SDCC 2026: Bandai Namco Toys & Collectibles America Returns

Bandai Namco Toys & Collectibles America Inc. (BNTCA) returns to San Diego Comic-Con with immersive exhibits, photo ops, displays, workshops, and event exclusives featuring fan-favorite properties such as Dragon Ball, Naruto and Godzilla. BNTCA will also showcase new products from GUNDAM, TAMASHII NATIONS, and Tamagotchi. There is something for everyone and attendees won't want to miss this incredible spectacle on display.

Bandai Namco Filmworks and Fathom Entertainment Present a Gundam Double Feature

Bandai Namco Filmworks and Fathom Entertainment, the leading specialty distributor of content to theatrical partners worldwide, announced today the upcoming launch of Gundam Premiere Night, a double Gundam feature film event January 12-13 and 15, 2026.

The Gundam Premiere Night double feature will showcase the theatrical premieres of Special Edition: Mobile Suit Gundam Iron-Blooded Orphans Urdr-Hunt "-Path of the Little Challenger-" followed by the epic Mobile Suit Gundam Wing Endless Waltz Special Edition newly remastered in 4K. As a special bonus, the special 10th Anniversary of “Wedge of Interposition” will be offered as bonus content following Special Edition: Mobile Suit Gundam Iron-Blooded Orphans Urdr-Hunt "-Path of the Little Challenger-."

GUNDAM CARD GAME Set to Launch on December 8

In T-minus twenty days the GUNDAM CARD GAME will launch at Johnson Space Center in Houston, home of NASA’s Mission Control Center and the perfect backdrop for the world premiere of BANDAI CARD GAMES’ brand-new trading card game (TCG) based on the global hit anime series “Mobile Suit Gundam.” BANDAI CARD GAMES staff and executives will host an invited audience comprised of press, influencers, and retailers for an immersive GUNDAM experience showcasing the new card game. Guests at the special world premiere event will be among the first to ever play the new GUNDAM CARD GAME—before the North American launch of its Edition Beta product in January 2025, and well ahead of its full global release later that year.

The Gundam Base Mobile USA Tour

Bandai Namco Toys & Collectibles America ("BNTCA") is set to embark cross country with the Gundam Base Mobile USA Tour, kicking off at the Las Vegas Grand Prix in Las Vegas from November 16, 2023. Here fans will get hands-on experience with Gunpla workshops, purchase exclusive model kits, and take part in various activities including unique photo-ops, playing video games and more! Additional Gunpla model kits will be available for purchase online. The Gundam Base Mobile USA Tour will make its final stop at Fan Expo in New Orleans, Louisiana, January 5-7, 2024.

Toy Fair 2023: Bandai on Dragonball Z, Gundam, Godzilla, Disney, Anime & More

This October is a constant game of catch up with Toy Fair 2023 and New York Comic Con booked BACK to BACK...for whatever reason. Insanity over logic? PERHAPS! Whatever the reasoning, we are neck deep in geek news while the spookiest of seasons begs our attention like an adorable kitten in a Dracula costume mewing at our feet. Today, we are crunching video shot by Jonathan and Meghan as they sped across the Toy Fair show floor, feverishly working to bring you the best possible coverage of all the companies we know and love. Every year, it's like a massive family reunion with endless cousins we are charged to photograph, all screaming LOOK WHAT WE CAN DO!! It's exhausting...it's never-ending...and it's really cool!

SDCC 2013: Bluefin/ Tamashii Nations Exclusives

Bluefin Distribution will have 2 booths this year for San Diego Comic-Con 2013, Booth #140 and Booth #3545.  They are divided by the different Bandai Departments with each department offering their own exclusives.

Tamashii Nations items will only be sold at Tamashii Nations booth #3545

Exclusives from Bandai Hobby and Bandai Shokugan will only be available at Bluefin booth #140

There is a limit of 1 per person only for Exclusives from Bandai Hobby.
There is an opportunity to receive an autograph from Jason David Frank after purchasing S.H. Figuarts Green Ranger and the special stand set. Details on number of attendees for autographs and autograph location are still pending.
Megaforce Power Rangers will appear at Booth #3545 throughout the 4 days of the con.  Times will be posted at booth.

Action Figures Force Japanese Families to Bond

They may call them "figurines" like the old folks do, but DPA cranked out a fairly amusing article about how toys are forcing families to get closer...because they can't afford to do anything else.

Tokyo - At Hakuhinkan Toy Park, a shop on chic Ginza Street, visitors from home and abroad are welcomed by mountains of toys, the latest gadgets and figurines of popular anime cartoon characters. To some people's surprise, many of those who eye up the toys here are adults, including some businessmen in dark suits. That seems to reflect a trend, as major toy makers release more toys targeted at not only children but their parents in an aging society with fewer children. Ironically, the nation's economic downturns have helped push up sales of certain types of toys. Instead of spending money traveling or going to an amusement or theme park, more parents and their children are staying at home playing games.

Cookery sets have been popular among such families and can also help strengthen family ties, toymakers say. Mothers and daughters team up to make crepes, cookies, sushi and bread with the gadgets. "The key words are low cost and high value," Chie Yamada, a public relations executive at major toy maker Takara Tomy, said. "The toy sets are not expensive, about 20 to 40 dollars per unit."A set typically comprises a shaker, measuring cup, tray, wrapping papers and recipes. The food is then cooked in the family's oven or stove. "Mothers and daughters enjoy cooking and learning together. As such toys can offer a variety of recipes, they also help children unleash creativity," said Yamada. Mai Mabuchi, a public relations executive at Bandai Co Ltd, said the toymaker had sold more than half a million of its "Cook Joy" range of toys. A sushi-roll-making set is one of the most popular. Bandai wants to expand sales of "Cook Joy" overseas and has seen steadily rising sales since the sushi roll maker was launched in South Korea in June 2008, Mabuchi said. The toy maker is to introduce the "Cook Joy" crepe or bread maker in the US and European markets this autumn.

Fathers' absences from home have long been a social problem in Japan. But these days, some toys such as popular anime hero figures help fathers and sons to come closer, toymakers say. Last year, many fathers celebrated with their sons the 30th anniversary of Gundam, one of the country's oldest and most popular anime heroes. Gundam's first show aired in 1979, when many of today's fathers were young boys.

There are even toys that may foster closer ties between dogs and owners. Takara Tomy introduced Bowlingual Voice in August 2009, a new iteration of a gadget that can analyze a dog's bark to detect its emotion. It has a price tag of 19,950 yen (221 dollars). In 2002, the toy maker sold 300,000 of the first Bowlingual dog translator devices worldwide. Bowlingual Voice, an upgraded device, consists of a tiny wireless microphone that can be attached to a dog's collar to capture its barks and whines. The latest version was co-designed by an audio researcher and a veterinarian to analyze and interpret the acoustics of a dog's bark. "In the midst of a faltering economy and growing are turn to family' sentiment, there are more and more people who are finding comfort and peace of mind by making a heartfelt connection with their pets and family," Takara Tomy said in its statement.