Tag Archives: dragon ball

March 27, 2026

Dragon Ball GT

By Joe
Step into the grand tour!

One of my Dragon Ball blind spots is the sequel anime series Dragon Ball GT. It’s not exactly a true blind spot as I had seen some episodes and experienced the bullet points of the series via video games, but I have never sat down and watched it from start to finish. And that’s largely due to the series having a rather poor reputation. When the Dragon Ball manga ended in 1995 it marked the end of a decade of nose to the grindstone work for series creator Akira Toriyama. The life of a manga writer and artist is a busy one and the guy was ready to take a break and move on. The only problem was the manga had been adapted into an anime series and was very successful. Toei, the company that produced the anime, wanted more and like they had done already with a series of Dragon Ball movies they decided to create a new series largely on their own. Toriyama, to his credit, was fine with that. He gave the company a concept, a name, and even provided new designs for his characters and then largely left the rest to Toei. Aya Matsui would write, Osamu Kasai would direct, Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru, designed the new characters and power-ups, while Akihito Tokunaga composed the music for the new series which Toriyama had named Dragon Ball Grand Tour, or Dragon Ball GT for short.

Considering that we are in a bit of a holding pattern with Dragon Ball following the death of Toriyama, I figured now was as good a time as any to make some time and view all 64 episodes of Dragon Ball GT for myself. I have certainly been guilty in the past of dismissing it out of hand or referring to it as a lesser show, and while that may be true, it’s not exactly fair of me to pass judgement on something I’ve never actually sat down and watched. I did sit down and watch the English dub of the series which is presently available via Hulu. It is perhaps not the best version of the show because while the English cast is fine and comprised largely of the people you know and love from the past series, it contains a new soundtrack that I really did not like at all. I suppose it was similar in spirit to the original English broadcast soundtrack for Dragon Ball Z credited to Bruce Faulconer, but I strongly would have preferred the soundtrack from Tokunaga. This soundtrack is more guitar driven, but it’s a very synthesized sounding guitar like industrial music. There’s often a dissonance to it and it’s very plodding and I just found it exhausting. It might be the rare anime where if given the choice I’d just go for the subtitled option if it meant I got to enjoy the music. And considering it’s Dragon Ball, it’s not like there’s a ton of dialogue that I really felt I needed to pay attention to.

We have ourselves an ominous new dragon.

That said, what are some things that I found Dragon Ball GT did well? Well, for one, there’s the music and it extends to the opening theme “Dan Dan Kokoro Hikareteku” which was adapted for the English broadcast and adapted well. It does unfortunately contain vocals by a voice actor who was outed during the whole Me Too thing so I don’t feel like name-dropping him, but I’ll at least acknowledge that I enjoy the performance. The ending themes I enjoyed less so, but the initial one “Hitori Janai” was the best of them. That one was performed by Stephanie Young. The animation and artwork throughout GT is consistently good as well. It doesn’t have the same action set pieces of Dragon Ball Z, but it also never has episodes where the quality drops in an obvious manner. In this, it’s much closer to the consistency of the Buu saga. The voice actors also do a fine job and Stephanie Nadolny gets to reprise her role as Goku for plot reasons which is a treat to experience again.

As for that plot. While I like the setup, it does seem to quickly run out of steam. At the start of the series we find Goku (Sean Schemmel) and Uub (Sean Teague) engaged in a sparring match at Earth’s look-out. A few years have passed since the end of Dragon Ball Z where Goku abandoned his family to train Uub, the reincarnation of Kid Buu, so he could be Earth’s next defender. He’s apparently done now so Uub heads home while a familiar trio invades the lookout. Pilaf (Chuck Huber), along with Mai (Julie Franklin) and Shu (Chris Cason), have returned and are after the Black Star Dragon Balls. What are the Black Star Dragon Balls? They are apparently the Dragon Balls created by Kami before he purged himself of the wickedness in his heart which gave birth to Piccolo. They have apparently just been hanging out at the lookout this whole time and for some reason did not become inert when Kami ceased to be. Pilaf and the gang have little trouble in locating these balls, which look just like the regular Dragon Balls save for the stars are black instead of red, and they summon Red Shenron to grant their wish. Goku, noticing the changing color of the sky, investigates before a wish can be made and recognizes the now elderly Pilaf. Pilaf gets frustrated because Goku always messed things up for him in the past and, in a moment of frustration, wishes he was just a kid again. Shenron, hearing this, takes it literally and turns Goku into a child and then disappears scattering the Black Star Dragon Balls not across the Earth, but across the galaxy. This is apparently a big problem as King Kai (Schemmel) pops into Goku’s head to tell him that without the Black Star Dragon Balls the Earth will explode. Yeah, a pretty big deal and it sure seems like Dende should have taken better care of these things given that. It basically falls on Goku, Trunks (Eric Vale) and Goku’s middle school aged granddaughter Pan (Elise Baughman) to travel the galaxy in a Capsule Corp spaceship and bring those balls back before the Earth explodes.

I do like that it’s Pilaf that sets this whole thing in motion, even if it makes little sense.

What I like about this setup is it takes GT back to the roots of Dragon Ball and quite literally by turning Goku into a kid again. After that though things start to go down hill and rather quickly. The first dozen or so episodes are adventure focused, but the gang never really finds a worthwhile adventure I enjoyed watching. Pan is portrayed as an annoying character who is quick to get angry, especially when the crew takes on a little android named Giru (Sonny Strait). She is vicious to the sympathetic little robot and it’s like the show wants me to hate this kid. Goku, for his part, isn’t all that much better. He’s a bit aloof, but constantly complaining about being hungry. I know, we get it, Goku likes to eat and eat a lot. GT returns to that well far too often and it loses any and all comedic value. He also tends to forget how powerful he is and there were many moments where I just felt frustrated by what was going on because Goku should be able to handle it no problem. He just chooses not to. Sometimes the show will make a joke out of it, but not often. They do take away his ability to use his instant transmission maneuver as I guess they just found it was too powerful, but there’s no attempt to explain it. He just can’t do it as a kid for some reason. Trunks is more of a stabilizing presence and he’s fine in that role.

The show arguably doesn’t get rolling until we enter the Baby saga. While hunting for the Dragon Balls, the gang encounters a Dr. Myuu (Duncan Brannon) who is a total rip-off of Dr. Gero. He’s created an artificial lifeform called Baby (sound familiar?) which can absorb others and use them to gain power, but also requires a host body to reach his full potential. Baby (Mike McFarland) is born of the Truffle race, an alien lifeform that was eradicated by the Saiyans, which is a detail I actually do like. He wants revenge against all Saiyans which is what brings him to Earth. He there takes over the body of Vegeta (Christopher Sabat) and also infects almost everyone on Earth creating a sort of hive mind. It’s during this arc that we get introduced to the most memorable part of Dragon Ball GT: Super Saiyan 4.

If the show had stuck to the adventure theme it starts off with it might have been better, though it still might not have been very good.

As a concept, I like Super Saiyan 4. I don’t know if I would have designed the look exactly like the one presented here, but the idea of a Saiyan reverting to his primal ape form and then harnessing that into this new Super Saiyan form is a good one. However, I hate Super Saiyan 4 Goku. For some reason he gets extremely cocky in this form. He talks in a lower tone (think Goku Black if you’ve watched Dragon Ball Super) and just comes across like a dick. It feels so out of character for Goku who can display confidence, but not to this extent and not in this manner. He acts like the fusion character Vegito, just without Vegeta’s voice literally filtering into his speech. It was also during this arc that it really became apparent that Goku basically has one move: Kamehameha. You will get sick of hearing Goku say that long, drawn out word by the time you’re done with GT. The action is so uninspired throughout the series and seems to only get worse as it goes on. Almost every confrontation is between two fighters who are unmatched. Whether it’s Goku or the villain, someone is at an obvious disadvantage to the point where they don’t even have to take the other fighter seriously. It makes for a drama-free experience and the only thing that turns the tide of battle is basically a new power-up.

After the Baby saga comes the Super Android 17 arc which is quite brief. It’s also inexplicable because the show basically draws attention to how the character Dr. Myuu is just a Gero knock-off by having the two team-up! And their team-up occurs in Hell where for some reason they’ve been allowed to keep their bodies (it’s best not to think about continuity with this series) and create a carbon copy of Android 17 in Hell. Some how. He is apparently able to control the real 17 and get him to open a portal to Hell so all of the bad guys can escape and run amok like an episode of Animaniacs. It’s a bit of a rehash of the twelfth Dragon Ball Z movie, but without charm. It’s terrible, let’s move on.

Oh, look! Another Kamehameha!

The final arc is the Shadow Dragon one and, again, it’s a solid concept that is just not well executed. Goku (who is still a kid and will remain one the whole series) and the gang try to make a wish with the Dragon Balls only for them to break. Black smoke comes out and with it comes the Shadow Dragons. Earth has made too many wishes in a short period of time and they’re being punished for it. The writers are essentially punishing themselves for this easy get out of jail free card baked into the series. In order to set things right, Goku has to beat each Shadow Dragon and recover the Dragon Ball imbedded in them. A few have a gimmick to them that Goku has to overcome while the finale, Omega Shenron (Sabat), is just a really strong guy. It culminates in a battle that’s really drawn out and almost never interesting. It’s always one-sided. The writers also never figure out a new way to end a confrontation. It’s always a riff on something from before. They absolutely love having the other Saiyan characters lend their energy to Goku so he can power himself up which is something that only previously took place in the movies. It’s not a gimmick I have ever liked. There wasn’t one new wrinkle to come up with?

If you like Super Saiyan 4, save yourself some time and just get an action figure or learn to love it from afar.

Dragon Ball GT has the reputation of being the worst Dragon Ball series to date and it’s a well earned reputation. While I do think the people working on it had good intentions and tried their best, it just feels formulaic and too derivative of itself to be any good. There’s very little in the way of creativity and while Dragon Ball is certainly guilty of repeating itself quite a bit, it’s usually able to find some way to put a spin on things or at least be charming in the process. GT drops almost all of that charm in favor of a cookie cutter, disposable, experience. It’s ending is lackluster and just as unsatisfying as the ending to Dragon Ball Z, something I’ve never talked about in this space but is an ending I despise. I get that Goku is a bit of a dolt who just loves to eat and train, possibly in the opposite order, and we’re supposed to laugh when he just up and abandons his family to go train Uub. If Z had not created Pan and showed us how much she idolized her grandfather in those few episodes at the end of the series it might have worked for me, but instead it just makes me sad. I don’t like thinking of Goku as a selfish piece of shit, but he’s sometimes written that way. GT has a very similar ending, but since I was looking forward to the series being over it didn’t bother me nearly as much. This isn’t a good series. You’re actually way better off just experiencing it through the video games which basically gives you the Cliff Notes version of the series and lets you act out battles that are probably way more satisfying than what’s actually in the show. And if you love Super Saiyan 4, go buy an action figure or just watch Dragon Ball Daima which takes a lot of the concepts baked into GT, but actually does them well. Only watch the series if you’re like me and don’t properly value the 30 or so hours of your life it takes to get through all 64 episodes.

If you must hear more about Dragon Ball GT then here are some toy reviews you may find interesting:

S.H.Figuarts Dragon Ball Daima Super Saiyan 4 Son Goku (Mini)

It’s no great secret that the black sheep of the Dragon Ball universe is the anime Dragon Ball GT. Created in-house by Toei animation, Dragon Ball GT was a continuation of Dragon Ball Z without creator Akira Toriyama. While Toriyama had to grant approval to many aspects of the series, he wasn’t directly involved with…

Keep reading
by Joe

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…

Keep reading
by Joe

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

In the world of Dragon Ball, there are varying opinions on which version of the anime is superior. Dragon Ball Z is unquestionably the most popular, but there are people (like me) out there who swear by the original Dragon Ball that came before it. More recently, Dragon Ball Super has entered the fray and…

Keep reading
by Joe

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February 12, 2026

2026 – The Year in Figures to Come

By Joe
Toy Fair is coming which basically means the start of the year in toy reveals for 2026!

