S.H.FIGUARTS
S.H.Figuarts (standing for 'Simple Style and Heroic Action Figures') is a flagship 1/12 scale action figure line produced by Bandai Spirits under the Tamashii Nations division. Launched in February 2008 for adult collectors aged 15 and up, the line is renowned for high-end posability, accurate screen sculpts, and dynamic joint articulation across anime, tokusatsu, Western cinema, and video game franchises.
Cronologia
Panoramica
S.H.Figuarts, an acronym for 'Simple Style and Heroic Action Figures,' is a premium line of adult collectible action figures created by Bandai and produced under its Bandai Spirits / Tamashii Nations division.
Standard figures in the lineup are rendered in approximately 1/12 scale, measuring between 14 to 16 centimeters (5.5 to 6 inches) in height.
Designed specifically for collectors aged 15 and older, the brand emphasizes superior dynamic articulation, screen-accurate character sculpts, and interchangeable accessories such as hands, facial expressions, and effect parts. The line was created as the technical and spiritual successor to Bandai's older Souchaku Henshin figure series, abandoning heavy die-cast armor gimmicks to focus on realistic human and character anatomy with seamless mobility. Positioned as Bandai's primary high-end articulated action figure brand, S.H.Figuarts bridges traditional Japanese anime and tokusatsu pop culture with major Hollywood film franchises, Western comic books, and international video games.
Storia
S.H.Figuarts launched in February 2008 with figures from the movie Kamen Rider THE NEXT, establishing a foundation in tokusatsu that quickly expanded to TV series such as Kamen Rider Kabuto, Den-O, and Kiva. In 2009, the brand entered anime with Dragon Ball Z (starting with Piccolo) alongside Pretty Cure and Code Geass, followed by Super Sentai and One Piece in 2010.
Over time, Bandai expanded the brand by absorbing sister lines: the video game line D-Arts merged into S.H.Figuarts around 2014, while the Ultraman-focused Ultra-Act was retired and folded into the line in 2016.
In November 2011, the kaiju-centric sub-line S.H.MonsterArts was introduced, and in March 2014, Bandai launched its flagship sub-line S.H.Figuarts (Shinkocchou Seihou), which engineers figures from an internal anatomical skeleton prototype outward. Global expansion accelerated as Bandai acquired major Western licenses, entering the Marvel Cinematic Universe in 2014, Star Wars in 2015, the DC Extended Universe and Street Fighter V in 2017, and Harry Potter in 2018. Recent years have seen an anime renaissance within the line through contemporary franchises like Jujutsu Kaisen, Demon Slayer, Chainsaw Man, Spy x Family, Berserk, Bleach, Kaiju No. 8, and Frieren, alongside continuous technical overhauls like the '2.0 Body' and '3.0 Body' joint systems.
I PEZZI DI S.H.FIGUARTS
Collezionismo
S.H.Figuarts is widely regarded as a premier choice for 1/12 scale collectors due to its expansive roster of official licenses across Japanese anime, tokusatsu, Western film, and gaming properties. Collectors value the line for its balance of expressive posability, seamless joint engineering, and screen-accurate proportions. The introduction of the Shinkocchou Seihou ('True Bone Carving Method') sub-line has set a gold standard in the hobby by sculpting figures outward from an internal anatomical skeleton prototype.
In terms of market value, event-exclusive releases—such as San Diego Comic Con figures like Kabukimono Deadpool—and discontinued sub-lines like D-Arts and Ultra-Act frequently command strong secondary market premiums. Early releases from long-running lines like Dragon Ball Z and first-edition Kamen Rider figures also maintain high demand among completionist collectors. Bandai Spirits actively manages aftermarket accessibility through scheduled re-releases and mechanical upgrades (such as '2.0 Body' and '3.0 Body' redesigns), allowing collectors ongoing opportunities to obtain key figures.
Bandai completely absorbed two distinct sister lines—D-Arts (video games) in 2014 and Ultra-Act (Ultraman) in 2016—directly into S.H.Figuarts.
