Pokemon Zukan / Zuken Collection Update - BIG GET edition (P8)
Good day to all!
How are all of you doing today? It's been eh.. oh wow! Nearly 5 months already! Too long! I'm here today though to provide you with a new photo shoot update of my latest gets, and spoiler alert, the gets are gonna be B I G.
Rather than one enticing photo, I'm posting a few, to tell a small pre-story; my apologies for taking up space on your feed.
Joltik
It's a cute Joltik!
Joltik
Hmhm.. That's Joltik, he's small.
Joltik in blue
Hm? Some nice blue photo frame effect maybe?
Joltik?
What is..?
Joltik on ..
What is th-
Joltik on Wailord
Ohhhh----
Joltik on Wailord
Oohhhhhh... He's on Wailord! Wailord is BIG.
Wailord is SO big that his white dot, was big enough to serve as white-space for Joltik!
Joltik on Wailord
My deepest apologies for this many photos above a cut! For the ultimate Zukan Grail, I had to do this.
Many more, including of Wailord will follow under the cut though!
Under the cut!
Like usually, I'll list the new gets. For studios of which I do not know the name, I've used "???" as name here.
LOTERY: Wailord
Graphics Institute: Seel/Dewgong
???: Lunala
???: Joltik
HS Studio: Mega Rayquaza
King Studio: Dialga
King Studio 17: Bulbasaur/Bulbasaur/Ivysaur/Venusaur/MegaVenusaur
DS Studio 8: Rayquaza
DS Studio 10: Groudon
DS Studio 18: Kyogre
It's not very clear-cut anymore in what order everything was released in chronologically, given it's from so many different manufacturers. So instead, I'll just use whatever order I find fit.
Graphics Institute: Seel/Dewgong
Graphics Institute: Seel/Dewgong
Initially when I first saw this one appear, I wasn't sure whether to buy it or not, and ended up letting it go. Seeing photos of it surface made me somewhat regret that. I found one for sale some time later, and decided to go for it. The splash is really nice, as well as the ice underneath the water surface.
Graphics Institute: Seel/Dewgong
Slightly different angle.
Graphics Institute: Seel/Dewgong
GSC 04: Seel/Dewgong, Graphics Institute: Seel/Dewgong
And here a comparison between the original Seel line, and the new one. As you can see, the new one is slightly wider, about as tall, and generally more detailed. Both look pretty fantastic though!
King Studio 17: Bulbasaur/Bulbasaur/Ivysaur/Venusaur/MegaVenusaur
King Studio 17: Bulbasaur/Bulbasaur/Ivysaur/Venusaur/MegaVenusaur
The Bulbasaur line! With exquisite detail, and lovely base with a wooden/viney raft atop of turbulent waters! I especially like the Vine-whips coming out of Venusaur. You'd never see something like that with original zukans. The highly detailed textures of the wood and plants is certainly nice, but slightly off putting in the cartoony context of Pokemon. It's why I didn't order the Garchomp line from King Studio; it had that effect even stronger.
King Studio 17: Bulbasaur/Bulbasaur/Ivysaur/Venusaur/MegaVenusaur
Notice the tiny Bulbasaur jumping above the left vine of the normal Venusaur (his left), as well as the other Bulbasaur at the water edge, he almost falls off D:
King Studio 17: Bulbasaur/Bulbasaur/Ivysaur/Venusaur/MegaVenusaur
Witness the frog-butt!
King Studio 17: Bulbasaur/Bulbasaur/Ivysaur/Venusaur/MegaVenusaur
I do wonder who they're fighting against, they seem to be a bit of a pickle after all.
King Studio: Dialga
King Studio: Dialga
Dialga! Master of time! So interesting story behind this one. I used to order from a certain 'cosmile_time' on ebay, until I found out that the same items were sold on Taobao for about half the price. Some items I'd never see listed on Tao. I've since learned that these are special VIP items that are only sold within a small private circle. This is one such item. I bought it on ebay from Cosmile. The picture they used however showed a giant steel spike base underneath it. I liked it a lot, and decided to buy it. When the Dialga arrived however, no base was present in the package. I messaged them about it, and it was basically "oh yeah, we put that in to make it look more appealing, there's no base, it belongs to another figure". Basically, I got scammed. The base was half of what I thought to buy. Dialga itself is splendid too, and would be high on my wish list, were I to not have it now, but I wouldn't have wanted to pay the price I paid for it. I only paid that, thinking I'd be getting that base too.
