Pokemon Zukan Collection Update (P4)
Hiya everyone!
Some time has passed again since my previous zukan update, and I've gathered lots of goodies again! Among which a generously gifted grail item! And 4 custom zukans from Poke/DS/DB/???/Studio that despite being new, got my 10/10 rating the moment I first laid eyes upon them! Lapras, Articuno, Onix, and Steelix!
I also got another step closer to owning all bird pokemon in zukan form! I love birds~
This post will be intensely image heavy, as just like previous times I used a white space to photograph each figure individually, and them some; so, I recommend opening it in a new tab!
Here's a little preview to warm you up:
New Zukan gets
Ready for the real thing?
Here you go!
You've made it, once again! (or maybe this is your first time)
First, let's list of what's new. Grails, rather, 10/10 scores listed bold
RSE 01: Treecko/Grovyle/Sceptile, Doduo/Dodrio
RSE 02: Wingull/Pelipper
RSE 03: Geodude/Graveler/Golem
RSE 04: Sandshrew/Sandslash, Chinchou/Lanturn/Luvdisc/Relicanth
RSE 05: Girafarig/Skarmory
RSE 07: Gulpin/Swalot/Spoink/Grumpig, Beldum/Metang/Metagross
RSESP 01: Ekans/Arbok
RSESP 02: Wobbuffet/Seviper/Meowth
GSC 03: Delibird x 2
GSC 06: Unown OPQRSTU
DP 02: Starly/Staravia/Staraptor
DP 07: Duskull/Dusclops/Dusknoir
BWMovie 03: Kyurem
BWMovie 04: Meloeta, Torchic/Pikachu/Chikorita/Turtwig
DS Studio 07: Lapras
DS Studio 08: Articuno
King Studio 10: Onix
King Studio 11: Steelix
Phew! That's quite a bit! We'd better get started then, right?
RSE 01: Treecko/Grovyle/Sceptile
RSE 01: Treecko/Grovyle/Sceptile
I now finally have the very first zukan ever made! Well, at least, the first one listed in the first set ^_^" Still, this is one of my favorite starters in general! They're so so chill~ Love the detail on them as well.
RSE 01: Doduo/Dodrio
RSE 01: Doduo/Dodrio
Birds! Well.. if you can even call them that! Doduo looks pretty funny, I'm not even sure what he's doing. Dodrio is a nightmare to put down, he just keeps falling over. I've tried bending its legs for like 5 minutes, and sure, it'll stand for a while, but after a few minutes, it just falls over again. That's part why he's blurry on this photo. Slowly bending back.
RSE 02: Wingull/Pelipper
RSE 02: Wingull/Pelipper
More birds! This set is a bit different to the other ones. Most zukans have a matte finish, but these two shine like crazy! As glossy as the base pretty much! I prefer matte, but on these two it does work well for some reason. Adorable little birbs~ Just hope they don't act much like real gulls.. I like my head poop-free thank you very much.
RSE 03: Geodude/Graveler/Golem
RSE 03: Geodude/Graveler/Golem
Believe it or not, this very photo is the first time I managed to get Golem onto the base! xD He can't really stand on his own, but like this, leaning on the other two, it's surprisingly stable. Anyway, at some point I noted how I have quite a number of Rocky/Steely pokemon, like, the ones you'd find in the mountains. This set was still missing though. I really like the look of it, even if it's a little dirty.
Also, that poor thing. Starting out without legs, but two arms. Then he evolves, and not only gains two legs.. but also two additional arms! What a champ! But.. then he evolves again.. and two arms get chopped off! And he's back at just two arms! Why?! D:
Oh, btw, Geodude is supposed to have a peg, as it has here. But I didn't get it with the (2nd hand) zukan. So I reused Zorua's peg from one of those lines. It's about the right height.
RSE 04: Sandshrew/Sandslash
RSE 04: Sandshrew/Sandslash
This is actually only half a zukan. Cacnea and Cacturn are supposed to be here, too. But, this is the way I bought it. Regardless of the other half missing, these two still look adorable~ Also note, this is one of the small bases, similar to the ones of the Unown.
RSE 04: Chinchou/Lanturn/Luvdisc/Relicanth
RSE 04: Chinchou/Lanturn/Luvdisc/Relicanth
If your memory is freaky, you'll remember how last time I said about RSE 06: Sabley/Mawile/Chimeco/Nosepass "This is a special zukan to me, well, that's a weird way to put I guess. It's one of the three cluster zukans in my mind."
This is the third and final one of such zukans! (Not counting the movie-related ones from BW).
Sure, these four fish all dwell undersea in Hoenn, but other than that, and Chinhou being an evolutionary line, they don't have anything to do with one another. But they fit really nicely together! This zukan, as well as the other two, are what I like about zukans, in small. The diversity, the different sizes, grouping pokemon you haven't seen in game/anime together, creating your own true-to-scale 'team'.
