February 26, 2024

S.H.Figuarts Dragon Ball Z Super Saiyan Son Goku & Super Saiyan 2 Son Gohan Exclusive Edition

By Joe
Time to do this father-son style.

We are now past Valentine’s Day and I’m ready to close the book on San Diego Comic Con 2023. The last action figure exclusive to look at is the two-pack of Super Saiyan Goku and Super Saiyan 2 Gohan. Dragon Ball Z has been around for a long time and has given birth to many iconic images whether it’s Goku and Vegeta squaring off or Goku’s initial transformation into a Super Saiyan or any others. One of the top ones is definitely Gohan finishing off Cell with what has been dubbed the Father-Son Kamehameha. Gohan, bloodied and with his left arm just hanging limp at his side, summons the strength to muscle-up one last blast with his father urging him on from beyond the grave. Goku appears as a spirit behind him as if he’s providing his own blast alongside his son. Whether it’s to be taken literally or not has never been really clear to me, but it’s a dramatic moment and definitely a fan favorite.

Did you think I was going to make you wait until the end?

For Comic Con 2023, Bandai released a two-pack that has shockingly never happened before. A battle damaged Super Saiyan 2 Gohan and a “ghost” Super Saiyan Goku so collectors can essentially reenact that moment as part of their collection. It comes in an oversized box with a black and purple deco and the photography on the box makes it obvious what moment this represents. The window only shows Gohan which almost makes Goku feel like it’s a surprise, or a glorified accessory. Both figures are re-releases of past ones. We’ve seen this base Goku body many times before across several iterations of the character. Gohan is also a re-release, though it’s an older figure and one I’ve never interacted with before. Initially, I was only going to get the event exclusive Raditz, but this release just looked too cool and it earned my $95.

I’ve suddenly found myself with many Gohans.

Let’s talk Gohan first since, as I mentioned earlier, Goku feels more like an accessory here even though he’s a full-fledged action figure. Gohan is, as the box states, in his Super Saiyan 2 form and his purple gi is all tattered and torn. There’s some battle damage painted onto his flesh in places, but no blood. He’s a young teen so he’s much smaller than his father and stands about 4.25″ to the top of his face. He follows some past event exclusives by featuring translucent, yellow, plastic for his hair which has been brushed over with a pearlescent, gold, paint. It’s a pretty heavy coat of paint so it’s actually hard to tell that there’s any translucency to the plastic, but it’s there and it looks pretty nice. I don’t know if I prefer it to painted, yellow, plastic, but it’s fine. The face printing looks sharp and is likely updated from the original release of the figure. Bandai did a good job matching colors the rest of the way, and it helps that the upper body is cast all in flesh-colored plastic. The only painted flesh are the exposed knees. The rest of the paint is fairly minimal. The gi is painted and there’s a darker purple for the inside portions of the torn parts. There’s a little shading around the knees, and then there’s the battle damage. It’s limited to the chest, face, and left arm and I’m surprised there aren’t any cross-hatches on his right arm, but it looks good and at least it isn’t overdone.

I also now have a pair of Super Saiyan 2 boys.
Gohan is a wee bit small for the aura effect.

For optional parts, Gohan has four portraits: stoic, teeth gritting, yelling, and an even bigger yell. The two yelling are certainly pretty similar, but it’s hard to argue anything is missing. For hands, Gohan has a set of fists, open, relaxed, Kamehameha, and Kamehameha hands with pegs on them. And if you get those blast effect hands with pegs, that usually means you get some kind of blast effect and that is true of Gohan. He comes with the charging, Kamehameha, effect. It’s done in translucent, light, blue plastic and consists of a small sphere with slots in it to accommodate seven, acrylic, posts. It’s an effect we’ve seen a few times and it seems like it’s becoming a favorite of Bandai as I think I have four of them now. This one seems lighter in color from the one that came with Orange Piccolo and doesn’t feature any shading. It felt a little softer too and the posts are more finicky, but it’s still a useful accessory.

“G-Gohan?! Is that really you?!”
This Gohan has proven really fun to mess around with. Too bad he’s going to just occupy one pose on my shelf.

When I ordered this set I didn’t really think much about Gohan as a figure because, like I’m guessing most people, he only needs to hit one pose and that’s it. To my surprise though, this is a wonderfully engineered little figure. I’m finding myself really charmed by it and if I didn’t want him on my shelf in his iconic pose he’d make for a great desk figure to fiddle with. His head is on a hinged ball peg, which isn’t my favorite setup as you need to keep track of which way that hinge is going to make use of it. I didn’t mention it in the aesthetics, but I love that the faceplates do not include the sideburns so the fit is seamless. The heads get some tilt, rotation is fine, and there’s a joint at the base of the neck that lets him look up and down, though if you want him to look as far up as he can it will create a gap at the base of the neck. The shoulders are hinged ball pegs and the range is terrific. Gohan’s arms go up past horizontal. The ball peg in the shoulder allows for the arms to come forward and across the chest pretty far. It’s not a true butterfly joint, but since the figure’s chest is so small the clearance is fine. There isn’t much in the way of a floating piece or cap to hide the joint which might turn off some, but it doesn’t bother me at all.

He’s coming for you, Cell!

In the arms, we get the usual biceps swivel and double-jointed elbows which go past 90 degrees. The hands are on hinged ball joints and they work fine. The diaphragm has what feels like a single ball joint that lets Gohan tilt a bit to each side. It only pivots rather than provides for rotation and there’s no forward and back. The waist has a ball joint which rotates and goes forward and back enough. The legs will kick forward past horizontal and kick back almost as far. They don’t go out to the side for full splits, but it’s better than 45 degrees. There is a thigh swivel in each leg and the knees will go a little past 90 degrees. The sculpted tatters interfere a bit. The ankles are the only articulation point I dislike. I think it’s just a ball peg, but Gohan has these sculpted boots that Bandai apparently didn’t want to break up so they’re one, solid, piece except for the toe hinge. They’ll go forward a bit on the ball joint, but not back very far. The ankle rocker is pretty poor, but the toe hinge is at least done well.

Technically not the first dead Goku figure in this line. Or even the second.

That’s Gohan, which means we’re only halfway through this one because we still have to talk about Goku. This Goku is essentially the Super Saiyan Full Power Goku, only now he’s sculpted in blue, translucent, plastic. There’s some darker blue paint for things like his boots and shirt and his face is printed on as well. Some parts of the body are more transparent than others as there’s some air-brushing over his pants. It’s a cool looking figure though and puts any Marvel Legends Iceman to shame. The only parts that aren’t translucent are joints like the knees and the inner part of the butterfly joints, but they don’t stand out in an ugly fashion. He looks great. It’s a figure I never felt like I needed and I still feel that way, but if you’re going to do it it’s hard to imagine it being done better than this.

The translucent effect is pretty neat, but you will want to hide the few non-translucent parts, like the elbow joint, if it can be helped.
This Goku may look different, but he’s still plenty familiar.

Like Gohan, this is a figure that basically only needs to do one thing, but Bandai still outfit him like a full figure. Goku comes with three portraits: stoic, yelling, and teeth-gritting. The printing looks pretty good considering it’s on translucent plastic. If anything the white of the eyes are too opaque, but it’s good that they stand out. For hands, he has the usual Goku assortment: fists, Kamehameha, open, martial arts posed, and a set of Instant Transmission hands. All of the extras are probably good for those who want to have a little fun with their toy photography, but he only needs those Kamehameha hands for me. Articulation is the same as all of the other Goku figures. It’s fine, with some areas showing their age, but he can do what he needs to. The joints are all nice and firm, but not overly tight.

Don’t worry guys, Goku will be watching over you. Always watching…

Like I said, this set just needs to be able to hit one pose and it does. It actually does it even better than I would have expected. This is a great release as an event exclusive. It’s a variant of two of the most popular characters in Dragon Ball Z and it’s centered on an iconic moment. It’s a wonder that Bandai hasn’t done more of this, but I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s more to come. There are plenty of other spots they could look to, and in a way they’ve already started by including certain extra parts and accessories with some figures. They orchestrated Vegeta defeating Android 19 by including a new portrait with 19 and the upcoming full power Frieza comes with a new face for Legendary Super Saiyan Goku. I’m curious to see how far they go with this and it’s a natural path considering they’ve released damn near every major character at this point. As for this release, it was an event exclusive that Premium Bandai put for preorder on its website. It’s been made and distributed, but they may unload extra stock on another retailer so keep your eyes opened if you missed out. I like it enough to recommend it even at a mark-up, but certainly don’t sleep on it because it’s only likely to go up.

We’ve got plenty more from the world of Dragon Ball to talk about:

S.H.Figuarts Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero Orange Piccolo

When Akira Toriyama set out to draft the plot for Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero his original goal for the film was to take a favorite character of his and give him an upgrade. That character was Piccolo who had basically been left behind by the likes of Goku and Vegeta way back at the…

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S.H.Figuarts Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero Son Gohan Beast

Last summer, fans of Dragon Ball were treated to a new movie: Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero. The intended purpose of the movie seemed to be to take two somewhat forgotten characters in Piccolo and Gohan and give them a makeover. The manga and anime Dragon Ball Super has basically been a story about Goku…

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by Joe

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February 21, 2024

Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan Vegeta – S.H.Figuarts 15th Anniversary Ver.

By Joe
Here come the Vegetas!

To celebrate the 15th anniversary of the Bandai/Tamashii Nations action figure line, S.H.Figuarts, Bandai turned to the fans. There was a large roster of releases eligible for re-release to mark the occasion, and anyone who wanted to could cast a vote for their five favorites. The winner was, not surprisingly, Vegeta. And in particular, it was the Super Saiyan God/Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan (yeah, I know) version of the character that had been released with the film Dragon Ball Super: Broly. That movie actually marked the first time we saw Vegeta use the Super Saiyan God form in animation (he used it in the manga) so it made sense to finally do a figure of that version. Rather than make it a dedicated Super Saiyan God figure, Bandai included a second head so he could also show off his Super Saiyan Blue look.

He has a snazzy slip cover and a disc stand. Those are the only additions.

When that movie and figure debuted, I was still feeling my way through this line. Did I need such a release? Yeah, I kind of did, but it took me awhile to figure that out. As a result, I never got it so this figure was indeed among the five I selected when I made my voice heard. It wasn’t my number one choice though (that would have been the Dragon Ball Super version of Future Trunks), but at least it was a choice. This was to be a special edition too, but all that meant is we were getting a fancy slipcover and a disc stand. For me, someone who never bought this figure before, it seemed worth it. Was it worth it for those who already had it? That’s a much harder question.

Assemble the blue-haired Saiyans!

Vegeta comes in the standard S.H.Figuarts box with the usual assortment of artwork. I don’t know if the photography is the same or not, but the name printed on the box does acknowledge the anniversary edition. There’s also a slipcover that goes over it with an image of the figure posed on the included “stand” with a timeline in the background and “2019” in a larger font since that was the year this one was originally released. The font and printing on the sides is surprisingly plain though. Like bootleg plain. If you’re an in-box collector you may be underwhelmed. If you’re not then you probably don’t care.

This figure will likely feel pretty familiar, whether you bought the first release or not.

The actual figure is basically the same Super Saiyan Vegeta figure that’s been released multiple times. This is my third version, personally. He has the same Cell Saga style of Saiyan armor only now it’s painted gray with a brighter yellow on the straps, abdomen, and lower back. The body suit is a very dark navy that’s almost black while the gloves and boots are more of an off-white. The only difference with this figure for me are the feet which feature a more rounded toe. I think they’re from the Resurrection F version of Vegeta? I’m not positive though.

I don’t have an all blue aura so this one will have to do.

It all means that this release of Vegeta has the same pros and cons as the other ones, only with more paint means more room for error. The paint on the abdomen, actually not a new spot to be painted, sucks. It doesn’t come all that close to the edges considering we’re dealing with a premium collectible here. At least the brightness of the yellow obscures that to a degree, but in-hand it’s pretty noticeable. The gray parts are okay and I like how it contrasts with the white piping. There is a scuff under my figure’s right arm and there are a few spots where it doesn’t properly fill the area.

The face printing on this release is not on par with the recently reissued Super Saiyan “Awakened Super Saiyan Blood” Vegeta. That one cost $35 at Target, this one cost $70 with a $10 shipping charge.
The Super Saiyan head looks pretty good on this body too.