We'd reached an agreement for a partial refund, but then Cosmile went back on their own offer for some reason. Paypal couldn't help, as only a full refund (with sending the item back of course) would be allowed. I didn't want to lose the Dialga itself though. It's like receiving a CD without cover, at least you can still play the CD, even though you don't have anything to store it in. I cut my losses, and kept the Dialga.
Okay, rant over now.
King Studio: Dialga
King Studio: Dialga
A very imposing steel horse thing.
King Studio: Dialga
DP 03 Dialga, DP 06: Dialga, KING Studio: Dialga
It's so much bigger too than the original 1/50 Dialga! This isn't just a 25% size increase, like what you'd expect. It seems it's modeled more after the way it's depicted in the Anime. They're always bigger there.
DP 03: Dialga, DP 06: Dialga, KING Studio: Dialga
KING Studio: Dialga
That figure is as tall as a person of about 165 cm (to scale). Dialga could physically crush them.
???: Lunala
???: Lunala
Lunala! Back about a year, a year and half ago or so I saw a listing on ebay for a certain set of Zuken to come out, they were still all grey, and just a teaser for what was to come. I saw Lunala in there, and was very excited. Some time later though, Lunala was released, however, it happened on the same day that Deerling line was released for pre-order. It also turned out to be the full-moon phase Lunala, which I thought looked kinda ugly. I didn't order it. Fast forward a year or so, and I came across pics of it in someone's collection. I changed my mind, and decided it didn't look ugly after all. I wanted it. Eventually I found one for sale, and here we are now. Lunala is big btw! It might not seem too big here, but compare it to Ho-oh for example:
???: Lunala, LOTTERY Ho-oh
See? Ho-oh was the 3rd biggest normal Zukan, yet Lunala towers above it!
However, don't be fooled, he's a THIN boi.
???: Lunala
It's literally a flat disc! XD
DS Studio 10: Groudon
DS Studio 10: Groudon
Groudon! The story is basically the same as with Lunala. Didn't order it when I could, and only later did so when I found it 2nd hand. The details are a bit different, I didn't order it, because at the time, I'd recently ordered the original Groudon zukan. It felt pointless to buy another Groudon. Also, I ordered this 2nd one broken :O One of the arms had broken off. During shipping, the other arm broke off, too. I glued both back together. You can't see it now.
DS Studio 10: Groudon
DS Studio 10: Groudon
DS Studio 10: Groudon
DS Studio 10: Groudon
GSC 01: Groudon, DS Studio 10: Groudon
Again, like with Dialga, the size difference is really apparent. It's not quite as dramatic though.
DS Studio 18: Kyogre
DS Studio 18: Kyogre
Another big boi! Kyogre, 'god' of the sea! The water looks strangely detailed in the photos! It's detailed in real life too of course, but the white-space photos really make it more obvious.
DS Studio 18: Kyogre
DS Studio 18: Kyogre
DS Studio 18: Kyogre
GSC 05: Kyogre, DS Studio 18: Kyogre
Much beefier in the right scale! I also prefer this pose I think. Though, the original still looks cool too for sure!
DS Studio 8: Rayquaza
DS Studio 8: Rayquaza
Rayquaza! Kind of the same story as with Groudon. I saw it for sale, it was too expensive. I saw it later on pics, it was way bigger than I expected. I wanted it. Looked endlessly, finally found it, bought it, and here we are. This thin has such a dynamic pose though! I like to imagine this rock is just the very tip of an entire mountain, high up in the sky.
DS Studio 8: Rayquaza
DS Studio 8: Rayquaza
I like the smoke clouds.
DS Studio 8: Rayquaza
Those are some mean eyes. I do wonder though, why does it even have these small arms? What can it do with em?