So here's two more photos with the whole group complete.
RSE 04: Chinchou/Lanturn/Luvdisc/Relicanth; GSC 02: Mantine/Remoraid/Octilery/Qwilfish
Photographed just this subset of the tree, because these are all 'fish', while the third one sort of breaks the mold there. (Funny, none of the pokemon on there have mold breaker :o)
RSE 04: Chinchou/Lanturn/Luvdisc/Relicanth; RSE 06: Sableye/Mawile/Chimeco/Nosepass; GSC 02: Mantine/Remoraid/Octilery/Qwilfish
RSE 05: Girafarig/Skarmory
RSE 05: Girafarig/Skarmory
RSE 05: Girafarig/Skarmory
Another birdy! And a giraffe! I honestly got this only because of the Skarmory, though the Girafarig is nice as well. Skarmory is an interesting bird pokemon. It doesn't have soft feathers, like what I normally like about birds pokemon, but at the same time, it is clearly a bird, and looks fierce! I like it!
These bases are pretty weird too. I've never seen any with such an off-center hole. I know some others have it too, like RSE 05: Pinser/Heracross. It works well for Skarmory, but not so much for Girafarig.
RSE 07: Gulpin/Swalot/Spoink/Grumpig
RSE 07: Gulpin/Swalot/Spoink/Grumpig
RSE 07: Gulpin/Swalot/Spoink/Grumpig
When I saw the Swalot line on pokechris' post, I knew I had to have it! That mouth! .. just..look at that mouth! It's HUGE!! I wasn't sure just how big it'd be, when I ordered it, but suspected it'd be the biggest mouth in my collection yet. I was right. At the time.. (ooh, ominous!)
This set also came with Spoink and Grumpig! What a set, those gashapon capsules must've been stuffed to the brink!
Spoink's spring tail is neatly wrapped around a plastic tube (read, painted on) It works pretty well~
RSE 07: Gulpin/Swalot; RSE 08: Grimer/Muk
Toxic blob face-off!!
RSE 07: Beldum/Metang/Metagross
RSE 07: Beldum/Metang/Metagross
RSE 07: Beldum/Metang/Metagross
Many thanks to j_degnan! He generously just gave this to me! A grail item even! The base was mine already though, it's Shuppet's base. I've put Shuppet and Banette onto RSE 06: Sableye/Mawile/Chimeco/Nosepass. It fits there.
Anyway, back to Beldum line..
Look at this beast! It's so blue! So metally, so big! So many times I've bid on one of these on Yahoo Auctions Japan, only to be outbid beyond what I wanted to pay. But now I just got gifted one ^o^
Thanks again, j_degnan!
RSE 07: Deoxys
RSE 07: Deoxys
Finally gen 3 legendaries complete! Sort of at least. Have one of each, not every legendary zukan. Of the Deoxys zukans, this one is actually my least favorite (other than speed form, which doesn't even have a cool base -_-) I still like it, don't get me wrong, it's just that the Deoxys itself doesn't look as cool as the tentacle ones.
This one can combine with two other Deoxys zukans to create a larger lunar base.
RSESP 01: Ekans/Arbok
RSESP 01: Ekans/Arbok
Another half zukan. Meowth and Persian are supposed to be here, too... but screw those! Arbok looks slick AF! Such a menacing snake! Also my first zukan from this whole set.
RSESP 02: Wobbuffet/Seviper/Meowth
RSESP 02: Wobbuffet/Seviper/Meowth
A team rocket set! Not the only one, but it is the only one I have. They're very colorful~ And Seviper's pose is waaayyy better than the one from RSE 03: Zangoose/Seviper.
Well, okay, let's be honest, Arbok line is also a bit of a Rocket zukan. Especially considering it's supposed to come with Meowth line.
Soo... here's a shot of these two together!
RSESP 01: Ekans/Arbok; RSESP 02: Wobbuffet/Seviper/Meowth
GSC 03: Delibird
GSC 03: Delibird
GSC 03: Delibird
DeliBIRD. By now you'll probably understand why I got this one :p
Actually, I got two. This one, which is glued to the base (but neatly in the middle, so I'm not bothered by it that much), and another loose one without base (which I put onto Snover's line).
Delibird's actually also just half a zukan, if not more like one third. Swinub and Piloswine also come with this one. I only bought this though. .. However.. I do have the DP Swinub line, and put them on a green base for the photo, to get a sense of what the whole thing looks like.
"GSC 03: Swinub/Piloswine/Delibird"
May I also point out how that bag is attached to his butt? He literally poops out gifts, that then end up in that bag.
GSC 06: Unown OPQRSTU
GSC 06: Unown OPQRSTU
The last of the Unown I needed! Also first zukan of the set I have!
Not a whole to say about these, really.
