Good Smile Company has pulled one of anime's oldest transforming heroines into its biggest POP UP PARADE format yet. The POP UP PARADE SP Cutie Honey, based on the Cutie Honey Nova revival project, stands approximately 28cm tall and arrives November 30, 2026 at 16,800 yen, tax included.
That size and price point place this figure well above a standard POP UP PARADE release, and the "SP" designation signals exactly why: Good Smile reserves it for figures that need more room than the line's usual 17 to 21cm range allows.
Cutie Honey herself is not a new character chasing a trend. She is a genuine franchise matriarch, first created by Go Nagai in 1973, and this release lands as part of a 50th-anniversary-adjacent revival rather than a random catalog addition.
Collectors weighing whether this is worth a spot on the shelf should understand both what makes the Nova redesign distinct and what the POP UP PARADE SP format actually delivers for the price.
Go Nagai created Cutie Honey in 1973, blending magical-girl transformation, android science fiction, and tokusatsu-style combat years before most of those genres had settled into their modern forms. The character's core hook, an android heroine who transforms into different combat personas by shouting a signature phrase, became a template later magical-girl and transformation series would echo for decades.
The franchise has been revived repeatedly: the 1994 OVA New Cutie Honey, the family-friendly Cutie Honey Flash, Gainax's stylish 2004 reboot Re: Cutie Honey, and the 2018 Cutie Honey Universe series. Cutie Honey Nova is the newest of these reinterpretations, developed as a joint project between Dynamic Planning, Hobby Japan, and Good Smile Company.
Cutie Honey Nova reimagines series protagonist Honey Kisaragi with new character designs by illustrator Nadare Takamine, setting her story in a near-future setting at St. Capelle Academy, where she clashes with the secret society Panther Claw over her late father's invention. A companion manga by Naoto Tsushima began serialization on Hobby Japan Web the following year, giving the redesign its own ongoing narrative rather than functioning as a one-off art reinterpretation.
That distinction matters for collectors: this figure is not simply a repaint of the 1973 design in modern materials. It is a specific, newly illustrated take on the character, which is part of why Good Smile chose to debut it at this larger SP scale rather than folding it into a standard-size POP UP PARADE release.
Standard POP UP PARADE figures run roughly 17 to 18cm, prioritizing an affordable price and a fixed, sculpted display pose over the swappable parts of a Nendoroid or the joint articulation of a figma. The line's L size variants push closer to 21cm for characters that warrant extra presence.
SP, as used here, goes a step further still. At roughly 28cm, this Cutie Honey figure is closer in scale to a dedicated 1/6 statue than to a typical non-scale PVC release, which is also why its 16,800 yen price sits well above the line's usual $30 to $45 USD territory.
Because POP UP PARADE figures ship in a single fixed pose rather than with interchangeable parts, the entire value of a release like this comes down to how well that one pose captures the character. A larger SP-scale figure gives sculptors more room to render fine details, like Honey's costume linework and hair sculpting, with a level of texture that would be harder to achieve at standard POP UP PARADE scale.
Collectors should not expect face plate swaps or interchangeable hand parts here; POP UP PARADE's appeal has always been sculpted-pose fidelity over posability, and that holds true even at this larger SP size.
At 16,800 yen, this figure costs roughly three to four times what a standard POP UP PARADE release runs, which is a meaningful jump for anyone used to the line's budget-friendly reputation. That price reflects the larger sculpt, not a change in what the format delivers in terms of articulation or accessories.
Collectors on the fence should treat this release more like a mid-tier scale figure purchase than an impulse POP UP PARADE pickup, and budget preorder timing accordingly given Good Smile's typical multi-month production lead time between order close and the actual ship date.
At 28cm, this figure needs noticeably more shelf depth and height clearance than the POP UP PARADE figures most collectors are used to stacking side by side. Planning display space before the figure arrives avoids discovering too late that an existing case or shelf tier is too shallow.
A dust-free enclosure matters even more at this price point, since the figure's larger surface area means more exposed detail for dust to settle into over time. EVORETRO's Acrylic Modular Case scales up to accommodate larger centerpiece figures like this one, while an EVORETRO 4-Step Acrylic Display Stand can give it elevated prominence over a row of smaller figures.
Approximately 28cm, noticeably larger than a standard or L size POP UP PARADE release.
It is scheduled for November 30, 2026 at 16,800 yen, tax included.
No, it's based on the Cutie Honey Nova revival project, with new character designs by Nadare Takamine.
No, POP UP PARADE figures ship in a single fixed, sculpted pose without swappable accessories.
Manga artist Go Nagai, who first introduced the character in 1973.
Cutie Honey Nova's jump to POP UP PARADE SP scale is a genuine step up from the line's usual footprint, and giving it proper shelf space matters more here than with a typical non-scale release. The EVORETRO Acrylic Modular Case is sized to handle a centerpiece figure like this one without cramming it next to smaller pieces.
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