Figure Manufacturers

First! muhahahahaha

First! muhahahahaha

Ain't this Hakura!!! Looks MOE!!!

All of my Saber figures are made by Good Smile, so it's got my vote.

well i don't any toy works figerus so i can't attest to their quality. As you mentioned Alter, Good Smile Company and Max Factory are all really great companies that know what their doing. But there are a few other companies that are decent, not the best but still decent enough. Megahouse does some nice work, they seem a bit too plane for me but they do some nice work nonetheless. Kotobukiya is good as well, they tend to be cheaper in price compared to other companies but then the quality isn't up there with the others.

But for figure companies that i sugest to stay away from is Atelier Sai, Taki Corparation, and Yamato. With Yamato more often than not the quality isn't up to par. Sometimes and only sometimes they can have a jewel in their line but more often than not they are terrible.

Top tier manufacturers that are rarely given their due comeuppances include Megahouse, Wave, Wanfudoh Ganguten (Enterbrain Inc), Art Storm Co Ltd, Kotobukiya, and Alter.

Second tier manufacturers that more often than not deliver quality production include Organic, Orchid Seed, Movic, Happinet, Griffon Enterprises, Cafe Reo, and Yamato.

Low tier manufacturers that should be avoided unless a figure from their facilities is implicitly stated as being quality include Taki Corporation, CMS, and Yuujin (who usually produces trading figure or gashapon sets).

These are the companies with which I'm familiar and can speak on. There are numerous that exist like Atelier-Sai, FREEing, Clayz, Musashiya etc. Others are probably more experienced with these manufacturers than myself as I don't own anything from them.

While buying from trusted manufacturers or their respective figure divisions is usually a wise decision, the quality of figures from manufacturers varies so much so that looking at an individual piece and scrutinizing it before you buy is the only sure-fire way to assure you'll be happy with it when it arrives. Factors such as the intricacy of the original sculpt, difficulty in casting for mass production, etc can all play roles in how a figure turns out. Buying solely from manufacturers that the general figure-purchasing-public considers "good" also alienates the up-and-coming companies looking to get into the industry or those who don't have the ability to maintain production quality on par with companies like Good Smile. Basically, my point: it's on a figure-to-figure basis.

If I was to get a figure, I wouldn't hesitate if it was made by Alter. They do stunning work as evidenced by my first PVC figure (KOS MOS) and exelica. Goodsmile are pretty decent too. Their Shuraki set was very nicely put together.

In terms of sculptors, that's more to my field.

I enjoy the works of 83C, Bubba, and Cerberus Project mostly for my Resin kits, but I do enjoy looking at vispos works, even if i think they are too costly or have a fundamental design flaw in them (usually too sharp edges on the face). Kotobukiya also do some excellent kits from time to time as shown by their Kazami Mizuho from Onegai Teacher (which I own) and their 2 Yoko kits from back in December

Go for the other one!! The bikini Haruka!! It looks so much more like Haruka!! I preordered it! Thats how much I love Haruka!!!

With regards to paint alone, I somehow have this notion that of the big names, Max Factory sets a reasonable standard. Sculpt is most important to me; seams and paint are secondary.

And of course, promo/official pictures are always flawless, and display the best angles. Third party reviews on production PVC like the ones you see popularly linked from here is your best bet for when you are concerned about quality. There's only so much you can consider before deciding though, when offerings can be few, since there are a hojillion characters out there. And reviews often come after the preorder stage :|

Somewhat jokingly relevant: does GSC exclusively do two-piece hair (front and back)?

You are quite right about Max Factory, GSC, and Alter. They are (in my opinion) the absolute best figure manufacturers. Just about anything from them turns out awesome. I too am fairly new to figure collecting, although I have a good amount of figures at this point. I would tell you to do the same thing that I do, look through other blogs and look at reviews, that's the best way to tell a figure's quality. People like Danny are the most trustworthy when it comes to this type of thing, Danny obviously has a LOT of experience with figures and such and can judge different aspects of quality properly.

I am actually on a similar boat as you BandAid. I only have a few figures in my collection due to the expensive price tag and that I am not an avid figure collector. However I do want to get more and would love to know the info you are asking.