Other than a family photo!
GSC 03: Unown ABCDEFG; GSC 04: Unown HIJKLMN, GSC 06: Unown OPQRSTU, DP 14: Unown VWXYZ?!
Oh god.. I should really clean those bases.
DP 02: Starly/Staravia/Staraptor
DP 02: Starly/Staravia/Staraptor
Edgy bird!! Staraptor really rules! Close Combat, Brave Bird!
I also got another Staraptor figure with this one :o I'm not sure what it is, but it seems to be quite perfectly on 1/40 scale as well. If anyone knows, please tell me.
DP 02: Starly/Staravia/Staraptor; Staraptor
DP 07: Duskull/Dusclops/Dusknoir
DP 07: Duskull/Dusclops/Dusknoir
And then we arrive at the first new get I got since last time! I actually got this the day after I made the previous post xD So it's been here quite a while again. Thanks white_chocobo for selling it to me!
This line looks really neat, but very ominous~~ 2spoopy3me
BWMovie 03: Kyurem
BWMovie 03: Kyurem
Finally I have the normal Kyurem! Which I actually vastly prefer over all those fusion nonsense forms :p This beast looks way more raw and dangerous.
BW 01: Zekrom; BWMovie 03: Kyurem, BWMovie 02: Reshiram
BWMovie 04: Meloeta
BWMovie 04: Meloeta
Got this one from my local anime/movie store. It's nice, but nothing too special. Does mean I have the gen 5 legendaries complete (in much the same way as with gen 3). It can be combined with the next one.
BWMovie 04: Torchic/Pikachu/Chikorita/Turtwig
BWMovie 04: Torchic/Pikachu/Chikorita/Turtwig
Honestly, I'm surprised about the quality of paint work on the actual pokemon here :o Normally the quality in the BW sets is pretty lackluster. But here, I mean, just look at that Torchic! Torchic is actually the main reason I wanted this set :p I had a Torchic in Mystery Dungeon Explores of Time
DS Studio 07: Lapras
DS Studio 07: Lapras
Unkown territory! New zukans! ...Zukens!
So, time to back up a bit. For the past year or so, several (Chinese?) Studios have began/resumed making 1/40 scale pokemon figures. They pump out a whole set every two to three weeks or so. They're pretty pricy, similar to RSE prices you see nowadays. But MAN, are they pretty!
This Lapras is the first one I ordered. It was a bit cheaper than the ones I'd previously seen, and, well, just look at this detail! Holy s**t! It instantly earned a 10/10 rating.
DS Studio 07: Lapras
The bubble streams coming of Lapras' flippers! The rocks with blue accents!
DS Studio 07: Lapras
It's honestly gorgeous.
If you look really closely, you can see ridges at times, so, my guess is that they 3D-printed the model, then made a mold around it, and then used that mold to pour new plastics in. I don't think it's possible (yet) to 3d print clear plastic.
One small downside about this particular figure, you can't get Lapras out of the water, though you can get it off the rock.
DS Studio 08: Articuno
DS Studio 08: Articuno
Another DS studio figure! Articuno! Now... this is pretty out of character for me, so to say. I already had an Articuno! An Articuno I'd given a 10/10 rating! And then a new Articuno pops up, why would I need to spend money on that?
I'll tell you why.
Because this thing is, again, gorgeous AF!
DS Studio 08: Articuno
Articuno is the most majestic of the three legendary birds, I think at least. With its ribbon cable, and its (arctic) cool beauty and ellegance.
DS Studio 08: Articuno
It flies over low, in a turn, over ice spikes. That's just, wow!
GSC 03: Articuno; DS Studio 08: Articuno
Here's a comparison of the original Articuno, and the new one. They both have an ice spike base. But the New one is way bluer, and spikier. It looks more like large ice crystal, rather than, frozen muddy water.
GSC 03: Articuno; DS Studio 08: Articuno
The actual quality of the figure itself is also higher. The painting is more precise. The wings have more feathers.
I'd also say the new one is slightly bigger, not much, 10, 15% at most.
GSC 03: Articuno; DS Studio 08: Articuno
Here a directly lit shot, to bring out more detail in the bases' structures.
King Studio 10: Onix
King Studio 10: Onix
I've wanted an Onix for so long! But they never existed in 1/40 scale. Then, this set was announced. I never clicked so fast.
Okay, that's not actually true, I waited a few days, but I did order it. And boy am I glad I did!
It's one of my biggest zukans! Cute rock snek.
King Studio 10: Onix
If you closely on the surface, you'll see all sorts of scratches and wounds. Really nice detail that the 3d models in the games don't have.
King Studio 10: Onix
King Studio 11: Steelix
King Studio 11: Steelix
JESUS CHRIST! THIS THING IS MASSIVE!