The two portraits are the defining feature of this Vegeta. You basically get two hair pieces: one metallic magenta and the other a metallic blue. The sculpt is different from Super Saiyan Vegeta. It’s more narrow and less spiky, though still plenty spiky. I literally poked holes in the skin on my fingers swapping all of these heads as I moved them around the different bodies I have to figure out which combination I liked most since I intend to display all three versions. Nevertheless, I prefer the more full version of the Super Saiyan head’s hair, but this is fine. What’s not fine is the lack of options. Yeah, it’s great we get both the red and blue hair, but we only get one faceplate for Super Saiyan God (cocky smirk) while Super Saiyan Blue gets three expressions (stoic, teeth baring, and yelling). This is a re-release with 100% reuse sold at a fairly high price, why not just toss in more expressions? I feel like both looks need the cocky smirk, that’s just a Vegeta necessity, while the God head should at least have an angry look too. And perhaps more disappointing is that the face printing isn’t all that great. It’s not up to the new standards of the line and I don’t know if they’ve been improved at all since I don’t have the original release. Last year’s re-release of Super Saiyan Vegeta looks way better than the original release when it comes to the faces, it’s a shame the same can’t be said of the prestigious Premium Bandai 15th anniversary version.

For the God head you only get the one face. At least it’s the right one.
The stand is pretty lame, and hard to photograph since it’s so glossy.

Other than the heads, you get the usual assortment of Vegeta hands: fists, open, clenching, martial arts posed, and a lone right thumbs up hand. The crossed arms piece is also included and is just as annoying to fiddle with as it’s always been, but it does also look pretty good once you manage to get it into place. That’s it though as there are no effect parts or anything like that. You do get a special stand, but it doesn’t really earn that title of “special.” It’s just a black disc, the same that came with the event excusive stands a few years ago that featured Goku’s insignia as well as Whis and a Saiyan Space pod. Now it’s just all black with a 15th anniversary logo printed on it in metallic blue. It doesn’t say Vegeta or even Dragon Ball. It has slots that can be punched out for an action stand, but one wasn’t included.

This one is going to articulate just like the past iterations, which is pretty good.
I do think I prefer the red hair on the darker body.

The articulation for this guy is the same as the old one, so you can check the link down below if you want the full rundown. This figure is supposed to be a celebration of the line and it should have appeal to longtime collectors of the line because of that, but I don’t know if many would agree. Simply put, if you have the first release of this figure there’s really no reason to get this one. The extra stand sucks. It’s cheap and lazy. There are really no extra bells and whistles that I can see with the figure itself and the paint job is lackluster and not really reflective of the price point. If you’re like me and you wanted a version of Vegeta in these forms then it’s fine. It’s still a good figure despite the flaws, it’s just as a special release it seems phoned in. There’s nothing special about it.

“Yawn! You Saiyans bore me.”

Can’t get enough Vegeta? Here’s some things you may enjoy:

SH Figuarts Super Saiyan Vegeta

He’s the Prince of all Saiyans. The last survivor to have laid eyes on Planet Vegeta, home world of the mighty warriors and birthplace of the legendary Goku. And he’s also a pretty fine toy. Vegeta, arguably the most popular character to emerge from Dragon Ball Z, has seen his likeness cast in numerous forms…

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Dragon Ball Super: Broly

The first movie under the Dragon Ball Super umbrella is one that sets out to take what was previously non-canon and adapt it into the main series. The most recent two Dragon Ball Z films; Battle of Gods and Resurrection ‘F’, ended up being the start of Dragon Ball Super which is now well over…

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S.H.Figuarts Dragon Ball GT Super Saiyan 4 Vegeta

We’re back with another action figure review from everyone’s favorite version of Dragon Ball: Dragon Ball GT! And really, the only thing people remember from Dragon Ball GT is the Super Saiyan 4 transformation. Designed to bring the Saiyans back to their more primal roots, the Super Saiyan 4 transformation is pretty much on an…

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by Joe

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , | posted in Television, toys

February 19, 2024

S.H.Figuarts Dragon Ball Z Event Exclusive Raditz and Son Gohan

By Joe
The beloved nephew and uncle duo.

I’ve been getting a little taste of July of late in the dead of winter as not one, not two, but three action figure exclusives from San Diego Comic Con have arrived at my door. That’s because the nature of the exclusive has changed over the years. Why make a limited number of something and sell it at one location when it’s something a lot of people want? As a company, you’re just denying yourselves more sales and letting resellers reap the rewards. That is why Bandai has been making its event exclusives available to non-attendees when it comes to most conventions. The lone exception thus far as been last year’s World Tour version of Son Goku Awakening Super Saiyan, a re-release of Super Saiyan Goku from the moment where he first transformed. And I think the only reason why that one was kept exclusive to the events and store fronts it was sold at is because shortly after a similar, but new, version of Super Saiyan Goku was put up for preorder (we’ll be talking about that one in due time).

Vegeta: ”I’m surrounded by idiots.”

When I first got into Dragon Ball action figure collecting I intended to only get my favorite characters. This was back in the early 2000s when Irwin Toys had the license. One of their earliest figures was Raditz, and since he wasn’t a favorite of mine on par with the likes of Vegeta and Piccolo, I passed. Then as more figures came along I got caught up in the frenzy and just started buying everything and only passing on the figures I felt turned out exceptionally poor. I regretted not getting that Raditz in the end and for some reason I didn’t consider that when it came time for Bandai, via the Premium Bandai route, to do its own Raditz. I hemmed and hawed, but at the time I was (stop me if you’ve heard this) just getting my favorites. Fast forward a few years and my collection is bigger than I intended. While I have never gone full completist or anything, I do have my favorite arcs and such from the manga/anime and Raditz represents a hole. The same was true of Nappa and thankfully he got a re-release via the convention route. Now, it’s Raditz’s turn.

Raditz is a pretty big boy. Here he is between some Piccolos.

Raditz comes in the event exclusive packaging which is just the standard package, but with a two-tone approach. In this case, it’s orange on black. This version also comes with a buddy, or rather a foe, in nephew Gohan (more on him when we get to the accessories since that’s essentially what he is) though it isn’t a moment specific release since at that point in the fight Raditz had some battle damage. And since Premium Bandai is intended to be a one and done affair, Bandai couldn’t just re-release Raditz with some new accessories. No, he necessitated a new color scheme. In both the manga and anime, Raditz had black armor with dark brown shoulder pads. When Bandai made its first Nappa figure, it featured the same color scheme as that’s how he appeared in the manga and his first appearance in the anime. When the event version came around, it meant Nappa could have his anime colors from when the Saiyans land on Earth. Raditz, unfortunately, has no real other look so he’s recolored to have light brown shoulder pads. It’s not accurate to the show or manga, but beggars (i.e. me) can’t be choosers.

Raditz could really mess with some folks if he dyed his hair blond.

Raditz stands a tick over 6″ to the top of his portrait and considerably taller when you factor in that giant mass of hair he’s got going on. He has his scouter, which features a blue lens now, and the muted brown shoulder pads and other plating over dark navy, almost black, armor. The scouter is removable, but only so you can swap the faces. There’s no replacement ear if you want to go without the Scouter look since Raditz never took it off. The hair is pretty damn huge, as expected, but done in a more simpler manner when compared with Super Saiyan 3 Goku. It’s thinner and lighter so it isn’t the impediment to standing that it is with Goku, which I guess is why we don’t get a flight stand for Raditz. In addition to the color change on the armor, the bands Raditz wears on his left arm and left thigh are now silver instead of red. It does pair well with the white piping of the armor, though I wish they had just left it red. One advantage this release has over the original is that the faces are using the new printing process recent DBZ figures have featured so they look very nice. My lone complaint is that they didn’t do the portraits in the same manner as they’re done for Vegeta with much of the front hair part of the face. This means there is an unsightly gap between the hair and sideburns. It’s a small thing, but we are talking about an $85 figure.

I think this cocky expression is going to wind up being my preferred look.

As is customary with S.H.Figuarts releases, there isn’t a ton of paint on Raditz. There’s basically no shading and the paint is reserved for the trim work on the armor and the bands on his arm and leg. What’s there is pretty clean. His skin tone is on the pale side, but I think that is to differentiate it once more from the first run of the figure. It looks good, but it’s also a bit of a shame for those with the old one since I think these faces are a slight improvement, but probably would look off when placed on the old figure. The joints are colored pretty well and don’t feature any extreme differences from the softer parts, a problem we’ll be talking about on another SHF release in the not too distance future.

This face, on the other hand, is definitely the worst.

For accessories, Raditz gets a solid complement of faces. We have a stoic/grumpy face, a smirk where he’s giving a side eye, a yelling face for when he’s angry, and a perplexed/surprised face for when he spies an unexpected power level on his scouter. Unfortunately, my stoic face is not aligned properly and his eyes (in particular, his left eye) is printed partially over his eyebrow which makes his pupil all but disappear. I reached out to Bandai about a potential replacement, but they send the error essentially wasn’t “bad enough” to warrant any action on their part. I guess they don’t take the “Premium” part of their store too seriously. For hands, he’s got a set of fists, open, and clenching. His left hand was a bear to swap as the joint kept coming apart at the forearm, not the wrist, so I had to hit just the fist to get it off. The other hands are also tough to get one snug and may need some heating up.

I like the idea behind the crossed-arms piece, but it just doesn’t work with this figure.

We get two versions of his tail. There’s the “belted” version that goes around his waist and an extended version. The extended version has a bend to it and I suspect that’s so Goku can grab it, provided you have a Goku with gripping hands (I don’t think I do). He also has a crossed-arms piece like many a cocky fighter before him. The arms can disconnect at the bicep and the crossed arms piece can be inserted. It’s a piece that’s never fun to put on, and with Raditz the shoulder pads and his incredibly spiky hair cause some issues. I mentioned that Raditz is easier to stand than Super Saiyan 3 Goku, but he’s still not as easy to stand as other figures in the line. For that reason, he actually has a panel on his back that can pop off and there’s a replacement part that features a port for a stand. We saw something similar with Piccolo, though Raditz required the adapter so it can get around the hair. You basically take any stand, remove the claw, and it can slot into that for easy posing.

This is easily the most paint I’ve ever seen on a SHF figure.

The big accessory Raditz comes with is, of course, his nephew Gohan. Gohan is a mostly static figure and it’s depicting him when he emerges from the Saiyan pod to confront his dear uncle. Unlike Raditz, this little guy is fully painted because he’s basically a slug figure. The paint is done quite well as the emblem on his shirt is clean and there’s even little tears under his eyes. Gohan has an angry expression, but he also has a second faceplate which features his eyes closed like he’s smacking into Raditz. There is a tiny bit of articulation at the head which is on a ball and the ponytail is as well. Now, I lamented that Raditz doesn’t come with a flight stand like Super Saiyan 3 Goku, but there is one in the box. It’s here for Gohan though. Yeah, it probably would have been a little greedy to expect two, but it is what it is. Gohan needs the stand because he literally can’t stand on his own given the sculpt. It would have been cool if he was supplied with a second lower half that you could pop out so he could stand, but if such a thing were at the expense of the stand then I guess I’m fine. If you don’t value the Gohan much, you can just leave him in the box and give the stand to Raditz, but I personally can’t see myself doing that.

Take that, you mean old space man!

Raditz being a bulky character in Saiyan armor isn’t the most poseable of figures. He’s pretty similar to Nappa when it comes to restrictions, only now you have to deal with that big mass of hair. The head is, like SS# Goku, on a hinged ball peg and there’s another ball joint at the base of the neck. This gives the figure solid range at the head looking in all directions, and since the hinge is behind the face plate, you’ll always know which war it’s oriented. The hair curves away from the body in such a way that it provides for more clearance than one might have expected. There’s also a joint maybe a third of the way down the hair to give it a little nuance. The shoulders are hinged ball pegs and they lift out to the side beyond 90 degrees as the shoulder pads are on hinges and lift out of the way. Those shoulder pads are a nuisance with the crossed-arms piece though and getting them to stay flush with the chest armor is damn near impossible (even the glamour shots feature a gap). The biceps swivel and that’s all good while the double-jointed arms are a bit too beefy to go much past 90 degrees. The hinged ball joints in the wrists are pretty standard, but the design of the Saiyan armor restricts the range pretty severely.

