his Starlight Runner Entertainment along with LA based The Licensing Group to rebrand and reboot the Ultraman franchise across multiple platforms for markets outside Japan. This is massive news for a number of reasons, but THR has a great exclusive breakdown of what this all means as well.

U.S. transmedia producer Starlight Runner Entertainment has been tapped by Tokyo-based Tsuburaya Productions to build out the Ultraman mythology for the digital age outside of Japan, to include a possible live action streaming TV series. The original live action Ultra Q and Ultramanseries that launched in 1966 featured a high-tech police force and their silver superhero Ultraman battling to save the Earth from invading aliens and giant monsters.

Dozens of sequel TV series, movies, video games and other spinoff content followed, including recent movies like Ultraman X the Movie in 2016, Ultraman Orb the Movie last year and Ultraman Geed the Movie in 2018, the 29th installment of the franchise.

As Tsuburaya looks to restore Ultraman’s profile outside Japan, Starlight Runner will team with The Licensing Group to reboot the superhero property across multiple platforms, with story-driven licensing and merchandising programs for the U.S. and international markets.

The Ultraman licensing program will be supported by new content distributed on cable, streaming and SVOD platforms. “Ultraman is one of my greatest childhood heroes. We’re honored to be embarking on this mission to bring this family of characters back to the world stage,” Starlight Runner CEO Jeff Gomez said in a statement.

So, how exciting is this? Seeing one of the oldest and most beloved Tokusatsu franchises in the world, stepping into the modern day in an entirely new fashion. SHare your thoughts on the subject by visiting our discussion thread on the topic, just click “Discuss on the TokuNation Forums” at the bottom of this post.

under General Tokusatsu News, Ultraman

Access Code: Gridman!

In case you missed it, our friends at Goodsmile company announced that Studio Trigger’s SSSS.Gridman was coming to the Nendoroid line. Since the announcement last month, the official production page for both the standard version and DX version of Nendoroid SSSS.Gridman has gone live, and thanks to that we now have release info along with new stock photography of the two.

The standard version of Nendoroid SSSS.Gridman can be yours for 4,630 yen. It includes a finishing move beam effect part along with a clear display stand.

Meanwhile, the DX Version of Nendoroid SSSS.Gridman comes with both aforementioned accessories, in addition to a diorama themed display base, Grid Calibur weapon, and a light-up eyes gimmick. This set can be yours for 6,667 yen and both will be released in 2019/06.

under General Tokusatsu News, Ultraman

It’s best if you’ve seen episode 10 of SSSS.Gridman before reading this post, or you may spoil yourself on it.

Goodsmile has been showing off some updates recently on their upcoming Figma Gridman, a totally separate release from their 2019 releasing DX Gridman Assist Weapon set. Figma Gridman looks to be a bit more of stylized take on the character as a single action figure, is a bit larger than the one from the DX set, and doesn’t appear to be compatible with that. It’s still a gorgeous figure, but now it looks like a new companion piece is coming to go with it.

Making his debut in episode 10, Grid Knight is yet another new imagining of previously unused elements from the Gridman franchise. Twitter user @Mach_Dent has by far been proving to be one of the best resources for breaking down references and homages in SSSS.Gridman since it began. And this week he gives a fantastic breakdown of the elements that have led to Grid Knight’s origin. The Figma Grid Knight prototype is still hidden in shadow, very likely to conceal some of the more obvious spoilers about the character, but we can expect more updates soon.

It’s pretty wild that SSSS.Gridman now has 4 individual Figma’s in development with Akane, Rikka, Gridman, and Grid Knight simultaneously being teased out. Could these recent developments bode well for any more of the cast like Yuta, Anti, or Alexis? Let’s hope!

under Contests and Giveaways, General Tokusatsu News, Network News and Updates, TokuNation, TokuNation Site Updates, TokuNation Spotlights

Once again it’s the time of year that the community and our staff love most – time for all of us to celebrate our respective holidays & traditions with the friends and loved ones we hold dear. But it’s also time for TokuNation.com to celebrate itself. Our little community is hitting another milestone this year, our 7 year anniversary!! January 4th 2019, will officially mark 7 years since TokuNation first went public as part of the network of TFW2005.COM, ToyArk.com, and HissTank.com through both network owner Tony_Bacala and our founder and original Editor-In-Chief, TokuChris.

For 7 years now we’ve posted news, rumors, toy galleries, videos, and even dabbled in podcasts for a bit (never forget Talkin Toku!). As times have changed we’ve done our best to change with them, delivering you content in different ways, covering new and exciting topics, and trying to improve our social outreach. This year we even had some leadership changes as I took over full time as Editor-In-Chief from our founder and my dear friend Toku Chris. But the more things change, the more they stay the same as well! There’s one constant that’s been with us since our first year – the annual Toku Toy Box giveaway!

Like years’ past, TokuNation is hosting an annual holiday giveaway open to ALL registered users! You’ll recall that in years’ past giveaways, users could post in a selection of galleries within the contest period to automatically be entered into the drawing for several prizes. This year however we’ve opened things up. Not only will we be posting a number of eligible galleries throughout the month of December, but every gallery we’ve posted in 2018 also makes you eligible! If you’ve already posted in the 1 of the over 40 galleries we’ve produced this year, then you’re already entered. If not, you already have over 40 chances with more on the way this month! To show our appreciation to you, the community, we’ve assembled a number of individual prizes instead of prize packs this year. We wanted to share the love around a bit more than we have with big concentrated prizes in the past. So this year will see a number of individual prizes distributed to our random winners, so there are even more chances to win this year than ever!

Click “Discuss on the TokuNation Forums” at the bottom of this post to be taken to the OFFICIAL RULES for of Toku Toy Box 2018! The first new gallery of the giveaway period will be posted later today, so be on the lookout! For now though, thank you. Thanks to all of you who continue to call this place your home for news, discussion, images, sales, friendships, artwork, videos, podcasts, and everything else in between. Happy Holidays from all of us, and best of luck in our giveaway! It’s our gift to you this, and every, holiday season!

under General Tokusatsu News

In case you missed it Max Factory announced that three SSSS Gridman characters were on their way to Figma: Gridman himself, along with Akane and Rikka. But it seems like Figma won’t be the only way for collectors to enjoy those characters: with Goodsmile’s Nendoroid SSSS.Gridman, Rikka, and Akane were also just recently revealed in cute chibified forms. 

At the moment, only Gridman himself appears to be fully painted with Akane still in the early development with Akane only existing as concept art.

Be sure to stay tuned to Tokunation though, and we’ll bring you more info as it becomes available.