Jonathan Rahardja is perhaps better known as wcloudx(kumo), and his blog is well known among anime and PVC fans.

What has the year 2011 in the world of toys meant to you?

The year 2011 for the Japanese PVC figurines world has been good overall. Increases in details and overall quality can be seen from the top figurine companies. Although the only bad thing is how the price has been affected because of that. Also there is an increase where companies starts to venture on to articulated/action figures.

What are your hopes/wishes/thoughts/predictions for the year 2012 in the toy world?

I would say that, atleast in Japanese PVC figurines, the releases for the first half of 2012
would be pretty much the same as 2011. The trends has been the same as for the releases. It'll be based on series that are currently new and popular. Although I kind of wished for something new on the gimmicks, which probably will end up in the price increase if that happened. Another thing is of course, wishing for less delays.

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Ben is one half of the team at Urban Vinyl Daily (along with Travis) and part of the rare crowd of toy bloggers based here in Ohio. The year 2011 was Urban Vinyl Daily's first year in existence, so they've got some interesting views in comparison to some of the other bloggers we've talked to:

What has the year 2011 in the world of toys meant to you?

I think for us, the year 2011 has been a year of plowing a path and forging ahead. Having just started a year ago (November 8, 2010), a full calendar year has given us a lot to be thankful for and reflect upon in the world of figures and making new acquaintances. We started out with knowing very few people in the scene/industry and took a leap starting the blog and trying to network. Initially we started to cover things we were familiar with and start in a comfort zone. We found we weren’t gaining much traction there, and decided to shoot for the moon and start to interview artists whose figures we were familiar. Initially we didn’t receive many responses since we were new to the scene and not a whole lot of “street cred”. But some artists gave us a chance to interview them, and we just made our way from there. It was about that time that we decided that we somehow had to differentiate ourselves from the pack and wanted to have a custom figure show here in Cincinnati.

With a lot of work and banging on doors, we got enough artists to have our show. We consider it a great success since we were able gain a good network of people and also gain the experience of hosting and organizing a show. From there we have just kept on trying to grow, steadily and surely and give people the best experience that we can.

But I guess to actually answer your question about the world of toys for the first year of us being an official blog, I think it has meant a lot to us. Having only really amassed a couple Dunnys and other figures, it was a growing experience for my collection to meet so many new people over the course of the year and add their figures to my collection as I learned more about the artist and the figure, and in some cases see the figure go from paper to a figure on my desk. But I think most of all the world of toys that are on my desk or in my cases shows that number of bonds we have made over the year and shows that there is still much more room for bonds to be made.

What are your hopes/wishes/thoughts/predictions for the year 2012 in the toy world?

I think that Travis and I both hope that Gary Ham’s Sucklord figure sees the light of day as a production figure (hint hint). But I would like to think/hope that we become more of a household name when it comes to places to get information about the world of art and figures, since we honestly do try hard and try to listen to our fans that take the time to give us honest feedback. As far as a blanket wish goes, we would like to say that we wish all the artists out there the best of luck in the upcoming year, and that if you need a venue to showcase WIP or anything to not hesitate to contact us. As far as a prediction goes, we see the grass roots efforts from designers becoming a lot stronger among the general public. It has always been cool to plow your own path and forge your own destiny, but it seems like the past year has been one of artists ditching platforms (or at least modifying them heavily), and just doing their own thing with it and making awesome pieces.

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Frances Delgado runs How A Girl Figures, a blog focusing on a woman's take on figure collecting. She's also host of AX Live, Anime Expo's weekly live webcast:

What has the year 2011 in the world of toys meant to you?

Even with the horrible devastation in Japan earlier this year, It's an amazing year for the world of figure collecting. With companies like Good Smile Company releasing their Cheerful Japan line that gives a huge chunk of the profits to Japanese Relief efforts, we in turn have gotten some amazing figures in the process. There also has been a huge increase in releases of more amazing male figures from Megahouse, Alter and Kotobukiya. As a female figure collector we are always looking for more badass guys for our collections and it seems like the industry is finally listening! As well as companies like Good Smile Company finally making it easier for us figure collectors overseas to be able to get our hands on the limited edition wonfes items! For myself I've been glad to see more figures that companies have teased us with for so long finally getting a release such as; GSC World is Mine Miku and Max Factory Append Miku (can you tell I like miku?) Also for Volks to release another set of Saber Dollfie Dreams of Saber Extra and Saber Alter as a pre-order and giving a down payment option to make it easier to people to get their hands on their lovely dolls is great! It was also a huge year for me as I got to meet and sit down with Takanori Aki, President and CEO of Good Smile Company. I'm a huge fan of their work and a huge collector of their figures so meeting him was a dream! 

