Zukan figures are some of the best figures you can buy. Zukan figures are sold at Gashapon machines in Japan. They are scaled to 1/40th the size of the Pokémon they are based on (although in some cases 1/50th the size because the figure would be too large to fit in the capsule). Every Pokemon has a zukan, except Onix, Steelix, and about 95% of the fifth generation so far.
With each generation/and/or series, the base color changes. The original G/S/C series has a dark green base, the R/S/E series has brown bases, the special version R/S/E has black bases, the D/P series has dark blue bases, and lastly , the B/W series has a bright purple color for the base. Occasionally they will also create a zukan diorama, which is basically a nature scene created to look like a home or a nature scene to fit a certain Pokémon. They have also released the movie zukan. They made one for each Pokemon movie, and each one comes with a small clear figure of Ash. In 2004, they created the first zukan lottery, Wailord. It is literally the size of a whale! Only 1000 were made, it is 14″ long and quite heavy. This is a very rare figure, sought after by almost all zukan collectors and Wailord collectors. Recently, they have released Ho-Oh and Lugia lottery figures. Once again , only 1,000 were made. These are beautiful figures. They are painted with great care and the details are fantastic. Each one comes with a clear plastic stand, so they are perfect for displaying!
Another breakthrough in the world of zukan happened very recently, which is that Entei, Raikou, and Suicune are the first to have a shiny version of themselves in zukan. They are in the same pose as the original regular color releases, but the glossy versions have a bright red base. The base really makes the figures stand out. Well, that covers the basics of the different types of zukan. I hope you learned something by reading this, but be warned, finding older zukan (eg original eeveelution line, Pidgeot line, Dragonite line, Charizard line, etc.) is very, VERY difficult. , and you will have to dish out a lot of money to get them. But don’t be intimidated! Start small. Buy one or two at a time, or perhaps one of the newer sets. If you’re serious about collecting, then look for the ones from the previous series, and maybe even look into buying the lottery figures. Good luck and happy collecting!