If you switch to the extended tail you technically gain another point of articulation.

In the torso, we get a ball joint. I’m not detecting a hinge in there so it just goes forward and back a bit. There’s some rotation and tilt, but do be mindful of paint rub on the abdomen when doing so. The waist does rotate a little bit, but it’s pretty minimal, while the armor bits down here are all hinged as well. There’s a decent chance they’ll pop off repeatedly when fiddling with this guy, but try not to get too frustrated. The hips go out to the side maybe 45 degrees, so no splits for Raditz. They kick forward nearly 90, and go back a bit. There is a thigh swivel and it’s incorporated into the sculpt rather well and the double-jointed knees, like the elbows, only go a little past 90 because of the chunky anatomy. It’s one of the better looking knee joints as a result since there’s no gapping present. The ankles are restricted like the wrists, but you get a bit of a rocker and they’ll move forward, but not much back. There’s also a toe hinge, if that’s something you value. It’s not a good one though as it doesn’t stay flush with the sole of the boot.

“Ah hahahaha! Need a hand, green man!”

Raditz is a bulky figure and mostly moves like one. His biggest issues from an articulation standpoint stem from the design of the Saiyan armor. Bandai hasn’t really come up with a good way of doing it as the hinges just don’t work very well. Yes, they’ll get out of the way for certain poses, but it looks stupid when there’s this big gap between the chest and shoulder. They almost need to be on a track instead so then can slide back and create the illusion that the armor is bending. Or, Bandai should just supply different shapes that plug in. That would probably be the most aesthetically pleasing approach, but it would probably be more expensive. Though given the amount of characters that wear this style of armor, I think they’d be able to make their money back. It would also provide for a reasonable excuse to reissue the Ginyu Force, and since they’d be a little different from the original P-Bandai releases, it’s something they could do without betraying the intent of that service. My figure did have a fairly loose left hip joint. I popped the leg off and found it was drowning in some kind of a lubricant. It wasn’t a clear oil, but more like Crisco as it was a milky color. I ran some dry Q-Tips through the hip and leg and it’s much better now. If yours is loose you may want to take a look for yourself.

“What?! His power level is rising?!”

Despite some qualms I have with this figure, I do mostly like it and I think it’s a great representation of Raditz. Yes, the colors are no longer anime accurate, but they’re close enough. If the armor had been a carbon copy of Nappa’s then it would bother me more, and really the only thing that bothers me are the red bands now being silver. Everything else looks great and the little, in-scale, Gohan is a fun inclusion. I wish we could get more of these slug style figures for the various kids and little guys in the show because the articulated figures of Kid Goku, Krillin, and others are way too big. The bad portrait is a definitely a bummer though. Some could wave it off as not a big deal since he has other display options, but we’re talking about an $85 release. That shouldn’t happen, and for a company in this business to just throw their hands in the air over it does not engender much consumer loyalty. For whatever reason, I’ve always been drawn to the design of Raditz so I’m glad I finally gave in to my own wants and picked up a figure of the character. Maybe this means we’ll now get a new Goku from this fight with a special, snap-on, Special Beam Canon to reenact one of the most iconic shots from the anime? I’m honestly surprised it hasn’t happened yet, but we also still haven’t received a Kamehameha Goku vs Vegeta’s Galick Gun style of release so there’s still plenty of iconic moments left wanting and it wouldn’t shock me if Bandai gets to them all some day.

If you’re interested in more S.H.Figuarts releases then I got you covered:

S.H.Figuarts Piccolo: The Proud Namekian

When the S.H.Figuarts line was launched years ago and Dragon Ball Z was at the forefront, it wasn’t Goku who got to be the first figure out of the gate. Nope, it was Piccolo. That figure caught my attention when it was announced even though I had not purchased a Dragon Ball figure in quite…

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by Joe

S.H.Figuarts Nappa – Event Exclusive Color Edition

When it comes to my S.H.Figuarts collection, I’ve been able to largely keep to just Dragon Ball. And by Dragon Ball, I mean the original anime and manga that centered on a young boy named Goku. Even though that’s my favorite edition of the venerable series, it doesn’t mean my favorite is the one shared…

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by Joe

S.H.Figuarts Dragon Ball Z Super Saiyan 3 Son Goku

I believe I have touched on it before, and it’s also probably common knowledge among fans of Dragon Ball, that the story was supposed to end with Gohan’s triumph over Perfect Cell. Goku was dead and gone having sacrificed himself to save the world, but his son would carry on his legacy in his own…

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by Joe

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February 14, 2024

Naughty or Nice Father Frost & Mall Santa

By Joe
Two very different Santas.

Fresh Monkey Fiction is back with Naughty or Nice Wave Two and just in time for…(checks calendar)…Valentine’s Day? Okay, so things didn’t go quite as planned with this line. In 2021, Fresh Monkey Fiction partnered with Big Bad Toy Store for this line of action figures based primarily on Santa Claus. That preorder took about a year to fulfill, but the first wave arrived just in time for Christmas 2022. It was around that same time that FMF put wave two up for preorder. I’m sure they tried their best, but FMF is a small shop and probably doesn’t have much sway when it comes to overseas factory priority. I suppose I could have waited and put this review on hold until we get closer to Christmas 2024, but there’s this flying, naked, guy in my house pointing a bow and arrow at me so I guess we have to do it now.

The new figures are basically the same as the old ones, just with new heads and a longer coat for Father Frost.

The Naughty or Nice Collection is essentially one figure modified for each separate release. Both figures we’re going to look at today utilize the same body as the two figures I looked at in 2022. I’ll link to that review at the bottom of this entry, but essentially if you liked those figures then you’ll probably like these ones provided you like the aesthetic they’re going for. Obviously, I’m not all-in on this line as I have need for only so many Santas in my collection, but these two appealed to me. Both figures come packaged in a window box display and it’s been modified from the first wave. Where wave one had more of a “Hasbro” shape, wave two is rectangular. There’s more red incorporated, the character name is now on the bottom of the front of the box instead of the top, the cross-sell has been updated, and the side panels feature images of other figures from wave two. I have no idea which design in-box collectors will prefer, but both seem fine to me.

Father Frost is managing better up top than his Santa brothers.
They don’t all have to be red and green.

Let’s talk Father Frost first. This is basically blue, wizard, Santa and it’s not based on any specific folklore that I’m aware of. I think of it as a combination of Santa and Jack Frost. Frost stands at about 6.5″ to the top of his head, slightly taller with the hat, and the only thing different about the sculpt from the Santa figures I looked at from wave one is that this figure has a longer coat which necessitated a different belt overlay. The head is different from the traditional Santa to feature a longer beard and hair on top and a face that is less full. What attracted me to this design is the blue and white deco. There’s a lot of red, white, and green in my Christmas display so any chance I have at adding some blue is welcome. I do like how the figure turned out, though I will say the shade of blue has a touch more yellow to it than the promotional shots and even the images on the box where it’s a darker blue. I would have preferred that, or even a more powder blue, where as this is almost in between.

And he apparently has some rather gnarly powers.
Translucent powers – activate!

The paint job on Father Frost is an improvement over wave one in some respects, but also not perfect. The head portrait is done very well. I like how he has blue eyes with a touch of white inside them. Upon very close inspection the left ear isn’t perfect nor is the transition from beard to right cheek, but it’s nothing you would see even at an arm’s length. The white portions of the coat have been dirtied with a paint wash that makes the robe look more lived in. The belt buckle is painted silver as are the buckles on the boots and it’s pretty clean. Based on the box, it looks like the end of the belt was supposed to be painted silver, but it was missed by the factory on mine and I’m guessing it will be on most. The only paint detail that bugs me a little is the hem of the coat isn’t painted all the way to the edge. It’s worse on the back, but at least it’s the back. For this wave it does look like all of the hinges are cast in the best color so when paint flakes off of them there won’t be a miscolored piece beneath it.

He comes with the same naughty and/or nice list we’ve seen a whole bunch, but in his hands I like to think of it as a spell scroll.

Father Frost comes with a solid assortment of accessories and optional parts. He comes with a set of blue gripping hands, but also has four ungloved hands: trigger right, gripping left, left fist, pointing right. Basically, if you don’t like the look of the blue, gloved, hands you have bare hands instead. He has an alternate head which is the same sculpt as the default, but it’s cast in translucent blue plastic. This was added after solicitation on the suggestion of someone in the Facebook community (if I’m not mistaken) so that Father Frost could match one of the elves in the wave and it’s a good idea and pretty cool that it was added. It looks nice, but it’s hard to get onto the ball joint. And you want to get it all the way seated so that you can’t see the painted neck. They also wisely added some gray paint to the top of the neck ball so there isn’t an odd blob of color inside the head. Father Frost’s main accessory is his staff which is topped with a translucent, blue, crystal. It looks like the sculpted rope was supposed to be painted a different color to differentiate it from the staff, but that didn’t happen. Still, it looks fine. The other accessories are reused: a present which opens, a nice list, and a stand. There’s also a little locomotive toy which fits inside the present. The present has a white and blue deco to coordinate with Father Frost.

Totally not Willie from Bad Santa.

Father Frost is the magical interpretation of Santa, Mall Santa is the opposite. This guy seems to be clearly inspired by the movie Bad Santa, but he’s kept legally distinct. He’s basically a worn down, drunken, cynical, Santa just trying to make a buck. He features a balding portrait with a lit cigarette hanging out of his mouth. He has a five o’clock shadow and a look of almost sad indifference in his eyes. His left eye is supposed to be a black eye, but the paint there is a bit lacking and it doesn’t make it as obvious as the promotional images. His beard is part of the sculpt and I kind of wish they sculpted it in such a way to make it look more obvious and pathetic that it’s a false beard. Maybe a gap between the chin and beard or hooks around his ears would have done the trick. There appears to be a paint wash on his face to dirty him up which has been applied to the body as well. His suit is a deeper red than the other Santas and the whites are all dirty. There’s even a stain in the middle of his chest, which is a nice touch. The look the figure is going for is obvious, but I do wish he could have been on a skinnier base, but I know that’s not really what this line is designed to do.

“What the fuck am I supposed to do with a cookie?!”

Mall Santa does not come with any alternate hands or portraits. His default hands are gloved, gripping, hands and I’m torn on if I prefer those to ungloved hands. The good news is if you do want different hands then you could always borrow them from another figure. Mall Santa’s main accessory is his bottle of whisky. It’s a translucent amber with a black cap with prints on both sides to let you know that it is indeed whisky. The cap doesn’t come off, and the articulation is limited in that he can’t really “drink” it. The cap also isn’t removable, so while I like it, the accessory is a bit limited. There’s also a handheld bell in case he’s more of a donation seeking Santa. He comes with a crushed, red, present with silver ribbon which is pretty neat and makes for a good pillow should you wish to display him passed out. He also has a gingerbread man cookie with a bite taken out of the head and a teddy bear toy. There’s nothing cynical about the bear, it’s just another toy for the display. He also comes with the customary stand, should you wish to use it.

“Ohh Krampus, I have another one for your naughty list.”

Both Father Frost and Mall Santa arrive as expected. Obviously, since they were based on the same molds as last year’s figures it makes sense. The articulation is completely the same, which is why I’m not doing a rundown on it for this space. I would like to see some improvements to the upper body to get better range out of the shoulders since these figures should be able to eat cookies and drink milk (or booze) and they can’t do that. Father Frost basically is what I wanted. Some of the paint could be better and I would have preferred a darker blue, but he looks fine with the other figures and will make for a nice addition to the Christmas display. Mall Santa is also mostly as expected and any disappointment I have with it is basically the same as when it was solicited. I would have loved a passed out, second, portrait and more booze. A crumpled beer can, six pack, empty bottles, something else to go with the whisky would have been cool. His paint is clean though, actually better applied than Father Frost, and the figure works for me. I also count Bad Santa among my favorite Christmas movies and I understand it’s not for everyone.

“Look out, kids, Santa needs to empty his stomach.”