I've gotten figures from Alter, Max Factory, Kotobukiya. Good Smiles is a good one too but I've yet to get anything from them seeing as most of their stuff does not interest me at all.
Kotobukiya are good but some of their figures are better than other they have.

lets see ive ordered figures from many mentioned here, plus some others like gigapulse, fine scenery, kaiyodo, but sometimes u just have to take a chance and hope for the best

I have met many people who say the same things as you do BandAID. Most of them are happy when they finally do buy a figure and understand why other collect so many.

Resin doesn't necessarily mean quality. I have seen some poor painting on resin figures. Usually paint quality, assembly and joint placement is roll of dice for your first figure purchase or your 100th. Pre-production figures are often different from mass-production. Over time you learn what to look for when considering a figure.

If you stick with Alter, Good Smile, Clayz and Max Factory you are sure to be happy. Some figures are great others are not so great when it comes to Toy Works and Yamato... I personally keep up with all the figure review site I can in my RSS reader. It gives me the chance to see as many photos as possible and get to hear the reviewers impressions.

There are too too many favorite sculptors that will help me make a decision on buying a figure. Often I may like one figure and not another of a particular sculptor. As far as me having a favorite figure I don't have one. I like all the figures in my collection and they all have points I like and don't like.

I like this figure of Hakura. I have bought limited editions and been happy with almost all of them. Only thing about this figure is the colors are a little to tame for me. I'm sure this would make a good first choice.

My favorites are Alter, Max Factory and GSC. However Kotobukiya is fairly good, and I really like the quality of my Enterbrain Yoko :)

If you looking for good quality figures for a low USD price, there are the mon-sieur BOME series figures. While it may not be the best figures on the market... they are very good for their prices. Sometimes 20 USD for 2 figures in a set (Rawr)! (This set is part of the Kaiyodo company... but oddly this line of figures are pretty cheap)

Max factory/Good smile company, are the most commons for me i like the pose ability and quality and then im also a fan of revoltech and if im really in that financial state of mind (lol) Kotobukiya when i just have to have something from them.

Hmm, the more I look at that saber figma the more I like it. Out of all the figmas i've seen it's probably done the best job of hiding the joints and whatnot.

I'm not big on names but i do get what everyone is trying to say. I'm all about how moe the figure is. For example, both GSC & Kotobukiya released a Pastel Ink PVC, both are moe, both have very different color schemes and i own both of them because both are high quality in terms of Moe. Sure, some details are better than the other such as Pastel Ink by GSC with a visable belly button, and Kotobukiya not having one, but you have to admit that when it comes to Moe both get a good review.

I think you're not going to find too many dissenting opinions, or too much disparity between opinions on here. GSC, Alter, Clayz, Max Factory and Kotobukiya are the, um, bees knees as far as I'm concerned. Even the puchi Nendroid series are amazingly detailed. I tend to think that Koto does american movie properties and such "better" than anime properties. Toys/Solid Works stuff is kinda hit and miss, I bought a Shana from them a year or two ago and the promo pics looked great, but the figure itself was kinda sloppy and not representative of what I thought it'd be. You're always going to have some differences between the prototype and the production models, if you want "resin quality" I suggest you learn to paint and buy some garage kits or something. And I'm not trying to be an ass about that, but you're looking at dropping at least $40 no matter what for a static PVC figure anymore, and the quality thing is a crap shoot.

I don't pay that much attention to the manufacturers, I must admit, but I guess one of my favorites is GoodSmile...

For anyone buying the first time, the tip I would give is to find a way to check the figure you want irl.

Or at least check some figure from the manufacturer before buying stuff online.
Pictures you see in the Internet can be pretty deceptive, specially when it comes to details and size.

I still don't understand how can make SO PERFECT pieces, and keep the balance behind price/quality just in point. It's definetly a great job that they do, and hope continue as now.

i personally would choose to buy a figure w/ better detail for more $$ than some figure that is cheaper and have decent detail. All the figure i owned soo far seem to have, what you would so called "manufacturing error". I would be willing to pay more if they can get rid of them all. So far i am uncontentwith at elast one part for each and every one of my figures so... ya.
Would be nice to not have colouring error for once.

"Megahouse do great figures from the Queensblade series too although they still need to improve their know-how about paint transfer."

It is extremely simple to solve the problem, just need one thn layer of clear protective coating sprayed on the cast off parts (inside n outside).
IMO I think the rub off is an oversight on the Megahouse part (which they have the know how to correct), infact I dont think its paint transfer but the original color injected into the PVC mixture on the cast-off parts that rub off onto the paint of the main body.
Dried paint by itself is a layer of protective coating.

