Tag Archives: vegeta

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…

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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

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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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March 5, 2025

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

By Joe
Still not a super Saiyan.

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 have made it into plastic. At this point, it’s easier to pick out the few looks that haven’t received representation in the Bandai and Tamashii Nations action figure line S.H.Figuarts. Despite Vegeta’s popularity, his most recent figures have seen him locked behind the Premium Bandai delivery method. This is essentially a made-to-order process that comes in at a higher price than a general release item. For example, there’s currently a Vegeta hitting Target stores and other vendors for $35 since it’s mostly a reissue with updated deco. This Vegeta, despite also being mostly reuse of the prior Premium Bandai release, was marked at $60, but if you have always wanted to have Vegeta in his Frieza Saga look then you had to swallow your pride and pay the piper.

Did we need two different Namek Vegetas? Yes, of course.

The Old Style Battle Clothes Vegeta is what the fandom commonly referred to as Namek Vegeta back in the day. Even though he featured two distinct looks, the first one was so similar to his appearance in the Saiyan Saga that this is the look that ended up standing out. And it’s not drastically different from the former. It’s basically Vegeta in a black bodysuit with torso armor that looks largely the same as the previous armor just minus the giant shoulder pads. When Vegeta outfits Gohan and Krillin with battle suits he’s asked why his is different and he says it’s an older model and was apparently all that was available in his size on Frieza’s ship. As a look, it’s a little less dramatic and a little more subtle than what he had before. It does differentiate him from the rest of the bad guys in this era of the show and maybe that was the true point, or creator Akira Toriyama was just sick of having to draw those shoulder pads. It’s also a little bit of a preview of the look he’d feature in the Android Saga which basically just adds straps to the shoulder area and goes back to a more royal blue for the body suit.

The extra battle damage parts are the big draw here, I suppose.

I’m a bit of a Vegeta sicko so I was interested in adding this look to my collection. I was also curious how Bandai would integrate the battle damage into it as well which they showed off in the solicitation images. I was slightly hesitant though because I was a bit underwhelmed by the last Vegeta released via this method: Vegeta 24,000 Power Level. That one wasn’t a disaster, but it had some obvious flaws that ultimately frustrated me. This figure is built off of the same foundation and it was apparent even in the glamour shots. That’s not automatically a bad thing, but when the base of the figure is one that disappointed then it becomes more of a concern.

“Give me the Dragon Balls or die!”

Vegeta stands at about 5″ to where his head most likely would end and close to 6 1/8″ to the tip of his hair. I didn’t go back and check to see what I wrote for measurements on the 24k Vegeta, but they’re the same size. And as expected, there’s a lot of shared parts between the two, but not as much as I thought which might actually be a bad thing. What’s shared are the arms, neck, and everything below the waist. What’s not is the torso, which is expected since we’re talking a different sculpt with the need to integrate some new functionality. What also isn’t shared are the heads. The hair shape on the new Vegeta is a bit more narrow, the black has more of a satin finish, and as a result the faces are different. It’s a slightly frustrating choice because it means the faces aren’t interchangeable between the two. That would have been something fun to make use of, but we’ve been denied.

“Please, Kakarot, don’t let me be remembered like that idiot Yamcha!”

The look of the figure is something of a mixed bag. Even though I wish the heads were the same for some shared functionality, I’m not disappointed in how the Prince of all Saiyans looks from the neck up. The portraits are exquisite and I like this new finish on the hair. The torso is less flat looking than it was on the previous release, but the diaphragm cut still needs some work. I don’t want it gone, but it’s not particularly elegant. The neck is still a problem as there’s almost always a gap between the base of it and the torso. It needed to be larger and have a flange at the base that closes up those gaps. It’s a real bummer because the figure can’t look up using the head alone, but we’ll get more into that with the articulation. The armor is a nice white this time, which I prefer to the off-white of the 24k Vegeta. The body suit is navy as opposed to black which perhaps comes from Toriyama’s notes, but in the anime it’s clearly black. I would have preferred black, but I’m not particularly bothered by it. The shoulders though look awkward. They don’t seat into the torso very well, probably because they were designed for a figure with giant shoulder pads to work around. You can shove the shoulders deeper into the apparatus inside which is the better silhouette, but Vegeta loses his ability to place his arms at his side. If you pull them out slightly for better range, they look bulbous and disconnected from the body. I feel like they could have done a better job here as this just isn’t their best work.

“Oh Vegeta, you never fail to amuse me.”

And to add to that sentiment, we have minor QC issues on this one. The right ball hinge isn’t seated all the way into the wrist and protrudes more than usual. I’ll have to see if I can heat it up and force it in. The left elbow also has some of the steel joint inside visible as if the joint was misaligned slightly during assembly. It’s not a major eyesore, but it is uncharacteristic of this line. If you’re curious, this one was manufactured in the Vietnam factory which has had some great figures come out of it, as well as some that were of a noticeably lesser quality.

“I wish I was a Super Saiyan!”

