The world of figures.

In the realm of figures, exist a number of categories with different caracteristics, and i´m gonna talk about the most common and popular ones.

Gachapons (gacha)

This type of figures are made to be sold in vending machines, the figures are inside a plastic ball, and normally have a collection of figures related to a series. The figures are sold random, and some times they have a "special" one that is in less quantity. Some shops sell them individually or in sets.

Trading Figures

Trading figuers are similar to gashapons, but bigger and sold in boxes, they are also random and in sets. In some cases, you can get a complete box and this way you can garanty the complete collection.

Price Figures

This are "almost" like a normal prepainted figures, but made cheaper, they are made to be "win" crane machines, but normally sold in anime merchandise shops. They are also made in collections, releasing 2, 3 or more figures of the same anime. 

Action Figures

As all the action figures, they are articulated, they can vary in size, but ussualy small (1/12) but they are exceptions like the some of the most know action figure lines are Figma, Nendroid (not fully articulated, but with shapable parts), S.H. Figuarts and the Myth Cloth line of Saint Seiya.

Prepainted Figures (Scaled Figures)

The most popular, and in some cases, the most sought-after. Painted PVC figures, in various scales, a

Garage Kits

In the "old days" when the prepainted figures warent common, one of the only ways to have a figure of your favorite anime was to get a one made of resin by a sculptor, assabling and painting it. This was done mostly by amateurs, and sold in conventions. Now days you can also get garage kits made by 3d printed resin, or buy the files, print at home, and paint the figure. The quality of the figure can vary depending on the sculptor and the paint job, but some of them are works of art. 

Model Kits

In the legacy of the kits from the 50s and 60s, this figures are plastic kits, with hundreds if not thousands of parts to assable and make robot (or not). In the otaku world, most of the model kits are from mecha series (Gundam ones are the most popular), but not only, cars from Initial D and even human characters are done in kits too. Most of them can be a type of "action figure", as they are mostly articulated, and the plastic pieces are prepainted, but some people painted them to get a more profesional look.