Poke Studios Cubone and Marowak Zukan

I recently ordered one of the custom zukan 1/40 figures made by Poke Studios from the eBay seller cosmile_time. I don't really know much about the studio right now, just that they make very nice high quality custom figures and are located in southern China.  As of today, they have 10 zukan sets.  These zukan figures are true to the 1/40 scale and look just like the original official line, and better quality than the latest sets of zukan.

I wanted to share pictures of the first set I have received.  It came well packaged in gray foam for its long journey, and had no problems with shipping. The figure itself is really well made. The painting is precise and the sculpting of the figure is precise and clean.  Even tiny Cubone is painted perfectly.

The flame of Alolan Marowak is made of a transparent green resin which looks really nice, and perfect for the flame.  The position of all the figures is great too.  They show a lot of life.  This Cubone set is from the 3rd set which also includes Mega Kangaskhan, Kangaskhan with baby in pouch, the Cubone line, and Lance with his Dragonite.

Set 3, Capsule 3

Cubone, Marowak, and Alolan Marowak 1/40 zukan made by DS Poke Studios.

I can't wait to photograph these figures in the wild!

Cubone 1/40 zukan figue by DS Poke Studios, its so tiny but the sculpting and painting is really well done!  

Im really happy with these sets and have ordered quite a few more.  I'll do some updates on these figures as I receive them in the upcoming months. 

Island of Giant Pokemon

I made this little diorama in 2013. It was inspired by the Pokemon Episode: Island of Giant Pokemon.   This is when the local Slowpoke/Slowbro host all the lost Pokemon at its little restaurant.

I think in the anime it was a Slowpoke, but it was standing, but here I used a Slowbro because Slowpoke isn't supposed to able to sand until it evolves (sometimes the anime doesn't make any sense).  Team Rocket's Ekans, Koffing, and Meowth with Ash's Pikachu, Charmander, Squirtle, and Bulbasaur. 

A screenshot of the scene from Episode 17 of the Pokemon anime. 

List of Pokemon Zukan that have never been produced.

This is a list of Pokemon 1/40 Zukan that have never been produced officially.  Some of these Pokemon have been made by individuals or small companies (examples: DS Poke Studios and Zeta Studio) as custom pieces. This is just a reference post, and I'll update it if new sets ever come out.

The production of Zukan figures has been discontinued. The last set that same out was XY04 which came out in 2015. And only 2 sets were produced in 2014. If you are a zukan collector I would suggest collecting some of the custom pieces. I personally like the DS Poke Studios sets.  They produce very high quality, accurate figures! The prices are high, ranging from 50 USD and up for one "capsule".  So far they have produced 8 sets, which include some of the XY and Alolan pokemon, plus a few special pieces like Onix and Alolan Exeggutor. I've only seen these sets available on eBay for pre-order (and they sellout fast!). I'll be making a future post about these figures, so stay tuned. 

Generation 1 – Kanto

1.    Onix – various custom zukan have been made.

Generation 2 – Johto

1.    Steelix – various custom zukan have been made.

Generation 6 Pokemon – XY

1.    Bunnelby

2.    Diggersby

3.    Fletchling

4.    Fletchinder

5.    Talonflame

6.    Scatterbug

7.    Spewpa

8.    Vivillon

9.    Flabebe

10.Floette

11.Florges

12.Skiddo

13.Gogoat

14.Furfrou

15.Espurr

16.Meowstic

17.Spritzee

18.Aromatisse

19.Swirlix

20.Slurpuff

21.Inkay

22.Malamar

23.Binacle

24.Barbaracle

25.Clauncher

26.Clawitzer

27.Helioptile

28.Heliolisk

29.Tyrunt

30.Tyrantrum

31.Amaura

32.Aurorus

33.Hawlucha

34.Dedenne

35.Carbink

36.Klefki

37.Phamtump

38.Trevenant

39.Pumpkaboo

40.Gourgeist

41.Bergmite

42.Avalugg

43.Noibat

44.Noivern

45.Zygarde

46.Diancie

47.Hoopa

48.Volcanion

Generation 7 – Alola *no official zukan have currently been made but some really nice high quality custom pieces have been produced. 