If you’re looking to add more Santa figures to your Christmas action figure collection in February, then I can certainly recommend these two. The others are probably just as good and it all comes down to if you like the design. This line is exclusive to Big Bad Toy Store and everything from wave two is in-stock as of this writing. Each Santa will set you back $37 which isn’t a small amount. They are from a smaller company and not produced in the same volume as a bigger toy company, but it’s probably still a little more than I think most would want. I compare the price to original IP from other small shops where their figures come in at the 30 dollar mark. Still, with the amount of paint and overall feel of these figures I would say you’re getting something better than Marvel Legends quality so it’s reasonable to me. Just don’t ask me about those reindeer they’re currently soliciting for wave three.

Who doesn’t want to read about Christmas toys in February?!

Naughty or Nice Classic Santa and Cyborg Santa

It was looking like we were in for a photo finish this year. Last year, toymaker Fresh Monkey Fiction partnered with online retailer Big Bad Toy Store to launch the Naughty or Nice collection. Structured similar to a Kickstarter campaign, FMF posted several action figures for preorder with a minimum order quantity needed for the…

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by Joe

McFarlane Toys Gold Label Batman Santa (Blue Suit)

Ho! Ho! Ho! It’s the jolly one – Santa Claus! Oh, wait, no, it’s the somber, moody, one: Batman Santa! Yes, it’s our first Christmas themed post of 2023 and it’s an action figure review – shocking, I know. McFarlane Toys has held the DC license for several years now, but this is my first…

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by Joe

Figura Obscura – The Ghost of Jacob Marley

Four Horsemen Studios is back with another holiday release in its Figura Obscura line of action figures. This sister line of their more famous Mythic Legions property launched two years ago with Krampus and continued with last year’s Father Christmas. Many fans, myself included, expected another holiday figure this year, though if you had asked…

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by Joe

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February 12, 2024

Marvel Legends Marvel’s Crystar

By Joe
Hailing from the planet…I don’t know. He’s a crystal guy.

Marvel Legends are still sold primarily at major retailers. This includes the likes of Target, Walmart, and even Best Buy which has been adding more toys to its portfolio over the years. And since they’re made by Hasbro, a company that has been selling toys to kids for generations, they still mostly operate on the same retail model. These things are in the toy aisle because that’s where parents go to buy their kids toys. Only, action figures (and Marvel Legends especially) haven’t really been kid’s toys for awhile now. I don’t have any hard data to support my conclusion, but I go to Target weekly and I have yet to see one single child so much as gaze at the Marvel Legends toys. I do see adults picking them over and maybe some are buying for a kid, but these things have been the domain of adult collectors for awhile now. The adults buying them today grew up playing with action figures in the 80s and 90s and still have an attachment to the form.

There it is. That’s the money shot.

And that is why a character like Crystar can get his own figure in Marvel Legends. The irony here is Crystar is not available in Target and never will be. This figure is part of the Void Build-A-Figure wave which is what Hasbro calls a Fan Channel release. That’s just branding for specialty retail and sometimes Amazon (and in this case, yes Amazon) as opposed to brick and mortar. Crystar is a character people under 40 probably have no experience with. And a great deal of the people who do know who Crystar is might only know of the character as a curiosity since Glenn Danzig ripped-off the cover of one of the Saga of Crystar issues for the iconic Danzig skull logo created by artist Michael Golden. Those who don’t know the character from that bit of trivia probably know it from the old Remco toyline. Following the success of Masters of the Universe, other companies were looking to create their own in-house toyline and make millions. Marvel teamed up with Remco to create Crystar and give him his own comic, The Saga of Crystar, which would release in step with the action figures. Didn’t work, but for those who did have the toys and enjoyed them seeing a new version was an unexpected jolt of nostalgia.

You can’t really tell, but he does have painted eyes.

I am one of those who know of Crystar via the Danzig connection. I’m not quite old enough to have interacted with the property when it was at retail, though in looking at the figures as an adult there’s some familiarity. I probably saw Crystar figures at yard sales or flea markets and maybe even in comic book stores as a youth, but I never did own any of them. I have been a pretty big Danzig fan since I was a pre-teen though, so I felt like I had to get this figure when it was first revealed last year at San Diego Comic Con. I have that famous 8th issue, so I might as well add the action figure as well.

He’s got gripping hands and one set of non-gripping hands, but I don’t know how likely it us that people will use them.

Crystar comes in the current Marvel Legends window box following a brief flirtation with plastic-free packaging. It is part of a Build-A-Figure wave, some crab-like creature called The Void, which kind of sucks since part of the money I paid for Crystar went towards a figure I’ll never assemble. I got my figure from Big Bad Toy Store where it cost me twenty-six bucks, a steep price for a Marvel Legends release, but one that is becoming normal. The box contains some vintage artwork of the character, but the toy is clearly an homage to the original action figure which was cast in translucent, blue, plastic and came with a sword and shield. This figure too is cast in translucent, blue, plastic and is a rather striking looking figure in-hand. Messing around with the transparency of a figure is certainly a little gimmicky, but hey, sometimes it works.

The elbows and knees are cloudy and ugly, but hey! Pinless!

Crystar, as far as I know, is mostly made-up of new parts. That’s because the body had to be sculpted to resemble a crystal so there are lots of flat panels coming together to form hard edges. There’s very little in the way of paint as a result. The helmet looks to be painted on and there’s a little white for the eyes, but the rest of the figure is just translucent plastic or red plastic for gloves, trunks, and boots. Considering what they were going for, this is acceptable. If this were an Iceman figure then I’d be bemoaning the lack of a frosted paint job, but for Crystar it’s appropriate. He stands a tick over 6″ which feels like the median for Marvel Legends. I have no idea how tall he’s supposed to be, but it seems fine.

There’s a little He-Man in that sword.

Where the visuals do take a hit is with the joints. Hasbro’s latest gimmick of the past few years is selling its customer base on the wonders of pin-less joints. For years, most Legends releases had double-jointed knees and elbows and holding those hinge joints in place were plastic pins slotted above and below the elbow. Maybe companies still use them while some don’t. In general, pins don’t bother me if they’re colored properly. They certainly create problems with a character like Spider-Man where the outside of the arm is a different color from the inside and a pin-less approach is superior. With Crystar, it sucks because the elbows and knees need to be a harder plastic apparently for the process to work. This leads to differences in color and for the elbows they’re more blue and less transparent. Blue pins would have looked pretty bad too so I guess if they couldn’t do transparent pins then it’s a pick your poison situation. It’s also an issue with the knees, but at least when they aren’t bent the boots hide them. Hasbro went with a hinged-ball joint for the head and the disc for the joint is also visible through the neck. Again, pick your poison as a double-ball peg wouldn’t have looked any better. This figure is the rare one where I’d have probably preferred the neck just end in a ball and socket joint to avoid the issue.

I’m guessing most will opt to equip Crystar with sword and shield.

Aside from the eyesores related to the articulation, the figure looks pretty damn cool for what it is. It also comes with what could be considered a robust array of accessories given the usual outlay for a Legends release these days. Crystar has a right fist, an open left hand, and a set of gripping hands. The gripping hands even have the proper hinge so that’s perfect because his other accessories are a sword and shield. Both are done in the same translucent plastic (actually, the shield is fully transparent with just a hint of blue coloring) as the figure itself and are again an homage to the old action figure release. The sword is pretty neat and well-stylized. I do get a bit of a He-Man vibe from it and Crystar looks good wielding it. The shield is plain by comparison, just a plastic circle with a little bit of sculpting, but there’s an elegance to its simplicity. Lastly, are the BAF parts: two sets of giant crab legs. They’ll look good in your trashcan.

If shields aren’t your thing he can pull-off some two-handed sword poses.

Articulation for Crystar is fairly basic by Legends standards. Given the visual issues with some of the joints, that’s probably for the best. We have that disc hinge at the head so he can rotate, look up, and down, with a little bit of tilt. The hinged-ball joints at the shoulders do what they’re supposed to, and we get a biceps swivel, double-jointed elbows, and wrists that rotate and hinge. There is an ab crunch that basically clicks forward and back one slot. The diamond on the belt will obstruct the range going forward, and while it does flex a little, I wouldn’t recommend leaving him crunched forward as that would probably warp the piece over time. There’s a waist twist below that and, once again, that diamond belt buckle will interfere with the range. The legs go out to the side for full splits and the usual thigh cut is. The double-jointed knees will bend past 90 degrees, but doing so exposes the ugly joint. The ankles hinge and the rocker is in place and works fine.

For you Legends collectors interested in scale, he’s pretty much average height for the line.

Pretty standard stuff and Crystar should be able to do enough to look interesting on your shelf. Not that he really needs to since the design of the character makes it rather interesting by itself. Two-hand swords poses are achievable though he can’t quite hit his pose from The Saga of Crystar #8. That’s all I cared about and as an oddball addition to my Danzig collection and the figure gets close enough to satisfy me there. As an action figure it’s also pretty good for what it is. This is probably the most satisfied I’ve been with a Hasbro release in quite some time as it doesn’t have any real problems and the presentation pretty much nailed it. I can do without the BAF crap, but that’s the nature of the BAF gimmick if you’re not interested in the end result. Hasbro doesn’t often do these obscure releases so I’ll give them credit for taking a shot with Crystar, especially since it’s a figure that probably required more new tooling than a lot of the stuff the company puts out. Hopefully it gives them confidence to do more and maybe they’ll finally start truly catering the line to adult collectors because that’s who is buying them.

And if you want to Crystar beside some other lines, here’s a Naughty or Nice Father Frost and a S.H.Figuarts Goku.

If you want to read more about the Danzig/Crystar connection look below. And here’s some other Hasbro stuff you may or may not care about:

The Saga of Crystar – Crystal Warrior #8

There’s been a hole in my Danzig collection for quite some time. It was a hole that was easy to fill and actually quite cheap considering most Danzig records fetch well over $100 these days, but an important piece was missing. And that piece is not what one would necessarily expect, but I would assume…

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by Joe

Hasbro Dungeons & Dragons Drizzt Do’Urden and Guenhwyvar

I was quite surprised when Hasbro unveiled a deluxe action figure set starring the Forgotten Realms hero, Drizzt Do’Urden. Drizzt was a character I was familiar with going back into my middle school days when I traded Star Wars novels for Dragonlance. Even though my nose was buried in stories about Raistlin Majere and Tanis…

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by Joe

Marvel Legends X-Men Retro Card Marvel’s Beast

2022 was the year a dream toyline of mine was made a reality. Hasbro finally decided to do a line of Marvel Legends based on the animated series X-Men, which premiered 30 years prior on Halloween 1992. The line was staggered with a release coming every 6-8 weeks or so and ended up totaling 8…

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by Joe

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February 7, 2024

S.H.Figuarts Dragon Ball Z Super Saiyan 3 Son Goku

By Joe
He’s one cocky son of a monkey.

I believe I have touched on it before, and it’s also probably common knowledge among fans of Dragon Ball, that the story was supposed to end with Gohan’s triumph over Perfect Cell. Goku was dead and gone having sacrificed himself to save the world, but his son would carry on his legacy in his own way. Or at least that was one possible ending. Series creator Akira Toriyama has said to have had many endings in mind, some even before the Z era began. The thing is, Dragon Ball was really popular and when something is really popular there are a lot of people that don’t want it to end for purely artistic reasons. No, they want to run that thing into the ground! Squeeze every last coin from its corpse before it gets put away to be rebooted in 10 years. Whether it was supposed to end or not with Gohan’s triumph, it did not. And if you’re going to keep the story going, well you have to bring Goku back and give him an awesome new power-up.

Goku was able to power-up while dead and it did wonders for his hair. Not so much his eyebrows.

When Gohan beat Cell he broke through the Super Saiyan barrier to reach an awesome new height. It was basically the goal of all of the Saiyan characters during that arc and it was accomplished by the youngest of them all fulfilling his own character arc which essentially began in the first episode of Dragon Ball Z. Gohan’s Super Saiyan hair was sort of the least impressive of the four Super Saiyans as it kind of just looked like Goku’s base form hair, only blond. When he breaks past that it shoots up and looks pretty cool and is more like the other characters. He’s also given an aura that crackles with blue lightning which would become the defining feature of what is now called Super Saiyan 2 because when the form was applied to Goku and Vegeta there was really little room for their hair to shoot higher. Maybe that’s why when it came time to design Super Saiyan 3 Toriyama made sure it was quite distinct. It keeps the blue lightning, but the hair goes way beyond big. For Goku, his hair is almost as long as he is tall. For Gotenks, it might be even more. The characters also lose their eyebrows, for some reason, which are replaced by a Piccolo-like ridge for their brow. They eyes also turn teal, but pick-up a black iris too.

