[Report] Tamashii Nation 10th World Tour Paris – September 2017

On the weekend of September 14 to 15, 2017, the Bastille Design Center, located at 74 Boulevard Richard Lenoir in the 11th arrondissement of Paris, hosted the French leg of the world tour commemorating the 10th anniversary of Tamashii Nation: the Tamashii Nation World Tour 10th. Tamashii Nation, a subsidiary of Bandai Co., Ltd, offered high quality figurines and statuettes from the flagship licenses of the firm: Dragon Ball, Naruto, The Knights of the Zodiac, One Piece, Sailor Moon, etc.

Thus, on three levels, develop the different universes animated by statuettes of great finesse. Several pieces are presented before their release, including three for the first time in the world.
Collectors can, on this occasion, acquire collectible statuettes for prices ranging from €15 to €200.

THE ENTRANCE

Let's start with the main hall: as soon as we enter, we are greeted on the one hand by the members of the staff, and on the other by life-size replicas of Son Goku's SH Figuarts in Awakening version and the Myth Cloth EX of Aiola of the Lion. What already put us in full view, from the start.

Walking around the ground floor, you can enjoy an exhibition focused on the great nekketsu licenses that are Naruto/Boruto, DBZ and One Piece, although we could clearly feel that the focus was on Masashi Kishimoto's series. We were able to admire Figuarts Zero and S.H Figuarts, some already released, others still in pre-orders, enough to reassure on the quality of the finished product. But the big surprise was the world premiere presentation, no less, of a superb Figuart Zero by Kakashi, Kamui Kizuna version, which is simply excellent and promises to be one of the best, if not the best, replica of the famous ninja. The other characters were not left out, because we could also admire the Figuart Zero of the duo Sasuke/Naruto and Sasuke/Itachi, as successful as each other with their studied pauses and the successful details of the faces. The bi-material side to transcribe the effects of ninja techniques is appreciable.

Going Merry special 20 years-(c)Elfen

One Piece fans were thrilled with a wide variety of exhibits, including new features specially designed for the series' 20th anniversary: a special, customizable version of the Going Merry and beautiful straw hat crew statuettes inspired by Eiichiro Oda's original artwork. 

Looking back, we see that in addition to Goku and the lion's armor, other statues are watching us; namely Luffy and Chopper for One Piece, as well as this dear Naruto, but in Shippuden version, it is still too early for the Hokage.

THE BASEMENT

Let's go to the basement where the exhibition continues. When you arrive, you can already admire the 12 golden knights gathered around a replica of Yggdrasill. Between the big bulb at the top of the tree and the knights flashy like a Christmas garland, there was enough to make the mirettes sparkle.

In the windows on the left were presented some figurines of Disney licenses, including Star Wars and Marvel with different characters in the range of S.H Figuarts, Meishou Movie Realization (Samurai version for simplicity) as Spidey, Darth Vader or Jango Fett. The Samurai series featuring DC comics or Star Wars characters in armor … of Samuraï, offers models that are both original and very detailed. Iron Man and Spider Man are already available for sale and the others, in preview, are already salivating. Tamashii Nation's designers are credited with integrating the most iconic elements of each character into a medieval Japanese style.

Always on the left, we had something for all generations with Grandizer, Digimon (the figurines are transformable) and for the youngest, Cars.

We go to the other side of Yggrasill to return to Saint Seiya, with the prototype of Minos from the Griffon, which many are waiting for pre-order, as well as other knights, and even a more surprising proposal like this Saori Kido and this God Abel covered with fabric costumes.Last but not least, Sailor Moon (there are not only shônen in life). 

Among the Sailor Moon presented, some caught our attention, especially Sailor Saturn and Sailor Pluto from the Figuarts Zero collection with their slender pose, highlighted by the movement of hair and skirts with iridescent patterns. The faces are very successful, especially that of Sailor Pluto, gently melancholic. Both models will be available in November 2017 and March 2018.

^1ST FLOOR

We go back upstairs, starting on the right where the exhibition dedicated to One Piece was waiting for us. On several meters were exposed the Zero Figuarts of the license, following the chronology of the series with notes recalling the great arcs of the work of Eichiro Oda. We have seen the impressive amount of characters released so far.

And on the other side of the stairs, the sales part, where Tamashii Nation had both exhibited all the pieces on sale, but also left almost all the products in self-service. Enough to prevent sellers from getting lost in customers' shopping lists, and which also confirmed the quality of the figurines that attracted us.

Exclusives

Three figures are unveiled for the first time: two from the Naruto universe and one from the One Piece license. Favorite for Kakashi, already mentioned.

MANGA STORY EXHIBITION

Meanwhile, a few hundred meters away, boulevard Voltaire, was also held another Tamashii Nation exhibition. Here too, we were greeted by another golden armor of the Lion, but this time in Soul of Gold version, rather impressive. And knowing that the entrance was wide open to the street, needless to say, passers-by immediately noticed the beast.

When we returned, we immediately came across the various windows dedicated to all Bandai licenses, namely Saint Seiya, Naruto, DBZ, Sailor Moon, but also Suicide Squad, Avengers or Ninja Turtles.

In the end, even if there are common presentations, we could also see new things. Thus, as you will have understood, this exhibition offered a wide variety of figurines and statuettes for collectors, some of which are already extremely rare. Fans of Bandai's biggest licenses were sure to find one to their liking. And you, you fell for one or more figurines? What caught your eye? For our part, the crush goes without surprise to Kakashi Kamui Kizuna, even if the duo Sasuke / Itachi did not leave us indifferent. 

Article co-authored by Elfen and Sandra B.