Anyway I will vote Megahouse as the best company not only becos of its quality but becos they have alot less leaning figs

Ahh, haven't watched the office tours in a while. Nice to see a rerun. :)

Currently my fav company is Alter, they're launching amazing figures, the figure of Alter that I have that has problems is Saika S.Farnese, the rest is "perfect" with no stability problems, bad paint job. Max Factory is good too although I only have Kotona and Haruhi (normal), from GSC only have Akatsuki (shuraki)

I personally would stick to top tier figure manufactures. If I was in Japan, I would consider other manufactures since I would be able to see the figures' quality before making the purchase from a store. Like many of us we have to go be company reputation when we buy an online figure with out actually seeing what we bought first hand. Since I am new to anime figures, I am highly interested in Figma.

A large part of my collection are from Alter. Followed by Max Factory and GSD. Megahouse makes quality figures. Like most have already said, stay away from Atalier Sai and Yamato. It's a shame since Yamato has a way with screwing up the quality of excellent sculpts like Poison and Ringo. If your new to collecting, I suggest getting some BOMEs by Kaiyodo. They're cheap and built to a high standard.

I bet you really wanted to take that figure. :3

I love the Hatsune Miku's. :D

Also, the "mmmm's" and the "lovely" always crack me up. ;D Especially with the English cussing. :3

Actually when i first started collecting figurines, the company dont affect my selections at all. Until now it still hold until certain extent, design+color come first, then company+cost.
But somehow now by judging the figurine types and quality, you could roughly guess its from which company. When it comes to quality, i have definitely no prob with GSC, Max and Alter.

i suddenly got a very intense urge to buy figma seibaaa...

The first thing that came to my mind when I saw ToysWorks Haruka figurine was, "Haruka's got some nice child-bearing hips there." ^^;

Normally I'll go with Goodsmile, Max Factory, and Alter. Kotobukiya is a mixed bag. Others I have to see the quality of the figurine first before I decide.

Indeed, the figure industry is a very difficult and a cut throat business and it is hard to balance quality and cost but companies like GSC and Alter balances these two factors and deliver great quality figures w/o us robbing a bank XDDD

I always see GSC's passion to figures on their works ^_____^

I have the Saber featured in the 2nd vid. It was the most faithful representation of Saber I can find. ^^
It'd be nice to have a better understanding of what the artist said about the joints, I get only a little due to my bad japanese. orz

You can't go wrong with Max Factory, GSC, and Alter since they make quality figures and sell at a reasonable price...the only other ones I got are from MegaHouse and Orchid Seed and I guess they have their good points as well as downside...

My main ones would be the same: Max Factory, GSC, and Alter. In addition, I generally accept stuff from Kotobukiya, Orchid Seed, and Megahouse. Others, like Griffon, Toys Works, Yamato, etc., I would inspect more closely before buying (some more than others). Special mention goes to Creator's Labo (Yamato), because I think they have an interesting style to their sculpts; Kaiyodo's Bome series, for making cheap, decent (usually) figures; and Aizu Project and FREEing, who make very nice specialty stuff but require a consultation with my bank statement 8-S.

i alway prefer Good Smile, Max Factory and Alter, like the quality and the colouring. kotobukiya too shine for me, others company I seldom buy.

My favorite PVC producers in general are GSC/MF and Megahouse, closely followed by Alter (their colours are a bit too 'soft' for me. I prefer the brighter MF style). These have almost never let me down whenever i got their figures, so that makes them a very 'safe' buy. I do recommend looking at some other companies too, even if they have their hits and misses. My absolute favorite figures are all by second tier manufacturers (Beagle, Organic..). As an aside, it seems that Kotobukiya and Yamato have improved their quality considerably lately. Their old stuff is *disastrous*, but something like the Koto Shining Wind stuff or Yamato's Creators Labo is actually pretty good.

<edit> Oh, and don't ever get Atelier Sai or Taki Corp stuff. Even if the promo shots look good, the final product will stink.

I personally have experience only with GSC because I recently bought their GITS:SAC tachikoma. The tachikoma was of very good quality and I'm very happy I choose the GSC version.

