Types of Anime Figures Explained: Prize, Scale, Nendoroid, Blind Box and More

If you're new to collecting, the names can be confusing. A "prize figure", a "scale figure" and a "Nendoroid" can all be the same character, at very different sizes and prices. This guide explains the main types you'll see in our store, so you can tell at a glance what you're looking at.

The quick version

Prize figures

Prize figures began as prizes in Japanese arcades, where you win them from crane games. Makers such as Banpresto, SEGA, Taito and FuRyu produce them in large numbers, which keeps the price low. They are fixed-pose figures: you take them out of the box, attach the base, and they are ready to display.

Each maker groups its prize figures into lines, and the line tells you the style. SEGA's Luminasta figures stand about 16 to 25 cm tall, FuRyu's Noodle Stopper figures are small sitting figures of about 11 to 15 cm made to perch on a cup or shelf edge, and Banpresto's Grandista figures are among the tallest at about 24 to 28 cm.

Don't let the word "prize" put you off. The paint and detail are simpler than on a scale figure, but recent prize figures are far better than the name suggests, and for the price they are the easiest way to put a favourite character on your shelf.

Browse prize figures by maker:

Ichiban Kuji (一番くじ)

Ichiban Kuji is a character lottery run by Bandai Spirits. In Japan you buy a ticket at a convenience store, bookstore or hobby shop, and every ticket wins something: there are no losing tickets. Each lottery is built around one series, and its prizes are ranked by letter, with the number of prize ranks changing from one lottery to the next. The line-up mixes figures with everyday goods. Whoever draws the final ticket in a shop also takes home a special "Last One" prize.

Arcade prize figures and Ichiban Kuji prizes both start out as prizes. What differs is how they are won: a prize figure comes out of a crane game, and an Ichiban Kuji prize comes from a ticket lottery with its own ranked set of prizes.

How to read an Ichiban Kuji listing

"A Prize", "B Prize" or "Last One" in a product name tells you which lottery prize the item was. It is a label, not a quality grade, although the figures tend to be the prizes collectors look for most.

Blind boxes and trading figures

A blind box is a sealed box that holds one figure chosen at random from a set. You know which set you are buying, but not which design is inside until you open it. POP MART and MINISO are the best-known names, and Japanese makers such as Good Smile Company and Re-Ment sell the same idea under the name "trading figures".

Each set has a fixed number of designs, and some sets add a rarer "secret" design that is not shown on the box. Blind boxes are sold one at a time or as a full case.

What a full case holds depends on the set. Some cases contain one of each regular design, and others can include doubles. Where a set has a secret design, a case is not guaranteed to include it, and when it does, it may take the place of a regular one. Read the maker's or seller's description of the case before you count on a complete set. If you only want one character, look for a listing that names the exact design.

See our POP MART and Re-Ment collections.

Pop Up Parade

Pop Up Parade is a line from Good Smile Company that sits between prize figures and scale figures. The figures are fixed-pose, with cleaner paint and sharper detail than most prize figures, at a price well below a scale figure. Standard figures are about 16 to 17 cm tall, and the larger "L" size is about 22 to 23 cm. Because the sizes are so consistent, a row of them looks tidy together even when the characters come from different series.

Nendoroids

Nendoroids are Good Smile Company's small, big-headed figures, about 10 cm tall. They are poseable, and most come with extra face plates, hands and accessories that you swap to change the expression and pose. Each one is numbered, which makes them easy to track as a collection.

There are two close relatives. A Nendoroid Basic has fewer extra parts at a lower price, and a Nendoroid Doll has a taller, jointed body with fabric clothes, at about 14 cm.

One habit worth picking up early: keep the plastic tray from the box and store the spare faces and hands in it. The parts are small, and they are the first thing to go missing.

See our Good Smile Company collection for Nendoroids and Pop Up Parade figures.

Scale figures

A scale figure is sized as a fraction of the character's real height. A 1/7 scale figure of a character who is 160 cm tall stands about 23 cm. The scales we stock are 1/6, 1/7 and 1/8, and the smaller the second number, the bigger the figure.

Scale figures are the premium type. Makers such as Alter, Aniplex, Myethos and Kotobukiya spend longer on the sculpt and paint, add detailed bases, and produce fewer of them. That is why they cost more, and why most are sold as pre-orders months before they are made.

Browse scale figures by maker:

What does "non-scale" mean?

A figure listed as "non-scale" is not sized to a fraction of the character's height. The maker chose the size freely, and the label says nothing about the quality.

Plush, acrylic stands and other goods

Not everything on a collector's shelf is a figure. Plush toys are soft versions of a character and range from palm-sized to jumbo. Accessories such as acrylic stands, badges and pouches cost the least and suit small spaces, a desk or a bag.

Which type should I buy first?

It comes down to three things: what you want to spend, how much room you have, and how you like to collect.

• A small budget, or lots of favourite characters: start with prize figures from SEGA, Banpresto, FuRyu or Taito.
• Not much space: a desk or a narrow shelf suits Nendoroids from Good Smile Company, a small plush, or acrylic stands and other accessories.
• One showpiece you'll keep for years: save for a scale figure, and check the pre-order collection, where most of them start.
• You like completing sets: try blind boxes from POP MART or Re-Ment.
  

Every figure we sell is an officially licensed product and ships from the U.S. Many scale figures and new releases are sold as pre-orders, so check the release date on the product page. Not sure yet? Browse all figures and see what catches your eye.