While there are many nations producing statues and figurines, Japanese sculptures of video game and anime characters are often reviewed to be the best. One of the noticeable brands is Kotobukiya JP Kotobukiya is a Japanese company that has grown from its modest origins to today, become a major player in the pop culture toy market.
If you haven’t heard about Kotobukiya JP, this article is for you, where we explain everything you need to know about Kotobukiya JP, from what it is down to how to buy from it.
I/ What is Kotobukiya
Kotobukiya was established in 1947 as a solitary doll shop. In fact, it wasn’t until 1983, with the release of the Armament kit, that they ever attempted to produce their own original model kits. In 1985, they acquired the rights to produce a Godzilla, King of the Monsters, kit.
Toys other than model kits were first released by Kotobukiya in May 1989 with the introduction of soft vinyl statues, which are now known as ARTFX Statues. In the intervening years, they’ve branched out to include things like fully painted and constructed resin sculptures, action figures, one coin mini-figures, and more.
Kotobukiya has built a solid reputation for its excellent products and meticulous attention to detail. With this goal in mind, they host annual sculpting and painting competitions judged by in-house artists, guest sculptors, and other industry professionals including the editor-in-chief of Hobby Japan.
To present, Kotobukiya has become well-known in the industry for its high-quality Bishoujo statues, ARTFX statues, Fine Art series, licenses for a wide variety of properties, including American ones like Marvel and DC comics and Star Wars.
II/ Product catalog at Kotobukiya JP
If you browse their website, you’ll find a set of their product catalog labeled as follows:
- Figure: any collectible item made by Kotobukiya.
- Plastic Model: refers to all of Kotobukiya’s plastic model kits.
- International Character: Those figures like DC’s Supergirl and J.K. Rowling’s Newt Scamander from the Fantastic Beasts series, aren’t originally from Japan.
- Male Lineup: refers to all of Kotobukiya’s male-focused collectibles.
While nowadays Kotobukiya JP has expanded its anime figures into a variety of categories, they’re most famous for 5 main genres:
1. Bishoujo Kotobukiya
It’s difficult to discuss Kotobukiya without mentioning their collection of “beautiful girl” statues. Kotobukiya hopes to “impress the world” with these revolutionary concepts. Bishoujo sculptures depict female figures, usually in sexualized ways. However, they’re sculpted so skillfully in detail that people around the world all admire their works.
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2. Kotobukiya and Horror
Nowadays, Japanese fans of spooky films often have a collection of Kotobukiya figures all to themselves. The villains from some of the best-renowned slasher films have been immortalized in statue form by the artists at Bishoujo.
The first product in the range was inspired by the appearance of Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees in the 2014 film Freddy vs. Jason. Kotobukiya JP does a wonderful job of maintaining enough details in the figure to make it feel like each character while transforming to make them look like realistic lovely ladies.
At the moment, fans can also purchase a statue of Beetlejuice from the 1988 film, and even a statue of Pennywise from the 2017 film adaptation of Stephen King’s novel.
3. Kotobukiya and My Little Pony
If you’re looking for My Little Pony dolls that surpass the Bishoujo line, go no further than Kotobukiya’s offerings. The show’s “Mane 6” characters, originally rendered as cute cartoon ponies, have been transformed into stunning figures.
They released Pinkie Pie as the first statue in the line, and they’re just halfway through the key characters. At present, there Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity have all been released in the collection as well.
4. ARTFX Line
The ARTFX line has been around the longest, and every few months they release new dolls based on Western pop culture.
Many Star Wars models from Kotobukiya, including Rey, Kylo Ren, Darth Vader, and a Stormtrooper from A New Hope. In addition to Marvel and DC figures, they also carry models from the horror film industry and other properties.
ARTFX statues aren’t just beautifully crafted and painted; they’re also engineered to strike dynamic stances. Following up the demand, ARTFX+ is a sub-brand of ARTFX sculptures that are also released, maintaining the look and feel like the main statues but are more affordable, smaller, and feature interchangeable parts.
5. Fine Art line
Fine art models are often crafted from cold-cast resin and given a hand-painted finish by the artist. Due to the additional effort put in, they feature a level of detail and atmosphere that is incomparable.
Pop culture fans frequently have to make a tough decision between price and quality when shopping for merchandise. If you’re seeking a model that can suit all your needs, you’ll find it in Kotobukiya’s work, however, it’s typically not at a price that we can all afford.
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III/ Is Kotobukiya good?
While Chinese and Hong Kong sculptors nowadays strived to win over collectors with skillful pieces, the Japanese brands still take the global market size when it comes to 3D figures. Specifically, Kotobukiya’s sculptures confide that they fare better at portraying female characters and show meticulous attention to detail.
Granted, not all Japanese figure makers employ such strict quality control and not all of them co-own the factory. However, Kotobukiya JP provides such high-quality figures that we can really see the difference in their details, where the Japanese sculptors at Kotobukiya JP really show off their work.
