Good Smile Company Figures: Lines, Sizes and How to Pick

What Good Smile Company makes

Good Smile Company makes collectible figures and plastic model kits. In our data the Good Smile catalog covers chibi figures, anime figures, posable action figures, a soft vinyl figure, display stands and MODEROID kits. Good Smile figures are a big catalog, so most people meet the brand through one line first and then wander.

The grid above shows the Good Smile listings we track on Amazon US, with the brand's own products first. Below I walk the lines one at a time. For each, I'll say what the listings state, who that line suits, and who should keep walking.

One honest note before the walk. Most Good Smile listings in our data don't state a height, a scale or an age. That's not a knock on anybody. It's how a lot of import listings are written. Where a number exists, I use it. Where it doesn't, I say so instead of guessing.

Good Smile figures by line

Good Smile Company's US site names Nendoroid as its best-known series and names Pop Up Parade and figma beside it. That matches what we see on Amazon US: Nendoroid listings make up most of the Good Smile figures in our data.

Nendoroid: small figures with swap parts

A Nendoroid is a small figure with an oversized head and parts you can swap: faces, hands, accessories. The line is the backbone of the brand on Amazon US. Our list includes Nendoroids from game lines like The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D, Kirby's Dream Land, Mega Man X and Ghosts 'n Goblins Resurrection, and from anime lines like Jujutsu Kaisen, Goblin Slayer, Re:Zero and My Hero Academia. Licensed lines appear here only as the listing names them.

Who it suits: someone who likes to change a figure's face and pose every few weeks, and someone with a narrow shelf. Nendoroids are built to sit close together.

Who should skip: someone who wants a figure that looks like a statue from across the room. The proportions are the point of the line, so if big heads aren't your thing, no listing will change that.

Nendoroid Swacchao: the seated version

Swacchao listings are Nendoroids made to sit. Our data has several, including Re:Zero Rem and Ram, Megumin from Kono Subarashii, Shoto Todoroki from My Hero Academia and Inosuke Hashibira from Demon Slayer. They're usually in the lower price tiers of the Nendoroid listings we track.

A seated figure needs less shelf height and no stand. I respect a figure that sits down after work. I do the same thing at six o'clock.

Who should skip: anyone who wants to repose. A Swacchao is built around the seated pose.

Nendoroid More and stands

Nendoroid More listings are add-on sets, not figures. The Mega Man X Rabbit Ride Armor listing in our data is one. The Nendoroid Easel Stand 3-Pack is another accessory, and The Simple Stand X3 Display Stand Set is a third. Read the title twice on these. A listing that says "More" or "stand" is a part for a figure you already own.

That easel three-pack is also the first thing in this list that holds figures up instead of needing to be held up. Every shelf needs a few of those.

Pop Up Parade: posed figures on a base

Pop Up Parade figures come pre-posed on a base. Our data has Bloom Cocoa from Is the Order a Rabbit?, Azuki from Nekopara and Shiro (Crown Ver.) from No Game No Life. They sit in the lower-middle price tiers of the Good Smile listings we track.

Who it suits: someone who wants a figure to look at, not to pose, and a new collector who isn't sure yet what kind of shelf they're building. Who should skip: anyone who wants joints. A Pop Up Parade figure holds one pose.

figma: posable figures

figma is the posable line. Good Smile's US site describes it as Max Factory's action figure line, which is why figma listings turn up under both names on Amazon. The Good Smile listing in our data is the Jujutsu Kaisen Satoru Gojo figma. Its listing names three face plates, technique hands, hands-in-pockets arms and two hair parts.

That's a typical figma box: one figure and a small pile of parts that change how it stands and what it's doing. If you want more figma listings, the Max Factory page has a longer list.

Soft vinyl and small figures

Good Smile has one soft vinyl figure in our data, the Kemono Friends Lucky Beast Soft Vinyl Figure. There's also a Hello Character Vocal Series 01 Kagamine Rin Mini Figure. Soft vinyl is a hollow, slightly squeezable figure with few or no joints. If you like that style, our sofubi page covers it across makers.

MODEROID and other Good Smile kits

MODEROID is Good Smile's plastic model kit line. That's a build, not a figure out of the box. Our data lists the Ariel with Flight Unit, Mazinkaiser SKL and Space Warrior Baldios MODEROID kits, plus the Obsolete Improvised Armed Exoframe 1:35 MODEROID set and two Pui Pui Molcar MODEROID kits.