2025 is history. We’re done talking about it. Well, sort of. I have written-up posts for the last of the 2025 action figures I received, but they haven’t gone live just yet so I’m done looking back, but dear reader you are not. Attention turns to 2026 and we’re coming up on the eve of New York Toy Fair. Last year, Toy Fair ended up being perhaps the biggest show of the year for many toy producers. Some of the more collector-focused companies weren’t there, but for basically anyone selling toys at big box stores it was a big event. I don’t know if that was necessarily by design for it was shortly after Toy Fair the industry got slammed by tariffs which probably caused many companies to reevaluate what they were doing. Traditionally, Toy Fair is for the year to come. In the old days, this was where producers would exhibit their products in hopes of driving up orders for the fall holiday shopping season. Now, it’s more of an antiquated model and Toy Fair has even struggled some to justify its existence. The Pandemic caused it to get cancelled and the organizers tried moving to the fall which didn’t really work and lead to yet another long layoff as you’re not going to have an event in the fall and then come back in February with another. They even tried moving it out of New York, but basically no one wanted that.

Still, Toy Fair is happening and there will be new product shown soon that will delight and enrage toy collectors, because that’s what tends to happen. I have ideas of what will be shown there and at the conventions to come during the year, but this post is less about predictions and more about my hopes and dreams for the various lines and companies I’m interested in. Some of the motivation here is to consolidate my own collecting. I am running out of room in these parts and it would be highly beneficial to my home and wallet if I were to become more selective. I probably bought too many “cheap” figures in 2025 and I do think I’d probably be better off getting fewer toys, but higher quality ones that I’ll enjoy more. That’s perhaps a topic for another day (and I say this after impulse buying a Marvel Legends figure so I’m off to a shaky start), for now I want to think about the potential 2026 has in store for us as action figure enthusiasts.

Playmates Toys – Bring Back Monty Moose!

The one that got away (photo from Hollywoodheroes.com)

The biggest news to close out the year in the toy world was the revelation that Playmates Toys was losing the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles license. It’s still almost hard to wrap one’s head around that, but it’s gone and the new company is already in place, but keeping quiet at the time of this writing (Update – It’s Mattel). Playmates does have all of 2026 to release TMNT figures plus another relief period following that to unload whatever stock is left. Recently, Playmates has been releasing product from the newer Mutant Mayhem film and spin-off show while also supplementing those releases with its remastered line, some Last Ronin, and reissues from the vintage line. My hope is that Playmates goes hard into the reissues this year now that the end is in sight. Monty Moose is the one I highlighted here because he’s the one I want most, but Playmates should use this as an opportunity to cash-in on the hard to find figures like Scratch, Hothead, Hot Spot, that dinosaur Shredder, and other figures. It’s been a bit of a surprise they have yet to go to this well yet, but maybe they were holding out for some reason? I don’t think they care about crashing the collector market. It’s possible they don’t have the molds anymore, but it’s probably worth it to them to recreate them like they’ve done with vehicles like the Foot Cruiser. And the same should apply to hard-to-find vehicles and play sets as well.

NECA Toys Needs to Get Out Tempestra

The purple lady with the glowing eyes is the only one missing from the NECA toy collection.

Keeping things to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for a moment, the threat of a new master license holder really puts a lot of what we’re accustomed to getting into some jeopardy. It could all work out and be fine, but it could also go away like Playmates. We don’t know. If there’s even a chance of that though then the companies in the TMNT game need to push out the most sought after characters and figures and number one for NECA’s line of TMNT cartoon figures is Tempestra. She is a bit of an obscure character who first appeared in the season four episode “Leonardo Versus Tempestra.” In it, the character Tempestra is a boss character in a video game that eventually breaks out and does battle with the turtles. It’s not particularly memorable on its own, but the character would make a return in the episode “Night of the Rogues.” There she was joined by the villains who are actually pretty popular hence why they all have received figures in the line already. Tempestra is the lone holdout so people want her to complete that set. She’s also unique in that she’s a rare female villain for the show and has a good look. I have a feeling NECA has already mocked her up at least, if not tooled, as they revealed an April figure years ago that was going to come with an arcade cabinet. It was from the movie line and it would have put actress Judith Hoag in a yellow jumpsuit like the cartoon character (or actress on the old arcade cabinet), but it may have been cancelled. My suspicion is that NECA did not develop the in-scale arcade cabinet for that figure, but for Tempestra and this was just another application for it. I guess we shall see, but I think NECA finally reveals her this year.

Mattel Brings Back Batman: The Animated Series

This property deserves better.

Mattel surprised a lot of folks when it announced in 2025 that it had reacquired the DC license. It wasn’t quite the shock that we experienced several years prior when McFarlane snatched it away from Mattel, but it’s always a surprise when a major license changes hands. McFarlane will see its ability to release DC figures come to an end at some point this year. The gates open for Mattel in the second half of 2026 and we’re probably going to start seeing what they have planned very soon. Most expect a Marvel Legends type of approach with action figures and that’s probably a safe bet, but for me personally I’m hoping we get a brand new line for Batman: The Animated Series. The DC Direct stuff looked pretty good, but the articulation and construction was terrible. McFarlane has been re-releasing a lot of those figures, but with reduced quality, bad paint apps, and an absurd price point. The best version of Batman deserves better. Let’s hope Mattel can be the one to deliver the definitive take on the show.

We See What’s to come for The Tick

It’s unlikely, but imagine if we could get all of these guys in plastic?!

Big Bad Work Shop announced it had the license to produce figures based on The Tick last year. Actually, they seemed to have the license going back a little ways as they did a 5 POA version of the character already. Last year was just when we found out they were going to bring us a fully-articulated, seemingly 1:10 scale version of the big blue guy. I love the old Tick cartoon so I would love to see a figure line based on that. Unfortunately, that show is owned by Disney and apparently most of the characters created for that show are in licensing purgatory. Maybe they can work something out, but Disney is a notoriously difficult company to work with when it comes to licensing so I’m not holding my breath. We do know there is a Tick and a variant beach Tick on the way this year and we have seen a prototype for Chairface Chippendale. I’m hopeful that we’ll see Arthur and I think the chances are pretty good that we do. This line is going to be a very slow moving one, but I’m okay with that. I don’t think I need an expansive collection, but I may have to attempt to customize a Naughty or Nice Santa into a Multiple Santa.

Mondo Gives us The Venture Bros.

A terrible, blurry, photo from one of my oldest entries on this blog of my old Venture Bros. dolls. Check out that iPod!

Speaking of The Tick, a related series to that show is The Venture Bros. I love The Venture Bros. It is one of my favorite television series of all time. Back when the show was still in production, Jackson Publick and Doc Hammer were approached about doing toys and the two picked a specific lane. Not being toy boys, they felt any toys based on the show should be intentionally lame. That would also fit with the vibe of the show where it’s modern, but it has an aesthetic from the 70s. That’s how we ended up with those Mego style dolls. There were some 5 POA figures that followed, but that’s mostly been it aside from a Kid Robot vinyl here and there. I want something that’s at least on-model. I don’t think the show needs a super articulated approach which is why I’m hoping we see Mondo get the license for their Squads line. These are basically statue or 5 POA type of figures, but in a 9″ scale, fully painted, and they have swappable limbs, portraits, and so forth to create different displays. It gives them a very clean look. Of course, if someone wanted to do proper figures that would work for me too, the Mondo Squads just seem like something that might work for both collectors and creators, though if they want to knock the scale down I’d be okay with that too. I don’t need Hank Venture to be 9″ tall.

To Celebrate 40 years of The Real Ghostbusters, Mondo does Stay Puft

Sticking with Mondo, we have this want for a Stay Puft based on his appearance in The Real Ghostbusters. Mondo released it’s first figures in its line of roughly 1:12 scale The Real Ghostbusters which have been pretty well received by most. They could use a Stay Puft, but I think the best way to release the big guy is to do what Mondo does best and make him a sofubi. A sofubi is a soft vinyl figure with limited articulation and it would likely be easier to make Stay Puft big in this format. He just doesn’t need a true action figure form. Just give me arms pre-posed like they are in the intro and I’ll be happy. It will really tie together a truly awesome RGB display.

Bandai returns to Dragon Ball!

The scale is so bizarre with this line.

I love the Dragon Ball franchise. Dragon Ball Z hooked me in during the 90s and I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed its return via Dragon Ball Super, but my favorite era for the franchise will always be the original Dragon Ball. When Bandai got rolling with the Tamashii Nations line S.H.Figuarts there were almost equal parts Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z, but over the years the Dragon Ball figures have been all but phased out. The last one released was Lunch back in 2022. Last year, Bandai did release a 40th anniversary Goku as seen on the first cover of the manga with him riding the dragon in an orange gi so that kind of counts, but as of right now they haven’t made it available to folks in the US (I think it’s being sold at their very limited pop-up locations). The new figure isn’t exactly what I want, but put that Goku in blue and I am there! The old figures were always way too big to scale with the adult characters. They kind of work with Master Roshi who is sort of in his own scale, but not with Bulma and the others. The new, smaller, body is a huge improvement and I would happily replace my kid Goku and Krillin with new ones. Plus we never got Yamcha, Tien, Cyborg Tao, and many others that would be great to add to the shelf.

Someone Gets the Futurama License

It sure would be nice if someone made some good Futurama figures…

The Simpsons have changed hands the last couple of years and had a pretty strong presence in the world of toys, but what about Futurama? We just have the old toyline from the early 2000s which was honestly kind of bad. I sold all of my figures except Fry and Bender and I feel like it’s high time someone took a whack at these characters again. Jakks could always do it as a companion line for The Simpsons, but they’ve frustrated me with their distribution so I don’t really want that, per say. Mondo Squads would be another decent landing spot, though I’d prefer they aren’t in that 9″ scale as that’s just too big. I don’t really expect this one to come true, but I’ll keep my fingers crossed.

Super7 Returns to Vintage-style TMNT

Super7 had a bad 2025. I even named them the worst toy company of the year, but I don’t want to have to do that for 2026. One way they could climb back into my good graces is to return to the vintage inspired TMNT line that went on hiatus with the arrival of the 2003 line. Now, I realize some of this is out of their control. There are reports that Viacom basically ended that line and forced 2003 upon them and most assume that was the result of pressure from Playmates. No, I don’t think Playmates losing the license really means much for Super7, but I do think Super7 has at least some sway here. When fans responded negatively to their Rat King based on Shredder’s Revenge Viacom relented and let them do a figure inspired by the Playmates original. Who’s to say they can’t get one more waves out of Viacom to finish off their vintage stuff? I need Heavy Metal Raph!

Jada Toys Announces More Christmas Figures

Frosty could really use HIS Santa to join him on the shelf.

Hey, I love Christmas! And I love toys based on Christmas things. Last year, Jada gave us a figure of Frosty the Snowman and I was pretty damn happy about that. No, the figure isn’t anything amazing, but it’s Frosty the Snowman! I would love to see more of that from Jada and I have a few ideas how they could go about that. The easy path is to do more Frosty. He could use a Karen, Professor Hinkle, and a Santa Claus just to name a few. I don’t think we really need all of those other kids, but if they sell really well I guess there’s room to expand. I think it would also be neat if each figure came with another version of the rabbit, Hocus Pocus, with swappable heads and bodies to let us build out a fun little display. If they think Frosty (and Hocus) stands on his own just fine, then how about parlaying that Flintstones license into a Santa Barney? Yes, I’m referencing the classic Fruity Pebbles commercial where Barney tries to impersonate Santa to get his hands on some delicious sugar cereal. And if they could do a Santa as well that would just be ::chef’s kiss:: It might be more likely they tackle more Rankin Bass which, perhaps to the surprise of many, doesn’t thrill me nearly as much. Now, if they shock the world and announce a Chuck Jones Grinch figure I just might explode.

Bucky O’Hare Makes a Shocking Comeback!

I refuse to say good bye to this crew!

I love Bucky O’Hare and the Toad Wars. It broke my heart on multiple occasions: the end of the cartoon, the cancellation of the original toy line, the cancellation of the Boss Fight Studio line. No, I don’t think he’s going to make another comeback because those Boss Fight figures are still out there and pretty damn cheap (well, most of them). However, I can’t stop wishing and hoping for a revival. The Cowboys of Moo Mesa are getting figures right now as we speak, why can’t Bucky get another shot? Maybe the entire IP could be bought at this point making it a target for someone like Nacelle. Larry Hama could probably use the payday and it’s not like Continuity even makes comics anymore. Per Boss Fight, it was Continuity that lost interest in licensing it out. I guess the return just wasn’t worth the work. I did speak in person with another individual from the company who seemed to suggest the sales just weren’t there either. That the license was just too obscure. I don’t know the real deal here, but I’m sure the license excites few. In a recent episode of the YouTube show Geek. Dad. Life., Peter Santa-Maria of Mondo expressed some love for Bucky so maybe there’s a glimmer of hope there? Another recommendation for the Mondo Squads makes sense here as both Hasbro and Boss Fight Studio were unable to deliver the full crew of the Righteous Indignation (Hasbro left out Jenny, Boss Fight left out Blinky and Willy). I’m going to keep hoping for that Blinky figure though until the day I die so maybe 2026 can be the year?

