Last October, it was announced at New York Comic Con that Mondo would be releasing a line of figures based on the iconic Kenner figures. They finally showed off prototypes of their upcoming line at Wondercon over the last weekend of March, and have given us our first glimpse of the approach they’re taking.
Unlike NECA’s more “realistic” take on the Kenner inspiration, Mondo is embracing the original vibe with a smaller scale and more 90s interpretation in Mondo’s vinyl style of figures. Check out these pictures from Gareth Von Kallenbach shared on our Facebook group below!
In addition to the original green inspired version of the Mantis Alien, Mondo will also be releasing a pink “Sakura” variation. The Mantis Alien will be released alongside Corporal Hicks and a facehugger in a special boxset for Mondo’s first Alien release.
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As for the color choices, they often do these vibrant and fun colors first, and then eventually drop a more normal color scheme. Sofubi figures are often vibrant and bright with their colors, not based off of the actual design of the character the figure is based on. Pink cherry blossom colors is a very popular style in the soft vinyl collectors world. If you want the actual Kenner style figures, definitely just find those and you'll get them for much cheaper! You can still find them in package for decent prices too.
And as someone who collects these soft vinyl figures, I do agree there is a price tag sticker shock with these kind of items and I also wish they were cheaper. But the nature of soft vinyl figures make them more pricey. It's one of those situations where I don't love the facts, but I kind of just accept them. Though, once I have a figure I spent that much money on, and see it in hand with the amazing quality, I do feel like I got something good for the price I paid.
You could get all the action figures brand new mint for (wait for it) a pound! (£1 GBP). Only Last Action Hero, Biker Mars From Mars and Bucky O Hare fared worse in the bargain bin.
Neither Ninja Turtles nor Jurassic Park ever befell the same fate.
Its a weird choice tbh especially the pink version
However staying positive i do like seeing any new Alien merchandise
They pay their artists and contractors well and often hire famous artists to work on these sculptures. This one had James Groman involved, who's a really sought-after designer in the collectibles world for his style. These are usually hand sculpted at first to get the mold, then hand painted. Also, these sofubi figures are often released in small batches, so it's a scarcity thing as they do very limited productions on them. And these are often 10" to 12" tall figures too, so they are quite chunky and large.
In Japan, the sofubi style of figures often carries all those traits as well, and Mondo has based their sales of sofubi figures on that tradition.
That said, the Mondo stuff is really, really high quality too, like incredible quality. Some of the best-made stuff in my collection are my Godzilla sofubi pieces by Mondo.
Here's a really informative video on how sofubi-style figures are made, their history and why they are so expensive:
f**king what.
f**king why.