Both in size and weight!! Seriously, this thing dwarfs all other zukans I have! And it weighs like nearly half a kilo!!
Yeah yeah, I get it you Wailord owners, Wailord's bigger and heavier.
Still, this is definitely 2nd place then!
King Studio 11: Steelix
It is MEAN. Despite being so big, it even has a special base, too! Though, it sort of needs it to not fall over xD
King Studio 11: Steelix
King Studio 10: Onix; King Studio 11: Steelix
Even Onix looks kinda wimpy next to it! Steelix could just WEAR Onix like a scarf!
RSE 08: Metagross; GSC 01: Groudon; LOTERY: Ho-oh; DP 03: Budew; DP 12: Pikachu; King studio 10: Onix, King Studio 11: Steelix
Even Ho-oh.. HO-OH! Is small on top of Steelix! Though, Ho-oh fits oddly well on that neck-rock of Steelix. (It should be noted though, Groudon is scale 1/50, rather than 1/40, so, he should be a bit bigger)
DP 03: Budew; DP 12: Pikachu; King Studio 11: Steelix
This time Budew escapes! Pikachu's being eaten today!
This mouth is even bigger than Swalot~
Well, that's the last figure. But, oh no, you're not done yet~
Mystery Dungeon Explores of Time
After getting Dusknoir and Grovyle, I noted how I have quite a number of pokemon from Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Explores of Time. So, I put em together for a family shot.
I'd also promised last time to show how I display all of these.
It's always a hassle on how to display so many zukans together. Not everyone can be in the eye-level shelf, of in the front row.
Do you group em on type? On Set? By National Dex number?
I've decided to group them by habitat. For now at least.
Top Shelf: Birds and Space
This is the top shelf. On the left I have all the birds, and on the right the more spacy pokemon. In the right-back you can also find the Creation Trio and Arceus and such. They're pretty much 'spacy' too.
Top Shelf: Birds and Space
It's aso always an issue with Trios, do I break em apart, or let them stay together? In this case with the Weather Genie trio I chose have them stay together, as their bases make one larger diorama.
Top Shelf Left: Birds
Top Shelf Right: Spacy stuff
Second Shelf from the Top: Mountain Dwellers
This is the second shelf from the top. It has only mountain dwellers.
Now.. I don't typically think of Mew, and Mewtwo as mountain dwellers, nor of Lucario as such. But.. well, I mean.. their bases literally include mountains. They fit perfectly here.
Second Shelf from the Top: Mountain Dwellers
I like how Onix and Steelix tower above everything, despite being in the very back.
You can also see how Golem wasn't on the base yet in this photo. I took it before all the white-space photos.
Second Shelf from the Top: Mountain Dwellers
Another issue here. The Regis. Two of the three have mountains bases, but Regice is.. well, Ice! It doesn't belong here. But.. to have just Regice missing is weird too..
You will perhaps note that Groudon's alone this time. Kyogre and Rayquaza are on different shelves.
Third Shelf from the Top: City, Ocean, and Fire
On this shelf I've made three groups. On the left we have the city pokemon. You often see these depicted as living in alleys and such in the anime.
On the right we have the Ocean mons. Not all water pokemon, just ones that are oceany and with a water base.
In the back there's the fire Pokemon. I mean, I didn't know where to put them.
Third Shelf from the Top: City, Ocean, and Fire
Naturally the Mew Castle and the Victini with road Zukan would be in the 'city' part too.
Third Shelf from the Top: City, Ocean, and Fire
There is Kyogre!
Fourth Shelf from the Top: Forest and Plains Critters, and Lake Pokemon
The fourth shelf from the top has foresty and plainy pokemon on the left, and in the back pokemon that'd hang out around lakes or streams.
Lots of special bases for the forest.
Fourth Shelf from the Top: Forest and Plains Critters
It's a shame really that all the trees have to be so far in the back.. But, well, they'd block the view to closerby stuff otherwise :/
Fourth Shelf from the Top: Lake Pokemon
All the water pokemon that don't belong in the ocean are here. The lake pokemon.
Bottom Shelf: Eh...
Now this is a bit sad.. Not all pokemon fit well on the other shelves. Like all the Arceuses.. I had to put them somewhere.. so, yeah, that's this shelf.
I have some icey pokemon here. so I hope to make more of an ice-habitat of this in the future.
Bottom Shelf:
If anyone has suggestions on where I could place some of these, or what habitat I could make of the bottom shelf, feel free to shoot! As long as you don't shoot with a gun.
Phew.. this took many hours to make, and probably quite some time to read, too.
4-5 hours shooting photos
2 hours editing photos
3-4 hours making this post
I hope you enjoyed it!
I will make another post eventually, as lots of pre-ordered Studio Zuken are on their way in the coming months, as well as a BW Eevee line, Lickitung line, and Shinx line!
Thank you for reading, assuming you did, and see ya later!