While you ponder the year to come, here’s some current stuff to tide you over:

JoyToy TMNT Leatherhead

It was in my year-end wrap-up post on 2025 where I mentioned how awful the tariffs instituted by the US during the year made action figure collecting. The added cost is a given, but also the shipping. Importing a figure from overseas became a bigger issue as understaffed sorting centers were ill-equipped for figuring out…

by Joe

S.H.Figuarts Dragon Ball Daima Super Saiyan 4 Son Goku (Mini)

It’s no great secret that the black sheep of the Dragon Ball universe is the anime Dragon Ball GT. Created in-house by Toei animation, Dragon Ball GT was a continuation of Dragon Ball Z without creator Akira Toriyama. While Toriyama had to grant approval to many aspects of the series, he wasn’t directly involved with…

by Joe

NECA TMNT Adventures April – The Fifth Turtle

NECA’s line of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles action figures based on the pages Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures by Archie Comics is like the little engine that could. It’s not a fast-moving line, the releases aren’t always heavy hitters, but when they land they’re usually pretty damn good. And NECA appears to be slow-walking this…

by Joe

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January 22, 2026

S.H.Figuarts Dragon Ball Daima Super Saiyan 4 Son Goku (Mini)

By Joe
The little guy is back and furrier than ever!

It’s no great secret that the black sheep of the Dragon Ball universe is the anime Dragon Ball GT. Created in-house by Toei animation, Dragon Ball GT was a continuation of Dragon Ball Z without creator Akira Toriyama. While Toriyama had to grant approval to many aspects of the series, he wasn’t directly involved with its creation. I believe he contributed some broad concepts, but I don’t know the specifics or have long since forgotten them. Even though the anime is loved by few, some of its creations have endured. Namely, the Super Saiyan 4 transformation. Credited to Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru, the concept of the transformation was to return the Saiyan race to a more primal state. It’s sort of like the great ape or oozaru form seen in Dragon Ball and early Dragon Ball Z turned into its own version of a Super Saiyan. It was a drastic departure from the golden haired look of the prior Super Saiyan forms adorning Goku with red fur and returning to him his tail for the first time since early Dragon Ball.

This Goku is little, but not as little as past Goku.

When Toriyama decided to return to the world of Dragon Ball, he basically cast GT aside. I would not read much into that as far as what Toriyama felt about the show’s quality. It felt more like a case of returning to the end of Z after the battle with Buu was just the most logical launching-off point for a new story. The fact that Toriyama didn’t have an emotional attachment to the events of GT certainly helped. In his return which first began with the film Battle of Gods but quickly morphed into a whole new series in Dragon Ball Super, Toriyama (together with his protege Toyotarou) basically made the events of GT impossible to have occurred. A lot of that is due to the creation of the new Super Saiyan God power-up and its offshoots. Even so, the legendary manga writer and artist must have seen something in GT he liked because he decided to basically take its premise and turn it into the non-canonical Dragon Ball Daima.

It’s like some kid hanging out with the cool uncles he idolizes.

Daima was basically Toriyama’s final gift to Dragon Ball fans before passing on. At least, as far as we know. Like GT, it begins with the premise of a villain using the Dragon Balls to return Goku to a child, only with Daima all of Goku’s friends suffer the same fate. From there, it’s basically its own thing as the plot involves Goku and friends traveling to the Demon World to rescue Dende and prevent the new lord of the realm from amassing enough power to become a problem for everyone. It takes place in between Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball Super even though there really wasn’t a whole lot of time separating the two to begin with. The series began in a mostly plausible manner as far as canon is concerned, but eventually became something that is clearly non-canon. And the most canon breaking event of the series is Goku transforming into a Super Saiyan 4.

For a 90s creation, Super Saiyan 4 does have a pretty 80s looking hairstyle.

If you have yet to watch Daima (and I recommend you do – it’s great), then apologies for that spoiler, but the mere existence of this figure is essentially a spoiler. Toriyama must have liked something about the form to use it himself in his new series, or he was just throwing a bone to the fans that did enjoy it. From what I have gathered, Toriyama is responsible for the look of Super Saiyan 4 in Dragon Ball Daima, but in truth it differs little from the version designed by Nakatsuru. Goku still regrows his tail and finds his body covered in red fur, only the shade is slightly more purple than the pinkish it was in GT. The hair on his head follows mostly the same shape, but now it changes to be the same color as the fur as opposed to black. His iris now turns red instead of gold and the heavy outline around his eyes is black instead of red. The most noticeable difference is the slight alteration in proportions. In GT, Goku basically retained his normal shape, but in Daima his hands and forearms become oversized giving him a slightly more ape-like appearance. He also remains a child when transforming while in GT he literally goes from a child to an adult by transforming. I’m not sure what the rationale for that was at the time, maybe because the oozaru form is basically the same size for an adult and child Saiyan, but it’s an odd quirk of the form.

You can’t touch this one.

For the toyline, Bandai opted to release this Super Saiyan 4 Goku figure via its Premium Bandai offshoot. Like other releases in the past, this largely means it’s just a more expensive, limited, version of a relatively standard quality figure for the S.H.Figuarts line. Because Goku does increase in mass with his transformation, none of the parts created for the other Goku Mini figures are reused here. He’s also taller than those releases at approximately 3″ where I envision the top of his head being and 4″ to the highest spike of his hair. Most of the figure is colored plastic with the paint hits reserved for the bare portion of the chest and abdomen as well as a small area on the forearms. The white laces on his boots are also painted and the details of the face. Bandai did a good job of matching the flesh colors between the painted parts and non, but the linework isn’t the sharpest as there’s some overlap on the chest. The faces look fantastic while the laces are just okay as it’s white over blue. The only cheap looking aspect of the figure are those orange pants. There’s no shading on them at all and it’s unfortunate. At least a little paint around the waist might have lessened the cheap look.

He’s got some big old paws on him. They’re not quite as big as adult Goku hands, but they’re close.

The sculpt and overall proportions are very good here. At first I wondered if the hands actually could have been made even a little bigger, but in returning to the anime it looks pretty accurate. The length of the legs and torso look good and the hair sculpt is great. Like many other releases in this line, the hair is quite sharp and pointy so do be careful when posing or swapping faces. I do enjoy the oddball nature of the Super Saiyan 4 transformation. I’ve always liked the concept of the Saiyan harnessing their primal side in a focused, contained, manner. The switch from black hair to red is also one I approve of as the black haired look of the old transformation always created a bit too much of a contrast for me with the reddish fur. The redesigned proportions also work well here, especially on the kid version of Goku. It actually adds a little cuteness to the design and it’s hard not to draw a comparison to the video game character Tomba.

Sorry Vegeta, I don’t have an appropriate bad guy for him to fight so you’re going to have to take one for the team.

The expressions included offer a nice range for this character. We get a cocky smirk, stoic, teeth gritting with a side eye, a yelling, and a more exaggerated yell. They all seem to serve a purpose and it’s hard to resist the cocky expression. The face-printing is all excellent with some nice linework between and under the eyes. The paint is clean on the teeth and inner mouth for the yelling expressions. For hands we get a mostly stand array with fists, chops, martial arts posed, open, and Kamehameha hands. There’s also a set of hands for the standard Goku Mini (which would also work with the Super Saiyan version) that have little, translucent, yellow, orbs in them like a blast about to be fired. There’s also an extra, right, Kamehameha hand with a flame effect molded into it. This effect is done with translucent orange plastic with a hit of yellow paint. It’s intended to connect to the effect part – a Kamehameha blast. The blast is made of translucent blue plastic with hits of white. There’s also two translucent, orange, flames encircling it for a neat look. There’s an included post in clear acrylic to help it stand and it keys into the effect hand in two ways allowing the hand to be on top or under. I found getting the hand onto Goku as well as the post into the blast difficult without heat pretty difficult, but keying the two parts together is simple and effective. It’s probably the nicest blast effect part I’ve yet received from Bandai topping Beast Gohan’s beam cannon.

He comes with two of these little ki blast hands for the previous Goku Mini.

Goku’s articulation is mostly the same as the prior mini versions, with some differences including one that was a bit odd. He has the usual joints in the usual spots: head, neck, shoulder, butterfly, bicep, elbows, wrists, diaphragm, waist, hips, thighs, knees, ankles, and tail. The very small size can make utilizing some of these joints tricky. The diaphragm, for one, is hard to work independent of the waist and the butterfly joint sometimes doesn’t move as far as it looks like it can. The head is pretty locked down by the hair, but he can turn his head some and look down. The two, lower, rear pieces of his hair do move, but it doesn’t really free anything up much. The front pieces that come over the shoulders are not independently articulated like they were with the GT figures. The tail is just a ball peg and loves to fall off which is annoying. The elbows are double joints, but they don’t bend past 90 degrees due to the forearm size. The knees are single joints. The wrists were the most surprising part as they are just ball pegs. There’s no hinge so the hands just move on that ball, and for the most part, only rotate. I haven’t really missed the hinge, but it was a surprise to see. Range at the hips is pretty typical of the line, but he does have a diaper piece now so there’s some restriction. He won’t do anything truly spectacular, but he seems to be able to hit the key Goku poses.

I almost hate it when an effect is this good – how could I possibly display him without it?

This release is a pretty typical Premium Bandai release. It’s a good sculpt with good enough articulation. The accessory load-out is slightly better than a general release item while the price is higher. This one was $70 plus $10 shipping so he was essentially an $80 figure. That’s pretty steep for a figure of this size. It’s not as if much more went into it when compared with the $35 Goku Mini so a value buy it most certainly is not. It was exclusive though so if you want it now it will likely cost you even more. I do like the figure and I like this look for Goku. That’s the main motivation for buying it. If you like this version, then you’ll be content with the figure. It won’t blow you away, and I feel like I say that a lot more often these days with Bandai, but it won’t really disappoint either. Unless you end up paying $130 for it or something, then it might let you down because it certainly isn’t worth that.

For more Daima and Super Saiyan 4 goodness, check these out:

S.H.Figuarts Dragon Ball Daima Goku (Mini)

When Akira Toriyama sadly passed away in 2024 it shocked the world of manga and anime. While his passing was sudden to those confined to the fandom, he at least had one more adventure to deliver in the world of Dragon Ball that would be unveiled later in the year: Dragon Ball Daima. I’ll talk…

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by Joe

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

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

In the world of Dragon Ball, there are varying opinions on which version of the anime is superior. Dragon Ball Z is unquestionably the most popular, but there are people (like me) out there who swear by the original Dragon Ball that came before it. More recently, Dragon Ball Super has entered the fray and…

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by Joe

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October 9, 2025

S.H.Figuarts Dragon Ball Z Cooler: Final Form – 40th Anniversary Reissue Edition

By Joe
Let’s celebrate 40 years of Dragon Ball with the timeless Cooler!

Bandai sure picked an interesting way to celebrate 40 years of Dragon Ball. Well, in the United States they did. In Japan, to mark the occasion the company released a brand new Goku and Shenlong action figure set based on the cover of Dragon Ball issue #1. Makes sense. For the US market, we get a reissue of Frieza’s brother, Cooler, as he appeared in the movie Cooler’s Revenge. If you’re familiar with Dragon Ball Z movies, then you probably know that they’re all non-canon. They weren’t written by series creator Akira Toriyama and they mostly exist just to have something DBZ related to put in a movie theater. That doesn’t mean they’re all bad or terrible, and Toriyama at least did design characters like Cooler, but if you’re looking to celebrate a milestone such as 40 years of Dragon Ball wouldn’t you want to celebrate, I don’t know, Dragon Ball?

If you already have version 1 of Cooler, this is the only reason to get version 2.

