Series: Dragonball Z
Size: 4 cm
Main distribution: United Kingdom
This is a set of tiny Dragonball Z figures that allegedly came out of Christmas Crackers in the UK in the early 2000s.
They are simple, 1 colour, hard plastic figures. The molds are clearly from Bandai’s Full Colour Battle figures, although these figures are much smaller. There’s 6 of them, which makes sense as most Christmas Crackers come in boxes of 6 or 12. They usually include a small, often cheap made, plastic toy, alongside a crown and a joke. They’re quite popular in the UK.
I don’t know if more figures exist, or if they came in random colours.
None of the figures have any branding on them. It’s possible the Christmas Crackers were unlicensed.
Yamcha (blue)
The figure is based on the Yamcha figure that came out of Pack #1 of Bandai’s Full Colour Battle figures, made in 1993, which was based on the Cell Games Saga. The figure is much smaller, probably to fit inside the cracker. It is completely light blue, and not painted. The details are quite crisp.
Android #16 (purple)
The figure is based on the Android #16 figure that came out of Pack #1 of Bandai’s Full Colour Battle figures, made in 1993, which was based on the Cell Games Saga. The figure is much smaller, probably to fit inside the cracker. It is completely light purple, and not painted. The details are quite crisp. Excess plastic can be see along his left side, probably from the manufacturing process.
Perfect Cell (green)
The figure is based on the Perfect Cell figure that came out of Pack #1 of Bandai’s Full Colour Battle figures, made in 1993, which was based on the Cell Games Saga. The figure is much smaller, probably to fit inside the cracker. It is completely light green, and not painted. The details are quite crisp. Excess plastic can be see along his right waist, probably from the manufacturing process.
Super Saiyan Goku Kamehameha pose (blue)
The figure is based on the Super Saiyan Goku (kamehameha pose) figure that came out of Pack #1 of Bandai’s Full Colour Battle figures, made in 1993, which was based on the Cell Games Saga. The figure is much smaller, probably to fit inside the cracker. It is completely light blue, and not painted. The details are quite crisp. Excess plastic can be see along his sides, probably from the manufacturing process where the 2 half molds meet.
Tien (yellow)
The figure is based on the Tien figure that came out of Pack #1 of Bandai’s Full Colour Battle figures, made in 1993, which was based on the Cell Games Saga. The figure is much smaller, probably to fit inside the cracker. It is completely yellow, and not painted. The details are quite crisp. Excess plastic can be see along his right waist, probably from the manufacturing process.
Piccolo (white)
The figure is based on the Piccolo figure that came out of Pack #1 of Bandai’s Full Colour Battle figures, made in 1993, which was based on the Cell Games Saga. The figure is much smaller, probably to fit inside the cracker. It is completely white, and not painted. The details are quite crisp. There’s a lot of excess plastic along his waist, probably from the manufacturing process.
I found this lot on eBay while looking for Bandai’s Full Colour Battle figures, AB Groupe’s Super Guerriers and Irwin Toy’s mini figures. I initially dismissed them as bootleg, but I never saw any others of them, and I got intrigued. They were cheap so I figured why not and bought them.
When I received them I was surprised how small they were! It’s hard to tell on their own, so here’s an image to compare them with AB Groupe’s / Irwin Toy’s / KidzBizz’s.
Middle: Irwin Toy’s mini figure
Right: AB Groupe’s Super Guerriers figure
They’re clearly cheaply made, with manufacturing errors etc, but their details are surprisingly good and crisp. I immediately recognised them as Bandai’s molds, but they had no markings on them to state this. After asking around and no one knowing, I started to assume my initial judgement that these were just some odd bootlegs. I decided to contact the original seller and ask them where they got them from.
They informed me they got them from Christmas Crackers, which their parents bought them around 2005. This actually made sense, as there were 6 of them, and they were cheaply hard plastic toys in bright colours. We’re also in the UK, who love Christmas Crackers.
There’s been lots of IP based Christmas Crackers over the years, including Super Mario, Sonic the Hedgehog, Thunderbirds, Superman, Marvel etc. During the height of Dragonball Z in the early 2000s it’s not that strange to imagine there were Christmas Crackers based on the anime.
I can however not find a single image of them. As the parents bought them I assume they must have been for sale in a regular shop. I found lots of IP Christmas Crackers from Boots (including Super Mario which also used old Bandai molds!) so I’m guessing these could be from there. I didn’t grew up in the UK though, so I have no personal memories of this.
If anyone in the UK recalls these, or have a picture of them, or even just an old Christmas catalogue that advertised these, I’d love to see it to confirm!
I love weird and obscure merchandise like this. Even if it’s unlicensed, it’s cool to find these. I’m intrigued by their history, and I hope to find out more of them.
Got any more details / information you think I should add? Or did I get something wrong? Do you own any of these figures? Do you remember Dragonball Z Christmas Crackers? Do you agree or disagree with my findings? Let me know in the comments below!
Interesting information about the set! They are definitely much smaller than the original bandai full color battle. I think there are a few more plain color figures that came from same bandai full color battle set (but probably from different manufacturer). An example is this item sold in eBay. https://www.ebay.com/itm/193377519813?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=NYuq6B5sRSS&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=ugKsxLCiRUq&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY
I believe these are of the same size as the full color battle so they are probably different from yours.
Oh that’s very interesting! I noticed they have more of them and even the same characters/poses but in different colours than mine. I’ve asked them for more information on the figures.