Even Sonic is jealous of this flow.

I’ve talked to a lot of fans who state that Super Saiyan 3 is their favorite look of them all (and at this point, there are a lot of Saiyan transformations). For me, it’s never been that high on my list. I don’t dislike it or anything, but its presence in the anime was much smaller than the standard Super Saiyan look. It doesn’t even have a victory under its belt, though when Goku debuts the form against Majin Buu, it’s noted by Piccolo that he felt Goku could have won the battle and Goku more or less confirms that he could have. He opted not to as, at the time of the fight, he was technically dead and felt that a dead guy shouldn’t be the one to save the world. It’s an interesting thought, though since your family inhabits that world still you may want to just do them a solid, Goku. Goku does tackle Kid Buu in the form, but he basically runs out of gas as by then he’s alive (just go with it) and finding the form hard to maintain. That’s a feature of the form that basically sticks to it as much later in Dragon Ball Super when Goku shows the returning Future Trunks the form, Vegeta dismisses it as being too costly in energy to wield. I do think some of that stems from Vegeta being just a wee bit jealous that Goku cracked yet another barrier he failed to.

I call this his cave man face.

Because Dragon Ball Z originally ended with the battle against Kid Buu, Super Saiyan 3 didn’t get a lot of screentime. When the series returned with the film Battle of Gods, the form was essentially replaced by Super Saiyan God and the forms that followed that. I also personally only ever watched the Buu Saga once. By then, I was burned out by the slow drip on Toonami and I was just buying the VHS releases of the show as they came out. I think they were 25 bucks a pop for 3 episodes, a terrible value, but apparently I had enough cash laying around. I basically watched them all once, then never again, where as I saw the earlier sagas repeatedly on television. I don’t even have all of those tapes anymore as some of them got damaged from water in my garage so I just tossed all of them. Part of me regrets doing that as VHS nostalgia is on the rise and who knows where it will take us? What motivated me to finally pick up this figure (yes, I swear this post is an action figure review) is that I’ve been doing a rewatch of the series (well, Dragon Ball Z Kai technically as I don’t have the time for the original) with my kids and we recently got to the Super Saiyan 3 episode and my daughter pointed out to me that I don’t have a Super Saiyan 3 Goku in my collection. When a kid throws shade at your toys, you have to respond. I was considering picking up the 2021 reissue of the figure as it’s still in stock on Big Bad Toy Store, but it’s 70 bucks. That’s pretty steep for a figure I don’t know how badly I need.

He pairs pretty well with the standard Tamashii Nations yellow aura.

As luck would have it, YouTuber Toy Bro (real name Jared) recently decided to clear out some stuff he no longer wanted. I follow him on Twitter (or whatever it’s called) and happened to be scrolling through my feed when one of his for sale posts popped up containing a Super Saiyan 3 Goku for a great price. I immediately sent him a DM, and because I apparently haven’t bought anything off of Twitter in quite some time, my account immediately got locked for suspicious behavior. Thanks, Elon! I unlocked it pretty quickly and once I sent the DM he got back to me right away. We exchanged PayPal info, and Goku was on his way the next day. If you’re thinking of buying off of Toy Bro, I certainly recommend it so thanks to Jared for the hook-up which saved me about 30 bucks. If you’re curious what he had to say about this figure (I don’t think it’s this exact figure, I’m guessing the one he sold me was an extra) you can check out his video review here. I’ll probably watch it when I’m done typing this to see if his thoughts align with mine.

He unfortunately does not pair well with the Super Saiyan 2 aura as the giant hair prevents him from being able to get in close to have the lightning parts surround him.

This is definitely the longest intro to a figure review I’ve done, but part of that is because there isn’t a ton here for me to talk about. This figure is pretty old and I’m not sure if this is the first version released in 2017 or the reissue, but we’re essentially dealing with the same Goku body Bandai has released several times at this point, but with crazy Super Saiyan 3 hair. That’s why it’s a bit of a surprise to me the reissue is so expensive, but with the hair being what it is, it requires a larger box which takes up more room, it’s heavier, and maybe all of that is enough to drive the costs up. Or maybe BBTS has just slapped their own surcharge on the thing and it was originally less in 2021 (the other outlets that still have it in stock have it priced similarly, so it isn’t just BBTS).

A Goku like other Gokus, and yet not.

Goku stands about 5.5″ to the top of his face, taller if you include the hair. The hair sticks out about 3.5″ from his head so it’s pretty damn big. It’s cast in yellow, but has a top coat of a pearlescent paint to give it a shiny, sparkly, finish. There’s some orange where the hair meets the head for shading and it looks pretty sharp. The facial details are in place, though this figure predates what Bandai has been doing the past year or so with the faces on its figures so it has a softer, less-detailed, look compared with the more recent offerings. There’s still a noticeable outline around the eyes, and for some reason there’s some shading in the ear, so it’s not as if the face looks bad or anything. I just currently have him next to the newest version of Super Saiyan Vegeta and I’m missing the extra paint for the brow lines and creases around the eyes.

Some of the forms that followed Super Saiyan 3.

After that, the body is mostly unpainted plastic. The exposed flesh on the chest as well as the blue undershirt is painted as are the boots and wrist straps. The rest is bare plastic. There’s a very light application of shading around the crotch which is probably unnecessary. It’s at least not as heavy as some other figures which make it appear as if the character wet its pants. The lack of paint gives the figure a very clean look, just not exactly flashy. At least for the body as the hair is very flashy. And since this body is exactly the same as other Goku figures I’ve looked at, I don’t feel a need to rundown the articulation again. This figure does feature articulated hair as it’s connected to itself at two different points. They don’t really offer much as the hair is pretty firm and also really spiky. You actually have to be pretty careful handling it because it hurts! The head is also connected to the neck in a slightly different manner than usual and I think it’s basically a hinge. This means no nuance posing, but he can look down just fine and the rotation is there as long as you’re willing to work with that hair. And the hair obviously adds substantial weight to the figure and it does make the figure more difficult to stand than most, but it’s still doable. It needs a lot of shelf space though since the hair does extend beyond the figure quite a bit. The other joints feel a bit tighter than usual and I’m curious if that is deliberate to help offset the weight of the hair or just coincidence? Nothing is so tight I had to worry about breaking anything, but he’s tighter than my other Goku figures. And since he’s like those other figures, he also has the flesh-colored plastic inside the torso for the butterfly joint which looks silly from behind when that arms are as far as they’ll go. The plastic should be orange as it’s continuing his shirt, but it’s not.

No effect part, but at least he comes with a flight stand.
He does have a removable halo, which I guess is like an effect part?

The accessories for Super Saiyan 3 Goku are also mostly the same as other Goku figures with only one exception. For hands, we get a pair of fists, the martial arts pose hands, clenchy hands, instant transmission hands, chops, and splayed open. Pretty standard stuff, though I think a lot of Goku figures only bother to provide one instant transmission hand. Interestingly, I never noticed until now that the newer figures have a slightly thicker wrist peg. This means the hands for Super Hero Goku won’t fit on this figure. Goku also has four different expressions to swap between: smirk, teeth-gritting, yelling, and stoic with a side eye. They’re appropriate for the character and the only negative is that they’re just not as well-painted as current figures. Swapping hands and faces is a lot harder than is typical of this line. You may even need to use heat for some of them and I had the wrist hinge come apart on me when swapping one of the hands which is annoying (it’s easily fixed, at least). Goku also comes with an acrylic halo on a post which comes plugged into his hair by default, but can be removed. The actual halo is only slightly frosted rather than yellow like the one that came with Frieza or Super Saiyan 2 Goku. It looks fine, but there’s no way to hide the post so it always looks a little silly to me. Lastly, Goku comes with a standard Tamashii Nations stand. I’m guessing because he’s a bit harder to stand than usual the stand is intended to remedy that. It has the standard claw attachment without the crotch hook and it works well if you just want some added stability or want to put Goku in a flying pose. While I would have loved an actual effect part, I do always like getting another flight stand.

“What?! Just because you grew your hair out doesn’t give you an excuse to get so smug. Bow to me, monkey!”
“Yeah, there won’t be any bowing from me, Frieza.”

Super Saiyan 3 Goku is here to satisfy the urge of DBZ collectors to add this specific version of Goku to their collection. It’s perfectly fine for this line and I really like how the hair turned out. While the body is mostly unpainted, at least it has a pretty matte appearance and I like the shades of orange and blue in use here versus most of the other Goku figures I have. I guess the real question is if I had spent 70 or more dollars on this figure would I be just as content? Probably not. I don’t think I’d have regretted the buy, but I definitely would have felt like I paid too much. It would have been a lot of money for basically just a new head and generic stand. In an era where we’re getting some pretty nice looking reissues for $35, a $70 Super Saiyan 3 Goku reissue is a hard sell.

Feel like there aren’t enough Gokus? There are never enough Gokus!:

S.H.Figuarts Dragon Ball Super Son Goku Super Hero

Back in the early 2000s I was a collector of Irwin Toys’ Dragon Ball Z line of action figures. When I started collecting that line, I just focused on my favorite characters which were primarily Vegeta, Trunks, and Piccolo. Gradually, the collector impulse took over and I started buying entire waves as they came out…

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by Joe

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February 5, 2024

NECA Dungeons & Dragons Strongheart Ultimate Action Figure

By Joe
“Stand down, fiend! Or I shall slay you in the name of justice!”

It was roughly a year ago that I added Warduke to my collection from NECA Toys’ Dungeons & Dragons line of action figures. Warduke is basically a modern rendition of the character as featured in the vintage D&D toyline from LJN in the 80s. While I wasn’t a fan of that old toyline, I could not pass on such an iconic character design like Warduke. It was also always my intention to get him a buddy on the shelf. Or rather a foe. Enter Strongheart!

Strongheart is here because of the guy on his right.

Strongheart is another character pulled from that old toyline. He’s the good guy knight ready to oppose the likes of Warduke and the other baddies. He’s a pretty generic knight, and while his character write-up on the back of the box notes he follows the word of no god, he also passes as a pretty convincing paladin for those who care not for the lore. Mostly, he’s just a cool looking action figure. Ever since I saw him unveiled by NECA I knew I was going to add him to my modest collection, it was just a matter of when. I figured I’d come across the figure eventually during my many Target runs, but it never happened. Finally, I got sick of looking and just ordered him online from Target. I grabbed some water filters too so I could get free shipping. Sometimes, you just have to play the game.

Height comparisons with a Super7 Turtle and the Hasbro Drizzt.

Strongheart comes in the same style of packaging as all NECA Ultimate figures. The front of the box features artwork by Daniel Horne depicting the character while the rest of the box features product shots and a cross-sell for the half-orc assassin, Zarak. Strongheart is an action figure sculpted by Thomas Gwyn with paint by Jon Wardell and Geoffrey Trapp, and as mentioned previously, is based on the same figure from the LJN toyline. The character has also appeared in other media since. Strongheart stands a tick over the 7.5″ mark to the top of his helm, taller if you want to factor in the wings on his helmet or the head-tail thing which probably has a proper name. He’s a character covered from head to toe in armor. It’s sculpted in a dull silver and hit with a paint wash giving the appearance of a knight who has seen his share of battles. There are plated elements to the armor, mostly the torso, shoulders, and knees, with chainmail underneath. He has a brown belt which features a large loop his scabbard can slot into and there’s a blue skirt piece with some nice texture and paint details. This is a glorious looking action figure and a shining example of what NECA does best. Warduke may be the flashier of the two because of his character design, but I keep coming back to Strongheart and appreciating the little details like the plastic chains on his back and the straps on his gauntlets. Just a terrific looking figure.

More comparisons against Super7, since they do a lot in this 1:10 or 7″ scale.

Strongheart’s head is protected by a mighty helm which features a movable visor to reveal his face underneath. He has the look of a generic knight with a moustache, and as a reader of DragonLance back in my youth, I get some serious Sturm Brightblade vibes from this guy. Customizers could have some real fun with this one. Like Warduke, the wings on his helm are a rigid plastic and do fee like they could be a touch brittle. It’s fine in-hand, but definitely take care to make sure this is one figure who won’t take any shelf dives. The cape is soft goods and I really like the shade of blue in play here. It’s quite regal, befitting an honor-bound knight. It is wired, but it’s not a very heavy grade wire so it’s more of an adjustment wire rather than something designed to create wind-blown stances. Capes are an underrated aspect of NECA’s business as their soft goods capes are among the best around.

