A (very) selected list of notable female figures from other countries that were never released in the United States to regular retail stores. Many of these figures are readily available through dealers or at shows -- I have tried to only list those figures you can obtain in such a manner. I have also only listed figures of those characters likely to be known internationally -- there are obviously many action figure and toy lines all over the world that include female figures, but most of them are neither available outside of their home countries, nor from recognizable properties outside of their home countries. I have also listed some lines by character only, for the purpose of making the different characters distinguishable, as the packages often lack translations -- and dealers quite often don't even know the real names for the toys they're selling.
| Series (Company, Year) | ||
| Figure | size | description |
| ACTION MAN (Hasbro, Europe, 1997) | ||
| Natalie | 11" |  It's
absolutely criminal that this great GIJoe-sized girl has been apparently
abandoned by Hasbro. A really cool outfit, great action feature, and wonderful
sculpt -- she's pretty but buff. But she's barely come out, and while the
exact number produced is anyone's guess, it must have been low going by her
rarity. Once again, Kenner/Hasbro lets us down!! |
| ALIENS (Kenner, UK, 1992) | ||
| Vasquez | 3-3/4" | this version sported an unlikely bright red t-shirt; the american re-release was repainted to more accurately reflect the film. |
| AVENGERS (Fairlite, UK, 1966) | ||
| Emma Peel | 10" | came with 3 outfits |
| AVENGERS (Denys Fisher, UK, 1970s) | ||
| Purdey | 10" | from the New Avengers TV series |
| BATTLE ARENA TOSHINDEN (Takara, JAPAN) | ||
| Ellis | 11" | Dressed fashion dolls -- not executed well enough to justify their high price, in my opinion. |
| Sonia | 11" | |
| Tracy | 11" | |
| CAPTAIN SCARLET (Vivid, UK) | ||
| Destiny Angel | 3" | w/ removable helmet! |
| Harmony Angel | 3" | from the second series of figures. |
| CUTEY HONEY F (Bandai, JAPAN 1997) | ||
| The current major girl's show in Japan has spawned a new line of 12 dolls -- including the title character, an android who can change herself into several different forms, as well as many of her incarnations. The line is still being added to, but at the moment, dolls available include: Kisaragi Honey (her "secret identity"), Cutey Honey (her main alternate identity), Misty Honey (a second android), and Cutey Honey's various other forms including: Nurse Honey, Harley Honey, Elegance Honey, Showgirl Honey , and Ballet Honey . There is also a fantastic Cutey Honey in the great Bandai Lmfigure series (see the Slayers and Sakura Wars listings for others). No other characters have been made so far, however. | ||
| DICK TRACY (Playmates, CANADA, 1990) | ||
| the Blank | 5" | The secret identity of Breathless -- wretched, expensive figure. |
| DOCTOR WHO (Denys Fisher, UK, 1976) | ||
| Leela | ||
| DOCTOR WHO (Dapol, UK) | ||
| Ace | 5" | Two of Dr. Who's sidekicks -- well made figures. (Re-issued in 1997.) |
| Melanie | 5" | Mel came in either a pink or blue blouse. (Re-issued in 1997.) |
| FIGHTING VIPERS (Sega,
JAPAN) |
||
| Honey | 12" | Amazing likeness and great doll of Honey (called Candy in the game's US release) -- and the best part is, they made two dolls, one in the regular outfit (black hair, red dress) and one in the alternate outfit (blonde hair, blue dress). |
| FINAL FANTASY VII (Bandai, Japan,
1997) |
||
| Aerith Gainsborough | 4" | From the mega-hit role-playing game. Small but beautifully made figures -- the american versions are close, but the plastic and paint jobs aren't as nice as the originals. |
| Tifa Lockhart | 4" | |
| GI JOE (Hasbro/Kenner ) | ||
| Glenda | 3-3/4" | South American repaint of Scarlett #1 |
| Cover Girl | 3-3/4" | South American carded version. |
| Lady Jaye | 3-3/4" | Indian repaint of US figure |
| Quarrel | 3-3/4" | UK repaint of Scarlett #1, from the Action Force line. |
