Wonder Festival 2024 anime character introduction event [Mùa đông] has arrived and the latest anime characters are also on display. But can you find vintage images at the festival? Well, it all depends on what exactly you are looking for.
The biennial Wonder Festival always showcases the latest and greatest recent anime, manga, and video game characters. But what about the numbers for fans of the classic series? It all depends on how you define retro and what exactly you want. Are you looking for official classic series figures, classic series remakes, or unique and original classic series figures from an independent seller? If it’s not any of those things, it’s probably a vintage figure of a classic series from a dealer. And what exactly is a retro series? Thankfully, Wonder Festival 2024 [Mùa đông] has covered all those fronts. The real question is whether it’s worth the time and effort to look for that character at the event.
When it comes to the question of what exactly is a classic, we’re looking at anime and video games from the 2000s that are more than 15 to 20 years old. This would make the series older than 2009 classic at the earliest. But honestly, this seems a little too modern when you look at series like K-ON!, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Summer Wars and Evangelion: 2.0 You Can [Not] Advance, among many other series. So, we’ll be looking at anime series that were made before and ended before the year 2000. Isn’t that a bit arbitrary? Unfortunately that’s true. But those are the breaks.
So, now that we know what makes a classic series for this article, you can find the numbers for classic anime series at Wonder Festival, in this case Wonder Festival 2024 [Winter] Are not? The simple answer is yes. But it summarizes exactly what you’re looking for.
It will be easier for you to look for new official characters of the classic classic series and remakes. Wonder Festival always showcases thousands of official characters. Among them there are always new characters from classic series and remakes. In fact, at previous Magicfests, you could find these characters scattered across different booths, such as Good Smile Company.
Wonder Festival 2024 [Mùa đông] is no different. Although you’ll have to walk the floor a bit, characters range from Fist of the North Star, Kinnikuman, Mazinger Z, Gunbuster and older series like Astro Boy to some obscure anime like Jarinko Chie or robot anime from the early to mid-1990s had a good showing at the event. Not to mention the large number of classic tokusatsu characters from Shonen creator Ric. That’s right, Wonder Festival 2024 [Winter] has celebrated the 40th anniversary of Fist of the North Star, so this time finding characters from that series will be a little easier. However, in general, official classic anime characters aren’t too hard to find. Just do a little investigation.
Photo by Ken Iikura-Gross Astro Boy from Astro Boy. Image by: Blitzway Japan Photo by Ken Iikura-Total From left to right: Voltron from Voltron: Defender of the Universe, Tekkaman from Tekkaman, Space Knight, Tekkaman Metallic Edition from Tekkaman, Space Knight, Megaman from the Megaman video game series, Dancougar from Dancougar-Super Beast Machine God, Tekkaman Blade from Tekkaman Blade, Galient from Panzer World Galient, Scopedog from Armored Trooper Votoms, and Rabidly Dog from Armored Trooper Votoms. Figure of: three zeros Photo by Ken Iikura-General Noriko Takaya from Gunbuster. Image courtesy of: Union:Creative Photo by Ken Iikura-Gross Antonio Jr. and Kotetsu form Jarinko Chie. Figures of fewture Photo by Ken Iikura-Gross Kyōko Otonashi from Maison Ikkoku. Pictured below: Evidence Photo by Ken Iikura-Gross Da-Garn X in The Brave Fighter of Legend Da-Garn, Fighbird in The Brave Fighter of Sun Fighbird, and Might Gaine in The Brave Express Might Gaine. Data from: Good Smile Company. Photo by Ken Iikura-Gross Mamiya from Fist of the North Star. Image by: SpiceSeed
Even images of classic anime remakes are not difficult to find. This is mainly due to the immense popularity of Neon Genesis Evangelion and the Rebuild series. For the most part, however, many Evangelion figures have been displayed at previous Wonder Festivals. So you won’t see much new there. In contrast, Wonder Festival 2024 [Winter] there was a small show about characters from the series such as Urusei Yatsura and Rurouni Kenshin. Like classic anime characters, you can find new material based on classic series remade. Even though it takes a while, it’s still worth going to Wonder Festival because you never know exactly what you’ll find in terms of classic images and remastered classic properties.
Photo by Ken Iikura-Gross Himura Kenshin from Rurouni Kenshin. Image by: Aniplex Photo by Ken Iikura-Gross Lum in Urusei Yatsura (2023). Image courtesy: Max Factory
However, independent sellers are a completely different breed of worm. Home to around 70 official booths, you’re looking at more than 1,500 independent vendors at any given Magic Festival. So it stands to reason that independent sellers carry more classic anime characters. Sadly, this is not the case, as sellers are often split between original characters unrelated to the anime property and those that are. And among the independent sellers that display anime-inspired figures, only a few create figures based on classic anime series. Honestly, I only found four independent sellers of classic anime figures at Wonder Festival 2024 [Mùa đông]. This means, at best, 0.3% of independent sellers sell figures based on classic series. These aren’t the best odds, to say the least, but when you find someone selling original vintage figures, it’s a real treat. However, considering the time and effort it takes to find those sellers, you may want to stay home.
Photo by Ken Iikura-Gross Joe Yabiki from Ashita no Joe. Pictured below: Himeka Photo by Ken Iikura-Gross VF-25 Savior from Super Dimensional Fortress Macross. Pictured below: Real NoppoSanzu Photo by Ken Iikura-Gross Casshan from Casshan. Image courtesy: SynQ Lab Photo by Ken Iikura-Gross From left to right: Kei and Yuri from Dirty Pair. Pictured below:Kogemaguro Photo by Ken Iikura-Gross Mazinger Z from Mazinger Z. Photo by: Turquoise Rock
That leaves only a handful of resellers who set up shop at Wonder Festival every year. These groups often occupy a corner of the independent seller hall, making them relatively easy to find. However, the concern here is that a large percentage of dealers sell plastic model kits. Yes, you’ll find sprites scattered throughout the model kits, but these kits take center stage. And even among those kits, you have to dig deep, and I mean deep, to find a classic kit. So there’s no guarantee you’ll find what you want from a reseller at Wonder Festival. It is now easier to find online retailers of classic anime figures.
Photo by Ken Iikura-Gross Top: Dragonar 2 set (XFMA-09 FALGUEN, YDMA-08A Gelf, YAMA-08B GELF-B and YRMA-08C GELF-C) from Metal Armor Dragonar. Bottom (from left to right): Nadia la Arwall from Nadia-Secret of Blue Water, VF-1J Valkyrie from Super Dimensional Fortress Macross and VIFAM Set 2 (FAM-RV-5/LF + FAM-SP-5 NEOFAM with SLING PANNIER, FAM-RV-S1T + FAM-SP-11 TORUNFAM with SLING PANNIER, TWINKLE PUPPET HEAD EVA-WP-6000 WEAR and ARV-F ASTROGATER TYPE RECON) from Ginga Hyōryū Vifam. Reseller: Boost Gear
You can find characters based on classic anime at Wonder Festival. However, as stated above, what you are looking for will change how easy it is for you to find something. Official sellers almost always have something, even if it’s not exactly what you want. This makes the trip to the event worth it. Especially if we consider retro as something 15 years old or older, you will find content. But if you’re looking for a figure based on classic anime from an independent seller, you’ll have a hard time finding something you like. It might not be something you expected, but the time seems unaffordable, at least to this writer. And if you are interested in a retailer of vintage anime figures, you can’t go to Wonder Festival and shop online, even if it comes at a high price. However, if you want to find or get a first look at the characters from the classic animated series, Wonder Festival has you covered. Just remember that it may take you longer to find those figures than you’d like.