Show and Tell: ArtBones Articulated Action Figures 

It goes without saying, but BANDAI's Perfect Grade and Real Grade action model kits have phenomenal amounts of articulation, down to individual fingers.

If you're someone who takes photos of figures or has great experience with action figure lines, then you will probably already know that there are a number of different poseable figure lines (notably from Japan) which are better articulated, less expensive, and are made from plastic that won't disintegrate with handling like these printed resin figures will.

Price aside, I think these are great figures and good job to the 2 guys doing it!

$120 for just one figurine that is just plain? No thanks

Really glad you shared this. Always had in interest in custom figures

An artist that works at a company I used to temp at was impressed with the level of articulation of some of my Gungam models. According to her the artist models that she had seen so far had less range if motion that mine and they cost more to. Shoot, a lot of the newer Gundam models will use double hinge joints for the knees and elbows, but I think new model has most of them beat on the abbs and shoulders. Also, this one shows muscle flow which is important for applying deformations.

Thanks Norm for keeping the action figure community cutting edge.

This channel is the best...toy love! I’m going to check artbones riiiight now

Excellent work.

This is a big thing and I hope it goes from success to success. At the very least, the Art world of figure drawing, through stop-frame and o to the full customised sci-fi/fantasy realm of figures. All awesome. Hope they go on from strength to strength - without someone buying them up and restricting it in any way :)

I am making an action figure and this video will help me in making articulations.

For me the best I've seen so far is from Revoltech. Check out the Assemble Borg line in particular. I have one of those and i can say it's the most articulate and one of my personal favorite in my collection.

1:18th scale. Tomy Takara Microforce from 2003-2006. These little guys had more articulation than most figures today in larger scales. The main issue with these was the material was pretty cheap but had a great deal of articulation with great range of motion. Hasbro took over the license but haven't dud anything with it.

My daughter uses similar figures to these to set up poses for her illustrations. They help her visualise what she is going to draw/paint. I bought them for her a few years back.

These are super expensive compared to the body-kun pose figures...

Is there a way I can buy just the joints ? Or does anyone know where I can buy small joints like that? I do custom builds and joints similar to these would be amazing!

"with all these joints combined, i am captain flexible"

I freaking love it

Very articulate figure! I've always loved the Marvel Legends and WWE Elite figures' articulation. Looking into making some custom figures at some point, and trying to decide whether it'd be better to purchase existing figures or try to 3D print my own.

Looked at these for an Art reference possibility, because I’m good at transferring things I’m actually seeing into art but not good at drawing from memory. I need a reference and these would be a great reference for drawing human figures, something I greatly struggle with. Feel free to comment any additional options you guys may have found, I’m open to suggestions as well as options.

What an intersesting review

I use resin 3d printers for action figure related stuff daily, and have been a figure customizer for almost 2 decades, so I'd like to chime in that $120 for this thing is reasonable considering what goes into making it. •Each figure is printed, assembled, and painted on demand. If you've ever used a resin printer you know what a PITA that is, cleaning up the support scars, sanding to get tolerances right, etc., and doing that for every tiny piece. •There's added complexity because they're using o-rings to prevent the resin from rubbing against itself at the joints, this prevents the resin from destroying itself via friction. I can appreciate what goes into making it, but yes, I understand how people may not think it's worth $120. After all, it performs a little better than other modern articulated action figures, but for 6 times the price.

That rubber O ring is a super idea and should make each joint have just the right amount of friction. As most collectors of figs know, joints can become very loose over time and with alot of use.

Is there any way of ordering one size-wise 2.5 inch figures

The megami device line has single jointed elbows that go to 140 degrees bend creating something that is more natural than two 90 degree bends while only taking away 40 degrees of articulation. The model kits otherwise have double jointed legs and good flow to aticulation rather than focusing on adding as many joints as possible

Are they also for anatomy reference but on a small scale?

These would be cool models for drawing action poses

They might pricy, but they do have good articulation, and the one with exposed muscles is very well detailed.

One cool feature to add.. The stand could be green or blue to 'disappear' in photo montage...

I love it but I remember having an action figure that has articulation on the fingers. They should implement that as well. Big Win.

120$? Oh yeah they are in New York, insane high taxes, so one would be 45$ if it were, say made in Kentucky, and 3.99 if made in China.

I forgot to say it but Happy Birthday to Adam Savage!

Are they going to be building licensed product like the old GI Joe? Or other articulation figures of characters?

Seen figure and immediately went to site, seen price and immediately came back to vid. Tbleague and dam toys are releasing better looking 1/12 bodies for way less, dam toys figure is $22 and tbleague has a seamless version meaning no visible joints for $45.

I'm sorry, but $120 for a basic figure is a rip-off. Bandai, Max Factory Figma, 1000toys, etc... make the same for way less.

can you recommend a figure that has great anatomy and pose ability. without much accessories or costume to get in the way i am an artist and need it for reference SH bodykun and sigma archetype are a dissapointment please help

GIJOE Had that covered they are the best..

What are your thoughts on Sticky Bones? (It's a poseable 8" artist mannequin / stop motion armature).

