1000toys

The Synthetic Human maker that carried creator-led engineering into licensed worlds

TL;DR

  • The official archive starts with a $150 TOA Heavy Industries Synthetic Human in March 2014, before 1000toys Inc. was established in February 2015.
  • Creator projects under TOA Heavy Industries, nu:synth, IZMOJUKI, Joumon KUGUTU, and ROBOX formed the company's original-design identity.
  • RE:EDIT Halo, Devil May Cry 5, Hellboy, BLAME!, No Guns Life, and Cuphead show how that articulation-first approach moved into licensed characters.
  • Most recent character figures cost about ¥8,500-¥18,000 ($55-$120 USD), although Nendoroids start lower and the combining Voltron sits far above the core range.

The Synthetic Human came before the company

1000toys put its name on a faceless Synthetic Human before the current corporation existed. The official archive dates the first 1/6 TOA Heavy Industries figure to March 2014 and prices it at $150. The company profile gives February 2015 as the establishment date. That sequence makes the product, not the paperwork, the cleanest place to begin the story.

Tsutomu Nihei designed TOA Heavy Industries, a fictional industrial world of artificial bodies and machines. Its removable face mask and visible mechanical anatomy gave the Synthetic Human a strong silhouette without tying it to one familiar character. When the first 1/12 listing appeared in October 2016, roughly six inches tall here, the official description stressed that the body had been redesigned for the smaller format. The 2026 fifth-production 1/6 release kept the removable mask and moving eyes, then marked the new production run on the back of the neck.

More creators used the Synthetic Human body

The Synthetic Human became more than one recurring figure. Under nu:synth, 1000toys reused its 1/12 engineering for Onell Design's Glyosynth Pheyden and figures made with Punk Drunkers. The parts were designed to mix across releases. A recognizable body system had become a small collaboration platform.

Other creator projects pushed in different directions. Takayuki Takeya's 1/6 Joumon KUGUTU ENZI paired a digital sculpt with hand adjustments, factory weathering, and an illuminated head. Kim Jung Gi drew ROBOX for a collaboration that 1000toys translated into a box-shaped robot able to transform into a humanoid form. The 2017 Killy from BLAME!, developed under Nihei's supervision, connected this original-design work to a licensed protagonist and used flexible suit material around a new inner frame.

Licensed characters used the same engineering

1000toys grouped creator-led projects under ORIGINALS and licensed properties under ICONS. RE:EDIT became the label for its mechanically redesigned Halo figures at 1/12 scale, with the name signaling reinterpretation rather than a plain reduction of screen artwork. The 2020 Master Chief gave Halo's MJOLNIR Mark V armor new mechanical detail by Junji Okubo, with ABS armor over a partly die-cast frame. Its ¥14,630 price was about $100 USD at the editorial conversion used here.

Other ICONS releases show how broad the method could be. Dante from Devil May Cry 5 used a new articulated frame and a wired cloth coat at ¥15,000 ($100 USD). Hellboy used removable cloth clothing while keeping the blunt graphic shapes of Mike Mignola's drawings, and its 2024 anniversary edition cost ¥18,000 ($120 USD). Cuphead took the opposite visual route in 2022, using a telescoping head and full-body joints to make a rubber-hose cartoon design poseable at ¥7,800 ($50 USD).

RE:EDIT Halo remains the clearest continuing line. The official catalog lists six principal Halo: Reach Spartans across 2024 and 2025, followed by a 2026 recolor of the original Master Chief Mark V. The current catalog therefore reads as a focused specialist's output, with one sustained license carrying much of the recent release schedule.

What to buy first and what it costs

The most direct introduction is still a Synthetic Human. The 2024 E.S.G.S. Model 3 is a 1/12 TOA Heavy Industries figure priced at ¥8,500 ($55 USD), while the 2026 fifth-production 1/6 Synthetic Human cost ¥14,000 ($95 USD) before tax. Buyers who know 1000toys through games can start with RE:EDIT instead, where the 2026 Master Chief recolor was ¥16,500 ($110 USD) before tax. These figures are built for collectors who want posing to be part of the display, not just a way to find one permanent stance.

The catalog has lower and higher edges. Good Smile listed the 100Toys-manufactured Marty McFly Nendoroid at ¥5,500 ($35 USD), while the RIOBOT Voltron collaboration cost ¥98,000 before tax, about ¥107,800 ($720 USD) with 10% Japanese tax, for five articulated lions that transform and combine. Most recent 1000toys character figures occupy the more approachable middle between those examples, around ¥8,500-¥18,000 ($55-$120 USD), before shipping or retailer markup.

North American collectors can find a dedicated 1000Toys catalog at BigBadToyStore. Good Smile's product pages direct Nendoroid buyers to its international partner shops.

1000toys and Sentinel share a president and a building, but no primary source establishes ownership either way. Sentinel hosts the current Japanese 1000toys catalog and credits its staff on many product pages, so those documented links matter to understanding how the figures reach collectors. The 2026 Synthetic Human and Master Chief listings keep both sides of the maker's identity visible: an original artificial body on one shelf, and that design discipline carried into a licensed hero on the next.

More for collectors: The creator-led catalog, release by release

TOA Heavy Industries began with the 1/6 Synthetic Human, listed in March 2014 at $150. The first 1/12 version appeared in the archive in October 2016 at $65 and was rebuilt around the smaller size instead of simply reducing the earlier body. Killy from BLAME! followed in July 2017 at $65, using flexible suit material over a new inner frame under Tsutomu Nihei's supervision. Etherow from Aposimz arrived in February 2018 at $78 with figure-specific details added by Nihei that did not appear in the manga.

The other original projects did not share one visual formula. Joumon KUGUTU ENZI was a $230 1/6 figure shaped by Takayuki Takeya's hand adjustments, weathering references, and an illuminated head. Kim Jung Gi's $65 ROBOX transformed from a box into a 140 mm humanoid robot. The $80 nu:synth figures adapted the 1/12 Synthetic Human body for Onell Design and Punk Drunkers characters with parts intended to mix across releases. The December 2024 E.S.G.S. Model 3 and January 2026 fifth-production 1/6 Synthetic Human keep TOA Heavy Industries in the active catalog.

More for collectors: The licensed catalog, release by release

Dante from Devil May Cry 5 reached Japan in December 2019 at ¥15,000 ($100 USD), pairing a new articulated frame with a wired cloth coat. Master Chief followed in April 2020 at ¥14,630 (about $100 USD) and opened RE:EDIT Halo with Junji Okubo's revised Mark V armor over ABS and die-cast parts. Cuphead changed the silhouette in February 2022 at ¥7,800 ($50 USD), using a telescoping head and full-body joints. The 2024 and 2025 Halo: Reach releases completed six Noble Team figures before the Mark V returned in June 2026 as a ¥16,500 ($110 USD) recolor.

Good Smile's Chucky, E.T., Marty McFly, and Doc Brown pages credit 100Toys as manufacturer and Good Smile Company as distributor. Those Nendoroids cost ¥5,500-¥8,250 (about $35-$55 USD).

At the opposite end, the RIOBOT Voltron collaboration uses five separately articulated lions that transform and combine into a figure about 31 cm tall. Its Japanese list price was ¥98,000 before tax, or about ¥107,800 ($720 USD) with 10% Japanese tax. Sentinel's product page labels RIOBOT as the brand, so this article does not treat it as a 1000toys-owned line.

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