Truthfully, I can’t say I’m disappointed at another chance to add Cooler to my collection. I don’t particularly care for the movie he’s from, but as a character design he looks pretty neat. He’s like a cross between Frieza’s second form, Imperfect Cell, and the architecture of Planet Namek. He’s very alien looking, but there’s enough to him to tie him to his brother that it works really well. Originally, this figure was solicited via Premium Bandai which is a made-to-order service where the figures are meant to be one and done. At the time he went up for preorder I felt like I was all set with characters from the movies. He didn’t feel like something I needed in my collection. Fast forward the 8 months or so it took for delivery and suddenly I had regrets. Not only did Cooler look pretty cool, he turned out really well from an engineering standpoint and just looked like a damn fun action figure to have. Aftermarket prices were crazy though so I just resigned myself to my Cooler-less fate.

Cooler and a pair of Friezas. Not pictured: their sister Fridge.

Over the years, Bandai has seemingly realized that limited runs of products people might actually want down the line is a bad business strategy. For some previously Premium Bandai only releases, we’ve seen them get the convention exclusive treatment with a new deco. With Cooler, it’s not even that. This is exactly the same release as the one from three years ago. Even the packaging is the same. The only difference is now it’s labeled as a 40th anniversary reissue edition and it comes with a base. And the actual base is just the standard Tamashii Nations base that’s an acrylic disc, in this case translucent purple, and it has the 40th anniversary graphic on it. There are four ports for an action stand, but no stand is included. It’s kind of cheap that they didn’t just toss in the armature for the stand, but I’m guessing collectors who already have the first one are glad there isn’t a new portrait or effect part included to give them pause about rebuying the figure. This edition is clearly intended for those who passed on the first release or weren’t actively collecting back then. And at $90 MSRP, it’s more or less the same price as it was then too (I don’t remember what it cost exactly).

Where the big boys play.

Cooler is one of the taller figures in this line coming it at about 7.25″ to the top of his head and well over 8″ to the tips of his spikes. He’s comprised primarily of purple plastic for the base body and white plastic for the carapace like shell over the chest, head, wrists, and shins. There’s some dark purple shading on the body most prominent in the thighs while the dark purple accents on the forearms, forehead, and shins have a very glossy finish which contrasts nicely with the matte white. There are numerous hashmarks carved into the white bits reminiscent of the Full Power Frieza and its battle damage. There’s no shading applied to those parts though which is a bit of a bummer. I’d love to see what a light wash would do for those marks as I think the figure would pop more if they were brought out. There is some paint on the face reserved for the red eyes and some black outline. It’s actually more of a dark gray around the eyes with a very light gray used on the faceguard. The nails on his hands and feet are painted a shiny black and overall this is a nice looking figure. The proportions are terrific and he looks mighty imposing even on a shelf with numerous tough looking characters.

Not a perfect paint job.
“I want you for Cooler Corps!”

Apart from the fancy new base, Cooler’s accessories are relegated to extra parts of a pretty conventional nature. He does have a second head which omits the faceguard that kind of just appears when he wants it to in the movie. The alternate head features a sinister smirk and drops the gray shading around the eyes. The sculpt is nice, but the paint is not crisp along the right side on my figure. For hands, we get a set of fists, clenching, open, and pointing gestures. He also has an alternate set of feet like his brother that are closer to a gripping pose. Swapping parts is pretty effortless as the hands and feet come off and go on with little force. The head ornament, if you will, pops off and is shared between both portraits and that has a nice seamless integration on both heads.

They had to get creative with this one.
Not loving how the tail turned out.

The articulation for Cooler is rather extensive and creatively applied. The head is a standard double ball peg with a ball joint at the base of the neck as well. The shoulders are butterflied and the big armor pieces that loop over them are pegged just inside the pectorals. This allows them to move out of the way while the pecs also tend to hide the peg. Pull the arms back all the way and it will expose a small gap inside the pectoral area, but I’m impressed with the clearance and lack of part rub. Whoever designed this joint had to be precise and they nailed it. The rest of the arm is the typical hinge and ball peg at the shoulder with a bicep swivel, double-elbow, and ball hinge wrist. There is a ball joint in the torso which gets really good forward and back movement as well some rotation and tilt. You have to work around the shape of the chest to make use of it, but it’s there and it’s smooth. The ball joint at the waist provides another point of rotation and will help in getting the figure to crunch forward and lean back. There is some gapping there and on the back when bending as far as it will go, but it’s not as pronounced as we’ve seen with other figures. Hips will kick forward about 90 degrees and can almost hit splits out to the side. From there, you have a thigh swivel, double-jointed knee, and ball hinge ankles. The knees do produce some gaps, but otherwise range is solid to good at all places. The tail connects via a hinged ball peg and there’s another ball joint about halfway through. Mine is stuck at the first ball joint and won’t swivel, but all in all I don’t like the look of this tail and would prefer something that’s preposed instead.

Can Goku handle Frieza’s brother?! Find out next time on Dragon Ball Z!

This is an overall impressive release from Bandai and Tamashii Nations. He looks great and aside from the tail, the articulation is integrated very well into a fairly complicated design. And even better is how smooth the joints are. They are nice and tight without being too tight. Nothing is even remotely loose. This figure was manufactured in the Vietnam factory and it’s easily their best output that I’ve handled. I think the days where you can tell where a figure was made in this line without looking are over. I was right to feel remorse at not buying him the first time around and I’m glad Bandai made him available again. It’s something they should do more of as I know there are a lot of collectors who hate that they missed out on characters like The Ginyu Force. If they do another run of Cooler’s metal form I may need to reconsider on that one too. And while I’m disappointed that we in the US weren’t given a shot at that special edition kid Goku, at least we weren’t shut out completely. Unfortunately, if you missed this preorder earlier this year then you’re out of luck. Hopefully the presence of this edition will knock down aftermarket prices on the original for those who want him.

The Frieza family is certainly an interesting one, though probably not a healthy one:

S.H.Figuarts Dragon Ball Z Full Power Frieza

Frieza is the villain from Dragon Ball who just refuses to die. His initial battle with the heroes of Dragon Ball Z spans a whopping 30 episodes! Thank goodness that DBZ was a weekday show or else it would have taken more than half a year to see Frieza get taken down. And that’s just…

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by Joe

S.H.Figuarts Dragon Ball Z – Mecha Frieza

When you have an action figure line as long in the tooth as the Bandai/Tamashii Nations Dragon Ball Z line from S.H.Figuarts, you tend to find some pretty obscure characters making the jump to plastic. Characters that may have existed for a blink and you miss it kind of moment, but when one’s collection already…

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by Joe

Dragon Ball Z: Cooler’s Revenge

Japanese Title:  The Incredible Mightiest vs. Mightiest Original Release Date:  July 20, 1991 English Release Date:  January 22, 2002 Directed by:  Mitsuo Hashimoto Screenplay by:  Takao Koyama Running Time:  47 minutes This seems as good a time as any to talk about the titles of these movies. The direct translation from Japanese is right at…

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by Joe

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , | posted in Dragon Ball Z Movies, toys

September 12, 2025

Dragon Ball Daima S.H.Figuarts Vegeta

By Joe
Not so mini Vegeta.

Dragon Ball Daima has come and gone, but we’re still getting action figures based on the limited series. When it comes to the Bandai/Tamashii Nations action figure line, that’s usually par for the course. It’s not like the classic movie tie-in toy line where product shows up in stores weeks before the movie hits theaters. That’s probably for the best as that’s how you end up with massive spoilers like the infamous Phantasm action figure released ahead of the Batman movie Mask of the Phantasm. For the Premium Bandai figure line, the spoilery figures were at least held off until the episode premiered (the Japanese dub, anyway) while a fairly generic figure of someone like Vegeta went up for preorder last year. And likely owing to the ever changing tariff situation in the U.S., it’s actually taken a little longer than initially expected for the figures to arrive in the U.S.

If you like your Vegeta short then this may be the figure for you.

Vegeta – Daima is just that, Vegeta from Dragon Ball Daima. He is still Vegeta, still in his blue and white Saiyan armor, only now he’s styled to reflect the artwork from the show. Dragon Ball Daima has its own distinct look. It’s not far removed from what we have seen out of Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball Super, but it might be just enough to give some collectors pause if they’re not interested in Daima figures specifically. Bandai has yet to give us a base Vegeta from the Cell Saga or from Dragon Ball Super so this Vegeta might catch the attention of some. It’s also an entirely new sculpt with some new approaches to engineering and it comes at the more budget friendly price of $35. That alone might get enough collectors to take the figure for a spin.

Narrow face, fewer lines, softened features, and a paler complexion kind of sums it up for the Daima style.

Vegeta from Daima is essentially a stream-lined take on the character. Compared to the 2.0 Vegeta sculpt we’ve been receiving variations on for the past 6-7 years it’s more slender and the proportions are overall just a little smaller this time around. Compare one body part on the new figure to one on the old and they’re almost all a little smaller save for maybe the feet. This Vegeta has got some big feet and ears. The face is a little softer compared to the more recent Super Saiyan Blue Vegeta, but perhaps more defined than the original Super Saiyan Vegeta on the 2.0 body. He’s also a touch shorter at approximately 4.875″ to the top of his widow’s peek compared with 5″ on the Super Saiyan Blue version, which as the most recent edition on that body is the one I’ve decided to compare directly to.

The new engineering lets him kick quite high. You can even push it higher than this.

The engineering is almost all together different with this Vegeta. Like we’ve seen with other more recent figures in the line, Bandai is experimenting with soft, plastic, overlays instead of just sculpting everything in hard plastic. The upper part of the armor is made of the more rubbery material, though it doesn’t really impact anything as it’s glued down to a plastic chest. Doing it this way basically just allows Bandai to skip out on painting the blue portion of the chest. The crotch piece is also rubbery which should allow for better posing. This does mean there is less paint overall with this figure as it’s limited to the yellow parts of the armor and boots as well as the face and neck. The paint on the neck isn’t perfect, nor is it on the boots, but it’s not so bad that I’d consider either sloppy. The overall look of the figure is solid and there are no mismatched colors at least. Some may not like how the crotch looks with the new articulation, but I can’t honestly say it’s worse than before. The one eyesore is at least reserved for the rear of the figure where Vegeta has been gifted a long, flat, ass. Watching the show, it’s fairly accurate. Old Vegeta has never been blessed with buns, but the figure draws attention to it with a sculpted butt crack where as the show usually omits that detail. The figure probably should have just done the same.

These two are always up for some sparring.

The accessory load-out for this Vegeta is pretty damn good for a $35 action figure. We get a pretty typical spread of hand options including sets of fists, open, clenching, flat palm (i.e. Big Bang Attack), and his two-finger martial arts posed hands. He also has a crossed-arms piece, as many Vegeta figures have featured, which connects at the bicep. It doesn’t separate in the middle like some of the new versions of this piece, but it has some flex and isn’t as annoying to apply as past versions. For expressions, Vegeta has stoic, smirk, yelling, and an angry expression with his eyes looking down and to his right. There’s also a second hair piece. The first is a neutral pose and the second one has some bend to it like it’s being blown by the wind. The faces this time around also do not have any bangs attached to them, they just plug into the hair, and they all look pretty good. The only thing this figure is missing is a stand and an effect part. Bandai usually doesn’t provide either of those even in its more expensive offerings so it’s not a surprise, but Storm and Jada are out here making everyone look bad these days.

Vegeta is having a long ass day.
There’s more range this time around, but it gets gappy.

Whenever we do get a new sculpt from Bandai articulation is the prime driver of curiosity. With Vegeta, Bandai did a lot of what we’re used to while also doing some different things as well. The head is a double ball and the neck is on a ball as well so that all works as expected. He still doesn’t look up well, and for that you’ll need to engage the diaphragm joint. In there, he has some sort of ball hinge setup, but not like the old hinge that allowed the chest to literally rise. This one lets Vegeta bend back a solid amount, but it exposes a pretty large gap in the chest. Going forward is almost nil. There’s another ball joint set into a hinged joint at the waist and it does provide for solid range going forward and back, but like the diaphragm it leads to significant gaps when bent all the way. Rotation and tilt at both is good, but it’s a shame they didn’t extend some of these pieces to fill those gaps.

He’s got the expressions you would expect.