What are your hopes/wishes/thoughts/predictions for the year 2012 in the toy world?

For 2012, I'm hoping more companies follow suit with making it easier for us overseas to get limited edition/exclusive figures. The pain of buying a limited edition figure after the fact for 10x the original price is something I hate! I hope that the process of seeing the figure at wonfes to seeing it come to pre-order comes sooner, the wait can be excruciating! I hope Volks continues with the policy of pre-orders for more Dollfie Dreams as the Lottery process is such just not the best way to be able to sell your product if you ask me. I do foresee more companies releasing male figures. Alter has make their Altair line successful, as well as Megahouse's Gem series. Hopefully Good Smile, Wave and other companies will start to follow suit! And finally as for myself, I hope 2012 will finally be the year I can make it out to a Wonder Festival to see it for myself! 

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Chris Walden is an associate editor at Tomopop sister site Japanator.

What has the year 2011 in the world of toys meant to you?

2011 has been an expensive year for me. The previous year was an enlightening one, as it's when I really started to build up a collection. By the start of 2011, I was still running off the same steam. More and more figures were coming out and I wanted them! I've used this year to build up an impressive Nendoroid collection, as well as dabbling into Touhou, Bakemonogatari and even Domo Mystery Qee's, which crippled my wallet and continues to do a good job eating up any space I have back home.

I went on my second trip to Japan back in June for three weeks with the intention of figure shopping alongside doing all of the tourist stuff. Luckily I was in a summer job so my funds weren't struck too badly, but to say it was nothing would be an outright lie! Highlight of the year with regards to figures has to be Summer Wonder Festival. I queued outside two hours in advance with four friends just to get a chance at buying that massive Kyubey statue. Unfortunately we missed out, but I did manage to get one of the convention exclusive Madoka Nendoroids, which shortly sold out after we'd bought them. To top things off, I managed to find a sealed set of Godzilla blind-boxes, for the bargain price of 1000 yen. I snapped it up, much to the sellers surprise, but it could also be because I got a little excited and shouted 'Godzilla!' and 'kaiju!' a little more than I should have!

Even with the noticeable dent in my University war funds, this year has served to only further my addiction to figurines and the like. While I was originally fairly reserved and limited myself to only a handful from anime I'd seen (which in hindsight was probably sensible!), I'm now beginning to branch out into other areas. Dunny's have been on my radar for a little while, but my current obsession with Nendoroids has seen that I haven't quite got the courage to jump into another highly collectible series. Still, the year is not yet over!

What are your hopes/wishes/thoughts/predictions for the year 2012 in the toy world?

I suppose a wish of mine for the new year would be to try and get The Good Smile Company to slow down on their releases! There is only so much I can afford at one time! Though that one is most definitely going to be unfulfilled, it would also be nice if we see them delve into some great classic anime series. We already know that they are broadening their horizons with things like the Linkin Park and Kobayashi Nendoroids, but instead of releasing a constant stream of figures from current shows, how about a little love for the good old days? I'd love to see a classic branch off of some kind. It still baffles me how they haven't jumped on the Evangelion bandwagon yet! I think they are just about the only company in Japan that hasn't, at least in Nendoroid format!

A hope for the new year is that we continue to great some great quality scale figures from Good Smile, more specifically in regards to the unavoidable Nisemonogatari line that'll shortly follow the series. I love that series to pieces, so I'm more than okay adding even more offerings to my collection! I also hope that I will be able to find space for it all, though I'm sure I can find somewhere between the empty boxes and the kaiju movies!

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Hiroko Yamamura is the reviews editor at Japanator and should be a familiar name to Tomopop readers, as she's a former associate editor here as well.

What has the year 2011 in the world of toys meant to you?

2011 was an amazing year for posable figures. The selection and quality of the SH Figuarts, figma, and Revoltech lines really stepped up their game. The best example? Look at the quality of the last few Revoltech EVAs! The paint job, accessories, and articulation was at a quality level I couldn't even dream of a couple years ago. The bad side of 2011? The upward yen and the downward US dollar. My wallet took a major beating this year, with currency conversion rates dipping into horrendous areas. I really had to tighten up my collecting habits this year, which might have been a blessing in disguise. I now am much more careful about what I choose to add to my collection, much to he dismay of many vendors!

What are your hopes/wishes/thoughts/predictions for the year 2012 in the toy world?

I think Bandai hit the nail on the head with offering the SH Figuarts line in the US. With the conversion rates as they are, US buyers will send a premium for a locally released figure. I hope to see more articulating action figures get some timely releases here. I hope the US dollar and the yen find a happy place that will bring back my importing addiction! Please give me more affordable Chogokins!

[Thank you to Ben, Jonathan, Frances, Chris and Hiroko for participating in this feature!]