Nendoroid 20th Anniversary: The 2026 Collector's Guide
Good Smile Company's Nendoroid line turns 20 in 2026, and the celebration is still running: a year-long world tour, a fan vote on which old sculpts get reproduced, and fresh reveals as recently as this month. This guide lays out what the anniversary actually includes, what just happened in October 2026, and what it means if you are building or restarting a Nendoroid shelf.
What Nendoroid Is, and Why 2026 Is Its 20th Year
A Nendoroid is a roughly 10cm chibi-style figure made of ABS and PVC plastic, built around interchangeable face plates and swappable parts so one figure can be posed and re-expressed in several ways. The line launched in February 2006, and the first Nendoroid ever sold was Neco Arc, a character from the 2000 visual novel Tsukihime, released at Wonder Festival 2006. Good Smile Company's own anniversary site counts 2026 as the line's 20th year from that launch.
Twenty years on, Nendoroid is the company's flagship format, and 2026 is built around a single idea: look back at two decades of sculpts while giving fans new reasons to buy in right now.
The Format, by the Numbers
The basic specs have stayed close to the 2006 original even as the catalog has grown into the thousands of characters. A few figures from the current catalog, including Nendoroid Cardcaptor Sakura and Nendoroid Puella Magi Madoka Magica's Mami Tomoe, are in stock now at Akibato's figures collection if you want to see what two decades of this format look like today.
| Spec | Detail |
|---|---|
| Launch | February 2006 (first figure: Neco Arc, Wonder Festival 2006) |
| Height | About 10cm (100mm) |
| Materials | ABS and PVC |
| Interchangeable parts | Over 5,000 face plates produced across the line's history |
| Typical price | 4,000-8,000 yen (as of 2022) |
| Units shipped | Over 1 million by March 2009; over 21 million worldwide as of July 2022 |
That 21-million figure is from 2022, so the real 2026 total is almost certainly higher; Good Smile Company has not published a more recent running count.
How Good Smile Company Is Marking 20 Years
The anniversary is not a single event. It is a rolling, multi-country campaign that Good Smile Company has been running since mid-2025 and is keeping active through the end of 2026.
The Pop-Up Shop Tour
A Nendoroid pop-up shop toured Japan first, with stops in Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Hakata, Sapporo, and Sendai before a Tokyo finale in March 2026. From July 2026 the tour moved to Southeast Asia, with stops in the Philippines and Indonesia running into December 2026.
Nendoroid Day and the 20th Anniversary Gallery
Good Smile Company designated August 8 as an annual Nendoroid Day, marked with exclusive giveaway items. Alongside it, a 20th Anniversary Gallery showcases commemorative Nendoroids built around franchises such as Persona, Godzilla, Final Fantasy XIV, and Frieren, and the mascot character Mikudayo- was named the anniversary's promotional ambassador.
The Rerelease Summit
One of the more collector-facing pieces of the campaign is a running poll where fans vote on which out-of-production Nendoroids should be reproduced. It will not bring back every retired sculpt, but it is the clearest sign that Good Smile Company is treating this anniversary as a chance to revisit its back catalog rather than only pushing new releases.
What's New From the Anniversary This October
The anniversary calendar keeps producing news close to the present. Two pieces of it landed within the past week.
Wonder Festival Shanghai: Hatsune Miku x GLOOMY Bear
At Wonder Festival Shanghai on October 3 and 4, 2026, Good Smile Company showed a painted prototype of Nendoroid Hatsune Miku: GLOOMY Ver., a collaboration with Mori Chack's GLOOMY Bear character, alongside a larger Pop Up Parade SP figure of the same design. Both were shown as prototypes, meaning release dates and pricing were not yet announced at the event.
Sadako Returns for Halloween
Separately, Good Smile Company reopened preorders for its Nendoroid of Sadako from The Ring, timed to Halloween 2026. The figure had been out of production and hard to find since its original 2023 run; the reopened preorder window runs through November 11 at Good Smile Company's own US store. It comes with two interchangeable face plates and a small VHS-tape accessory referencing the film.
Nendoroid vs. the Rest of Good Smile's Lineup
Good Smile Company sells several figure formats side by side, and Nendoroid is specifically the chibi, face-plate-swapping one. If you are deciding between formats, Akibato has a breakdown of Nendoroid vs. figma for scale and articulation differences, and a separate explainer on Nendoroid Doll vs. standard Nendoroid if you have seen the fabric-bodied variant and want to know what changes. For the format basics covered in this guide, Akibato also has a dedicated piece on what makes a figure a Nendoroid in the first place.
What Collectors Should Watch For During the Anniversary Year
A few practical points follow directly from how Good Smile Company has structured this campaign:
- Rereleases tied to the Rerelease Summit are not guaranteed to stay in print; the Sadako figure's 2023 run sold out and stayed unavailable for roughly three years before this reopening.
- Anniversary Gallery pieces are tied to specific franchises rather than sold as a single uniform set, so they surface individually rather than all at once.
- Prototypes shown at events like Wonder Festival Shanghai, including the Miku x GLOOMY Ver. piece, typically take months to reach preorder after their first reveal.
- Regional tour stops (Southeast Asia through December 2026) are separate from the Japan tour and do not guarantee the same exclusives will reach other markets or online stores.
FAQ
How old is Nendoroid in 2026?
Nendoroid turns 20 in 2026, counting from its February 2006 launch at Wonder Festival with the Neco Arc figure.
Is the Nendoroid line still active, or is the anniversary a send-off?
It is active. The 20th anniversary is a promotional and retrospective campaign, with the Rerelease Summit and new collaborations like the Hatsune Miku x GLOOMY Bear piece showing new development continuing alongside the look back.
Does the anniversary affect regular Nendoroid releases?
No. Standalone character Nendoroids, including currently stocked figures like Cardcaptor Sakura and Mami Tomoe, continue to release on their normal schedule separate from the anniversary-specific items.
Where can I see the full list of anniversary events?
Good Smile Company keeps the tour dates, Rerelease Summit results, and Anniversary Gallery reveals on its official Nendoroid 20th Anniversary site, which is the most current single source for the campaign as it continues through the rest of 2026.
Summary
- Nendoroid launched in February 2006 with Neco Arc as its first figure; 2026 marks 20 years.
- The anniversary includes a pop-up shop tour (Japan, then Southeast Asia through December 2026), an annual Nendoroid Day on August 8, a 20th Anniversary Gallery, and a fan-voted Rerelease Summit.
- This October brought a Hatsune Miku x GLOOMY Bear prototype reveal at Wonder Festival Shanghai and a reopened Sadako (The Ring) preorder running through November 11.
- Over 21 million Nendoroid units had shipped worldwide as of July 2022, with the true current total likely higher.
If the anniversary has you looking to start or add to a shelf, Akibato ships Nendoroid figures from Japan, and the figures collection is a good place to see what is currently in stock.