Nendoroid, figma or scale figure: anime figures explained

Nendoroid: small, cute and with swappable parts

Nendoroid is a line from Good Smile Company: chibi-style figures with a big head on a small body. Product names give them as 10 cm tall. What sets them apart are the swappable face plates and parts, such as hands and props, so you can show a character in different poses and with different expressions. A stand is included.

Examples in the catalogue are Joey Wheeler from Yu-Gi-Oh!, Kazuma Kiryu from Yakuza, Okarun and Momo from Dandadan and Tanjiro Kamado from Demon Slayer. Everything is under Nendoroid.

figma: a poseable action figure

figma is a line from Max Factory, released together with Good Smile Company. These are action figures with many joints, so you can move the arms, legs and head. Product names usually give 14 cm, larger characters more: the Skull Knight from Berserk is 17 cm. You get swappable hands, accessories and a stand.

The catalogue includes Doom Slayer from Doom: The Dark Ages, Link from Skyward Sword, Ganondorf from Tears of the Kingdom, Geralt from The Witcher 3 and Mika Misono from Blue Archive. See them all under figma.

Pop Up Parade: a statue without joints

Pop Up Parade is a Good Smile Company line of figures in one fixed pose. They have no joints: you display them as they are. The height differs per figure: product names in our catalogue mostly give 15 to 19 cm, and Ban from The Seven Deadly Sins is 20 cm.

Examples are Yuji Itadori and Megumi Fushiguro from Jujutsu Kaisen, Naruto Uzumaki, Hodaka Morishima from Weathering with You and Sonic the Fighters Ver.. Everything is under Pop Up Parade.

Prize figures: from the crane game to the shop

Prize figures come from Japan, where they are won as prizes in crane games and lotteries. Outside Japan they are sold in shops like any other figure. Banpresto, Bandai Spirits' brand for prize figures, makes many of them, in lines such as Q posket, DXF, Grandista and Match Makers. They are statues in a fixed pose, without joints.

The catalogue includes Shanks (Senkozekkei) and Otama (DXF) from One Piece, Super Saiyan Gogeta (Grandista) from Dragon Ball Super, Sukuna (Qposket) from Jujutsu Kaisen and Eleven (Qposket) from Stranger Things. The overview is under Prize figures.

Scale figures: the ratio in the name

A scale figure carries a ratio in its name, such as 1/7 or 1/8: the figure is then a seventh or an eighth of the character's height. They are statues in a fixed pose with a lot of attention to detail, such as Ryza Reisalin Stout (1/7 Scale) from Atelier Ryza and Tanjiro Hinokami Kagura (1/8) from Demon Slayer.

Under Scale figures our catalogue also lists the Ichibansho statues, such as Trafalgar Law (Masterlise) and Son Goku (VS Red Ribbon Army). They come from Ichiban Kuji, a Bandai Spirits lottery in Japan in which every ticket wins a prize; they carry no scale in the name.

How to choose

• You want to pose and play with stances: figma.
• You want a small, cute character with swappable faces: Nendoroid.
• You want a statue on the shelf, no fuss: Pop Up Parade or a prize figure.
• You want a detailed statue as a centrepiece: a scale figure.

When comparing, check the full name: one character often has several figures in different lines. On Figgli each version has its own product page, so you see prices for exactly that figure. All lines together are under Anime figures.