He’s got a fine looking mug, but I’ll be displaying this guy visor-down.

Strongheart comes outfitted with a trio of weapons and a bunch of hands. For hands, we get fists, gripping, tight gripping, and relaxed hands. The standard gripping hands are intended to work with Strongheart’s sword, named Steel, and his hammer. The sword is plain, but well-sculpted and it looks good. It’s a utilitarian blade, not an ornamental one. Strongheart holds it well and it slots into his scabbard easily. The hammer is more ornate in appearance with gold-painted accents on it. It looks a little undersized in his hand, but not comical. There’s a loop at the end of the handle, but I don’t see anywhere to store it on his belt which is a shame. The third weapon is a small dagger and it has its own scabbard which is “taped” to the sword’s. It’s like a concealed weapon, which seems like an odd thing for a knight to have, but maybe it’s more of a utility knife for him? Getting it into the scabbard was tough the first time, but I heated it and slid the tiniest slotted screwdriver I have into it as well and it works fine now. The tighter gripping hands work well with the dagger, though I’ll probably stick with the sword or hammer for my display. Strongheart also has a blue kite shield which he can feature on either arm. It has two straps done in plastic to slide over his forearm, but they’re pretty tight. I even popped one side of the front one off trying to get it on. It was only glued down, so I can re-glue it if I want. You could try to work that front strap into a gripping hand, but I find it works better with one of the relaxed hands.

If blades aren’t your thing he can always bludgeon his foes.

As was the case with Warduke, Strongheart looks better than he poses. He is easier to pose than Warduke as his torso doesn’t feature as complicated a design, but he’s not going to do anything crazy. The head is on a double-ball peg, I think, and it moves around fine. Just be careful with the wings. The tail on the top of the helm also swivels and of course we already talked about the moving visor. The shoulders are hinged ball pegs and they can get out to the side just about all of the way. The shoulder pads do a surprisingly good job of getting out of the way and aren’t much of an impediment. Like Warduke, he can’t place his arms at his sides as there just isn’t enough room carved out under the arm. There is a biceps swivel while the elbows are single-hinged and swivel. The hands rotate just fine, but like Warduke, all of the gripping hands feature a horizontal hinge which is a huge and inexcusable oversight. NECA, do better!

I appreciate the commitment to weapon storage here, I just wish it extended to the hammer.

The torso features a diaphragm joint that’s likely a ball joint. It doesn’t really move forward or back, but it can tilt and rotate a bit. The waist features another ball joint and you do get a little forward and back there, but it’s mostly for rotation. The hips are ball and socket joints and the legs move pretty well with the only real restriction being the skirt, which is all one piece of soft plastic. If one were to cut it up, you could probably get more range. There is a thigh twist on the joint, and the knees are double-jointed this time around. They’re pretty tight while the kneepads move up and down a bit to hide the joint. I was finding it tough to get this guy straight-legged because of the tightness. The ankles feature a hinge and rocker which work okay.

If you’re willing to put in some effort, you can get some decent poses out this pair.

Strongheart is pretty basic in the articulation department by today’s standards. He’s a guy in bulky armor, so it’s not unexpected, but could be better. I can get better weapon swinging poses out of the NECA Last Ronin figure and I feel like that level of articulation was achievable here. Still, he moves better than Warduke and I was having a much easier time posing Strongheart when trying to pose the two together while Warduke was frustrating. The lack of a vertical hinge for the hands is really irritating too as it removes a lot of stabbing gestures. I will say, and it’s pictured, Strongheart is capable of holding the handle of his sword while it’s still sheathed which is pretty cool, though he can’t two-hand hold it.

Even if he can’t pose all that well, it doesn’t take much effort to make this guy look bad ass.

If you’re buying Strongheart though, I bet you’re not doing so to put him in some outragious pose. He has presence on the shelf even in basic poses, and he can hit a few key poses to boot. I just love the look of this guy and all of the weapons and the shield really add to the experience. I wish he had a place for that hammer, I guess you can hang it off the scabbard, but it looks stupid. The figure looks great beside Warduke and I’m really happy to have it. I am not planning on going any deeper right now with these LJN remakes, but if NECA could get that DragonLance license then you bet I’ll be a day one buyer!

Want to see more from NECA or D&D? We’ve got a few other pieces that may interest you:

NECA Dungeons & Dragons Warduke Ultimate Action Figure

When it comes to the subject of New Year’s Resolutions, I consider the topic to be a fairly silly one. If there’s something in your life that you could improve upon, or a habit that should be broken, don’t wait for a new year to try to make that change – just do it! Making…

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NECA The Last Ronin (Armored)

When it comes to multimedia based on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, we find ourselves in a rare dry spell when it comes to television and movies. The final episode of Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles aired in 2020 with no new television series announced since. The show did receive a long-delayed finale…

Joe's avatar by Joe

Hasbro Dungeons & Dragons Drizzt Do’Urden and Guenhwyvar

I was quite surprised when Hasbro unveiled a deluxe action figure set starring the Forgotten Realms hero, Drizzt Do’Urden. Drizzt was a character I was familiar with going back into my middle school days when I traded Star Wars novels for Dragonlance. Even though my nose was buried in stories about Raistlin Majere and Tanis…

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January 31, 2024

Mondo X-Men TAS 1/6 Scale SDCC Exclusive Logan

By Joe
“All right, bub, I’m going to show you how we dressed in the 90s.”

Mondo has been absolutely killing it with its sixth scale line of action figures based on the now classic animated series X-Men. The company also really ramped up production in 2023 on the line by soliciting five new figures during the year. At over 200 bucks a pop, it was quite the hit to the old wallet. It had me looking for reasons to bypass a release and maybe the San Diego Comic Con exclusive Logan was one figure I didn’t need to have. It was a variant on Wolverine, who was the inaugural release in the line, and when it comes to expensive lines to collect variants are often a spot where the wallet can breath. Then I saw the figure and I knew it just wasn’t going to happen. Logan looked too damn good and his plain clothes look from the show is almost as iconic as his costumed one. I was a day one buyer. The wait was a long one, but I now have Logan in my possession.

Just let the man play pool in peace, or else.
Costume on or off, Wolverine is still a bad ass.

Logan follows Omega Red and arrived in the same manner. The figure was shipped directly from the factory and delivered to my home via DHL. The figure comes in the usual packaging which features brand new artwork from Dan Veesenmeyer and production art adorns the background (mostly from the episode “Weapon X, Lies, and Video Tape”). The front flap is affixed via a magnet once again with a write-up on the inner flap from showrunner Erik Lewald and his wife Julia, who also wrote for the show. The window behind it isn’t very useful since the figure is covered in tissue paper and plastic, but that’s for a good reason. Logan was sculpted by Alex Brewer, who I believe has handled all of the sculpts in the line, with paint by Tom Rozejowski. Remember those names, because we’ll be singing their praises throughout this one.

Tell us how you really feel, Logan.

Logan is covered in tissue paper and plastic films to protect him in transit because he is loaded with paint apps. He stands a ticker under 11″ so he’s basically the same size as his costumed counterpart. The look is his classic season one civilian attire which includes a brown bomber jacket, yellow, checkered, shirt, blue slacks, and cowboy boots. The man certainly had style. He’s sporting the jacket in box and to get all of the extra stuff off you’ll probably have to dismantle the figure a bit. I removed the hands, arms, and coat (yes, it’s removable) so as to avoid ripping through the plastic and leaving little pieces behind. All of that extra stuff apparently did its job because the paint is pristine on my figure. Which is terrific because everything is painted here: hands, face, hair, I’m not sure if anything is bare plastic. This isn’t the flashiest paint job in the line due to the character design, but it turned out wonderful. There’s tons of black linework, the cel-shading is smartly applied, and the faces are clean. It’s more exceptional work from Mondo and their team of artists.

These new portraits are why better than this one that came with the first Wolverine release.

This figure looks so good that there’s very little room to critique it, but this is a review so we’re going to try. My first thought when I saw the figure was that his pants looked just a little bit off. After consulting the show, that seems to be the case as his pants usually had a touch more green to them than here. It’s easiest to see just by comparing the figure to the box art. It’s not a big deal to me and this approach makes him more like the old “Street Clothes” Wolverine action figure from Toy Biz clearly based on the show. Wolverine’s head without his mask is always a bit tough to get in three dimensions because of his unusual hairstyle. This one looks pretty damn good, though the hair might be just a bit too steep and pointed up. The first Wolverine figure came with an unmasked head and I think I like the hair shape on that one a little more, though the faces on the new figure are much improved. If I could get the hair halfway between the two that might be perfect. Lastly, Logan is still too tall for true sixth scale. They were kind of backed into a corner here because of the first figure. If this one was smaller it would look silly. He’ll look fine with Jubilee, but Sabretooth and Omega Red don’t quite tower over Logan like they should.

“Settle down, kid.”

That’s a pretty short list of nitpicks and the rest of this review is going to be largely of the glowing variety. Logan doesn’t call for a ton of accessories, but that doesn’t mean he’s lacking. Logan comes with fists in the box, but he also has another five sets of hands to choose from. They are: fists with claw channels, open, trigger hand, gripping, and “Come here” gesture hands. All of the hands except the default fists feature the channels for his claws. I love this attention to detail since Season One Logan always had those on his hands even when un-gloved. This was corrected for Season Two so if you prefer that look you have the bare fists. For those many hands we have 8 claws. Yes, Mondo tossed in two extra in case you misplace any or break some. The approach is different from the first Wolverine as the plastic is much lighter and more pointed. They’re unpainted and there’s a little notch on the end of each one which helps them to lock into place. All of the hands I’ve tried have been able to accept the claws without fuss, which is cool. I love the removable claw feature and it’s what I always wanted out of my Wolverine figures as a kid. No need to go with straight arm poses to conceal a retractable claw gimmick. The only thing missing is a set of fists that could feature claws without the channels, but I probably would have never used them so I can’t really complain.

The painted stand adds a little flash to the display.
Because the coat is removable, you can even give your Logan a fashionable vest, if you like.

You may have noticed my advice to remove the coat when unboxing this guy and that’s because it’s removable. Mondo did the coat in a soft, pliable, plastic just like they did with Gambit while making the sleeves of the coat part of the sculpt. The arms pop out quite easily so you can slide the coat off and replace the arms with the extra set. They feature the sleeves of his shirt and there’s some painted arm hair on them so you can pull off a jacket-less look if you want. I love the option, though I can’t recall Wolverine sporting this look in the show. He had other plain clothes looks including a red flannel and a black t-shirt, but I don’t remember if he ever had just the yellow shirt. Looks like I need to go do another rewatch.

It’s a rugged dignity.

Logan also comes with two heads. He has what is probably a neutral expression for Logan by default, though it has a hint of a scowl which I think is just how Logan always looks. There’s also an angry, teeth-gritting, expression for when you want him going after Sabretooth. Both heads are easy to swap as it looks like Mondo has started using a soft, almost rubbery, plastic insert in the heads making this figure the easiest in the line to swap. It’s a great call because swapping heads on the other figures can be a little scary since it’s easy to wind up with unintended paint rub if you’re not careful. The last item in the box is the Mondo figure stand. This one is unique in that the base has the X-Men logo sculpted and painted onto it. I was surprised they weren’t doing this from the start and it does add a nice splash of color to the display. I suppose some will be bothered that Logan’s stand is different from the rest, but since it’s an improvement you won’t hear me complaining. Plus, I never use the damn things, but this one I almost feel like I have to.

Coat on or off, he looks pretty great.

Logan is like the other figures in the line in that he looks pretty awesome. He’s also like the rest in that he doesn’t articulate particularly well. It’s the trade-off we’re all accustomed to at this point. The head is on a double ball peg, though he doesn’t get as much range as I’d like. His hair kind of locks him down and it’s worse with the coat on. You get rotation and a little range down and a little tilt, but that’s about it. The shoulders are hinged ball pegs and the sleeved ones on mine were pretty stuck out of the box. That’s because they’re painted, but a little heat and some force got them moving fine (the alt arms were good to go from the start) and the peg is sturdy enough that you shouldn’t have much to worry about. They rotate and go out to the side all the way. The elbows are single-hinged with a swivel point and they’ll get you close to a 90 degree bend, but not all the way. The hands are on hinged ball-pegs and they’ll rotate just fine and you can align the hinge in whatever fashion you wish.

