For Beginner Figure Collectors #07: One-coin Figures and Suwarase

By TReina - Friday, April 8, 2016 - No Comments

To All,

I'm finally back with another tutorial and today I will be introducing One-coin figures and Suwarase to everyone. Both of these are from renowned figure companies from higher tiers, with one-coin figures being from Kotobukiya (some of you might recognise that as one of my favorite figure companies) while Suwarase is from Bandai.

One Coin Figures

So, what are these?

One coin figures, which I would be calling One Coins for short, is on of the few cutest chibi figures I own and am able to find on the market. Apart from their smaller size (on par with Nendoroid petites, if not smaller), I find it completely safe to say that Kotobukiya's One Coins line certainly doesn't disappoint!

However, do note that as each One Coin figure is approximately 5.5cm in height, they are definitely smaller than most other figures and would easily be hidden or blocked. Furthermore, a huge collection of One Coins would possibly make your collection look cramped and restricted. But if you are willing to spend time to organize your collection, the height difference and chibi-fied One Coins actually do add a lot of height and variation to your display and would actually greatly enhance your collection!

For me, the main trademark of One Coins would be their eyes! Don't mind me when I dub it as a "white pupil syndrome" as I was initially not very fond of this design, but gradually grown to adore afterward. Another key feature of One Coins would be their face shape, where it's flatter at the chin area. Personally, I find that this actually helps to increase their cuteness factor so I have no complaints! In fact, it felt like everything incorporated into each tiny One Coin figure exists to gear them toward higher levels of cuteness!

I like Murasakibara (purple) and Kise (blond) in this set. Their school uniforms and expressions suit them too well! Truth be told, I initially chanced upon One Coin figures not too long ago when I was searching for Kuroko no Basuke merchandise. Although I didn't manage to get every single figure in this set, it would always have a special place in my heart.

Mekakucity Actors, otherwise known as Kagerou Project, is the only One Coins set which I own all the figures of and I definitely don't regret it. I love all their songs and I was very engaged with their fandom before the anime came out. Although the anime itself did not live up to my expectations (sadly, I felt that the stories depicted through the songs were much better), at least it didn't kill my love for the series.

One Coins also have removable heads, which means that you will be able to change the outfits of your characters and get to see your favorite characters from each series in various outfits!

Suwarase-tai

I'm sure that readers who don't know this line well must be wondering what Suwarase are now and how they differ from One Coins.

Firstly, Suwarase are by Bandai. Though I don't usually look toward Bandai for figures, it is indisputable that Bandai are able to come up with some marvellous and quite detailed figures. Though I have to say that I prefer the amount of quality control, effort and cuteness of One Coins to Suwarase.

Secondly, the trademark of Suwarase lies in the figure's sitting poises, which live up tot heir name ('Suwaru' literally means 'sit') -- pardon the play on words. But yes, all Suwarase figures, so far at least, have been sitting on their bases.

And thirdly, unlike One Coins, most of Suwarase figures come in blind boxes if you pre-order. Usually One Coins would have a full set (with repeats if they need to make up to a certain number of boxes to fit in the larger set packaging). Blind boxes just mean that even if you order the set, there's still a chance to not get a certain character, or get many repeats of the same character. Some people do buy several boxes to increase the chances of them getting all the characters, but neither is a risk I'm willing to take most of the time.

My favourite set of Suwarase would be from the series Daiya no A (otherwise known as Daiya no Ace or Ace of Diamond). For this series, they came in two different sets, the first of the juniors (first and second years) and the second of the seniors (third years).

Of course, if you were to compare the quality of One Coins and Suwarase, I'll say One Coins tend to have better paint jobs. On the other hand, Suwarase are often cheaper and if you believe in your luck, why not pre-order a whole box of Suwarase? It might turn out better than expected!

From Your Fellow Collector
Reina-rin

Written by Reina-rin