While the unprecedented mega hero movie "the Avengers: Age of Ultron" is sweeping the world, here in the Bandai Co., Ltd. headquarters building in Asakusa, Tokyo, men who love MARVEL heroes and the Avengers are innocently ASSEMBLE. ! The first ever cross-talk between figure planners and movie treasure writers. The present and future of toys are so exciting! !

-- (Looking at samples on the table) Mr. Ginty, Robin, S.H.Figuarts" the Avengers" how do you feel about the actual 1/12 scale figure series?

Ginti Kobayashi (following Ginti):First of all, regarding Iron Man, we were talking around about how it would be great if a toy maker that we have been familiar with since we were little could make a figure that feels more like a "toy" than a figure, just like the "metal heroes" (ex. Space Sheriff Gavan, etc.) that we have been familiar with. I was talking about it, and now this S.H.Figuarts series is realizing it. And now the members of the Avengers are all here, and it's really wonderful, isn't it?

Robin Maeda (following Robin):When it comes to TAMASHII NATIONS (figure), you have to open it up and take it out, mess up the futon and make it a battlefield! I feel like that (laughs).

Ginti:I'm good at playing! I feel it 's.

──I would like to ask Mr. Terano, who is in charge of figure product planning for the "the Avengers" series. When did the commercialization of "the Avengers: Age of Ultron" start?

Akira Terano (following Terano):We received an offer around July of last year. Until now, S.H.Figuarts had only developed the "Iron Man" series, but now we asked if we could do the Avengers 2 with other characters as well. Plus, this time we will have a Hulkbuster! I'll do it! (laughs).

Ginti:Ever since "Iron Man" was made into a live-action film, everyone has been waiting for Hulkbuster. Hulkbuster is the first person to jump to when you see Igor in Iron Man 3! He said.

── when I first saw the design of the Hulk Buster, Did you think about the Terano's?

Terano:After all, since it will be a video, the amount of information has increased overwhelmingly compared to the comic design, and it is worth making it three-dimensional. However, I received several types of materials before the final draft, so I didn't know which one was the final one, so this is it! ? I tried to design it, but the design was not the final Iron Man.

Robin:When a document is viewed in a list of appearance characters we arrived, now what kind of feeling?

Terano:Wow full are! Before commercialization, put out a total of so movie with one of the movie? (Laughs).

Ginti:Enviable! Design Toka quickly seen to.

Terano:But also ...... place lonely as a fan. After all, we want excitement I want commotion in the same way as everyone on time.

──Mr. Terano, I hear that you have a strong attachment to MARVEL works and the Avengers. Please tell us about the depth of your thoughts and the process leading up to commercialization.

Terano:I fell in love with the animated versions of "Batman" and "X-Men" in the 90s, and I wanted the Japanese translation of the X-Men series that Shogakukan published at the time... but I couldn't afford it at the time, so I collected almost everything that had been translated into Japanese when I became a college student. After that, Jive, Ko-Pro, and Village Books started to publish a variety of them, so I started buying them again. S.H.Figuarts It was also around that time that I started Iron Man.
That's why I love the concept of a universe, so I couldn't help but be attracted to MARVEL Studios' work, which develops crossovers that jump over works, and I've been a fan since the beginning. To achieve this, we are first commercializing Mark 6 and War Machine from Iron Man 2. In terms of timing, it was around the time Iron Man 3 was released. Aren't those two characters at the end of "Iron Man 2" a double rider, (Iron Man and War Machine) fighting back to back? You know how to direct Japanese tokusatsu, don't you?

Ginti:Up until then, American comic hero movies hadn't had a clear cut, but from "Iron Man" they started to make a clear cut.

Terano:oh yeah! Everyone around me, including myself, was excited about Iron Man 2, so we started at the point where we had no choice but to make a figure. It was just the start of "Iron Man is a metal hero, isn't it?", so at that stage we hadn't even considered commercializing characters from other works. I like MARVEL, so I wanted to release it someday (laughs). And when the Avengers 1 was released, Mark 42 was commercialized. Hulkbuster appears in the Avengers 2 in such a way! After listening to the story, I decided that I would make the entire Iron Man series, including the Avengers at best, and at least the Hulkbuster. After that, we were able to line up so far with the enthusiasm and guts and the cooperation of everyone involved.

── About the latest Iron Man suit Mark 45.

Ginti:As seen in the figure fan site overseas, or such cool to! I thought I. Do you say the goodness of massive curve. The thickness of the chest even though I like, it's face has become sharper.

── At first glance, but it is felt likely to go into space.

Terano:In terms of comics, I like Aix birds mistake armor. Nurun, and to have been as much as possible stick sharp because the silhouette was. Of course, you can floor Don.

Ginti:The hobby of Tony Stark, who decided on the coloring by looking at HOT ROD of the car in Iron Man 1, is clearly shown.

