Nendoroid vs S.H.Figuarts: Which Should You Actually Buy?
The Nendoroid vs S.H.Figuarts question usually gets answered with “Nendoroids are the cheap ones”. That is not true, and it sends people to the wrong shelf.
Our Nendoroids run £29.99 to £65.95. Our S.H.Figuarts run £27.99 to £125.99. The two ranges overlap almost completely in the middle, which is where nearly everyone is buying. So the decision is not about budget. It is about what you want the figure to do once it is out of the box.
The short answer
- Buy a Nendoroid if you want expression. Swappable faces, oversized head, chibi proportions, and a look that reads instantly from across a room. Ours are all 10cm.
- Buy an S.H.Figuarts if you want a pose. Proper articulation through the shoulders, hips, knees and ankles, screen-accurate proportions, and effect parts to build a scene. Ours run from 7.5cm to 21cm depending on the character.
If the person already owns one of a character and you are buying a second, buy the other format. It is not a duplicate — it does a different job on the shelf.
Size: this is where people get caught
Every standard Nendoroid is 10cm. That is the whole point of the format and it never varies. A Nendoroid of a seven-foot character and a Nendoroid of a child are the same height.
S.H.Figuarts are scaled to the character, so heights move around a lot — and that is worth checking before you buy, because the number is not always what you expect. In our Dragon Ball range a 7.5cm King Gomah is £65.99 while a 17cm Cell is £59.99. Height and price are not related in this line.
The two Nendoroid variants nobody explains
“Nendoroid” is three different products, and the listings rarely say so.
| Line | What it is | Our range |
|---|---|---|
| Nendoroid | The standard one. 10cm, swappable faces and hands, plastic stand. | £45.95–£59.99 |
| Nendoroid Basic | A stripped-back release — fewer swappable parts, lower price. | £29.99 |
| Nendoroid Doll | A different thing entirely: a poseable doll body in real fabric clothing, 14cm. | £65.95 |
The Yuji Itadori Nendoroid Doll is the clearest example — a cloth Jujutsu High uniform, magnetic shoes and a magnetic base. If someone likes the Nendoroid face but wants something they can actually dress, that is the one, and it is in stock.
At the other end, Nendoroid Basic Reze at £29.99 is the cheapest way into the format.
What is actually on the shelf today
All eleven of our Nendoroids are buyable, and six of them ship today — including all three Demon Slayer ones (Tanjiro and Inosuke at £45.95, Zenitsu at £46.95) and Denji at £54.99.
The S.H.Figuarts range is much deeper — 91 figures — but weighted towards pre-order, because Bandai works to a longer announcement cycle. If you need something in your hands this week, the Nendoroid shelf is the one to look at.
What is actually in the box
This is the clearest way to see the difference, because the contents follow the format’s purpose.
A Nendoroid gives you faces. The Tanjiro Nendoroid comes with three face plates — smiling, standard and combat — and a clear display stand. That is the whole proposition: one figure, three moods, swapped in seconds. The Denji Nendoroid does the same with a standard smirking face and a mid-transformation face, plus interchangeable chainsaw arms.
An S.H.Figuarts gives you hands and effects. A typical release carries eight to eleven interchangeable hands, three or four faces, and character-specific parts — a weapon, an energy effect, a swappable hair piece for motion. You are not swapping a mood, you are building a moment.
Neither is better. But if the person you are buying for is going to put it on a shelf and never touch it again, the Nendoroid’s three faces are three chances to pick one they like. The Figuarts’ eleven hands are eleven parts in a bag in a drawer.
Which one survives a real house
Nendoroids are chunky, low-centred and clip together firmly. They tolerate being knocked, picked up and put back.
S.H.Figuarts are the opposite — thin ankles, ball joints, small accessories, and the pose is only as stable as the surface. They are a display piece, not a handling piece. If the shelf is somewhere with a cat, a toddler or a door that slams, that is a real consideration rather than a footnote.
So which one?
Buy the Nendoroid for someone who likes the character. Buy the S.H.Figuarts for someone who likes the show — who will want to put the figure in the pose from the episode they remember. That distinction gets it right far more often than price does.