However, the price that is paid for these products isn’t cheap. As a matter of fact, Kotobukiya doesn’t melt down old models to make new ones, because inevitably, the old models will contain dust, which will then impact the material’s quality. The extra quality control and Kotobukiya’s use of high-grade materials not only mean more expensive statues but also means better ones.
The nuts and bolts of modern Japanese figures help ensure that makers churn out high-quality figures. It’s a combination of Kotobukiya’s experience, quality, and the skill of our sculptors, as well as the care is taken during the production process to ensure that everything carries over from the initial design to the final product.
IV/ Does Kotobukiya Ship International?
For Japanese customers, Kotobukiya items currently can be purchased in person at any of their three locations in Japan (Tachikawa, Akihabara, and Nipponbashiu).
However, for international users, as most Japanese and American online stores only accept domestic credit cards and do not ship overseas, Kotobukiya JP also does not offer international shipping or even sells online. Therefore, making a direct purchase from these sites will be very challenging.
However, buying from Kotobukiya JP can still be possible if you purchase through a third-party service, specifically, Janbox. With just a few clicks, you can get high-quality, made-in-Japan products shipped directly to your door.
V/ How to buy from Kotobukiya JP
Although up to present, Kotobukiya JP does not offer oversea shipping for international buyers. However, with the proxy service in just 4 simple steps, you should be able to buy from Kotobukiya JP without worries. Moreover, it includes guaranteed safety as well as a refund policy that should remove your concerns when purchasing online. The picture below depicts 4 steps when buying through Janbox:
Here are step-by-step guides to buying from Kotobukiya JP
Step 1: Access Kotobukiya JP
First, you’ll need to go on over to Kotobukiya’s website in Japanese
If you aren’t comfortable reading Japanese, you can switch the site’s language to access the Kotobukiya online shop English by clicking the corresponding button in the upper right corner. However, only certain products will be visible to you if you browse in English, and you won’t have access to the online store.
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Step 2: Browse products
Next, look up the products you want to buy. Koto contains both Kotobukiya pre-orders and is available for you to choose from.
The website’s design makes it straightforward to find the information you need. At the very center of the screen is a search box, and to the right of it are four links labeled:
- When you click the “Products” tab, you’ll be sent to a page listing products in the order of their arrival or release month.
- If you click the “Event & Campaign” link, you’ll be sent to a page that lists all of Kotobukiya’s events and campaigns.
- Clicking on “Blog & SNS” takes you to a page that features links to Kotobukiya’s several product-related blogs and official Twitter accounts.
- To check what anime and manga Kotobukiya offers merchandise for, click the “Search by title” option on the page’s the left side.
- To learn more about the three Kotobukiya JP shops, click the “Shop Info”.
If an item catches your eye, you can learn more about it by clicking on its image. There will be a sequence of photographs of the figure or plastic model kit from various perspectives or poses below the main promotional image. A Product Description box follows that, detailing the figure in further depth.
Step 3: Access Janbox
Having decided on what you want to buy on Kotobukiya JP, you have to copy the link in the address bar leading to the product you wish to purchase. Simply press Ctrl + C or select “Copy” to the Search bar. Then, press Enter.
It should lead you to the following section where you have to clarify product information. All you have to do is to look at the product from Kotobukiya JP and fill in the form.
After you’ve finished filling out the form, click “Add to Cart” to have the item added to Janbox’s shopping cart. After that, just click “Checkout,” and we’ll take care of the rest.
Step 4: Confirm the order
Once we get your package, Janbox will notify you (either through email or phone). Alternatively, we will also inform you if the packaging is inadequate for international transport. We can combine many orders into one shipment if that is more convenient for you.
Once you’ve made your selection, you’ll be able to select from a variety of international shipping options to determine the most cost-effective means of transport from us to you.
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VI/ Janbox – Buy From Japan Easiest | Best Shopping Proxy Service
With the help of Janbox, a cross-border e-commerce platform, you may buy and sell many things from Japan and the US. With our free repacking service, we can reduce shipping costs to over 220 countries while still delivering packages quickly and easily.
Primarily, Janbox will help you with the complex buying process while saving money on shipping. How? In order to reduce the overall weight of the shipment, saving customers’ money on shipping costs, products submitted to Janbox’s storage facility will be inventoried and repackaged at NO COST.
Currently, this is a special function that only Janbox can provide for its dedicated customer base.
Furthermore, as there are a variety of issues that arose when customers want to purchase from other countries such as Japan and America, all of these problems can be fixed with the help of Janbox’s savvy purchasing service. We reduce the buying efforts to a minimum and let you have a much more time-saving and smoother experience than ever of the purchasing process.
Conclusion
To conclude, Kotobukiya JP offers a wide range of 3D figures that surely amaze many anime enthusiasts. However, the cost per product, as well as shipping fees, are some of the factors that you should be aware of when purchasing from Kotobukiya JP. If you want to know how Janbox could help you to save time and money, click here to know more about Janbox’s service.
Website: https://janbox.com
Email: [email protected]
