For the past few years, I’ve normally used the first day of NYCC as a “scouting mission” to get a grasp on where everything is and how things are organized. Thursdays are always the least crowded. I hardly attend any panels on the first day, yet this year, the Kotobukiya Product Panel caught my eye.
The panel covered many of their upcoming products (duh), including the NYCC exclusive figure “R2-Q5,” which includes a commemorative gold plated medallion.
The one pictured is the “International” version, which comes with a silver medallion. The one being sold at NYCC comes with a gold medallion.
But what I was really looking forward to was any “NYCC exclusive announcements,” particularly those pertaining to the “Bishoujo” line, which features the art of Shunya Yamashita. And boy was there some awesome news. First up, a painted prototype of Mara Jade from Star Wars was revealed. At this past SDCC, Koto showed off an unpainted one.
She comes with two different lightsabers and has a detachable cape. You can see a better pic here (regrettably, I didn’t have time to stop by the Koto booth before I left for the day). She will be released February 2014.
Moving on to Street Fighter, the official art for Cammy was unveiled. She will be released May 2014. Juri was also announced as the next Street Fighter girl to be getting a figure.
Now to Marvel. A prototype of Spider-Woman was shown off. She was also available to view at the Koto booth (pic here).
She’ll come with interchangeable face plates, so you can display her either masked or unmasked. Also, Koto said the base would be undergoing some changes; most likely, they said it will consist of multiple webs. She will be released May 2014, like Cammy.
In case you missed the reveal on their Facebook page yesterday (Oct. 9th), Koto again showed the artwork for the next Marvel bishoujo, Jubilee.
And lastly comes DC. A prototype for Black Canary was finally revealed. And even though they just announced the addition of Starfire to the bishoujo line this morning on their Facebook page, Koto shocked me by showing off a prototype of the figure.
That was all for the really cool news. There was the standard Q&A, and one thing that I took note of was that Koto is open to the possibility of adding additional fighting franchises to their “Bishoujo” line. Ideas like “Slave Girl Leia” and various Rogue variations are also possibilities.
Make sure to follow Kotobukiya on Facebook and Twitter. Also check out their official store. And last but not least, send any questions or ideas you may have to questions@kotous.com. They really value your feedback.
