Hi all! There's been a little news on the upcoming Ken and Joe figures from Sentinel's Tatsunoko Heroes Fighting Gear series. In Sentinel's Twitter feed, they announced that the Ken figure will be released in August, and the Joe figure will be released in September. They've also announced that the figures will retail for 7,800 yen apiece (Roughly $65.50 at current exchange rates). Sentinel also posted a trio of pictures of the figures, giving us out first look at them in color. As with the earlier Hurricane Polymer and Casshan figures from this line, the two figures will feature a gimmick that makes their chest symbols light up. I'm sure we'll see even more pictures of these in the next few months! James

I wish they looked more like the real characters and had more individual-looking faces rather than looking like clones, but I'll probably still get them. Thanks for the update!

Yeah I feel the same way CW. Putting these on the list too, I think ! Hard to tell if the faces are the same nor not though. I wonder if the helmets come off? Hopefully they'll be listed for pre-order in the near future. Thank you for the update James!

They look great! The body armor seems well-integrated - not bulky or 'in-your-face'.

I'm putting those on my list! I hope they do all of the team and not just Ken and Joe

I'm pretty sure they're only doing Ken and Joe, alas. This is a series of Tatsunoko characters and they've only been doing the primary ones. I think for the other shows they've released the figures for so far, it's only been one character per show, so maybe we should be happy we get 2.

Hi all! Chris is correct, this series of figures has thus far only done the lead male characters from their respective Tatsunoko series. All of these figures have been made using the same body molds, with new heads, chest plates, and add-on bits to make them look more like the characters they represent. You can figure that the only reason we're getting both Ken and Joe is because they only need to create a couple of new accessories and change the colors to have two different characters. This isn't to say that they can't make a Jun, Jinpei, or Ryu sometime in the future, only that to do so would require an entirely new body. If that body isn't something that can be reused for other figures, it likely won't happen. With that in mind, I can see them possibly doing a Jun, which would give them a generic female body mold to be used again and again. Jinpei and Ryu would be tougher to reuse. I suspect that we're more likely to see a Berg Katse or a Gallactor Member before we see either of those two. If I were speculating, I'd guess that the next figure after these will be Tekkaman. After that, who knows? It could be Yatterman, Ippatsuman, Urashiman, Generator Gawl, The Soultaker, Karas, or someone else entirely. It's also likely that there will be variant versions of both Ken and Joe. Hurricane Polymer has already been reissued in a metallic version and a black version. I'll admit that I'm surprised that no one has commented on their capes. We don't get a real clear view of them in these photos, but, to me, they look much too short and oddly cut, like they're trying to look like a pair of wings. I much prefer the full cape look of the original. James

Well their original capes are cut in a wing-like manner, but you're right, they're fuller. I'm mostly trying not to nitpick them to death as I know if I get started I'll never stop, LOL. Do you think the variants will be available by pre-order as well or will they be showing up at various cons? I might have to find people going to those to try to get one from the con itself ...

Hi all!

Originally posted by ChrisW Do you think the variants will be available by pre-order as well or will they be showing up at various cons? I might have to find people going to those to try to get one from the con itself ...

The two Hurricane Polymer variants were both released as exclusives for the Comic Market held late in December, and retailed for the same 7,800 yen price the regular Polymer cost. As far as I know, the only way to get them was to either attend the show or to get them through someone who bought them at the show. A number of them appeared on Yahoo! Japan Auctions immediately following Comic Market, with starting bids of 10,000 yen and up. If they continue in that vein, they'll probably have a Casshan variant for the August Comic Market, and variants for Ken and Joe in the Comic Market this coming December. James

Hmm, wonder if I know anyone who goes to Comic Market.

Just an FYI: the Ken figure is up for pre-order on CDJapan. Only three per customer.

And Hobby Link Japan. Here's some links for pre-ordering: Hobby Link Japan CD Japan

Hi all! Since the Joe figure is coming out a month after the Ken, it's probably safe to assume that preorders for that figure will start being accepted sometime in late May. Sentinel has posted a number of photos of the figure in different poses on their blog site. Here are a few of them. You can see more photos here: http://ameblo.jp/sen-ti-nel-info/entry-12017418561.html From these, the figures look great in action poses. Not so much when simply standing on their own two feet. Their posture is awful! James

They do have very strange posture, don't they?

Another picture (courtesy of Sosai Tim).

wow, it does look cool.

Great pictures! The light up chest is too cool!

So exciting.

Ah yes. It's never Katse, is it? Well, I can't say I'm surprised. It's just... I wish there was a figma of Katse-sama. I'd give my entire monthly wage to get that one (seriously), but I know it's not going to happen. -_- And not only that. It's difficult to live in the boonies completely out of reach of couriers.

If you want something like that badly enough you might be able to pay someone to make you a custom one. I haven't looked into custom figma-style stuff, I imagine it would be quite expensive. :/

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I misread it first as figures too, James, but she said figmas. I've never seen some of those so that was educational, though!

Originally posted by Victoria Ah yes. It's never Katse, is it? Well, I can't say I'm surprised. It's just... I wish there was a figma of Katse-sama. I'd give my entire monthly wage to get that one (seriously), but I know it's not going to happen. -_- And not only that. It's difficult to live in the boonies completely out of reach of couriers.

You know about the Diamond Select figure, right? http://www.toymania.com/columns/spotlight/botp2.shtml Note that the version with the interchangeable heads was never officially released. But the regular one (with the Turtle King) is available on EBay.

I've seen the one with the interchangeable heads on eBay.

Originally posted by ChrisW I've seen the one with the interchangeable heads on eBay.

Me too, in fact I missed out on winning a bid for one when the auction ended about half an hour before I got home from work one evening...... I have got the Turtle King Katse BNIB instead though

Really? Wow, I have never seen it! I should get looking...

Hi all!

Originally posted by ChrisW I misread it first as figures too, James, but she said figmas. I've never seen some of those so that was educational, though!

Ahh, you are correct, of course. My mistake. Of course, since Figma hasn't released any Gatchaman figures, not even of Ken, it's doubtful that they'll be dong a Katse anytime soon.

Originally posted by Transmute Jun Note that the version with the interchangeable heads was never officially released. But the regular one (with the Turtle King) is available on EBay.

As others have noted, the Katse with interchangeable heads was indeed released. The only figure that was never released was the helmetless version of Tiny. James

On the keychain, Katse looks like he's/she's singing opera.

Hi all! Sentinel has released a short promotional video for their Ken figure, with a small mention of the Joe figure at the end. It can be seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_ZUdGvoHKc James

I like that a lot of the poses they show echo poses in the actual series.

I agree with Chris, they certainly worked to get some in-character poses! I find it interesting that the wings can apparently shift position,

Hi all! Sentinel has now posted a number of pictures of their upcoming Joe figure. You take see more of them here: http://ameblo.jp/sen-ti-nel-info/entry-12028425920.html James

Just an FYI: The Condor Joe figure is up for pre-order on CD Japan: http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/product/NEOGDS-141809 He's lookin' good!

*rubs hands together*

He is also up for preorder at Anime Export (where I got my preorder in).