DS Studio 8: Rayquaza
RSE 09 Rayquaza, BW 04 Rayquaza, DS Studio 8: Rayquaza
One rather puzzling thing though.. unlike with Groudon, Kyogre, and Dialga.. Rayquaza already was scale 1/40... Yeah.. These are all the same size apparently. Though.. 'Height: 7 m', what does that even mean for a serpent? I'll just go with Anime-size again.
Here follows an obligatory family shot:
DS Studio 8: Rayquaza, DS Studio 10: Groudon, DS Studio 18: Kyogre
A happy weather trio Family
DS Studio 8: Rayquaza, KING Studio 13 Deoxys/Deoxys/Deoxys/Deoxys
..The size seems to be alright, if we compare it to the movie where they fight.
HS Studio: Mega Rayquaza
HS Studio: Mega Rayquaza
Straight from Rayquaza, to Mega Rayquaza! This thing -unlike the real Mega Rayquaza- is FRAIL. Holy sh*t, it arrived broken in 8 places when I received the (admittedly, totally beat up) box. Seriously, the box had tears in it, and even the box inside of the box had tears. I don't know what the shipping people did to it. Looks like someone jumped on the box. That being said, this is easily the most frail figure I own. The tendrils are so thin. I managed to glue most back together pretty well, but the clear tendril was just too thin. I used some ugly "clear" tape.
HS Studio: Mega Rayquaza
HS Studio: Mega Rayquaza
HS Studio: Mega Rayquaza
The cloud is very detailed and turbulent.
HS Studio: Mega Rayquaza
HS Studio: Mega Rayquaza
HS Studio: Mega Rayquaza
RSE 09 Rayquaza, BW 04 Rayquaza, DS Studio 8: Rayquaza, HS Studio: Mega Rayquaza
So.. eh.. this is awkward.. Mega Rayquaqua is definitely bigger than the two normal zukans.. but.. the DS Studio Rayquaza, which we just concluded against the Deoxys movie is rightly sized, is bigger still.. Soooo....
LOTTERY WAILORD
Wailord
WAILORD. Jesus, I've drooled over pictures of this bad boy for so long, over a decade. When I first saw it, back on ZukanRanger.com, I wanted it. But there was no way in hell that I could ever afford it. The price has only gone up since then. But I'm an adult now, with a job, I can pay for nice things now. Still, Wailord was REALLY expensive. I decided to just do it. It's just money I figured. Roughly a 1150 USD (shipping and import tax included) later, and I now have a mint condition Wailord, with the original box, including a Japanese letter dated to January 2005, apologizing for the shipping delay.
Let me say this. Wailord is HUGE. I weighed it, it clocks in at 1010 grams. That's about three times as heavy as the already massive Steelix.
Wailord
Wailord
RSE 09: Wailmer, Wailord
Wailmer already is a pretty big Zukan, but it's small compared to its evolution.
Wailord
From this angle, its tail kinda looks like one of those water jets coming out of a whale's hole.
RSE 09: Wailmer, Wailord
This is just silly!
RSE 09: Wailmer, Wailord, DS Studio 18: Kyogre
He even dwarves the huge Kyogre! Who's the god of the sea now, huh?
RSE 02: Skitty, DP 03: Budew, DP 12: Pikachu, Wailord, ??? Joltik
Budew is no longer the smallest, Joltik is!
All four casually riding Wailord of course
RSE 02: Skitty, DP 03: Budew, DP 12: Pikachu, Wailord, ??? Joltik, DS Studio 11: Steelix, DS Studio 16: Lugia
He even dwarves my other two biggest zukan! Not even Lugia or Steelix are anywhere near Wailord's size!
RSE 02 Skitty, Wailord
But size doesn't matter when it comes to love, or so people say. This female Skitty loves her big Wailord. The daycare even found an egg!
...yeah. That's possible. A good note to end on.
One last picture for now, a collection of everything new, many 1/40 versions of previously only 1/50 Pokemon, unsurprisingly, Wailord dominates, even among this post of giants.
New gets!
In several months, I'll post again! See you then, thanks so much for reading and looking!