Ultra Detail Figures: quality mini collections that deserve your attention
We’ve gone over different types of figures before – but we didn’t cover Ultra Detail Figures. And with an epic name like that, we really should.
UDF, made in JPN for YOU
Ultra Detail Figures (UDFs) are made by Medicom – the same company that gave the world BE@RBRICKS.
How did they get the name? Well, the ‘figures’ bit’s nice and obvious. UDFs are mini collectibles. Most are about 7-8cm tall, made to fit in the palm of your hand. The more of them you collect, the more fun you’ll have!
That’s… maybe all we can tell you.
Medicom doesn’t put the usual ‘brand concept’ on their website for UDF. The short item descriptions don’t give much away, either. All you can be sure of reading is the copyright notice for each collab.
We usually get to say cool stuff, like ‘this company wants to make you smile’, or ‘this brand’s changing the world with the power of glitter’. This time, we’re kinda stumped. We’re not sure why the Ultra Detail Figures exist, only that they do. And that they’re super cute.
So far, we’ve seen Ultra Detail Figures for:
- Disney
- Miffy
- Doraemon (plus ‘Doraemon meets Hello Kitty‘)
- Girls und Panzer
- Moomins
- Snoopy (and the Peanuts gang)
- Gremlins
- Sesame Street
- Nintendo
- Andy Warhol (…yeah)
a.k.a SAF: super accurate figures
The super weird thing about UDFs is that some of them aren’t ultra detailed. Gasp!
They’re all well made, and look awesome. True to the original designs from top to bottom. And there are lots of figures with impressive finishing touches – check out the fluffy bear fur effect on Lotso from Toy Story. Or the huge pile of chestnut buns Nobita-kun can’t eat.
Sometimes, the detail level’s clear. But what about simpler characters? How ultra can they get?
Let’s look at Miffy and friends, for example. They’ve starred in a few UDF collections already (the Dick Bruna series). Not much detail to see here – Miffy doesn’t even have a nose.
And we had to pick out that elephant too. It’s maybe the simplest of them all – and it’s better that way. Imagine them making an elephant UDF with all the wrinkles. It’d take years.
For characters without much detail in the first place, adding more would be weird. So it’s hard to go ‘Ultra’ on such simple designs. Give Princess Peach smile lines and freckles, there’d be rioting in the streets.
The ‘detail’ in UDFs is more like ‘attention to detail’. A quality level that’s easy to see, whether the design’s a complicated one or not. Each figure looks 100% like the character they’re meant to be, not like a weird knock-off bootleg with no neck.
(Fair enough, that’s so much easier to do with the elephant from Miffy.)
DEJAPAN welcomes all ultra figure fans
Take your time exploring the UDFs on DEJAPAN in detail. They’re not the only figures and collectibles you can order straight from Japan, either. We’ve got Nendoroids, figma figs, Gunpla, Cu-poche, G.E.M, and loads of others. Search the site, make an item request, or ask us if you’re looking for something specific.
