Sofubi Vinyl Figure

Sofubi (short for "soft vinyl", from the Japanese sofubi) is a hollow figure cast from liquid PVC paste using rotocasting, not solid plastic injected into a steel mold. The result is a figure that is lightweight, slightly squeezable, seamless in feel, and traditionally painted by hand-spraying with masking tape rather than pad printing. A normal injection PVC figure is solid, harder, and built for mass production; a sofubi vinyl figure is built for character — softer surfaces, richer hand-sprayed color breaks, and that classic Japanese monster-toy feel.

We make sofubi vinyl figures from about 8 cm minis up to 30 cm display pieces. The classic sofubi size band is 15-25 cm (roughly the traditional 8-10 inch Japanese standard), which is where the rotocast process is most economical. Mini sofubi around 8-12 cm work well for blind-bag or gacha-style gift programs, while 25-30 cm pieces suit limited-edition artist drops. Tell us your character's proportions and we will recommend the cast size before sculpting.

Yes — color mixing is one of sofubi's strengths. We compound the vinyl paste itself, so glow-in-the-dark phosphorescent pigment, translucent clear vinyl, pearl, metallic and color-core (one color outside, another inside) are all cast-in options, not painted effects. Glow and clear sofubi are especially popular for kaiju, ghost, skull and horror themes like the skeleton figures shown on this page. Mixing effects (for example a glow skull inside a clear head) is quoted per design.

The MOQ is 100 pieces per design, one of the lowest entry points for genuine sofubi production. Prototyping takes 7 working days from approved 3D sculpt to a cast, hand-sprayed sofubi sample shipped to you for review. Mass production runs 25-35 days depending on paint complexity and quantity. Small runs are fine — many of our customers start with 100-300 pieces for a first drop and reorder once the release sells through.

Sofubi is durable but heat-sensitive. Keep figures out of direct sun, hot cars and heater proximity — vinyl softens around 60 °C and can slowly deform under its own weight. Clean with a soft cloth slightly dampened with mild soapy water; never use alcohol, acetone or household solvents, which dissolve vinyl paint. If a figure feels slightly oily after years in packaging (plasticizer migration), wipe it gently and let it air. Store upright without heavy objects pressing on it, and keep glow sofubi near a light source so they charge.