The shoulders are your typical ball-hinge set into a ball peg inside the chest. This allows the shoulder to move up and down and out for a butterfly joint. The butterfly isn’t significant, but it’s enough for Vegeta’s signature maneuvers. The rest of the arm is standard stuff: bicep swivel, double-jointed elbow, ball hinge wrists. The hips are likely standard ball sockets and can go out to the sides for full splits, something past Vegeta figures could not do. He does have those weird fillers Bandai inserts onto the inside of the thigh and I don’t get why they do that. It looks weird. Going forward and back is not a problem either as Vegeta can do those splits as well and even kick past 90 degrees. The crotch flexes plenty and gets out of the way. There are thigh swivels and they look fine, double-jointed knees, and hinged ankles. The ankles do rock side-to-side and there are toe hinges which aren’t great, but you can ignore them if you don’t like them.

“Step aside, worm, I’ll take it from here.”

The articulation is good and bad. That torso falls into the bad and it’s a shame Bandai didn’t do something better with it. On the other hand, comparing this Vegeta to the prior ones I would say the range in the shoulders is better, the hips are way better, and the ankles are superior as well. The head and neck area is basically the same as well as the elbows and knees. I’ll even give the waist to the new figure even if it gets gappy.

Classic Vegeta.

Removing aesthetics from the argument, I would say this Vegeta is an upgrade over the prior one, it just could have been even more of one with a little more tinkering. And if you want to get into aesthetics, I’d say that’s entirely subjective and based on what you think of the Daima art style. I personally like it. I don’t prefer this look to Z or Super Vegeta, but it’s fine. I no longer feel like I need a base Vegeta on the 2.0 body, this will fill that hole well enough. In fact, I would prefer to never buy another Vegeta on that old body. It’s a figure that looks nice, but the articulation shortcomings in the hips and ankles are something I don’t need. And I’ve bought that figure enough already. I suspect we’ll see more from Vegeta and Daima and I’m curious what Bandai will do for the body. I don’t think it would make sense to reuse this body on a powered-up Vegeta, we’ll have to wait and see. I’m also a little surprised we haven’t seen another adult Vegeta solicited yet, but maybe they want to deliver on some of the Premium Bandai offerings first. At $35, this is a good figure and I think most SHF collectors will be happy. It’s really fun to just mess around with and pose and I hope we continue to see more improvements with future figures in the line. I’m left feeling excited for that upcoming Cell Saga Goku due later this year which can’t get here soon enough!

If you like Vegeta and Dragon Ball Daima then we have plenty more for you here:

S.H.Figuarts Dragon Ball Daima Goku (Mini)

When Akira Toriyama sadly passed away in 2024 it shocked the world of manga and anime. While his passing was sudden to those confined to the fandom, he at least had one more adventure to deliver in the world of Dragon Ball that would be unveiled later in the year: Dragon Ball Daima. I’ll talk…

Keep reading
by Joe

S.H.Figuarts Dragon Ball Z Vegeta – Older Style Battle Clothes

Vegeta is a character who has had a few looks throughout his time in Dragon Ball Z. Almost all of those looks are some variation on his Saiyan armor from his debut with minor tweaks and modifications. Since Vegeta has become one of the most popular characters from the long-running manga/anime, most of those looks…

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by Joe

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

May 29, 2025

S.H.Figuarts Dragon Ball Daima Goku (Mini)

By Joe
Goku is back for a new adventure which includes a literal downgrade for him.

When Akira Toriyama sadly passed away in 2024 it shocked the world of manga and anime. While his passing was sudden to those confined to the fandom, he at least had one more adventure to deliver in the world of Dragon Ball that would be unveiled later in the year: Dragon Ball Daima. I’ll talk more about the series when I finally finish it (I had to wait for the English dub so I could enjoy it with my kids), but I definitely don’t need to see it all before I can talk about the toys. Daima figures were unveiled well before the series debuted and some of them have actually been out for a little while. I wasn’t sure how deep I wanted to go with the toy line, but when I saw the subject of today’s post on sale at a discount I figured “Why not?”

He’s a little fella.

The only thing you need to know about Dragon Ball Daima to enjoy this figure of a wee little Goku is that in the very first episode a wish is made that turns all of the main cast into children. If it sounds a little like the beginning of Dragon Ball GT then just you wait until you get deeper into the series. The inaugural wave of figures from the show in the Bandai/Tamashii Nations S.H.Figuarts line is three of the main characters in child form: Goku, Vegeta, and Piccolo. The Saiyan boys were released at the wallet-friendly price of $35 while Piccolo was a much more expensive $60 (I guess that’s one expensive cape he’s wearing). I was pretty smitten with the Goku, but not entirely sure I needed it. I figured I’d hold out for Bandai to revisit Dragon Ball era Goku with a similar approach as this new figure is far more appropriate in size, but obviously things changed.

This just makes me really want a new Dragon Ball era Goku.
His head gets smaller the taller he gets.

This version of Goku is titled Goku (Mini) and he sure lives up to it. He comes in a standard sized box and there’s a lot of blank space around him. Take him out and he stands at approximately 2.75″ to the top of where his head likely is and only stretches to about 3.325 at the highest point of his hair. This is a little guy, but make no mistake about it this is still an SHF release. The styling is very much evocative of Daima so if you did want this Goku for a Dragon Ball display it won’t exactly work unless you’re willing to overlook the differences. His gi is a pale orange and the top extends past the sash in the middle which is atypical for Goku (his end of Z attire is similar, but that’s in blue and gray). The boots are a bit simplified as well as they’re now all blue with rope around the lower part which is now white instead of red. The faces in the show are illustrated in a slightly different style. To me, it looks more like a conventional “toon” approach and the figure reflects that. All in all, it’s a fine looking figure it’s just very much pulled from Dragon Ball Daima so if you’re not into the look of that series then it might not do much for you.

I love this little scrunched up expression. He looks like a toddler who just had his juice supply cut-off.

In typical Bandai fashion, paint is kept to a minimum with Goku. It’s basically reserved for the details of the face, the blue undershirt, the blue wristbands, the white ropes on the boots, and the soles of the boots. The paint is cleanly applied and the blue painted parts match well with the blue plastic parts. There’s no shading on any of the orange parts of the figure. While that does mimic the show fairly well which is bright in its approach, it can’t hide the fact that the orange plastic has a cheap appearance to it. Now, maybe one might argue that it should since this is a relatively inexpensive action figure for the line, but a low price does not mean it need look like a cheap product. It would be nice if they just hit the figure with a matte coat to cut down on that plastic look. The boots have a nice, almost satin, finish and if the pants did too that might improve the look of the figure. Given that it’s so small, the cheap appearance isn’t as detrimental as it would be on a five or six inch figure, but it’s not something that’s completely unnoticeable.

The power pole is back!

The low price point does not equate to a low accessory count. And even though this Goku is quite tiny, he has some pretty familiar accessories when it comes to the hands. Goku has a set of fists, gripping, martial arts posed, and Kamehameha hands. They may be tiny, but they aren’t hard to swap, just don’t drop one on a carpeted floor or you may have a hard time finding it. Goku also has four different portraits to swap between: smile, yelling, side eyed teeth gritting, and a frowny face that is kind of adorable. In atypical fashion, this Goku also comes with a second hair piece. He has his default look and a wind swept look which is becoming a little more common. Super Saiyan Gohan came packed with the same, though he wasn’t $35, and the new Lowest Born Saiyan Goku also has a windswept option. Since Goku goes back to his roots, so to speak, with Daima he also decided he needs to arm himself with his trusty Power Pole once again. Similar to the Dragon Ball Goku figures, this one comes with a sling and holster for the Power Pole that can be easily equipped. He also has a little nub of the power pole to slot into the holster, or you can remove it and arm him with an extended version. It’s shorter than previous Power Pole accessories and is kind of cheap looking since it’s just a red cylinder of plastic, but it gets the job done. It’s about 3″ and I think it could stand to be a bit longer, but I guess he can always wield an older model if you have one. Lastly, there’s an optional lower shirt piece that’s more dynamic and should give the hips more range when it comes to articulation.

That’s a better charge pose than a lot of adult Gokus.
He can get his arms extended pretty effortlessly too.

The accessories are plentiful and Tamashii Nations also tried to make sure the articulation was up to par as well. Mini Goku has the standard double-ball setup in the head that lets him look around in all directions except for up. This is a bit of an issue for a little guy and it’s one largely caused by his hair. The shoulders are done pretty well as they’re ball pegs inside the figure giving him a butterfly joint then the usual ball-hinge on the outside. The small torso means the butterfly works pretty well and it also looks good as it’s similar to how they did Krillin and Super Hero Gohan. There’s a bicep swivel at the end of the sleeve and then single-hinged elbows that bend a little past 90 degrees with typical SHF ball-hinge wrists.

Kicks are a bit of a challenge since we’re dealing with tiny parts here.

The torso is where the figure feels more limited. Goku has a ball peg at the waist that lets him rock back a little, but not much forward. You also won’t get much tilt, but it rotates freely. The hips are ball pegs and even with the more dynamic lower shirt piece the figure can’t go out to the side for full splits. He is largely unimpeded kicking forward and back while the single-hinged knees allow for a 90 degree bend. The ankles have the hinge and ankle rocker combo we’re used to seeing on newer figures from Bandai. The hinge is pretty restricted, especially going forward, but the ankle rocker is surprisingly generous. There’s also a toe hinge for good measure.

He’s surprisingly easy to stand even with these tiny feet.

The articulation is probably enough. The single-hinged joints in the knees and elbows are not as restricting as one may expect and they do come with the added benefit of being more aesthetically pleasing than most double joints. I do wish the figure could look up better and I don’t see a good reason as to why it can’t raise the legs out to the side all the way. The shirt hides the hips so the designers were able to go bare bones in that region and yet the articulation is still impeded somewhat. A little tweaking there to give the figure more dynamic kicks would have really helped sell this one, but even so, it’s pretty good.

This is a fun little figure, I just wish I didn’t have to buy Goma to get Goku’s power pole effect piece.

Goku (Mini) is a fun little figure to mess with. It comes with a lot for the price point and those who like Daima and want a kid Goku from the show will likely be pretty content here. I do think some articulation tweaks would have gone a long way, and given that he’s so small, a flight stand feels almost like a necessity. If you want him posed on your shelf fighting adults or larger beings you’re going to need to get him on a stand. Given the $35 price tag, I’m not surprised at the lack of a stand, but I would have paid another 5 bucks to get one. Or rather, I wouldn’t have waited for a discount. Like I said though at the start, my initial pass on the figure wasn’t because I thought it was a bad deal, I just wasn’t sure if I needed anything from Daima. What i really want is an updated kid Goku from Dragon Ball as the ones Bandai already released are just way too big. A new one in this size with some styling evocative of the original manga/anime is quickly shooting up to the top of my personal “Most Wanted” list. Even if that never comes to be, this tidy Goku figure is still pretty damn good all on its own.

There’s plenty more Dragon Ball around these parts if you’re interested:

SH Figuarts Kid Goku

I was so happy with my Super Saiyan Vegeta from SH Figuarts that the very next day I purchased a second figure:  Kid Goku. Now I’ve mentioned more than once here that I prefer Dragon Ball to Dragon Ball Z. It’s just a tighter and more fun series with better action sequences. The characters become…

by Joe

S.H.Figuarts Dragon Ball Z Krillin – Earth’s Strongest Man

My Dragon Ball collecting was once simply focused on the original series, Dragon Ball, but has been expanding over the years. I’ve definitely leaned more towards Dragon Ball Super of late, but one of my Dragon Ball Z purchases last year was the event exclusive Nappa. I don’t know why I like Nappa so much.…

by Joe

S.H.Figuarts Super Saiyan Son Gohan – The Fighter Who Surpassed Goku

When Goku shattered his ceiling and became the Super Saiyan of legend to topple the seemingly unbeatable Frieza, the story could have come to an end. Where could the hero go after attaining this awesome power and vanquishing the ultimate evil? The being responsible for not just the death of his father, but the destruction…

by Joe

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March 14, 2025

S.H.Figuarts Jiren – Final Battle Exclusive Edition

By Joe
Whether you’re a Jiren fan or not, it’s hard to deny that this figure looks pretty cool.