Danny, I definitely have to echo your sentiments with the work done on Figma Saber. Every single time someone asks me about my collection and what I consider to be my top purchase, I always give out two or three answers. One is Good Smile's Needa, she's definitely the crown jewel of my collection and the first cast-off I ever displayed on my desk (lol). And the second is Figma Saber, I thought I had a great time with the 2G Revoltech Saber that came out some time before the character's Figma rendition, but wow was I wrong. As charming as the 2G Revoltech version was, it had absolutely nothing on the dynamic posing ability the Figma had, plus it just had a much more petite/accurate look as opposed to Kaiyodo's which seemed a little squashed/stunted at some angles. Even now, a few months after I first got her in the mail, I never get tired of fidgeting with the Figma Saber or run out of new poses for her.

As for the last answer I usually give, it leads me to my favorite figure manufacturer. Alter's take on Persona 3's Aigis was absolutely breathtaking; there's simply no other word for it. I mean, first off the sculpt is a perfect marriage of grace and energy. It's like having my own exhibit from the Getty Museum just down the freeway, it's marvelous! What really gets me though is the attention to detail in terms of how great the paint job is. I could just be looking through rose-colored glasses, but there was nary a flaw on the copy I was shipped plus the lettering on the SEES band on her left arm was as sharp as sharp could be. While Good Smile, Max Factory and Alter have all never disappointed me, I can safely say that the Alter releases that I've bought have always gone the extra mile.

I think enough have been said about the Holy Trinity, a.k.a. Alter, Max Factory and Goodsmile Co. in no particular order. Needless to say, most of my figure are from them.

To me, outside the Trinity, the next best figure manufacturer is Kotobukiya, especially with their recent figure release. After that, probably Megahouse. And I also personally like figures from Solid Theater. I do feel they have loads of potential and have released some fine figures to date.

As for sculptor, I like Satoshi Toda and Kuroda Masanori ... i'm sure there are a few more, but can't remember their names.

I think I like Alter the most for its colour; not too dull, not too bright, just nice. Max Factory, Goodsmile and AlphaxOmega too, you can get their products with ease given its quality, somehow like when you see nike you know that its good ^^

there are many other manufacturers like Kotobukiya and Griffon with good figures but one thingy is that they dont always have figures of standard quality so its like a hit and miss.

that doesn't quite look like her in the anime. weird. don't really have a specific manufacturer to live by but Yamato and Orchid Seed are on my potential blacklist. the overall sculpt, especially the face, is what matters most to me.

Hmm.. I'm still new to figure collecting but, can say that GSC/Max Factory is good. Kotubukiya has a few figs that I consider good too..
I guess each company has something they do well?

The frequent mentions of GSC, Alter and Max Factory attest to the quality of their work. Most of my figures are from these companies and I'm able to preorder them with the assurance that the final products won't disappoint. Megahouse is very reliable and well-priced for the kind of quality and detail you get. Kotobukiya is average but occasionally comes up with gems like the Shunya Mirei-san, whereas Yamato has been picking up great sculpts in the past year but usually fails to deliver once the figures are put through the mass production process (sloppy painting, dull palette especially on the skin).

Companies I dislike: Orchid Seed and Griffon (both make figures with lifeless faces, and Griffon's paint quality is terrible. My bf has a Griffon Ryofu and will never buy from them again D:).

Favourite sculptors: The folks from Cerberus Project, Yoshizawa Mitsumasa, BUBBA, Uchijima Yasuhiro, Tanaka Senu.

Alter are probably my favourite company in terms of quality. I sometimes wish the Alter releases were slightly bigger though. Max Factory come a very close second. Those two are easily the best I would say. Good Smile have a great reputation and the nendoroids I have absolutely do not disappoint.

As for figure quality for big company, I think Taki is the worst. =/

soooooooweeet!

I don't buy figures by the manufacturer that does it. I buy a figure if I like what I see. ^^ most figures boxes are transparent so you can immediately see if the figure inside is something that you like. and since I rarely open the boxes that comes with the figure... if the figure looks good in the box, then that's fine with me. =p

My top three is definitely Max Factory, GSC and Alter as well. Kotobukiya can be quite inspired, but I would prefer if their skin painting wasn't so shiny. Most of the time I feel that their moe figures are simple yet effective, but certain details can be off. For instance, I like my Manaka maid figure a lot, and the paint is just right, however the base is way too big.

I've heard from other figure collectors that one should be suspicious of Yamato, and that Clayz figures can have a "fat ankles" problem. And of course, the-corporation-that-must-not-be-named remains Taki. >_>

love the office and their hard working. salute to GSC and MF! they are totally amazing figure manufacturers!