| GORANGER (Banpresto, JAPAN) | ||
| Pink ranger | 4" | The greatest thing about action figures getting popular is the new interest in them in Japan, where they're finally making figures and dolls of characters from the last 30 years. GoRanger is the original Ranger show (from the early 70s), and I love the pink ranger from this show. I mean, she pulls of her earrings and they're grenades! And finally, a figure of her. Thank you, toy gods! |
| LAST BRONX (Sega, JAPAN) | ||
| Lisa | 12" | The Takara-produced videogame and anime dolls just keep getting better! Most sets are now made on the super-articulated body, and the accessories and outfits are just amazing. Real metal accessories, even! The only character I liked enough from this game to get was Lisa, but they're all really nice. |
| Nagi | 12" | |
| Yoko | 12" | |
| MAGIC KNIGHT RAYEARTH (Sega, JAPAN,
1995-1997) |
||
| Fuu | 12" | Dressed fashion dolls -- really gorgeous. They've now come out in three different outfits from the various stages of the original anime -- from their basic schoolgirl outfits with light armor, all the way up to their full Magic Knight outfits. Also added in 1997 is a 4th character from the show, the fairy Primera , who's an absolutely adorable blue-haired doll. Quick guide: Fuu -- blonde hair, green clothes; Hikaru -- red hair, red clothes; Umi -- blue hair, blue clothes. |
| Hikaru | 12" | |
| Primera | 12" | |
| Umi | 12" | |
| MARTIAN SUCCESSOR NADESICO(Sega, JAPAN, 1997-) | ||
| Yurika | 12" | A really great, detailed doll. |
| MARVEL (ToyBiz, CANADA) | ||
| Battle Blasters Storm | 5" | This repaint of the Robot Fighter sculpt is in the black-leather "punk" look, complete with white mohawk, and only was released in Canada. |
| NIGhtmlARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS (Jun Planning, JAPAN, 1997-) | ||
| Sally | 14" | Basic Sally in coffin -- similar to the Applause coffin Sally. |
| Sally | 14" | Sally with
her shopping bag and new smiling face. The best Sally ever
made. |
| Sally | 20" | Plush Sally, similar to the Hasbro version. |
| Sally | 4' | That's right, I said 4 feet. A giant plush Sally for the uberfan. |
| POCKET MONSTERS (Tomy, JAPAN, 1998) a.k.a. Pokemon | ||
| Kasumi | 6" | "Misty" in the US, in 2-pack with Satoshi/Ash. |
| Kojiro | 6" | "Jessie" in the US, in 2-pack with Musashi/James. These figs have no articulation but are wonderfully sculpted and painted. |
| QUEEN EMERELDAS (Jesnet, JAPAN, 1998) (part of the Leiji's Action Figure Collection line) | ||
| Emereldas | 6" | in her early outfit, w/ Tothiro. |
| Emereldas | 6" | In her pirate queen outfit, w/ Umino Hiroshi. |
| REBOOT (Irwin,
CANADA) |
||
| Dot | 5" | Color-change assortment; black-and-white outfit |
| Dot | 5" | CD-Rom assortment; in red evening dress |
| Dot | 5" | Binome assortment; blue and red outfit with headgear |
| Hexadecimal | 5" | Color-change assortment; slight repaint of red version |
| Hexadecimal | 5" | Binome assortment; "infected" black-and-silver redeco |
| The really wonderful Reboot line was halted in the US after the first assortment, but was continued in Canada (where the show was more popular) -- three more assortments, and several accessories/playsets have so far been released to Canada only (although Irwin will sell some of the toys to US residents over the phone!) The newer toys are all as good as the first set, or even better! | ||
| PRETTY SOLDIER SAILOR MOON (Bandai, JAPAN 1992-7) | ||