It would seem that FOMO, the fear of missing out, is my primary motivation for purchases in Bandai’s S.H.Figuarts line of Dragon Ball action figures. The last one we looked at was a big one for me in Future Trunks from Dragon Ball Super. That dreaded FOMO was strong enough that it got me to buy a figure I knew was compromised and had no chance of truly satisfying me, but buy it I did. Today’s FOMO purchase was done almost for the opposite reason. Really, it happened only because I initially decided not to get that Trunks figure and put my money towards this one instead. And I am talking about Jiren.

This dude must live in the gym.

Jiren is the big bad guy from the so far final arc of the Dragon Ball Super anime. The series has continued in manga form, but as of right now there’s no real concrete proof the anime will resume. In terms of Dragon Ball bad guys, Jiren isn’t very interesting. The plot of that final arc is that the Gods of the many universes have decided to pit each universe against each other in a battle royale. For the victor, a wish from the Super Dragon Balls which are capable of granting any wish one can think of. For the losers, total annihilation in the form of getting wiped out of existence. It’s not even death, it’s just deletion. As a result, all of the warriors competing against our favorite heroes are just fighting for self preservation. While some are certainly bad guys, most are just like Goku, Gohan, and all the rest in that they just don’t want to be ended.

He’s more bulk than height.

Jiren, for his part, is not a bad guy. He is supremely confident bordering on arrogance, but he’s not the taunting type like Vegeta. Instead, when he determines that no one is worth his time he chooses to sit in a meditative state. It comes off as arrogance from the outside, but whenever he’s challenged he backs it up so it’s not like his arrogance is unearned. Furthermore, as a character design he’s a little boring for an Akira Toriyama character. His defining feature would be that he has a massive upper body and comparatively small legs. His head is almost like that of your garden variety alien just without the massive cranium. He also has those Frieza-like ear holes which show up in many character designs. As a result, he’s really just like a random video game boss from a plot-less arcade brawler. Our hero Goku just needs to get to him and then find a way to overcome him. Jiren isn’t evil, he’s also not exactly heroic, he’s just a guy.

“Don’t make me throw this at you!”

Because of my attitude towards Jiren I’ve never felt much of a pull to add him to my collection. I saw the figures before I ever saw him in the anime and was feeling incredibly underwhelmed by the design. The figures came and went though and they actually seemed to receive high marks from those who bought them. The sculpts, the way the articulation was implemented, and the overall size made them seem like really good action figures. Ordinarily, that’s not enough to get me to buy a figure of a character I’m not attached to, but then I went and got Ultra Instinct Goku and the desire to add a Jiren to pair with the figure manifested. When I felt similarly underwhelmed by Bandai’s 2024 convention exclusives, it was Jiren that I decided to preorder and Jiren alone.

He probably would need a bigger aura than the standard one. Maybe that’s why one wasn’t included?

Jiren comes in the standard event exclusive packaging with a black and red color scheme. This is Jiren as he appeared at the very end of Dragon Ball Super his body hulked up to gargantuan proportions and his uniform in tatters. Like Trunks, this event exclusive version has a new paint job and it’s trying to replicate Jiren’s red aura. His ordinarily pale purple flesh has a blush of pink to it while his black pants also have a shiny, red, hue applied that almost makes him look like he’s candy-coated. His flesh has a matte finish so this high gloss approach is far less distracting on Jiren than it is with Trunks. The only thing I don’t really care for is that his white gloves, once the pearlescent red overcoat is applied, makes them blend in a little too much with his arms. There’s not much contrast there aside from the gloss. The same is true for the boots, but since he’s still wearing pants it doesn’t look as noticeable. All that is to say that I don’t hate this approach and it’s executed well enough, but if I could have the standard paint job I’d probably choose that over it.

He’s destined to battle Goku for as long as both are on my shelf.

The selling point with Jiren is not the paint, but the sculpt. This is a big, beefy, boy. He’s really not extremely tall by SHF standards. He comes in at roughly 6.75″ making him noticeably taller than Goku, but he’s still shorter than a figure like Nappa or Orange Piccolo. What really stands out is just the bulk. Jiren has this huge, puffed-out, chest that really captures the look of the show’s art. If I have one consistent criticism with this line it’s that the chests on most figures aren’t big enough. They’re usually plenty broad, but view the figure from the side and it’s like their pectorals are nonexistent. It’s almost like they just drew their muscles on with a sharpie. Jiren does not suffer from that which makes him an interesting figure to look at and handle. I love chunky figures, and Jiren certainly fits the bill. His arms are massive as well and while his legs look small by comparison, they’re still thicker than Goku’s. I may not love the character design, but it would be hard to argue that Bandai didn’t nail what was presented to them.

Tag! You’re It!

I was pretty disappointed with how the Trunks figure had a bunch of accessories cut. With Jiren, that’s not a problem. He seems to have retained everything from the standard release including all four portraits: neutral, teeth-gritting, yelling, and a closed eyes with teeth gritting. The closed eyes head captures his frustrations when he finds he’s being overpowered late in the fight and also works as an expression for when he’s taking a blow on your shelf. They look good and the only aspect of them I don’t really care for is the thin, white, outline around the eyes. It makes it look like Jiren just has massive pupils, but when I look at stills from the anime it sure looks to me like he’s supposed to just have big, black, eyes. Any other colors are just shading and trying to create the illusion of a somewhat reflective surface.

I was surprised by the double-ball peg wrist joints.

For hands, Jiren has four sets to choose from: fists, clenching, chops, and splayed open. For his left, clenching hand, he also has an effect part. It’s basically a little handheld fireball and it’s made out of translucent orange plastic. There’s an indent for that specific hand which allows his thumb to slot into it so he gets a good grip on it. You don’t need the indentations if you just want to stand him with his palm pointed up holding it, but if you want to pose him like he’s going to throw it then you’ll want to stick it in his left hand. It’s always good to get an effect part, but it is pretty small and not something likely to stand out on your shelf. As was the case with Trunks, what we’re really missing is just an aura effect to pair with this exclusive paint job. A red aura makes too much sense here, but Bandai didn’t want to throw one in. He already cost $75 so I guess I can’t be too upset about the omission as I doubt I would have been willing to pay much more than that for a character I’m lukewarm on.

Looks like you missed, Jiren!

A bulky body presents challenges for anyone looking to cut it up and apply articulation, but it’s something the folks at Tamashii Nations are pretty adept at. Jiren’s torso is certainly cut-up for articulation, but not distressingly so. There’s no gapping at the base of the neck and he gets decent range there. The heads pop off very easily, but at least they go on just as easil, as they use that drum setup we’ve seen with figures like Krillin and Nappa. His shoulders are on big, butterfly, joints and they get okay range come across the chest, but that chest is so big that it can only do so much. It doesn’t go back really at all which is more disappointing than the range going forward. Range at the shoulder otherwise is fine and you get a bicep swivel, double-jointed elbow, and ball peg wrists. The double-ball peg wrist was a surprise as normally they use a ball hinge. It functions well enough, but if you want to get the most range you’ll have to accept a gap between the wrist and hand.

And now Jiren must pay the price for failing to land a blow.

The torso features what I assume is a double ball peg in the diaphragm. It’s mostly for tilt forward and back as there’s really no rotation. You get a little of that at the ball-jointed waist. Between the two, the crunching forward and back is nice and you get just enough rotation to make it work. This hips go out to the side almost to a full split and kick forward 90 degrees. He does have a sculpted ass so there’s nothing going back unless you kick the leg out to the side. The figure has thigh swivels, but mine won’t budge. I don’t know if that’s a common issue or not. It could be caused by the new paint job since it seems like a thick coat which may have required some tiny adjustments to the tooling that weren’t made. Or I just need to hit it with a hair dryer. Double-jointed knees are fine and the ankles are hinged. They didn’t leave enough space for the ankle rocker though so it’s pretty limited. There’s also the customary toe hinge if you want it.

Oh the agony of defeat – better luck next time, bud!

Jiren’s articulation is probably going to be good enough. He’s meant for strong, powerful, poses and he has the capability of pulling off such feats. I wish the diaphragm joint allowed for some rotation. I think their old hinged-ball joint would have made that possible. More so, I’m disappointed in the ankle rockers as he has some pretty small feet relative to his size and not being able to get them flat on a surface in some stances can make keeping the figure upright a challenge. It’s enough though and the combination of sculpt, paint, and articulation makes this a worthwhile release. It wasn’t the re-release I was hoping for, but it’s not one I regret buying. He fits in nicely on my shelf opposite Goku and now I kind of want a proper Dragon Ball Super Frieza to add to the confrontation. It looks like Bandai has taken this listing off of their website as he was available in February as an in-stock item, but that doesn’t mean he sold out. They may be holding back stock for in-person sales at conventions and pop-ups. For that reason, it may not be terribly expensive on the secondary market. If it’s a figure you feel like you need, then I do recommend tracking it down. If it only retails for a small markup then I’d consider it worth it as I don’t think we’re ever going to get another Jiren. What is out there is likely all that ever will be.

For more Dragon Ball Super action figure reviews look no further:

S.H.Figuarts Dragon Ball Super Goku Black – Super Saiyan Rosé

Our last look at an S.H.Figuarts release was the Dragon Ball GT Super Saiyan 4 Goku. Now, we look at a figure from the series that effectively replaced GT: Dragon Ball Super. And perhaps the most popular villain from that new series is Goku Black. Without getting into spoiler territory, Goku Black is basically an…

Keep reading
by Joe

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…

Keep reading
by Joe

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March 12, 2025

S.H.Figuarts Future Trunks – Super Saiyan Exclusive Edition

By Joe
Trunks is back from the future and needs help cleaning up yet another mess.

When looking back on the anime adaptation of Dragon Ball Super, I think my favorite arc is the Future Trunks/Goku Black one. It does get messy at times, and like most things Dragon Ball it goes on longer than it needed to, but it had some real, emotional, stakes which isn’t often found in Dragon Ball. The time travel stuff is always a ton of fun and Dragon Ball has its own spin on how time travel works with new wrinkles introduced in Super. And it marked the return of fan-favorite character Trunks, the boy from the future. The future version of Trunks is much different from the younger one in the main timeline. That Trunks has had a relatively carefree life (though he technically did die once) whereas the future counterpart has only known hardship. And he’s basically just another son seeking his father’s approval, but he just so happens to be the son of Vegeta, not the sort of touchy feely dad. The saga provided some closure there, and unlike the Cell arc from Dragon Ball Z, Trunks got to be the hero of his own story as opposed to sitting on the sidelines waiting for someone else to take down the big, bad, guy. Though he still needed an assist from God.

I liked this version of Trunks so much that I even got the Dragon Stars version. It’s the only Dragon Stars figure in my collection to this day.

It was years ago that Bandai and Tamashii Nations released the Super version of Future Trunks in the S.H.Figuarts line. 2018, to be exact, and at a time when I wasn’t collecting this line like I am now. Even so, I considered getting it, but it seemed pretty pricey to me at the time. I had not yet been conditioned to the SHF pricing model (some would say that’s a good thing) and I decided not to get it. As you can probably guess based on where this has lead, I ended up regretting that decision. The figure is even more expensive now on the secondary market as it has never been re-released. And perhaps worse, the secondary market can be tricky to navigate when it comes to a figure as old as that one because bootlegs are a real problem. And since it’s an older figure, it’s also a bit dated and spending the extra coin in today’s dollars might just leave me with a serious case of buyer’s remorse. No, instead I’ve opted to bide my time in hopes that Bandai would return to Trunks. He is, after all, a fan-favorite and probably a safe bet to sell well. It’s just a question of whether or not the Super version is as popular as the one from DBZ.

The height is okay, but damn is Trunks tiny next to Goku and Vegeta.

2024 ended up being the year where my patience paid off. Maybe. Future Trunks was announced as a convention exclusive, but like most exclusives, it meant he was going to be a variant of the original release. To be specific, this is considered the Gallick Gun edition. Trunks has adopted one of his father’s signature moves and with it comes a purple aura. To achieve this effect, Bandai gave Trunks a coat of pearlescent paint with a purple hue to it. They also went with the translucent Super Saiyan hair which they’re rather fond of when it comes to convention exclusives. I didn’t love the look, but it wasn’t going to be a deal breaker. What bothered me more than the new deco is the cut in the accessory load-out. Gone is the standard Trunks head even though he can certainly perform the maneuver when not in his Super Saiyan form. Worse though, is the removal of the Hope Sword. In the anime (spoilers if you have yet to watch it), Trunks has his sword break while battling his foe. When all hope seems lost, Trunks basically creates a Spirit Bomb out of his broken sword. The effect part was this big, translucent, blue, sword that I think even necessitated its own stand. It was pretty awesome in the show and seeing it in figure form was a huge draw to that original figure for me. Having that get cut, plus an MSRP of $75 for this new version, really soured me on it.