My Kanto Team

Here is my Kanto team, zukan style!  Golduck, Gyarados, Poliwrath, Starmie, Lapras, Tentacruel.
Its cool to the the size comparisons of all of them together. 😁

Kanto Starter Zukan

Hey everyone, long time no see!  As I was going through some of my old photos from my first Instagram account @wildpokemonzukan I found a bunch of pics.  A lot of these pics were deleted from the IG account because people, but specifically a specific person, copying my account and posting it as their own.  Its great to share others work, but stealing photos and posting them as your own is another story.  A lot of times, the artist spend a lot of time and money, buying the products, traveling, using up time and resources to create something. So its just considerate to be mindful of your actions on social media.  There is an etiquette system which everyone should at least try to respect in all aspects of social media.  Anyway, I just wanted to give you that explanation incase any of you were wondering what happened to my account.

So here are a few of the original pictures taken for my IG account.  They were taken with the older versions of the iPhone so the quality isn't that great.  I do hope to post newer and improved photos of zukan, and since they have stopped making zukan (for now?), some really nice custom pieces.

1 - Bulbasaur, sitting in a mossy spot.

2 - Ivysaur in an overgrown garden.

Venusaur, in a blooming springtime meadow. 

Charmander waits on a boulder for his trainer to return.  

He's been waiting all day and he hasn't returned yet. 

A wild Charmander in a dry grassy field. 

Charmeleon stops around in a display to claim his territory.

Charizard soars over the mountains. 

This Charizard is heated for battle.  When other wild pokemon see it, they flee and hide. 

Squirtle the tiny turtle sits on the shore of a lake.

This Squirtle lives at the beach.  It stretches before going for a swim. 

A Wartortle tells the Squirtle not to go to deep. 

There's hungry Gyarados in the deeper parts of the lake.

This Wartortle rest on the edge of a river.  There's lots of vegetation to eat and hide in on this rivers shore. 

Blastoise rules over this rocky bay.  

Blastoise teaches some  Squirtle and a Wartortle lessons on swimming in the rough ocean water. When a rip current pulls them out they need to swim parallel to the shore until they're out of the current, then they can swim to shore. 

Pokemon Zukan Special Set 1

One of the most coveted sets of all the Pokemon Zukan sets is the Special 1 set aka RSE SP 1 Set.  This set is very highly desired by many zukan collectors because it contains the first generation starters and their evolutions, the Growlithe line, the Meowth line, Ekans line, Bellsprout line, Scyther, and Electabuzz.  This past week a complete set sold at auction for about $700 USD!! I have seen a few others go over 500$ but this one was the highest I've ever seen a zukan set go for.  It's amazing!

Here is the insert that comes in each capsule.  It shows all the figures that are part of this set.

1. Bulbasaur, Ivysaur, Venusaur

5. Bellspout, Weepinbell, Victreebel

2. Charmander, Charmeleon, Charizard

3. Squirtle, Wartortle, Blastoise

6. Growlithe, Arcanine

7. Electabuzz & Scyther

4. Meowth, Persain & Ekans, Arbok

Also it shows the first three sets of the Ruby/Saphire/Emerald sets.

The Pokemon Zukan that are part of the Special sets have black bases where the R/S/E sets come on brown bases. 

Another interesting fact that I don't think many people have noticed is that this set is the only set which is based of Ken Sugimori's original art for Pokemon Red and Green.  They all have very similar poses, I suspect they were made as close to Ken's artwork as possible. Here are a few examples below:

I have seen people on forums wondering why their Bulbasaur doesn't sit flat.  This is why!  Bulbasaur is in the process of shooting a leech seed!

Ivysaur snarling...

Venusaur with his head slightly turned.  Also Venusaur does  not come with a base to stand on, only Bulbasaur and Ivysaur fit on the small base together. 

Charmander looking bashful. 

Charmeleon looks like he is in mid slash attack!

Charizard standing nobly. 

Squirle sitting with its hand on its tail. Though they made him face forward in the zukan. 

Wartortle in a defensive pose. 

Blastoise looks like he's taking aim with his canons. 

The remanding Pokemon in this set have similar poses to their original Ken Sugimori art work too.  And I think this fact alone makes this set truly special!

Thanks for reading and  I hope you enjoyed. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns please feel free to do so!

Generation 1 Zukan Collection

Hello everyone!  I just wanted to share a photo of my entire first generation zukan figures collection.  I have been collecting for the past 7 years and finally got the last few missing zukans I needed (the final three sets were: Sandshew/Sandslash, Growlithe/Arcanine, and Charmander/Charmeleon/Charizard). On my Instagram @wildpokemonzukan I have posted all of these Pokemon individually in their natural environments. Next, I will be working on the 2nd generation which is Johto, so please check that out! Also, I hope to be posting more on here too of various interesting topics regarding Pokemon 1/40 Zukan Figures.  Thanks for stopping by! :)