These figs would make great stop-motion fighting scenes hahaha

I want one of this figures

These are cool, but I can't justify $120 for a figure

My god its superb i wanted get all For my project

I wish I knew where Norm got his sweater from?

Are they going to make drawing models for drawing?

Are this for a sale????

Where to buy?

Nice

Still waiting for a figure of that size to have individual pose able hands and fingers.!

You should do a toy photography tutorial for newbies.

omg so nice !! make one with batman or spider man that would be awesome keep up the good work

1000toys is my go to for articulation

Norm is the best

Toys are to nice to play with.

Fuck, the toy story movie based on this figures must be really scary.

i can't wait for a Spiderman ArtBones figure!

How much for the figure?

I would love to see a comparison review with ZIPGUY.

can you make a tour of your room

I want this for 3d modeling

stop motion artists use them a lot

Where can I get these

I guess economy of scale is to blame for the high price... Like already pointed out there are much better alternatives for quarter of the price even. Figma Next for example.

Some of my own o-rings are starting to wear out. Really buggers up articulation.

Notification squad!

How does it compare to 1000Toys Synthetic Human? That would be a good apple to apple comparison. Usually, articulation points get complicated once the character designs come into play. As a blank figure, its a free canvas but looking at your video, it looks AMAZING!!!

Mafex... Figma ...sh figurarts and revoltech are leading Brand’s of articulated figures .and yes...all from japan

i went to their website, and they are out of stock.... boooohoooo so sad, they look so good

It looks amazing but it’s so damn expensive

These really don't look like they're worth the cash, not to mention if/when they get licenses, the price will sky-rocket.

reminds me of the movie i, robot!

I want a 7 inch one

hello friend how are you, teach me how to model action figures in 3D please

$120!!!!!!!! I think I'm gonna stick to my old stuff

How much are the guys in this video

What a coincidence im making myself a balljointed doll

i want a silver surfer one

Check out stuff from 1000toys; their TOA Heavy Industries Synthetic Human has a similar joint structure and absolutely superb proportions while still being crazy articulated. They're expensive, but they're really impressive in hand. www.bigbadtoystore.com/Search?Company=700 It's out of left field, but the Pacific Rim Uprising action figures from the Bandai Spirits line (not to be confused with the Diamond Select Toys figures) are surprisingly good. They have some really interesting engineering in the hips that I've never come across before. I'd recommend Gipsy Avenger, Obsidian Fury, or Saber Athena. The less humanoid designs have features that get in the way of the articulation unfortunately. They're hard to come by outside of the aftermarket currently (hoping there's a new production batch in the coming months), but Toy Notch x Toy Forge's pair of Astrobots might be of interest because of it's design, and it's background--small-time designer 3D printed their figure in small production batches, and a manufacturer thought it was awesome and brought them in to help produce the figure. These bots are a masterclass in odd proportions with crazy good articulation. Like I said, they're hard to come by, but at the very least check out a review for them: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-gc8ZTXQTpBA.html ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-aVTZN6g_Aww.html And another obscure producer, Armature Nine and their A9 Rig system of armature figures; similar situation as ArtBones. Small producer manufacturing their own mostly 3D printed parts, bit by bit investing in the production of steel injection molds. Their line runs both 1:12 and 1:6 scale, and has libraries of optional parts, so that you could opt to parts out a figure from the ground up. Along with sets to make quadrupeds, avians, and fantasy figures. They can work as art models, or as the skeletons for claymation stop-motion figures. armaturenine.com/

I want one. Send it off to me immediatley.

Just checked and the bodies are all OOS

*ARTICULATED FINGERS.*

I don't get why toy makers over complicate head and torso articulation, just use double ball pegs, problem solved😂

I have a fully articulating fox football robot figure.

It couldnt even tippy toe. So its a loud toy how can i play at night without being heard???

They're very pricey for what they are, but cool though!

I hope this brand will release female figure with epic articulation and many accessories

That's nice if you are doing stop motion videos I gues. It is cool. But still He-man and GI Joe were more than enough in my opinion. But this are great..

Bom dia Top de mais

Am I the only one who thinks the figurine in the thumbnail looks like a character from the Gargoyles cartoon?

HOW ???

Synthetic Human, archetype next he and she, body kun and body chan both regular and designer series, 1/6th scale figure by Side Show, all of these are cheaper and less rare than this. Which is sad really. I would like to get those if they weren't asking for so much for so little.

Well I really just buying the figures from the zip guy and just printed my self for $10 dollars

CraftMAn and Adam Savage. Great Combo. So much enthusiasm and creativity. Check him out and tell Savage, too. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-0KbAFY5_WrY.html Besties for sure, he did one on joint articulation also ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-GeRjZuusSDI.html

If only the price would fit the size of these, too bad..

80 bucks? NO LOL that's a blood draining price for just a single one of them

Body kun looks better and apparently cheaper too.

Ooga booga

AWESOME!!! But, is out of stock. Congrats! Great project. PS: Sorry by my wrong english.

Bandai going to buy one of these and reverse engineered it and sell it for much lower price.

but elbows don't work that way

(Laughs in Figma, Master grade, Perfect Grade gundam)...... Not that I glorify for figma and gundam... But some Mg gundam is quite cheaper than a 150 figure... Except for figma...