And he’s even tiny next to…Trunks!

So I didn’t get it. What? But this is a review for that figure, you’re probably saying to yourself as you read this. Yes, obviously, I changed my mind. The regret of passing on that original figure was pretty hard to get over and still is. I didn’t preorder this figure, but unlike in past years Bandai apparently made more than what was ordered. Future Trunks was stocked after the fact on their webstore along with some other exclusives, and to make it even more enticing, Premium Bandai ran a free shipping promotion on its website for a week. And damnit, they got me. They got me for the Vegeta we looked at last week, they got me for the Trunks we’re looking at this week, and damn near got me on the Mini Goku, but I figured I was already giving them enough of my money. Now that I have paid for this figure, it’s time to sort out some feelings.

The paint job here is trying to sell the idea of an aura around him. Problem is, I don’t have the right color or know if they even make one in the proper shade.

Future Trunks comes in the event exclusive style box which, in this case, goes for a black and pink color combo. I’m surprised they didn’t go with more of a purple considering the theming, but whatever. It’s just trash to protect the figure inside. Trunks is, as advertised, in his Super Saiyan form and stands approximately 5.25″ to where I assume the top of his head would be with his hair extending far beyond that. Out of the box, he won’t have his scabbard across his back and to put that on you will have to remove his head. It’s not really one of those SHF heads that’s designed to come off and go back on easily and the spiky nature of his hair doesn’t help things. I went ahead and dunked him him in some hot water to make it easier. You will also likely need to remove the scarf piece that’s around his neck which tabs into the chest. The scabbard can then slide over an arm easily enough and there’s an extra tab hole behind the right shoulder to secure it in place, though it isn’t really necessary.

The Gallick Gun pose – it’s kind of goofy, but it’s what Bandai chose to hone in on with this edition.

It should be stated that this version of Super Saiyan Trunks is what some fans have dubbed Super Saiyan Rage. Trunks, during his battle with Black, taps into another fountain of power through sheer rage. His hair sticks up higher and becomes even spikier than usual similar to his Ultra Super Saiyan form from Dragon Ball Z, only this time it comes without much added bulk. His eyes do white out and his yellow aura develops a blue core which seemed to signify to the viewer that this was similar to Goku and Vegeta’s Super Saiyan Blue. It’s also seemingly just as powerful as he’s able to go toe-to-toe with Black in this form. It is an anime only thing, so who knows if Toriyama considered it canon, but Gohan’s Beast form sort of follows in its footsteps as a form that’s unique to half-saiyans.

We have a few charging effects in this line, but we’re really lacking in the beam department.

Bandai got the hair right, but not much else when it comes to the look. The outfit is all there and fairly accurate. Trunks has a more traditional jacket than the half one he used to sport and his pants are pretty much the same as they’ve always been. The figure though is just very slight. Put the new Vegeta next to him and they look like they’re two different scales. The height is okay, but the face, the arms, the torso – they’re all narrow and thin which isn’t something I see much in Dragon Ball. Place him beside the somewhat recent Future Trunks from the DBZ line, and it’s even more stark. That figure looks like it’s the more mature fighter, not this one who should be much older. Some of that is likely due to the jacket being all part of the sculpt. There isn’t a body underneath an overlay. It makes for a clean presentation, especially compared with the somewhat janky recent Future Trunks, but it definitely slims the profile. In order for Trunks to exist under this jacket, he’d have to be around 100lbs. He would be a very small man, which is not befitting the character from the show.

He’s still carrying that old blade. Well, actually, it must be a different one since he’s broken them before.

Aside from that issue, and it’s a rather big one, Trunks looks okay. The portraits have been given some enhancements and they’re nice and crisp. The paint on the body is clean and this new finish seems to achieve what it’s going for, whether I subjectively like it or not. The translucent hair is still kind of a sore subject for me. That might be going too far, but I don’t prefer it to painted hair. I think the best would be to go with a pale yellow and then a shiny coat of paint over it. The hair is coated like the rest of the figure so it has a shiny quality to it. I know it’s supposed to be the result of an aura, but it mostly reminds me of soap bubbles and the colors that dance around on their surface. It is what it is and I don’t hate it, it’s just not an improvement over what we had before. And since he doesn’t come with an aura effect to go with it, it does feel incomplete to me.

Silly boy, you can’t stop a god with a knife!

I’ve already mentioned how accessories were cut for this re-release, so just what was maintained? Well, for starters we get four portraits: smirk, teeth-gritting, yelling, and yelling with a side eye. They’re fine, but what’s missing is just a stoic, or grim, expression which is the expression I think of first when it comes to Future Trunks. I don’t think we really need the smirk, to be honest. And it would have been awesome if one of the yelling heads had whited-out eyes. For hands, we get a set of fists, gripping, splayed open, clenching, and one left, relaxed hand. I think the relaxed hand is here for him to hold his scabbard, though I don’t know for sure since it’s not in any of the pictures. The right, clenching, hand also has a hole in it and it’s for the effect part which is a little, translucent, purple, energy ball. It comes on an acrylic post that’s maybe a third of an inch long and it pegs into the hand via a ball socket. This is for his Gallick Gun charging pose which is one awkward pose. I guess Vegeta couldn’t have a Kamehameha stance so he does this thing where his palms are always pointing out as he charges the maneuver with his hands together. It’s achievable, but weird looking. Maybe that’s why he pretty much stopped doing it in favor of other attacks?

I warned you.

Lastly, Trunks has his trusty sword. We get two versions: regular and broken. The broken one serves a narrative purpose, but also it’s easier to slot into the scabbard. The hilt is painted green while the blade and pommel are silver, but like the figure itself, there’s a hit of pink on the blade so it matches the whole aura theme they’re going for. And like the DBZ counterpart, the pommel comes off so the sword can slide into the gripping hands. It only goes on one way, which is a bit annoying when you’re fiddling with such a tiny thing, but the figure gets a very tight grip on the handle. Almost too tight as it takes some elbow grease to get it out of his hands once there.

Everybody talks about the Father-Son Kamehameha, but what about the Father-Son Gallick Gun?

One area with this figure I have little to complain about is the articulation. Since the figure doesn’t utilize an overlay for the coat, all of the articulation is cut right into the figure and since the scabbard is secured via a sling, it doesn’t fall off constantly. The head is on a hinged ball peg, which I hate, but it does function fine. The scarf will limit his range though, and while it is removable, it leaves behind a giant hole in his chest so that’s not really a viable solution. Shoulders, biceps, elbows, and wrists are all standard stuff. The figure does have butterfly joints in the shoulders and they work well enough coming forward, but offer nothing going back. There’s a joint in the mid-torso that pivots a bit side-to-side and allows for some forward and back. A waist joint is where you’ll get most of your rotation and he can crunch forward and back thanks to it and the hips. Since this is an older release, he doesn’t have those annoying, sculpted, butt cheeks. Mai may be disappointed, but it allows for full splits going forward and back. Out to the side, you get about 45 degrees. If you can find a way to get the caps in his hips to slip over or under the thigh swivel then you may get more, but it’s hard plastic and not very forgiving. Beyond the hips, Trunks kicks forward well and the thigh swivel affords some pivot. The knees and ankle hinges are fine while the rocker is limited. There’s also a toe hinge if you want it.

How I imagine it would look to be in the presence of the Father-Son Gallick Gun.

I don’t want to overstate the articulation here. It’s not elite or anything by the standards of the line, but it’s functionally sufficient. Trunks can hit all of the Trunks poses well enough. He can hit his downward swing, jab, or have his hand on the handle while the blade is in the scabbard. It will work, and what holds the figure back is not the articulation, it’s almost everything else. The paint job is executed well enough. It’s something you either like or you don’t. The sculpt is dated and not true to the character. He may look off when posed with the new Vegeta, but that Vegeta sculpt is actually just as old. His proportions were never right and this is a version of the character begging for a redo just like the DBZ version received. The reason to get this figure is if you really like the character and feel better paying $75 for it as opposed to the $120 or so you’re likely to pay for a secondhand version of the old figure. That figure will have more stuff and a more true-to-the anime paint job, but will have all of the same problems as this one plus the older face printing. And if you’re thinking of using the updated face plates with the old figure, it’s probably not going to work. The flesh tone here has a purple hue to it. It may not be apparent when looking at the figure by itself, but place it beside another character and it stands out. He’d basically look like poisoned Trunks if you tried to mix and match.

He’s still Trunks and he’s still cool, but he could be so much better.

Am I content with my purchase? I still don’t know. This is an obvious compromise for my collection. It’s a character I want in my display, but not the version of the character I would like. If I could get the older version for a hundred bucks or less then I would not have bothered. Both are compromised takes on the character, but the original less so. And that Hope Sword is pretty damn cool. If you have that old figure and decide to get this one too then you could probably use the depowered head on the new body. The necks won’t match, but the scarf will hide it if you want. The only reason to do that though is if you really like Future Trunks. This version is okay, but not what I want. I would have much preferred they just give him a blueish hue and make him Hope Sword Future Trunks. At the very least, he should have his own aura to go with the Gallick Gun. A Hope Sword Trunks could have created his unique yellow and blue aura and would have looked way cooler. Plus such a display would lend itself well to being off on its own in a different part of your collection making the size issues less of a concern. Oh well. If you’re like me and really regret passing on the Super version of Future Trunks, I guess you may as well grab this one if you’re okay with the price. Once it’s gone though (and it’s no longer being offered on their website, but it may be making the convention and pop-up store rounds) I wouldn’t entertain paying so much as a dime more than MSRP. Hopefully, something better for Future Trunks is in our future.

If you like Trunks or are just really into Dragon Ball Super then you may like checking out these reviews:

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March 7, 2025

S.H.Figuarts Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan Vegeta – Unwavering Saiyan Pride

By Joe
Now more godly than ever.

I guess we’re making the first week of March Vegeta Week here on The Nostalgia Spot, and why not? He is royalty, after all. This one should be a short one since we’ve looked at this figure before. Multiple times. Bandai has been able to extract a lot of value out of their Super Saiyan Vegeta mold which I believe was an early 2.0 body for the S.H.Figuarts line. It was also the first figure in the line I got way back in 2018. It’s funny to look back on how smitten I was with that figure and now I look at it and seem to only notice the flaws. What has at least held up over the years is the overall look of the sculpt, which is good since Bandai hasn’t really changed it. It’s not perfect, but obviously good enough for me to keep buying it. I now have four versions of this figure, plus two more that also share some parts. For awhile, I had just one Vegeta figure and now there are many, but since he is Saiyan royalty I guess that’s fitting.

Goku could use a similar upgrade.

Much more recently, Bandai reissued it’s Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan Vegeta for the line’s 15th anniversary. That figure was one I had been hoping would see a revision because I had missed it back when it first came out and I have come to really enjoy the look of Super Saiyan Blue. I was, however, disappointed with the reissue because there were no updates to the original figure. In more recent times, Bandai has reissued figures aplenty, but always with improved face-printing. They didn’t do that for their special 15th anniversary figure and the result was a figure that looked dated. Fast-forward a few months after release, and we find out that another Super Saiyan Blue Vegeta is on the way and this one was ticketed to be part of the budget-friendly $35 subline. These are the figures shipped to brick and mortar stores that typically are of the most popular characters and are designed as an entry point for newcomers. Even though the price was far better than a lot of new figures in the line, I was still annoyed by the release since I had just spent good money on a lesser version. I got over it though, and when the Premium Bandai website was offering a free shipping promotion in February I decided to just grab this new Vegeta to seemingly right the prior wrong.

I have no shortage of Vegetas.

