Yamato's Bayonetta Figurine Finally Announced

不发就不发，一发就两个
Even though the event is now over for three days, new photo reports of Wonder Festival 2012 [Summer], held at Makuhari Messe International Convention Center in Chiba, Japan last Sunday (July 26th) seem to keep on revealing new stuff that continue to fascinate me. ^^

Putting aside all the awesome model kits from Kotobukiya, Figma action figures from Max Factory and Nendoroid figures from Good Smile Company, the item I was really looking forward to seeing is Yamato's Bayonetta figurine.

Yes, the one which was announced two years ago. ^^


Image is from this previous posting.
The same poster was "recycled" at Wonder Festival 2011 [Winter] held in February last year without a single bit of extra information. ^^;

Finally, a few days before the event, the Development Blog on Yamato's official site revealed that the figurine is going to be unveiled at Wonder Festival 2012 [Summer], which got me really excited. ^^ I couldn't believe that the wait is going to be this long though. ^^

Incredibly, among the first image of a Bayonetta figurine on display at the event - this one: ...


Image is from Akiba Hobby.
... is actually not from Yamato, ^^; but a 1/7 scale figurine released by Phat! Company.

When I first found the image, the product label wasn't revealed, so I almost assumed that this is the Yamato version. While I do like the pose very much - which is sculptured based on this particular character image no doubt: ...


Image is from Fanpop.
... I don't like the face sculpt. ^^; Large anime eyes plus a roundish anime face don't fit Bayonetta's image at all in my opinion. ^^; I really like the pose, but this is not the figurine I was anticipating for. For most figurines, whatever on display at hobby events are usually just prototypes that would eventually get updated or fixed before the final release. For this Bayonetta figurine, I was thinking she might need a completely new face sculpt to fit her game image. ^^; Given how the whole figurine is already painted and seemingly ready to come out tomorrow, the chance for that design overhaul is pretty slim I suppose. That was before I find out that she's not from Yamato of course. When I did get the chance to see the product label, I did feel a bit relieved (XD), because it seemed that the one I was anticipating was yet to be revealed (for me).

And indeed, just get to see the Yamato version a very short moment ago:


Image is from Akiba Hobby.
In typical Yamato fashion, only the most primitive prototype is shown. I don't think her glasses and eyes are sculptured yet on this prototype. The company is taking a sweet time with this figurine, which is a good thing in my opinion, since there's plenty of time to improve on the overall quality. I've been waiting for this figurine for about two years now, I can handle another long period of delay before the actual publish of release info, pre-order and actual release of the figurine. ^^;

I place so much confidence on Yamato as the maker of this figurine because of their work in the past. I do have one figurine from the company - Hattori Kiriko Ninja Ver., which is just gorgeous. Rei and Asuka from the Creators Labo series are another two really awesome figurines produced by Yamato that I really like.

On a separate note, all the three Yamato figurines mentioned above were sculptured by Mitsumasa Yoshizawa (吉沢光正) from Studio Reflect, who is also in charge of this Bayonetta figurine. That's very much a seal of guarantee right there that she's going to be gorgeous. ^^ I guess with the recent release of Mari Illustrious Makinami, Mitsumasa Yoshizawa has time to resume that Bayonetta figurine project. ^^

By the way, what's with two figurines of Bayonetta announced at the same event? This sudden resurgence of collectibles based on the character seems kind of odd to me, but a nice one nonetheless. ^^