Tag Archives: super saiyan 4

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…

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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May 11, 2023

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

By Joe
I can just hear him yelling “Damn you!”

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 island all its own when compared with other versions. It’s essentially been erased too with the creation of Dragon Ball Super and is but a footnote in the world of Dragon Ball at this point. Maybe it will come back at some point, certainly never say never, but for now it’s the black sheep of Super Saiyan transformations.

They think they’re so cool.

The Super Saiyan 4 power was achieved in Dragon Ball GT by Goku. Not wanting to feel left out, he was soon followed by Vegeta, as he often is. Vegeta took some shortcut to get there, pretty much a betrayal of his character and something to add to the long list of reasons why many fans don’t particularly care for GT, but once he did the look was pretty similar. It was a little different though which is actually yet another unique aspect to this transformation. It’s certainly terrific fodder for fan art as individuals try to imagine how Trunks or Gohan would have looked if they had done something similar, but as for the actual series only Goku, Vegeta, and their fusion Gogeta managed to pull this off. Bandai released the Super Saiyan 4 version of Goku last year and I think most expected that Vegeta would follow just as likely many expect a Gogeta next year. And at the time, I assumed it would be an easy way to make a quick buck off of some unique tooling that had to take place for Goku, but it looks like I was wrong with that assumption. Vegeta has a lot of new parts and is almost a completely different figure from Goku despite looking very similar. Maybe since both were manufactured at Bandai’s factory in Vietnam there was more room in the budget for new tooling? However it was accounted for, it’s nice to see that really no shortcuts were taken with this release.

“Behold! The true evolution of the Super Saiyan form! Jealous?” “Uhh, sure…”

Vegeta in his Super Saiyan 4 form stands at approximately 5″ to where the flesh of his head ends and a tick over 6″ to the tip of his hair. He looks good beside Goku as he’s noticeably shorter, but also not as bulky. And it’s really that slimmer profile that necessitated the need for new parts for Vegeta as he can’t really share anything with Goku as a result. In fact, I don’t think a single part is shared as I thought maybe the tails were, but Goku’s is a little more full than Vegeta’s. Even the little pieces for the butterfly joints appear to be different. Design wise, there’s a lot that’s different as even though both follow the same design principals with big hair and a furry torso, Vegeta’s ended up red compared with Goku’s more hot pink. Vegeta’s hair also became more of a chocolate brown. It retained it’s main Vegeta shape, except with hair going down his back as well and the same two parts coming over the shoulders. Because of that desire to keep Vegeta’s classic hair shape, he almost looks like he has a super mullet of some kind. It’s a bit of a goofy look, but that’s Super Saiyan 4 for ya.

Well that isn’t pretty.

With Goku, there was a sense that the figure was a bit rough around the edges coming out of the Vietnam factory and some of that seems true of Vegeta. This look required more paint than Bandai seem to like as we get the red fur on the torso which meets up with a bare chest and some of the abdomen. The paint is pretty crisp along the right side of the flesh-tone parts, but less so on the left for some reason. The painted belt looks nice though and most of the colors appear to match when it’s painted vs plastic. The neck, which is bare plastic, is just a touch off and glossy in comparison. The faces all look great when it comes to the eyes, mouth, and linework. The paint on Vegeta’s trademarked widow’s peak is not as well done though with the stoic expression looking downright terrible. The other portraits are at least acceptable. It looks like his gloves are all bare plastic and so are the arms. They appear to have cut off his forearms past the elbow so they could key the gloves on and avoid having to match paint here, which is fine. The pants are really nicely painted though and have a lot of shading applied. I have no idea if they’re supposed to be leather or some other material, but it looks nice. The boots are mostly bare plastic with the yellow portions painted on. They look all right, but juxtaposed with the shaded pants right there makes them take on a very plastic look. There’s also no shading on the rear of the pants so apparently that’s where they cut a few corners. Aside from the one portrait though, this figure does a good job of nailing this unique look for Vegeta so if you wanted a Super Saiyan 4 Vegeta for your collection I think you’ll be pleased with how he looks on your shelf.

I bet his mom thinks he’s cool.

Vegeta has a pretty similar loadout of accessories as Goku. It basically comes down to a bunch of hands, four faces, and an effect part. For hands, you get a set of fists, Big Bang Attack flat palms, open hands, clenching hands, clenching hands with a peg in the palm, and a set of stye-posed three finger gesture hands. The clenching hands with the peg in the palm works with the effect part, which is this little, translucent, green/blue ball of energy with some sculpted lightning cracking around it and a hit of blue air-brushing. It’s not as visually impressive as Goku’s charging Kamehameha effect, but it’s fine. Vegeta can either palm it like he’s getting ready to shoot an energy blast or it can be positioned in-between his clenching hands like he’s powering up a Final Flash technique. For portraits, we get four: stoic, smirk, clenching teeth, and yelling. All four have his eyes forward, so no side eye, and the actual face is painted very well on each. It’s just the previously mentioned widow’s peak that is an issue with the stoic head being so bad I consider it unworthy of display. The other three are fine, with the yelling head being the best under close scrutiny. If I felt confident I could match this shade of brown with a Gundam marker or something similar I’d probably attempt a touch-up. At least it’s the stoic head, which is a bit boring for Vegeta, and not an expression I was likely to use anyway. It should still be better though and it’s also missing some paint behind the ear. All in all though, a solid spread of accessories. I suppose I’m a little surprised at the lack of a crossed-arms piece, but those are always a paint to fiddle with anyway so I don’t miss it. One quality control issue I’ve had with this figure is the ball hinge on the right wrist keeps coming apart. It snaps together, but it’s pretty annoying.