“All right you egg-sucking piece of gutter trash!”

In the torso, we have a diaphragm joint that doesn’t appear to do a whole lot. I can get a little rotation out of it, but it doesn’t tilt or crunch forward or back at all. I think the figure has a waist twist, but the shape of the sculpt is discouraging me from really trying to move it as there will definitely be some paint rub if I do. The legs are on big old ball sockets, but the crotch diaper piece is a large impediment to range. You can kick back a bit, and kick forward, but the leg wants to go out to the side. The legs will spread to close to 45 degrees or so and there is a thigh twist built into the socket joint. The knees are double jointed and will bend past 90 degrees. You also get a little swivel at the top and bottom of the knee joint if you want it. The ankles feature a hinge and there’s an ankle rocker. The range on both is acceptable and this figure isn’t a challenge to stand. He’s just not going to do anything truly dynamic, which was pretty true of the show, in fairness. I wish the diaphragm joint worked better than it does as the lack of rotation up there sucks.

The articulation isn’t impressive with these figures, but if you could find flight stands that could handle the weight you could do some pretty cool stuff with them.

As I said before, I can accept the articulation shortcomings because the figure looks too damn good. This Logan is precisely what I want from this line and I am immensely happy to add him to my collection. I had some nitpicks and I do miss the episode specific accessories the other figures came with (maybe a pool cue would have been fun, or his salami), but maybe the simpler approach here is the result of this one being a convention exclusive since the same was true of Omega Red. I love all of the hand options and that the claws seem to work really well across the board. The new head sculpts are a major upgrade over the first attempt and this depiction of Logan is simply iconic. There’s a reason why he got a figure in this outfit in the old Toy Biz line too. Am I interested in more variants? Probably not. Well, maybe a Beast in his Howard the Duck shirt, but we need a proper Beast before we can start thinking about variants. These arms are likely getting reused for Cyclops, who we have seen in render form as coming with a removable jacket like this figure. My hope is they get repurposed again for a proper Morph.

He looks damn fine with the rest.
“X-Men don’t cut and run!”

With this release, we have now hit the end of what has been solicited. These Mondo deliveries came fast and furious this past month, but it will likely be a bit of a wait until the next one. Rogue is expected to go up for sale in February so she has a chance to arrive this summer (I think Jubilee was solicited in January and she arrived in June) and we know Cyclops is coming too. Mondo is also dipping its toe into Spider-Man which might take-away somewhat from this line, but maybe not. I guess we’ll have to wait and see. We still need Jean, Beast, Storm, and Morph to make me happy. Xavier would be nice too, but I have no idea how to incorporate a sixth scale version of his hoverchair into my display. It also wouldn’t shock me to see another villain. Sinister seems most likely, but I could see Mystique interesting Mondo or maybe Lady Deathstrike. The future looks bright, and expensive, but so far it’s been more than worth it!

Think this figure is awesome? You should see what else Mondo has had to offer:

Mondo X-Men TAS 1/6 Scale Omega Red – NYCC Exclusive

Last year, Mondo sold three different exclusives timed with popular conventions from its sixth scale line of action figures based on X-Men the animated series. One of them was a comic edition of Magneto which was sold at San Diego Comic Con. The other two were essentially preorders to be delivered at a later date.…

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by Joe

Mondo X-Men TAS 1/6 Scale Jubilee

When one hears the phrase “mall babe” it implies a certain visual. Probably a short, young, girl with intentionally messy, short hair. There’s a certain confidence the phrase exudes so she has to have style. Maybe hot pink, bright blues, and certainly a long yellow coat with gloves to match! There has to be an…

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by Joe

Mondo X-Men TAS 1/6 Scale Gambit

It is my belief that when it comes to X-Men, the animated series which debuted in 1992, the breakout star of the show was Gambit. Wolverine was the closest thing we had to a household name going into the show and was the de-facto pick for favorite character of many. And while the whole roster…

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by Joe

1 Comment   |  tags: , , , , , , , , | posted in Television, toys

January 24, 2024

S.H.Figuarts Dragon Ball Z Super Saiyan Trunks: Infinite Latent Super Power

By Joe
It’s Trunks with a new hairstyle!

In the waning days of Toys ‘R Us, I found myself at one of the nearby stores in need of something. What that something was, I don’t recall, but since everything was hitting clearance I had a look around the store. TRU had started carrying the Bandai/Tamashii Nations S.H.Figuarts line of action figures which, at that point, was a rarity. That brand was mostly an online only thing for US buyers, though GameStop was stocking them as well. And on that day, they had finally started marking them down. TRU marked them up to start with, so it wasn’t until the clearance price hit 40% off that it even seemed inviting to me to grab the Super Saiyan Trunks figure. I had recently purchased Vegeta, but I wasn’t sure if I really wanted to get sucked into an expensive toy line. This Trunks, depicted with his hair tied back and in his Saiyan battle armor, was in the neighborhood of 45 bucks after the discount. It was certainly better than the 70 or 75 they had wanted initially, but did I really want this version of Trunks?

It turned out, on that day, the answer was, “No.” I carried it up to the register, but while waiting in line I thought better of it and set the figure down and carried on with the purchase I had intended to make. I wouldn’t say I regretted that decision, but as I’ve gone much further down the rabbit hole that is DBZ figures I have questioned if I want that particular version of Trunks on my shelf. It turns out, my decision that day ended up being a very good one as Bandai decided to release that very same Trunks in 2023 with a revamped color scheme and at the budget price of $35. By waiting these years, I saved some money and got a better looking figure – not bad! I obviously didn’t plan it that way, but what really changed between now and then to make me want this figure? Basically, not a whole lot, it’s just harder to pass up at $35.

The first release of this figure featured colors like the Vegeta on the right. This new one matches the new Vegeta (left).

Super Saiyan Trunks is just a reissue of that older figure, but with a really exaggerated subtitle. I don’t really know what they’re going for with “Infinite Latent Power” since that’s not how I’d describe Trunks at all. I guess it’s a nod to the point in the story where Trunks was concealing what he felt was his true power, but in reality, it was the fan-named Ultra Super Saiyan form that’s similar in power to Super Saiyan 2, but is so slow that it’s all but useless in a fight. Though I did kind of wonder why Trunks couldn’t just boost his power and then, rather than engage in a fist fight, just channel it into a massive energy attack? I guess I shouldn’t be putting that much thought into it since that isn’t really the DBZ way, but I will say that Trunks sure did look pretty bad ass in that form. It’s one I’ve always wanted a good action figure of, but this figure is not that. It’s him before that moment when he’s just standing and watching Vegeta take-on Cell. The ponytail look is at least unique to Trunks and it’s fun to see the Super Saiyan hair restrained to some degree, but it does stink he has no signature moment in this look other than getting punked by Vegeta.

Scream for me, Trunks!

As for the figure itself, it’s Trunks in the Cell Saga battle armor. As I mentioned going in, I didn’t get that original release, but I had the Vegeta who followed the same color pattern so I can at least compare this figure to that. This figure is a much richer shade of blue while the previous one was more pale. The powder blue is probably more accurate, but I love this darker shade. It’s probably my favorite shade of blue and blue happens to be my favorite color. The other main difference is the hair which has a shiny, pearl, finish to it. It’s still more yellow than gold, but it has some gold shading in the center part and it looks really nice. Bandai has tackled Super Saiyan hair in a few different ways over the years and this might be the best. Like the blue, it’s not necessarily the most accurate look, but it’s the flashiest. It gives it that impression that it’s glowing and it’s definitely a great hair color for powering-up poses and the like.

I probably prefer the more unique look of Trunks’ debut outfit, but I do enjoy this era of Saiyan battle armor too.

Because this is a figure releases in 2023, that also means the face is improved. Bandai has changed-up how they print/paint the facial details on its figures which really helps to sell these reissues even if you have the original. The hair and suit color are more subjective and even if you prefer the new to the old, I can still see being happy enough with the original to pass, but the face? It looks so good as the details are so much sharper and less soft. Trunks is sporting his stoic look by default and the likeness is terrific. He also has a teeth-gritting face and a yelling face and both look equally great. The hair sculpt features one, thick, bang hanging over his face which looks fine, but I do wish we had an alternate set of banges for the yelling head that has this piece turned upward or something.

Those are what’s new and improved, what isn’t likely any better is the overall paint job. Maybe it’s the budget price on display, but the paint is a lot sloppier than usual. Not so bad that you’ll see it from a shelf, but unusual for an SHF release. The neckline is not smooth at all and pretty fuzzy. The gold paint for the straps and the abdomen and back armor isn’t any better. The straps stop short before they meet the chest plate and the right side of the abdomen piece doesn’t see the paint continue as far as it needs to. The same issue is repeated on the back of the figure at the upper limit of that gold section. Trunks comes with a crossed-arms piece that can connect to his shoulders and that isn’t painted very well either. It’s a shame, because yeah, even though this is a cheaper figure than usual these areas still had to be painted. It doesn’t cost anymore to make sure it’s done right. I don’t think Bandai should be lowering its standards to offer consumers a more budget-friendly option when we’re still dealing with old tools.

Everybody looks pissed.

I already mentioned the three face plates and the crossed arms piece, the only other accessories are some optional hands. Trunks has fists, clenchy hands, and open hands. What he doesn’t have is a non-Super Saiyan head which the original release came with. That’s a bit of a bummer as it would have been cool if we got that here still, but with something other than a neutral portrait so we could mix and match with the Boy From the Future release from earlier in the year. I know, budget price and all that, but still a bummer to see that accessory cut even though I probably wouldn’t have used it.

Trunks doesn’t have any surprises when it comes to articulation, though I was surprised he’s not a lot of reuse from the Super Saiyan Vegeta. Thankfully, Bandai cares about scale to some degree so Trunks and Vegeta are almost entirely unique. Some stuff, like the feet and hands, are almost certainly the same, but just about everything else looks different as Trunks is both taller and leaner than his father. Even with the differences, they move the same. You get the double-ball jointed head which works okay, but the ponytail will get in the way. The neck is on a ball joint so that will help get more range looking down. Shoulders are hinged ball pegs with a butterfly joint. They’ll go out to the side better than horizontal and there are no restrictions with rotation. The butterfly joint is just okay, but it’s not ugly. Trunks doesn’t need to do a Kamehameha pose so it’s not a joint he needs to get a lot out of. In the arms, we get the biceps swivel, double-jointed elbows, and ball-hinged wrists and all works fine. The arms detach at the bicep to facilitate the use of the crossed arms piece. It’s still a pain to get the piece on flush on both arms, but it works okay. It does mean the arms come apart a little too easy sometimes when just messing with the figure, but I suppose it’s better than being too hard like the recently released Beast Gohan.

There’s not a lot of hands included with this set, but it’s probably enough.

In the diaphragm, Trunks has a hinged ball joint so you can lift the chest up and crunch forward and back. This creates more room for the articulation and helps protect the painted parts, though it can lead to some gapping if you bend him too far. The figure can rotate and tilt to the side as well. The waist is a simple ball-peg attachment which is mostly useful for rotation. The hips go out to the side better than 45 degrees, but not quite to splits. The figure has some floating bits in this area and if you can maneuver the thigh piece to slide under them you can get more range, but it’s fickle. Kicking forward goes to about horizontal and he can kick back a fair bit too. There’s a thigh twist, double-jointed knees, and ball-peg ankles which only provide for mediocre range. There is a toe hinge, for good measure.

I’ve always been a little surprised that with this costume being so basic that the figure doesn’t have more range, but it is what it is. It’s not bad, I just think the legs could be better. The ankles are always an issue with the Saiyan boots as well as Goku’s boots. There’s no doubt that their approach here looks lovely, but I wish they did something to get the ankles more range of motion in every direction, including the ankle rocker. Even though Trunks moves well enough, I do find he looks best just standing there, arms folded across his chest, with a grim expression on his face. Pair him with a similar Vegeta (like the reissued one) and you get a pretty bad ass looking father-son duo for your shelf. This isn’t my favorite look for Trunks, but Bandai did this one just fine. And at the price they’re selling it at you really can’t go wrong.

