Prime 1 Studio

The statue house that brought gallery-level presence to anime shelves, and then made it accessible

At a glance

Status: Active. The statue catalog continues while PRISMA WING expands the anime figure range.
Based in: Asakusa in Taito in Tokyo in Japan.
Known for: Large stone filled resin statues; PRISMA WING PVC figures; Cutie1 figures.
Good fit: collectors who want a large centerpiece statue; PRISMA WING for buyers working with a standard shelf and a smaller budget.
Before buying: measure the display space and confirm the weight before ordering; flagship statues need dedicated stable support.
Research coverage: Extensive

TL;DR

Tokyo-based studio founded in 2012, producing large-format polystone statues spanning anime, gaming, and Western entertainment properties.
PRISMA WING, launched in 2021, brings Prime 1's sculptural ambition to smaller, more affordable PVC figure scales and prices.
Statue prices can exceed $670 USD; PRISMA WING offers a more conventional price range for scale figure collectors.

Large-Scale Statue Ambitions from Asakusa

Prime 1's debut piece, a Megatron from Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen made without a fixed scale, earned 'Statue of the Year 2014' and established the company as a serious force in premium collectibles. The studio had existed only since March 30, 2012, when CEO Rie Matsumoto and creative lead Johnny Pham launched it in Tokyo to produce oversized, gallery-level statues that could compete with respected resin statue studios.

Headquartered in Asakusa, Taito-ku, Tokyo, the company occupies an interesting cultural position. Asakusa is one of Tokyo’s most historic districts, and Prime 1’s showroom sits in a neighborhood better known for temples and traditional crafts than collectible statues. Prime 1 treats each statue as a sculptural centerpiece meant for intentional display, and the neighborhood's traditional character suits that philosophy.

The founding team brought complementary strengths. Matsumoto provided business acumen and Japanese industry connections; Pham contributed sculptural vision shaped by years in the statue and collectibles world. Together they built a company where every statue ships with a custom base, hand-finished paint, and the kind of surface detail that rewards close inspection.

Flagship Statues and the Smaller PRISMA WING Line

Prime 1’s signature PRIME 1 STATUE line produces stone-filled resin statues, sometimes combined with other materials, that frequently exceed 50cm in height and weigh several kilograms. Their prices reflect that size and material use. The sculptural quality stands alongside dedicated resin studios, with particular attention to surface textures, facial expressions, and dynamic posing.

Their license portfolio is strikingly wide. Western properties (DC Comics, Transformers, Lord of the Rings, Witcher) share catalog space with anime and game franchises (Evangelion, Berserk, Chainsaw Man, Devil May Cry, Nier: Automata). This dual-market strategy gives Prime 1 reach that purely anime-focused manufacturers lack.

In 2021, Prime 1 launched PRISMA WING, a PVC plastic figure brand that applies its detail-driven approach at smaller sizes and lower prices. It serves fans who admire Prime 1’s statues but want something that fits a standard shelf and a more manageable budget. Cutie1 adds compact, stylized figures made from flexible vinyl.

Commit to the Shelf Space

The right entry point depends on budget and display space. PRISMA WING offers lower prices and conventional figure dimensions, making it practical for an existing anime collection. The statues need dedicated shelf space, stable display conditions for their stone-filled resin, and budgets that can reach six figures in yen. Their size, weight, and cost make the flagship line impractical for many buyers.

Pre-order timing matters for both lines. Prime 1 statues frequently sell out during pre-order windows and become very difficult to find later. PRISMA WING releases have broader availability, but popular character releases can still sell through quickly.

Buyers accustomed to standard anime figures should expect Prime 1’s statues to take longer to produce than typical PVC plastic figures. The longer schedule reflects the complexity of making high-end statues.

Gallery Showrooms and Anime Expansion

PRISMA WING has grown from a handful of initial releases to a catalog covering popular franchises, and gallery showrooms in Asakusa and Shinjuku Marui Annex give collectors a physical touchpoint that most figure manufacturers don’t offer. Whether PRISMA WING can build a reputation independent of the statue line’s prestige is still an open question. The statues, meanwhile, continue to occupy their own category.