The two Molcar listings say pre-colored. That means the plastic comes in the right colors, so the kit can look finished without paint. The other MODEROID listings in our data don't say either way, so check the photos and the listing text.

Who it suits: someone who likes figures and wants to try building one. Who should skip: someone who wants the figure on the shelf tonight. A kit needs time, a flat table and a pair of sprue nippers to cut parts off the frame. Our model kits section explains the tools.

How to pick a Good Smile figure

Here's how I'd go through the grid if a neighbor asked me which Good Smile figure to start with.

1. Decide if it moves. Posable means figma. Swappable parts means Nendoroid. One pose on a base means Pop Up Parade. Built by you means MODEROID.
2. Check the shelf. Nendoroids and Swacchao figures take very little room. Pop Up Parade figures need a bit more depth for the base. Kits vary the most.
3. Read the box contents. The figma listing in our data spells out its parts. Many Nendoroid listings don't. If a listing doesn't say what's in the box, the photos are your only guide.
4. Read the seller line. Some listings ship from Japan with longer delivery times. That's normal for figures. It just changes the date a gift arrives.
5. Look for a stand. If a figure is posable and the listing doesn't mention a stand, plan for one.

My one opinion for this page: pick by line before you pick by character. The line name is the one fact every Good Smile listing in our data states, and it tells you size, whether the figure moves, and whether you're buying a figure or a part for one. The character is the fun part. The line is the part that decides whether you're happy with it on the shelf.

Entry-level picks by tier

If you want a low-risk first Good Smile figure, the Swacchao listings and the Pop Up Parade listings sit in the lower price tiers of our data. The Nendoroid Easel Stand 3-Pack sits at the bottom, but it's an accessory, so it only makes sense if you already own a Nendoroid. The figma and some larger MODEROID kits sit higher.

Mixing Good Smile with other makers

Good Smile lines mostly mix well with themselves. A Nendoroid and a Pop Up Parade figure are different sizes and styles, so I'd give each line its own row. If you're mixing makers, our anime figures page compares listings from Good Smile, Max Factory, Kotobukiya, Bandai and others side by side by height and scale.

Theo looked over my shoulder while I was sorting faces into a tray once. "A face you can swap is the only edit to a homework answer I've ever seen make it better," he said. He teaches seventh grade. He's earned that one.

Buying notes for import figures

Good Smile figures sold on Amazon US come from a mix of sellers. Some are sold from US stock, some ship from Japan. Before you buy:

• Seller and ship-from line: who's selling and where it ships from
• Delivery estimate: import listings can take weeks
• Version name: "Ver.", "Deluxe", "Re-Run" or a season number changes what's in the box
• Box contents: faces, hands, stands, effect parts
• Line name: Nendoroid, Swacchao, Pop Up Parade, figma, MODEROID

Version names matter more than they look. Our data has a regular Shoto Todoroki Nendoroid Swacchao and a Shoto Todoroki (Stealth Suit Ver.) Nendoroid. Same character, same line family, two different figures in two different poses. The Tsurumaru Kuninaga Nendoroid from Touken Ranbu Online and the Satoru Gojo Nendoroid from Jujutsu Kaisen are both plain Nendoroids, with no version tag at all. If you're buying for somebody who already collects, ask which version they have before you pick. At the shop nobody orders a part until they've got the VIN. Same idea, smaller box.

A listing that only says "Figure" and a product code, like the Good Smile Company 4580416909396 Figure in our data, tells you very little. That's a listing to read slowly, or to skip.

Small parts and kits

Check the age label on the listing. Toys with small parts are a choking hazard for children under 3. Nendoroid faces, hands and stands are small, so keep them off the floor and away from young kids.

For MODEROID kits: cut away from your body on a cutting mat, and keep blades away from kids.

Good Smile Company facts we could confirm

Good Smile Company's US site says the company was founded in 2001 and makes collectible figures, plush and merchandise. The same page names Nendoroid as its best-known series, along with Max Factory's figma action figures and the Pop Up Parade line. That's what we could confirm from the maker. Anything else about the company we'd only be guessing at, so it stays off this page.

The grid above has the full list. Pick the line, then the face.