Because you can’t have just one Saiyan on your shelf, here’s a look at a few more:

S.H.Figuarts Dragon Ball GT Super Saiyan 4 Vegeta

We’re back with another action figure review from everyone’s favorite version of Dragon Ball: Dragon Ball GT! And really, the only thing people remember from Dragon Ball GT is the Super Saiyan 4 transformation. Designed to bring the Saiyans back to their more primal roots, the Super Saiyan 4 transformation is pretty much on an…

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by Joe

SH Figuarts Super Saiyan Vegeta

He’s the Prince of all Saiyans. The last survivor to have laid eyes on Planet Vegeta, home world of the mighty warriors and birthplace of the legendary Goku. And he’s also a pretty fine toy. Vegeta, arguably the most popular character to emerge from Dragon Ball Z, has seen his likeness cast in numerous forms…

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by Joe

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January 16, 2024

NECA TMNT Toon The Adventures of Space Usagi

By Joe
Boldly going where some rabbits have gone before.

When it comes to NECA’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles line of action figures based on the old cartoon, I’ve pretty much been all-in. The only figures I’ve passed on have been the style guide variants for the turtles. That will probably change in 2024 as the collection has grown quite large and has hit on basically all of the A-listers from the show and many of the D-listers as well. One figure I thought I did not need was the Space Usagi variant that started showing up late in 2023. It was easy to pass on since I never encountered it, but mostly I felt like I didn’t need another Usagi, especially one that didn’t even show up in the show. When NECA wanted to include Usagi Yojimbo (and yes, I know, Usagi Yojimbo is technically the name of the comic and the character is Miyamoto Usagi, but we’re sticking with the TMNT name for the character to avoid confusion) in the main line, it meant getting a license agreement in place with creator Stan Sakai. And once they had that, it certainly made a lot of sense for the company to get more out of that agreement than just one figure, so while this one does bare the classic TMNT logo on the box it’s really more like a solo Usagi figure that just maintains his look from the cartoon.

The team is reunited!

As a kid, I liked Usagi Yojimbo as much as the next, but I never did get his action figure. I did get the variant Space Usagi figure and it was one I really liked. He looked pretty interesting with a partially cybernetic face (Terminator 2 was pretty damn popular and quite influential), shoulder pads, and a soft goods cape. The only weapon I recall him having (he came with more) was a bronze carrot gun which was pretty absurd, but as a kid it made plenty of sense to me. That figure went on space adventures with my Space Cadet Raph figure and I had a lot of fun with it so I was somewhat predisposed to like this new Space Usagi. Only this one looks nothing like that old design, so the pull wasn’t as strong as it could have been. No, what did me in was seeing the reactions of other collectors and reviewers to the figure. Even though I’m not a “professional” reviewer, I do avoid other reviews of anything I plan on reviewing myself so I don’t pre-judge anything inadvertently. With this figure, that isn’t the case as it was the reception that turned me on. Specifically, this review by YouTube channel Nostalgia Unboxed convinced me that this was a fun figure worth picking up so when I finally came upon it recently on a Target visit I decided to give it a shot.

Swords, guns, it all works for this version of Usagi.

Space Usagi is a single-pack, Ultimates, style of release like the previous Usagi. It features new artwork on the front by artist Ben Seto which has been done with a watercolor approach. It’s different from the usual f.h.e. inspired artwork, but it looks really nice and it’s going to hurt to toss it in the trash when I’m done with it. Usagi himself is a mix of old and new parts, but mostly new. He stands a tick over 4.5″ to the top of his head, not factoring in the ears, and he has a slightly redesigned portrait with narrowed eyes. The secondary portrait is the exact same as the teeth-baring one from the first Usagi with the flat-draped ears. The hands are also mostly the same (fists, open, gripping), but also include a set of trigger finger hands since this Usagi uses guns as well as blades. As far as I know, the rest of the figure is unique. He has a black and gold space suit that makes me think of Mega Man due to the oversized boots. The paint job is great on the gold parts and designed to simulate metal cel-shading. Rather than just do the bright colors on front and dark on the back, NECA went with a more stylized approach similar to the one it took with Chrome Dome. There’s hits of yellow, gold, black, and white to achieve the effect and it’s really striking. It’s also not perfect as there’s a smudge on the left boot of my figure and some of the edge work isn’t as sharp as it could be. The figure also appears to be sculpted in yellow so there’s a little yellow showing through around the pins on the arms, but nothing out of the ordinary for a mass produced figure.

Same alt head as the first Usagi, and just as much of a pain in the ass to swap too.

What does kind of stink about this figure is the engineering of the swappable parts. The prior Usagi was a real pain to swap the head on as often the neck would come out instead. This one is the same. If you plan to use the other head, maybe just go ahead and try to heat the default head first to see if that loosens it on the ball joint. If you can avoid getting the neck heated up as well, it might serve you well. Unique to this Usagi are the hands which are surprisingly tough to swap as well. The holes in the forearms are quite tight and you may need to heat them up to get the extra hands to fully insert. NECA also cast the hands in the same yellow plastic as the rest of the figure, but then painted them white which is a little frustrating. It means you need to be mindful when swapping weapons and such as scratching the paint will reveal yellow beneath it. It’s a very thick, chalky, paint so it doesn’t seem especially prone to chipping. I also can’t tell if the actual hinge is cast in yellow or not. If it is, the paint isn’t flaking so it isn’t an issue there. There’s some yellow on the posts, but that could easily be transfer from the forearms. It’s also possible only the new, trigger, hands are yellow (which would make sense if they were part of the tools for the body) as they’re the only ones that chipped on me and exposed the yellow. It’s possible the old hands are part of the same tools as the heads which were done in white.

I suppose two Usagis are better than one.
Usagi Yojimbo…still a little guy (rabbit).

The good news is that’s kind of the end of the bad with Space Usagi. Which version of the character you prefer is certainly a subjective choice, but there’s no question in my mind that this Usagi is the better action figure. The prior one had some design things to work around that this one doesn’t have. The articulation, as a result, is allowed to be much better. The head and neck are the same and they work fine, but the rest of the figure is vastly superior. The shoulders are ball-hinged and they’re not hindered much by the shoulder pads. He can raise his arms out to the side all the way and the shoulder pads flex if you want to rotate them forward or back. There is a biceps swivel, though the right one is stuck on my figure, and the elbows are double-jointed. Even with that though you’ll be hard-pressed to get better than a 90 degree bend at the elbow because of the bulky forearms and the joint itself is pretty small. If you can get the top hinge to bend all the way first then you may be able to do better than I. Wrists swivel and hinge and, unfortunately, all of the hinges are horizontal. It’s a shame they didn’t re-sculpt the gripping and trigger hands to vertical hinges since some of that tooling cost could have been made-up with the Usagi four-pack NECA solicited recently, but the wrist hinges have been a consistent issue in this line so I wasn’t expecting an improvement there.

“You’re getting a little too close to my gimmick, samurai.”

In the torso we have a ball-joint at the diaphragm. It provides for a little forward and back as well as rotation and tilt. Nothing crazy, but it helps for posing. As far as I can tell, there’s no waist twist and the hips are the usual ball and socket joint. Usagi can perform splits and he kicks forward reasonably far without much room to go back. The thigh will pivot on the ball joint, but there’s also a thigh joint below that, though it may be stuck on your figure as it is on mine. The knees are double-jointed and will bend past 90 degrees, though this is the spot where I’m seeing the most paint-flaking which is kind of a bummer. The ankles hinge forward and back a bit, though the bubbly design limits the range. There is an ankle rocker as well, and while the range isn’t fantastic, it works well enough to keep his feet flat on the surface. The large nature of the feet means he’s easy to stand and one-legged stances are also pretty easy.

This figure is a lot of fun to mess with and it’s made even better if you have a flight stand hanging around.
Usagi comes well-armed.

This Usagi just plain moves much better than the last one, which I found a little disappointing even though I understood why that was the case given his baggy clothing. There’s no doubt though that this one is more fun to handle and manipulate and it’s one of the best posing figures in the line. This is a good desk figure to have to mess around with and it is helped by the accessories. Usagi has the two heads I mentioned previously as well as a bunch of hands. To go with said hands are two guns and two melee weapons. For guns, we have a small, blue, pistol. It appears to be the same gun from the cover artwork, though there it’s gray instead of blue. There’s also a larger gun which the box refers to as a rifle, though it’s pretty short for a rifle. It’s all gray with some black linework and a yellow tip. It’s more gun-like than the pistol, which almost looks more like a flashlight or heat gun or something.

I do think of Usagi as a melee first type of battler.
Though this version of the character is definitely capable of blasting his way out of trouble.

For melee weapons, we get a laser sword and butterfly knife. The sword resembles a short katana and it has a green hilt with black cross-hatching and I quite like how it came out. It has an energy effect that’s done in a very soft, pliable, blue translucent, plastic. It slides over the blade, though the center is removed so it just goes around it similar to the chain on a chainsaw. I like how soft the material is as it should prevent paint rubbing. The sword also looks good with or without the effect. The butterfly knife is just a large knife with a yellow handguard. It looks like something one would use to hack through bone while butchering a carcass, though I’m guessing Usagi is a vegetarian and wouldn’t find a use for it like that. It looks fine, though is less fun than the laser sword. Also included is S.P.O.T., a robotic version of the little dinosaur that came with the other Usagi figure and we also get a helmet to complete the space suit. Like the vintage Playmates figure, the helmet is cast in transparent plastic and comes in two pieces so it can fit around his ears which poke through the top. It won’t work with the flat ears, but if it did it would have a hole in the top and we all know that wouldn’t work in space! Not that the other way works either, but it follows cartoon logic anyway. The box also lists his jetpack as an accessory, but since it’s a non-removable part of the sculpt I don’t consider it a true accessory. The thrusters on it don’t feature holes for blast effects either which feels like a missed opportunity.

If you like little buddy figures, you’ll like this little robo dino.

That’s Space Usagi though. I guess if you like what you see then you’ll probably enjoy this figure. I think it’s the first figure for the line that’s inspired by the cartoon series, without being from the cartoon series. There are more such sets to come as NECA tries to keep this toon line going even as it runs out of characters and looks from the show. As mentioned earlier, NECA even did a four-pack of Usagi Yojimbo in four different looks which are basically just variants of the previous figure and one of this one. There’s a new samurai Usagi in that set, but he’s also ticketed for this line as a single reason, just with a different deco. That four pack is technically a comic Usagi release and not tied to the TMNT show, though the look of 3 of the 4 figures are the same toon-inspired likeness. Either way, I didn’t need it so I didn’t order a set. I didn’t think I even needed two versions of the character, but I was essentially talked into this one. Will the same repeat when the samurai version arrives? Maybe, maybe not. I do know I’m happy with this figure and I really like that it only cost $32 at Target. Most NECA Ultimates seem to be coming in at $38 these days, if not more, so getting a mostly brand new figure for close to 30 bucks definitely felt nice. And while it has its issues, most of them aren’t a big deal to me personally so I think it’s definitely worth the price. Your mileage may vary, but this is one figure that shouldn’t be passed over so easily.

Introducing…The Carrot Crew!

Want to read more NECA TMNT reviews? We got plenty:

NECA Cartoon TMNT The Tale of Usagi Yojimbo

The early issues of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles released by Mirage Studios include a few guest stars here and there. One of them comes from the pages of Usagi Yojimbo, the samurai rabbit by the name of Miyamoto Usagi. The pairing of samurai rabbit and ninja turtles was a big enough success that it migrated…

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by Joe

NECA TMNT Toon Turtle Van

It’s our last Turtle Tuesday before Christmas, though probably not of the year, and it’s a pretty big one: The Turtle Van! NECA solicited its version of the Turtle Van based on the same from the animated series Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles back in April of 2022. It was originally scheduled to be released before…

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NECA Cartoon TMNT From the Files of Pizza Squad (Deluxe Rex-1)

When you’re doing a syndicated cartoon expected to air basically every day, you need to pull story ideas from anywhere you can. I think that’s why parodies are so popular in the cartoons of the 80s to the point where it didn’t matter if the show was parodying something kids would actually know. Take REX-1,…

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by Joe

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