MegaHouse opened preorders for its new PVC figure of the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise's most iconic spellcaster, the Black Magician.
Known as the Dark Magician to Western audiences, the figure features the King of Games' favorite monster gearing up to cast one of his mighty spells with his staff in hand, as he hovers over a magical hex. Rather than using the purple variant many fans are familiar with from the classic anime, the statue depicts the Black Magician's look from the original Yu-Gi-Oh! manga where he dons blue and red instead. The figure stands at around 9.06 inches tall and sports a metallic finish, giving an air of mysticism to Yugi Moto's ace.
The figure falls under MegaHouse's "Yu-Gi-Oh! ART WORKS MONSTERS" series, which features high quality statutes of popular monsters from the franchise like Seto Kaiba's Blue Eyes White Dragon, Joey Wheeler's Red Eyes Black Dragon and the ritual-summoned Black Luster Soldier. It is designed by Kenji Ando, a sculptor who has previously created figures for series such as Kamen Rider and Dragon Ball.
Yu-Gi-Oh! has become one of the biggest media franchises of all time since its manga by Kazuki Takahashi made its debut in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump magazine in 1996. Largely centering around a fictional trading card game called "Duel Monsters" where players battle each other with various monsters, spell and trap cards to eliminate their opponent's life points, Yu-Gi-Oh! follows a 16-year-old boy named Yugi Moto who is often picked on due to his small stature and timid nature. This all changes, however, when he solves the mysterious Millennium Puzzle and befriends the ancient spirit of the Egyptian Pharaoh who resides inside the relic. Yugi and his friends work to uncover the secrets of the Pharaoh's past by facing off against dangerous foes who harness the dark powers of the Shadow Realm through their own Millennium Items.
While the Yu-Gi-Oh! manga has spawned several anime adaptations, spin-off series and video games, the Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game based on the fictional Duel Monsters remains the most notable product that the manga has launched. An estimated 35 billion cards have been sold worldwide as of January 2021, generating around $9.64 billion in sales. More recently, the franchise released the video game Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel for multiple platforms on Jan. 19. It is a free-to-play simulator that allows fans to collect cards and create decks to challenge other players online via Duel Mode or play through card stories via Solo Mode.
MegaHouse's new Black Magician figure is available for preorder directly through the company's website as well as other specialty toy and figure retailers. It has a suggested price of 17,380 yen (about $155 USD,) and is set to be released in July.
Source: MegaHouse, Right Stuf Anime
