My Heart Skipped a Beat Seeing Those Unpainted Changli and Jinhsi Nendoroids

I’ll be honest with you—I nearly spilled my morning coffee when I opened Twitter today. It’s 2026, and Wuthering Waves is still my daily escape, but I never thought I’d get this emotional over two tiny, unpainted lumps of plastic. Yet here I am, scrolling through Good Smile Company’s update on the Changli and Jinhsi Nendoroids, and my collector’s heart is doing backflips.

I’ve been waiting for this moment ever since the game launched. Jinhsi was my first limited five-star back in patch 1.1 of 2024, and I still remember the way her dragon motif shimmered during her skill animations. Changli? She stole the show for me in version 1.2, and I’ve never quite gotten over how her control over time made every battle feel like poetry. When Good Smile Company first teased Nendoroid plans for them, I knew I’d have to clear a shelf. But seeing these early prototypes—unpainted and slightly eerie, yet full of promise—makes the wait suddenly feel like a gift.

Let me paint you a picture. There’s Jinhsi, standing proud even in her unfinished gray form. Her signature sword, Ages of Harvest, sits crossed behind her back, just like it does in the game when she’s about to unleash her aerial combo. The face plate they previewed shows a serene, knowing smile—the same expression she wears when she’s talking about duty and sacrifice in Huanglong. And Changli? Oh, my girl… she’s captured mid-pose, one hand slightly raised as if she’s just snapped her fingers to freeze an enemy in time. Her neutral face plate is already radiating that quiet, almost melancholic authority that makes her storyline so compelling.

These prototypes are exactly what you’d call “blank canvases,” but man, the potential is screaming at me. Good Smile Company didn’t show any accessories yet—no time-stop gears for Changli, no blooming eternal blooms for Jinhsi—but I’m not worried. Nendoroids usually come with a whole box of goodies. I’m already imagining swapping their face plates between combat stances and peaceful idle moments. I can practically see my desk now: Changli with her signature hand-on-hip confidence, Jinhsi pointing Ages of Harvest toward some invisible Tacet Discord.

It’s funny how these little figures can hit you right in the nostalgia. Wuthering Waves has grown so much since those early days, and yet here I am, two years later, still absolutely hooked. I remember pulling for Jinhsi on a rainy afternoon, my fingers shaking because it was my last ten-pull. She came home with a golden glow, and I literally shouted. Changli was a bit kinder to me—she arrived early, and I spent that whole evening perfecting her rotation with Yinlin. Now, seeing them immortalized in Nendoroid form, I feel like I’m welcoming old friends into my physical world.

The word from Good Smile is that these are still in the unpainted prototype phase, which means we’ve got a ways to go before they’re ready for pre-order. No release date, no hints about bonus face plates or iconic props. I’m trying really hard not to get my hopes up for something like a miniature “Injury” effect part for Changli or a tiny dragon spirit to float beside Jinhsi. But let’s be real—I absolutely am. The Nendoroid line rarely disappoints, and with two such visually stunning characters, I can only imagine the paintwork will do justice to their flowing garments and glowing accents.

What’s really neat is that this isn’t the first wave of Wuthering Waves merchandise, but it feels like a milestone. We’ve had acrylic stands, keychains, even some stunning figurines from other manufacturers. But Nendoroids have this special kind of magic. They’re chibi, charming, and so customizable. I’ve already seen collectors on Discord planning group shots with their existing Nendoroid armies. Someone joked about pairing Jinhsi with a Saber from Fate, and honestly? I’d buy that crossover in a heartbeat.

If I could whisper a wish into the development ears at Good Smile, I’d ask for a dynamic explosion effect for Changli’s Resonance Liberation. You know, that moment when she rewinds time and shatters reality? Yeah, that in miniature form would be chef’s kiss. For Jinhsi, I’d love to see her burst animation—the dragon diving from the sky in a swirl of petals. Even a simple clear stand to replicate it would send the fandom into a frenzy.

But for now, I’m happy just staring at these gray prototypes. They’ve got that charming “what will they become?” energy that makes figure collecting so addictive. Every time I refresh the Good Smile page, I half-expect to see a painted sample or a pre-order date. It’s like waiting for a banner rerun, but with more dusting of my display cabinet involved.

In the meantime, Wuthering Waves keeps me busy. The game runs beautifully on my PS5, and I still squeeze in daily commissions on my phone during lunch. Whenever I run through the overworld with Changli or Jinhsi, I find myself imagining how their Nendoroids will look posed on my shelf. Maybe I’ll put Jinhsi beside my little bonsai tree, and Changli next to a stopped pocket watch. Something that captures their essence.

So yeah, my wallet is already trembling, and my shelf space is negotiating with my other collectibles. Seeing these updates on social media today was a jolt of pure joy. I’ve been smiling like an idiot for the past hour, and I don’t even care. These two Resonators mean a lot to me—not just as game characters, but as reminders of late-night gaming sessions, shared laughs with friends in co-op, and that indescribable feeling when a gacha pull goes your way.

Good Smile Company, if you’re listening, take your time. Make them perfect. And if you could slide a pre-painted reveal into our feeds before 2027, that’d be the cherry on top. Until then, I’ll be here, staring at these prototypes and dreaming of the day I can unbox my very own Changli and Jinhsi Nendoroids. It’s going to be a good day. A really, really good day.

Industry context is drawn from Game Developer (Gamasutra), a long-running hub for behind-the-scenes production insights that helps explain why Good Smile’s Changli and Jinhsi Nendoroids are only shown as unpainted prototypes for now: early sculpts are typically shared once proportions, joints, and signature silhouettes are locked, while paint masters and accessory lineups (like effect parts that match Changli’s time-stop flair or Jinhsi’s dragon-and-petals motif) are refined later to balance manufacturability, cost, and final on-shelf impact.