| The scope of the original Japanese Sailor Moon line (not to mention the various lines spun off for Europe, Asia and the US & Canada) is a whole topic unto itself. There has been at least one doll line, usually more, for each of the five television series done in Japan, in a few sizes. Some lines include as many as 13 characters! My advice on the Japanese Sailor Moon line would be -- only buy a doll if you know what it looks like, and make are sure you are buying the doll you think you are. There is a line made for the asian market that is markedly inferior to the made-in-Japan line which I often see for sale as "Japanese Sailor Moon dolls" -- buyer beware! Characters made in one version or another so far: Sailor Moon, Sailor Chibimoon, Sailor Mercury, Sailor Mars, Sailor Jupiter, Sailor Venus, Sailor Neptune, Sailor Uranus, Sailor Pluto, Sailor Saturn, Sailor Star Maker, Sailor Star Fighter, Sailor Star Healer, Tuxedo Mask, CereCere, JunJun, PalaPala and VesVes . For a quick look at some Sailor Moon merchandise, search for "Sailor Moon" on eBay (the auction web site) -- you can usually find up to 100 dolls on auction, most listings with photos. | ||
| SAILOR MOON (Irwin, CANADA, 1996-) | ||
| In the US, Bandai gave up on the Sailor Moon toy line after the first assortment (see main list). But in Canada the show saw much great acceptance, and Irwin has continued to add to its extensive line with new editions of the regular dolls, as well as major additions -- their 6" line now has included Sailor Moon, Sailor Mercury, Sailor Mars, Sailor Jupiter, Sailor Venus, Rini (a.k.a. Chibimoon), Queen Beryl and Tuxedo Mask . Their 11" includes all of these characters, and also adds Sailor Pluto, Princess Serenity, Prince Endymion, Prince Diamond, Rubeus, Esmeraude and the Dark Lady , making Canada the only country many of these characters were ever made for. A 17" set of the inner senshi is also notable,as unique among all countries' Sailor Moon releases. Canada is also the only country to have ever had actual articulated plastic action figures made of any characters: a recent line includes: Sailor Moon, Sailor Chibi Moon, Tuxedo Mask, Sailor Pluto, Sailor Neptune and Sailor Uranus . Recently, even more characters were added, including Professor Tomoe and Kaori Night! | ||
| SAKURA TAISEN [Sakura Wars] (various,
JAPAN, 1996-) |
||
| Iris | This is a really cute line based on a videogame property. There are three sets of the girls commonly available in the US: the 11" dolls (with rooted hair and clothing); the Sega figures (standard outfits, packed with CDs); and the gorgeous Bandai figures (in uniforms). Iris is the little girl with blonde hair; Rei has purple hair and glasses; Sakura has blue hair. | |
| Rei | ||
| Sakura | ||
| SLAYERS (Bandai, JAPAN,
1998) |
||
| Filia | 7" | Another addition to Bandai's amazing figure line -- like the other figures in the line, the detail in the sculpting and painting is just incredible. |
| Lina Inverse | 7" | |
| SPACE PRECINCT (Vivid, UK, 1995) | ||
| Officer Jane Castle | 3" | The Vivid toys based on Gerry Anderson's work aren't nearly as good as the Matchbox ones, but they're still cute. |
| Officer Took | 3" | |
| STINGRAY (Matchbox UK) | ||
| Marina | 3" | |
| TEKKEN 3 (Epoch, 1999) | ||
| Ling Xiaoyu | 6" | Not very articulated but beautifully sculpted. |
| Nina Williams | 6" | With interchangable "karate" or "gun" hands. |
| TERRAHAWKS (Bandai, 1983) | ||
| Mary Falconer | ||
| Kate Kestrel | ||
| Zelda | ||
|
ULTRA-HEROES (Bandai,
JAPAN) |
||
| Mother of Ultra | 6"/4" | Both sizes were made of each figure in this very attractive line. |
| Ultra-Woman | 6"/4" | |
| Yurian | 6"/4" | |
|
VIRTUA FIGHTER (Sega,
JAPAN) |
||
| Sarah Bryant | 12" | All I have to say is, it's about time!! I've been wishing for a doll set of my two favorite fighting girls, and finally I got my wish. Made with the same super-articulated body as the Fighting Vipers Honey, these dolls are absolutely wonderful. If you're a fan of anime-style dolls you'll like them, and if you're a fan of the Virtua Fighter series they are a must-have. Interestingly, they chose to make Sarah in her main outfit and Pai in her alternate outfit. (Personally, those are the outfits I always preferred for each anyway!) |
| Pai Chan | 12" | |
|
(CYBER TROOPERS) VIRTUAL-ON (Sega,
1997) |
||
| VR. Fei-Yen | 6" | My favorite fighting robot girl!! With the ponytails, sailor dress and pink color scheme -- I couldn't believe they made a figure of her, and then I couldn't believe I finally found one. From the Real Model series. |