Robin:Do this Idzubuchi hole you know the original design?
(Note: often seen in designer Izubuchi Yutaka of the mechanical design, arranged a round hole in the five trapezoidal design)

Terano:It is the original design. I guess that butyrate hole came Why here (laughs).

─ ─ Compared to the initial "S.H.Figuarts Iron Man Mark 6", are there any evolutions in the 43 and 45 this time around?

Terano:Evolving. Things like how to take proportions have gotten better since Mark 6. Even though I'm familiar with hero figures, Iron Man moves well anyway, so I started with the Mark 6, focusing on movement and texture, and added that feedback to the Mark 42, and made improvements each time. increase. The latest is the Mark 45 this time.

── Hulkbuster is a hybrid of SHFiguarts and superalloy, which is a big deal. Did you have this specification in mind from the beginning?

Terano:There was nothing at all. I was making it while imagining it would be about this size based on the original Hulkbuster, but every time I saw the PV and materials, I realized that this guy is a pretty big character. When it gets bigger, it won't be strong enough unless you use alloy for the frame. So, I decided to use alloy for the frame as a base. However, I didn't want to call it CHOGOKIN just by using alloy, so I wanted a toy-like ver. A.N.I.M.E., so I thought, "Well, let's make it glow!" What I wanted to do from the beginning was to have it fight Hulk. In that case, I wanted the legs to stand strong, so I made moving joints based on the premise that it would move, chose a fun part that glows, and used alloy to further enhance the texture.

Ginti:Naa amazing, posing is! I'm moving a finger!

Terano:Fingers are fully movable. I thought I would definitely need a repulsor pose in Iron Man. Also, I often do it with Gundam, but when I bend my knees, the armor here slides...

(A while to say, Terano to put a strong force pose to Hulk Buster)

Everyone:Cool! Messed up I want! !

Ginti:Valiant!

-- The Hulkbuster is difficult to move, but you made it as mobile as possible. I think that this is packed with techniques that only TAMASHII NATIONS can do, but please tell us more about the difficulties you faced and the attention to detail you paid to the Hulkbuster's moving ver. A.N.I.M.E..

Terano:The biggest difference between this robot and a normal robot is that it's "thick". The torso is thick, and so are the elbows and knees. When trying to move it around, we had to work hard to adjust the axis placement, choose materials for strength, and add details to the back side that would otherwise be visible. On top of that, we intentionally put in an axis at an angle so that the arms would come out at a powerful angle in the shoulder drawers, and we incorporated the sliding armor ver. A.N.I.M.E. I showed you earlier in order to reduce the exposure of the inside when the knees are bent.

── again, when I saw the scene that are fighting the Hulk and the Hulk Buster in the first trailer video, everyone whether seemed?

Ginti:'re Ahead of the spare parts is amazing Do me behind. The part of the people is Hulk Buster Is not call me "wok". To the wok feeling it is properly represented.

Robin:But I had seen in the secretly small window in the company, it had ended up saying "ribbit!". But I was there a pretty (on the way out) anxiety, OK it looks like if put out at the service.

Ginti:Only it is decorated in the warehouse, such like (laughs).

Terano:Iron Man is riding inside, it's crazy! The feeling of size is completely different from what I am making now, what should I do .... So, I tried various considerations, but it was not a volume that could fit 43 no matter what I did, and I was even more troubled. Below the knee, you'll break! (laughs)

── Ginti's, Robin's. I think I want to play with Hulk Buster!

Robin:I want to play Japan Mini!

Ginti:But I'm returning to me suddenly, I though it is 43 years (laughs).

──Mr. Terano and TAMASHII NATIONS have a strong desire to play that way.

Terano:I agree. There is a high commodity, Nde toy shop, we.

Robin:I want to look at all the time by Nekkoroga' (laughs).

Ginti:I'm happy that the Avengers are coming out of Bandai's TAMASHII NATIONS, which I've been taught emotionally since I was little.

── Please leave a message to the fans.

Terano:Witnessing Robin and Mr. Ginti's hilarity sore, it was honestly happy. Always in each other Semegi of their own to consider Warikiri of as their own and a toy-loving work, things go very convincing as a toy was able to make. Not a cheap commodity, but everyone who came with a jerk watching a movie, we would appreciate your consideration once.

S.H.Figuarts The "pursuit of character representation by the movable" to the theme, is "modeling" "movable" Standard figure series of palm-sized condensed the technology of the "colored" Toara loose figure.

CHOGOKIN A series of die-cast toys that started with the blockbuster hit "CHOGOKIN MAZINGER Z," released in 1974. In addition to the exterior reproduction made of composite materials including die-cast, it is equipped with character-specific gimmicks such as firing, combining, and transforming. The concept, design, and execution of this pioneering toy series gave birth to the CHOGOKIN category of toys.

©MARVEL