A small article on a Japanese stop-motionanimator : Animist.
On his Youtube channel, he shows his techniques for animating a figurine from the opening of the box to the final assembly.
Here is the end result of his creation : a Stop motion about Chun-Li (a Street fighter character) against a energy drink can.
If you want to see the Making off it’s here:
The animations are short but of a high quality, it also shows that it is not necessary to invest in a sophisticated metal frame to create an effective animation in frame by frame.
However, he makes intensive use of rigging systems to animate his characters more easily.
The animation software he uses “seems to be” Dragon frame , if you do not know this software or want to learn how to use it, do not hesitate to take a look at this old article:
Thus he has produced many animations for famous characters from Japanese and American Pop culture:
Sheriff Woody from Toy Story , Kirby , the characters of the video game Among-us , Darth Vader , Link (the legend of Zelda), Solid Snake , Sasha (Pokémon).