A new line of figures by Bandai Tamashii Nations has been teased. It is called "Imagination Works" and Goku will be the first release. That’s about all we know so far.

Now, looking at the picture - it's obviously an articulated figure, there are hinges visible on the wrists and hips + cuts at the upper thighs.

But - no elbow joints. No torso cut. The arms from the shoulder down look suspiciously different in color however. Could this be their first foray into a "seamless"-kind of figure? Maybe the arms and his orange gi are made out of a flexible rubber that conceals the joints beneath them?

We'll find out soon I guess.

https://tamashii.jp/special/imaginationworks/

That could be interesting. 1/9 scale as well, so about 8" tall or so depending on character. Thanks for the heads up!

This seems pretty cool. Already jumped into the figuarts line for DBZ years ago so not sure this will replace anything, but may be a nice 1-off piece. Hope they use material that will last and not degrade like rubber.

Yeah this isn't supposed to replace anything; it's just another way for them to sell the same character in a new form.

Depending on how well this turns out I'd love to see this expanded to the many other franchises they have licenses for.

I can't really say anything. That's a Goku right there.

This is cool. Depending on the detail and price and accessories I'll get these. I'll be the first to write that "if it's not 6" to fit with my Marvel Legends then I'm out"( just kidding, but its gonna happen)

I remember them showing off a clear seemless body a while ago. Cool to see it being implemented with DBZ. I might grab some of bigger alien characters in the future. Ngl, the preview looks promising though

Any pics of that body? Curious to see how it looked.

Weird thing - not seamless. The bicep - shoulder has a cut and looks to be two different materials - light reflects different showing color difference. Also joints at the wrist.

Clothes look plastic, and have cuts too, can see them at the hip and legs.

So, other than the arm from the shoulder to the wrist - nothing is seamless or using softgoods.

I'd be ok for a couple key guys if it's nice head to toe, but this is not a deep roster thing.

The pictures aren't great. Also, those were Figuarts, this new line is a bigger scale.

Interesting

I already have a bunch of SHFiguarts and I miss some characters, so I'll pass on that. Looks cool though.

Full reveal - it is indeed a "seamless"-kind of figure. Semi seamless at least, the upper body uses flexible material to conceal the elbow and torso joints.

The legs feature a gimmick were if you bend them the kneecap-portion gets pushed out to keep the silhouette intact.

It includes both normal and Super Saiyan heads, but the eyes interchange separately from the faces, you get 2 facial expressions for each form with three different eyes for each.

Size is, as guessed, 1/9-scale so around 180cm. it will be a retail release in October for around ¥11000, pre-orders go up this Friday.

https://tamashii.jp/special/imaginationworks/
https://tamashii.jp/item/13280/

Thanks for the heads up!

Figure looks good. I'd be ok with a couple in this format, but do not want to go deep roster with it, I hope they don't go there. 100 bucks or more after import/shipping is tough.

I don't quite get the seamless arms, when multiple other skin points are not, neck wrists. The gi is detached, but not sure about the blue shirt. If so, is there a silicone body torso under there? And then the legs go full plastic articulation style.

Overall it looks good, just not sure if the extra seamless on the arms is worth it.

In addition, for photography - the different material types being used for same elements - aka silicone upper gi and plastic lower pants, silicone arms running into plastic shoulder and fists - that will absorb and reflect light differently and be noticeable. The pros here did a good job, but the average fan messing around with it on Instagram etc will probably run into issues, they will display as different colors. Even their promo pic from a while back showed the arm/shoulder difference.

This is all speculation, won't fully know how stark that all is until it's in hand.

Bandai being just silly again.
they keep opening new lines but not stick to it.
latest example is their So-Do candy toy line
The DBZ ones look decent, then oh check out the rider ones and ultraman ones. Then later retooled, rider ones like oh more paint and new mould.
on look we added transparent eyes to ultraman ones but not the kamen rider ones. etc etc = =



This feels like a retooled SHF & MG model kit bashed together.
wit just the elbows being seamless... what about the upper arm? or the neck?
i mean just commit to the style... it's not like bandai is poor or anything.

once people buy this and they release a few more, they will announce an Imagination Works Version 2! seem less cloths added.

Maybe at some point they'll just spend some investment dollars into recreating his clothing style with cloth. Some of the poses really make the knee area look terrible.

I'm all for the experimentation. Hopefully eventually technology and materials will get to the point where it's cheap and durable to make more smaller seamless figures.

My wife bought the Mezco seamless 1989 Batman for my next b-day, and I'm cautiously optimistic about that. Hyperreal Vader was a tad bit a letdown, but the tbleague seamless male and female bodies look good in a variety of poses, unfortunately many of the faces lack any emotion or personality.

I'm all in for clever engineering, the knees on this figure for example, but - it's uncalled for. This kind of stuff belongs on robots or mechanical beings which actually work this way, not on human legs under pants.

Cloth would’ve really been the way to go here. That and a seamless skin for the entire figure, not just the elbows.

It’s a weird experiment for sure but maybe it works out. Personally I see this as a one-off like that special electronic Godzilla figure they did years ago. Just a way to test the market and see what customers like and what they don’t like.

the beauty of the seamless skin used on the elbows contrasted against the hideously articulated legs is really night and day. does anyone think those legs look good? visible articulation is really holding back collector toys like this in a major way, visually, imo

Oh that's very cool. I just don't think I can start collecting DBZ again. No room and no money

The fact that many companies have started experimenting with hidden and novel articulation makes this a great time to be a collector. Mezco and Phicene are doing amazing things to hide the articulation under cloth or within the figure itself. Even Hasbro has dabbled in this area with the HyperReal line of which I'm very happy with the Vader.

I commend Bandai for trying a new knee design. I've never been a fan of the typical double jointed design since it looks so disjointed when bent. It really only works when the figure has knee and elbow pads. I'm not sure if I'd say that Bandai has succeeded since I think it is probably the extreme puffiness of the pant leg design that is allowing them to achieve a somewhat more smooth looking bend. I think all the different panels and cuts that are present will be really apparent in-person.

Normal Goku really needs a happy face. Same mistake they made with the original figuarts version of him.

The pose where his crotch is exposed is jarring with the non sculpted areas at the grin creases being exposed.

So... are preorders already sold out?

This can only get better for Figure collecting. From the pictures, Goku looks/works really well.

Our set for this guy is up today:

Imagination Works Goku – 1/9 Scale Dragonball Z – In Hand Gallery