Dubbed Unwavering Saiyan Pride, this Super Saiyan Blue Vegeta is indeed very familiar. The body is exactly the same as the previous release, but the deco has been refined. The original was white and brown on the armor with a shade of blue for the bodysuit that bordered on purple. It’s a similar color to the manga. The re-release from a few years ago (which I didn’t bother to review) saw the blue altered to a more royal blue with the straps and plating on the armor lightened to a shade of tan. The white portions of the suit are a more off-white. This new Vegeta keeps the off-white while pairing it with a dull shade of yellow-brown that basically sits in between the prior two figures. The bodysuit is a new shade of blue with a touch more yellow. It reminds me of the ocean in the Caribbean giving it an almost warm feeling as opposed to the usual coldness blue imparts.

The faces on this one are so good.

This updated shade is likely here to play off of the new head sculpt. As far as I know, this portrait is entirely new. The shape of the hair is different from all of the other Vegeta figures I own. It fans out more which does seem to match his depiction in Dragon Ball Super – maybe we should think of this as a Toyotarou version? The hair is a light blue with a pearl finish. Like the body, there’s a touch more yellow making it lighter than the previous Super Saiyan Blue figure. It does help to give off the illusion of a radiating Vegeta and this figure would pair well with an aura effect.

He’s got the hands for a classic Vegeta stance, but those hips won’t let him go much lower.
This pose makes me wish he had an effect part, but for 35 bucks one isn’t expected.

I like the overall approach by Tamashii Nations here, but the execution is a little suspect. I suppose it should be expected at the lower price point, but there’s no reason to skimp on quality either. After all, it’s the same company on the box no matter the price. Paint is a little sloppy in places and most noticeably around the neckline. The blue is fuzzy and my figure has a blob of brown on the back of the neck which I guess is from the armor straps. The edgework around the armor isn’t as clean as it could be, and like the recently reviewed Old Style Battle Clothes Vegeta, some of the steel in the right elbow joint is visible suggesting it was slightly misaligned during assembly. More annoying though is the miscolored parts as the crotch piece is a darker blue from the rest of the legs. I think this is caused by the crotch being a slightly harder plastic and the legs having a little bit of a wash applied to them. I don’t know how well it shows in pictures, but in-hand and under normal lighting conditions it’s pretty noticeable.

Maybe my least favorite expression of the bunch, but it still gets the job done.

What did turn out well though are the portraits. These are Bandai’s best Vegeta expressions yet and they alone are worth the upgrade. We get four expressions this time: stoic, yelling, teeth showing, and a smirk. Maye instead of stoic I should call this Vegeta Resting Bitch Face because he looks kind of pissed. He looks really ticked off with the teeth-gritting expression and the smirk is the perfect, cocky, Vegeta we all know and love. I love all three, while the yelling one is a bit more specific. It’s also longer as a result and looks a touch off to me, but not terribly so. The rest of the accessories are the same old, same old: fists, clenching hands, martial arts pose hands, open hands, and a right thumb gesture. He also has the old style crossed-arms piece that connects at the biceps. I didn’t bother to try it out this time because I already have it on two of my Vegeta figures, three including the Namek Vegeta.

“Step aside, boy, I’ll handle the rest.”

Articulation is exactly the same as the past Vegeta figures. The new head doesn’t function any better or worse and they’re still sticking with that annoying hinged ball peg for the neck. The hips are the most restrictive part of the figure while the hinged joint in the mid-torso feels welcomed after handling the last two Vegeta figures that lacked it. It’s mostly fine, but showing its age here. We could use a Vegeta with better butterfly joints as well as better hips. The ball peg ankles also need to be fired into the sun.

Kick that imposter’s ass, Vegeta!

Is this a figure that’s worth $35? Absolutely. It’s not perfect and some aspects of it are dated, but compared to other brands at this or a similar price and it’s still damn impressive. It gets right what it needs to and that’s the color pallet and the expressions. This is probably the best Vegeta figure yet unless you really like Super Saiyan 4. I prefer a more traditional Vegeta and while Super Saiyan Blue might not be anyone’s idea of traditional, I do think the guy looks good in blue so if I had to get rid of all of my Vegeta figures but one this would be the one to keep. I do think we could do with an update and hopefully Bandai is willing to go beyond the anime and give us Vegeta figures from later in Super. Those would present an opportunity for something new. They also haven’t done his maxed out blue from the end of the anime. Perhaps an ascended Super Saiyan Vegeta on a new body could be in the cards? That would lend itself well to redos. We’re also getting a new base form Vegeta via the Dragon Ball Daima line this year and I’m interested in checking that out. For now though, I’m happy with this Vegeta and glad I didn’t pass on it. Even if I now have a small army of Vegetas.

I hope you like Vegeta…

S.H.Figuarts Dragon Ball Z Vegeta 24,000 Power Level

When a toy line is as long in the tooth as Bandai’s S.H.Figuarts Dragon Ball Z line, producers tend to start looking in all of the various crevices of the property for new material. We recently looked at a figure that did just that in Mecha Frieza, a version of the chief villain of the…

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by Joe

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

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…

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by Joe

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

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April 8, 2024

S.H.Figuarts Dragon Ball Super Son Goku Ultra Instinct – Toyotarou Edition

By Joe
Still Goku’s most powerful form.

It’s sort of interesting to me that the first Dragon Ball action figure I review after the passing of creator Akira Toriyama is one based off of the artwork of his protege – Toyotarou. Toyotarou basically lived the dream of fanfic artist and writer turned official. It’s rumored that he worked on the fan-fic manga Dragon Ball AF, though I don’t know if that’s ever been confirmed or refuted, and he was the artist and writer for Dragon Ball Heroes: Victory Mission. All of this work within the Dragon Ball universe must have put him on Toriyama’s radar for it was he who selected Toyotarou to be the artist for the Dragon Ball Super manga.

This figure comes in a much larger box than usual.

As a celebration of Toyotarou’s contributions to Dragon Ball and to also celebrate 15 years of S.H. Figuarts Dragon Ball releases, Bandai decided to release this special Toyotarou edition of the previously released Ultra Instinct Son Goku figure from Dragon Ball Super. The figure has been outfitted with new face plates to better reflect Toyotarou’s art style, which really isn’t all that different from Toriyama’s. The main feature seems to be narrower eyes which have a different sharpness about them. Toyotarou was also able to influence the expressions we have here and the figure received a slight re-deco to more reflect the colorization of the manga vs the anime. To cap it off, this release comes in an oversized box which also includes a book. Titled the Dragon Ball S.H.Figupedia, it catalogs all of the figures released in the line and also includes some short interviews and quotes from the people who are closest to the line. The only omission of note is Toriyama himself which is a bit of a shame. Maybe Dragon Ball action figures just weren’t his thing?

And the box is much larger than usual because it has this book all about the S.H.Figuarts line.

The figure itself is a reissue so it’s going to be pretty familiar to anyone who has the old figure. It’s also familiar to really anyone who has purchased a Goku from this line. For me, I never got the initial figure and there’s actually a lot more “new” here than I would have expected. He does share a lot of parts with one of the Goku figures I have and that’s the Super Saiyan Blue Kaio-Ken edition. Both figures feature the same legs and arms, though for this figure the hole for the sleeves in the shoulder has been removed. The belt piece is different since it needed to include the tattered remains of Goku’s blue undershirt and the torso is completely different since this Goku is bare-chested. Basically every Goku uses the same hands and feet while the heads are obviously completely different. I believe the main hair piece is the same as before too, though it may have been modified for these new faces as these key-into the sculpt in a unique manner from what I’ve been exposed to.

There’s certainly new stuff here, but from the waist down these two figures are the same
Ultra Instinct lends itself well to simple, calm, posing.

Goku stands at roughly 5.75″ to the top of where his head should be. The hair is a nice, pearl, silver and it’s an opaque piece of plastic, not translucent like some special edition figures we’ve seen. The ears on all of the faces are slightly larger as that is something Toyotarou feels is a part of his take on Goku and I honestly wouldn’t have noticed if he didn’t point it out in the included interview. The facial details are very sharp and crisp as this continues to be a real strength for the line. The torso and arms have sculpted battle damage, but no paint to bring them out. There is a slight wash to the torso and shoulders, a soft pink or orange which does give the figure a nice bit of warmth. It’s not on the rear of the torso which looks cold as a result. There appears to a hint of a dark wash to the pants which I mostly notice in the crotch and at the tips of the frayed parts. Otherwise, paint is mostly reserved for the wrist bands, boots, and some of the exposed flesh of the legs. The colors match well throughout and I am still quite fond of this torn gi sculpt. All in all, a nice looking version of Goku.

I’m really digging this eyes closed portrait.
They never stood a chance.

The different faces and hair help to bring this figure to life. Out of the box, Goku has the silver hair that most resembles the shape of his natural hair, but he also has a windswept version to swap to for action shots. Both look very nice and it will be hard to settle on a display for very long. His default face is a stoic one, but he also has a yelling portrait, side-eye, clenched teeth, and an eyes closed option. The eyes closed option is pretty damn cool and suits this form rather well, though it’s hard to turn-down how expressive the opened eyes are. I’m not normally into the side-eye options, but this one is like a glare. Whoever is getting the side-eye treatment from Goku is really pissing him off. For hands, the usual assortment is at play here: fists, martial arts posed, Kamehameha, and open. Nothing really special there and no effect part was included. That’s the only downgrade from the initial release which had a charging blast effect. It would have been nice to get one of those, though we have received quite a few of late. Really, a new aura would have been awesome as Ultra Instinct has this thick, almost syrupy, silver aura at times in the anime. It would have been fun to see Tamashii Nations attempt that.

The wind swept hair is a nice touch.
Maybe I should have grabbed Jiren after all so this Goku would have someone to battle?

The articulation for this Goku is virtually the same as the many other Goku figures we have received over the years save for the most recent Legendary Super Saiyan version which is on an all new body. I’ll link to some at the end of this entry if you want the full write-up, but suffice to say it all works just as well here, if not better. And it’s only better because there’s no shirt to have to deal with, but that was never a huge hindrance anyway. He actually can’t bring his arms across his chest any better than other figures and maybe a touch less. You just don’t have the sleeve flaps to fiddle with which is nice. I also can’t tell if there is a hinged peg setup in the diaphragm or if there’s just a little play on joint itself. It doesn’t lift as high as the other Goku figures, if so, but the clearance is fine and you get some forward and back articulation. It’s a well articulated Goku and the only things I dislike is the hinged ball peg at the head and the ball peg ankles.

Goku’s determined face.

The included book is basically the flagship accessory for this figure. Is that better than a blast effect? Yeah, kind of. Only because the book is unique and pretty well done. There isn’t anything truly revealing in it, no earth-shattering details about the development of the line or anything like that. It’s mostly just a celebration of the line and the product shots inside are all from the various solicitations we’ve seen in the past. I was hoping for a tease or maybe a reveal at the end of the book, but there’s nothing like that in it. It basically includes up to the Mecha Frieza figure, which is about to be released, and nothing beyond that. In terms of figures that have been revealed, it’s already out of date, but it probably would have been impossible for that to be avoided unless they had prototypes available for photography well in advance of the solicitations. Perhaps they could have done something to future-proof it a little via concept art or renders, but it probably wouldn’t have made much of a difference. It’s fun to flip through and the quality is pretty standard stuff. It’s 143 pages and in full color. There’s a dust cover on it, though it is a soft cover book. I like stuff like this so this was a selling point for me. Some people might not care and want more out of the figure for 80 bucks.

The book should be pretty fun for those who have been into this line for years.

The Ultra Instinct Son Goku – Toyotarou edition is a solid release for Bandai and Tamashii Nations. The figure captures the Toyotarou aesthetic rather well and I think it’s an improvement over the original release. It just stinks for those who missed out on that figure and wanted this one and had no interest in paying for the book. The figure doesn’t come with a whole lot and is basically like a 50 dollar release for the line meaning you’re paying about 30 bucks for the book and fancy packaging. When the first edition of this figure came out I wasn’t really sold on the Ultra Instinct design so I passed on it. I’ve warmed to it a bit since so I was happy about this new version as well as the included book. Yeah, I do wish there was an effect part or something else in the box, but I’m fairly content. I’m curious how many more Goku reissues on this body are to come. It feels like we’re on the verge of Bandai moving to a new body for the star of Dragon Ball and I’ll be curious to see if that does indeed happen. This figure was a Premium Bandai exclusive where the MSRP was $80. It’s sold out so if you want it you will have to track one down elsewhere. Maybe you’ll be able to get it for less if you don’t want the book? More likely, it will cost you more.

You like Goku? We’ve got Goku:

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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