Vegeta is probably angry that his effect part is smaller than Goku’s.

Vegeta may be comprised of all new parts, but he’s still pretty familiar as far as articulation goes when compared with Goku. The head is on a double-ball peg, but since the head is basically all of the hair, he’s a bit limited. He can rotate, but he can’t look up, and he mostly looks down as a result of the joint at the base of the neck. The hair on the back of his head limits how far he can rotate as well and he basically has no room for any nuance type movement. Tamashii Nations tried to lessen the impact of the hair by making the tufts that come over the shoulders and hang off of his head separate pieces connected via ball pegs. They only do so much though. The shoulders are on ball pegs, but they’re quite tight and really don’t get much play in the joint. They are hinged though and Vegeta can lift his arms out to the side past a horizontal position and rotate all around. The butterfly joint in there lets the arms come forward a bit, but almost nothing back. It’s a little messy looking due to the nature of the design, but at least he can do his Final Flash pose so I guess it’s worth having. There is a biceps swivel, double-jointed elbows that bend past 90 degrees, and ball-hinged wrists that work fine. All of the joints so far are on the tighter side. Nothing scary or that required heat, but nothing is remotely loose so far.

Final Flash!

In the torso, we have what I assume is a double-ball peg in the abdomen. I don’t feel a hinge, so this guy just can go forward, back, rotate, and tilt to the side. The range back isn’t very good, but he crunches forward a solid amount which is probably more important. The tilt going to the side is sufficient and he rotates plenty far, possibly all the way if you really wanted to push it. I’m also not seeing any paint rub or gapping issues which is probably more important. At the waist, it’s another ball joint so you get more rotation there and some pivot. The hips feel like ball joints, but it’s hard to see in there since there’s some pieces in the way. Vegeta can do splits just fine, but he can only kick forward to a horizontal pose and really can’t kick back much at all. There is a thigh swivel which works fine, but isn’t the prettiest thing. It’s so poorly implemented that it creates the illusion that these legs don’t belong on this figure. It’s easily the ugliest aspect of the figure and it’s something I’d like to see Bandai move away from. The double-jointed knees really don’t go much past 90 degrees. They also create some gaps at the base of the knee joint when pushed as far as they’ll go. At the ankles, it looks like we just get a hinged ball peg. The foot can go back a little, and basically doesn’t go forward at all. The ankle rocker is a touch restricted by the design of the boot. The ankle can rock in a fair amount though that I don’t think it’s going to be too problematic for posing. There’s a toe hinge, but it’s pretty damn ugly and implemented so poorly that I don’t think it’s usable. The tail is also connected via a ball-hinge, but it’s essentially pre-posed in an S shape and the articulation just serves as a way of making sure it doesn’t get in the way.

I have no idea what Vegeta’s aura looks like in this form, but this looks pretty cool.

Vegeta was doing pretty well until we moved below the waist (hopefully, that’s not what she said). I think he absolutely should have more range kicking forward and back and the knees are pretty limited for a SHF release. Some aspects of this release though are definitely an improvement over Goku. The shoulders look more natural and the neck doesn’t sink in like it tends to with the Goku figure. Sometimes the joint at the base of the neck slides past the chest and leaves a gap, but it can be pushed back into place easy enough. It’s more finicky than anything. The thigh cut looks worse on Vegeta when compared with Goku since his baggy pants mitigated it some. Removing the subjective component of which Super Saiyan 4 looks better, I think Vegeta turned out better than Goku as a result and it just feels like he’s less rough around the edges. The joints being tight and smooth helps, and the only thing Goku has over Vegeta articulation wise is better range at the hips. And even there, Goku came up a bit short too so it’s marginal.

Whenever Vegeta wants to feel tall he calls Krillin.

This whole review is honestly kind of pointless because what’s going to drive someone’s purchasing decision is how much they like the Super Saiyan 4 look. If you think it’s the coolest transformation of all, then this is a no-brainer. If you hate it and consider it an abomination then save your money. This isn’t going to convert you or anything. I feel like the rare person who occupies the middle on Super Saiyan 4. I think there’s an absurd component to the look, but that’s also what makes it charming and unique. I don’t have any love for Dragon Ball GT, but getting this goofy look into my display feels like the right choice. And as a figure release, Vegeta is solid. The sculpt is great and some of the paint is good, but it’s still not up to standard for the price point. The accessories make up for that a bit, but at an MSRP of around $65 this one is definitely pushing it. The fact that this one features all new tooling helps justify the price, but a bargain it is not. Still, if you like the look of Super Saiyan 4 Vegeta then I think you’ll be content with the purchase. And for me, this is probably all I need from GT so if that Gogeta does follow as expected don’t count on seeing a review for it here.

Missed our review of SS4 Goku? You can check it out below along with other S.H.Figuarts releases from the world of Dragon Ball:

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

SH Figuarts Super Saiyan Vegeta

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

Keep reading
by Joe

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