Paint on Vegeta is, as expected, pretty minimal. It’s mostly limited to the face, the visible part of the torso around the neck, and the battle damaged parts. The paint on the torso doesn’t match the plastic used for the neck and face which is disappointing. The painted battle damaged parts look nice though and there the flesh matches much better, though it’s also aided by the distance between the abdomen and neck. We might as well talk about the parts now, but you have an optional chest piece, abdomen, upper back, and lower back. These pop off pretty easily and are a hard plastic. Vegeta was blasted through the abs by Krillin and the resulting damage is captured well. You have the brown panels, the exposed flesh, and the tattered remains of the bodysuit all sculpted and painted. They look great, no complaints here, though it does add to the gappy nature of the diaphragm joint since the upper part of the chest is a smaller piece than the default one.

“Are you crying?!” “How dare you call yourself the Prince of all Saiyans!”

In addition to the extra armor bits, we get the standard array of Vegeta hands: fists, clenching, open, and Big Bang Attack hands. For portraits, we get five different ones: neutral, shouting, teeth-gritting, sleeping, and weeping. These expressions are how the figure really sets it apart from other Vegeta figures and captures a moment in the series. The sleeping portrait is amusing as he does take a nap in the show which allows Gohan, Krillin, and Dende to sneak off with the Dragon Balls (it’s maybe Toriyama’s laziest solution to a problem) and make their wishes. The teeth-gritting face features terrific details with painted lines and beads of sweat. This is basically Vegeta realizing he’s screwed as he tries to take on Frieza. The weeping head is basically from the moment he accepts that he’s failed and the result of his pride being damaged beyond repair. It’s not from when he’s pleading with Goku to defeat Frieza, though you could probably use it as such if you really wanted to. They’re all very well detailed and I continue to be impressed with the expressions on these latest figures in the line though I’m surprised we didn’t get a cocky portrait from when he was boasting about being a Super Saiyan to Frieza. Again, if he could just share portraits with the prior release this wouldn’t be an issue. The final accessory is old reliable: the crossed arms piece. It’s the same as the 24k Vegeta’s crossed arms piece that separates in the middle and connects at the shoulder, it’s just color-matched for the new bodysuit.

“Gah! Bulma!”

Vegeta’s articulation is pretty much the same as the 24K Vegeta with all of the same pluses and minuses. I already mentioned the limited articulation at the head which is intended to be moved with the neck, but it’s gappy. Same for the torso joint which mostly rotates and is pretty limited going back and forth. The butterfly joint features poor range while the rest of the joints in the arms function as expected. The waist is basically just a pivot point as it doesn’t bend forward and back much at all, nor does it tilt to the side. The hips are able to kick forward just fine, back a little, but suck going out to the side for no real reason. The thigh twists and knees are fine while the ankles are on double ball pegs and don’t work very well. You also get a toe hinge which is fine.

There’s no sugar-coating that this is one of lesser releases in this line when it comes to articulation. It’s one thing for a NECA or a Super7 figure to not articulate all that well because those companies tend to be more aesthetic-focused. Tamashii Nations is all about the P.O.A. and it’s disappointing that they didn’t rework the 24k Vegeta more to make this Vegeta a better experience. These ball-peg ankles have got to go. They finally ditched them on Goku with the Legendary Super Saiyan release and it’s time for them to do the same with Vegeta. This torso also needs to be retired because the diaphragm joint is just bad. They stopped doing the hinged joint in the torso awhile ago, but it would have helped here.

And now it’s time for Vegeta to take a little nap.

Are the problems with the articulation going to matter much in the end? Yes, but maybe not as much as they would normally. If you’re buying this Vegeta it’s because of the very specific look. Bandai did a decent job there by providing the extra parts to capture the battle damaged look Vegeta had when he took on Frieza in his final form. There’s a good amount of portraits and the hands are as expected. The crossed arms piece is going to come with basically every Vegeta and at least it’s the newer version. The only things missing that could have added to the package would have been a new tail for Frieza Fourth Form designed to hold Vegeta in place since it’s a memorable portion of their fight. And then it also would have been nice to get an effect part which is something I wish came with every release. And since we’re paying a “premium” for a Premium Bandai figure, why not start including stands with those releases? A lot of these releases feel a little short when it comes to the value component and something as simple as a generic Tamashii Nations stand would help.

Since this is indeed a Premium Bandai release, the only way to get this Vegeta now is on the secondary market. Some e-tailers like Big Bad Toy Store might stock it, but since they have to pay MSRP like the rest of us it’s going to come at an inflated price. And with these things, it’s hard to know if the price will rise or fall on the secondary market. Bandai did just put Cooler back up for preorder so they have created the precedent that these aren’t just one and done. There’s always the possibility of a recolored edition for a convention exclusive as well, maybe in black? At $60, this Vegeta is already a hard sell. It’s relying entirely on one’s fondness for this specific look. I really can’t recommend anyone extend themself beyond that MSRP for this one as it’s just not good enough.

The Frieza Saga of Dragon Ball Z has been well-represented in action figure form:

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 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…

Keep reading
by Joe

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July 8, 2024

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

By Joe
Way over 9,000

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 series that appears briefly in the series and gets summarily dispatched with relative ease. Today’s figure appeared in more episodes of the show, but is still a fairly nuanced look at a popular character.

Assemble The Vegeta Squad!

Depending on who you ask, Vegeta is either the most popular character from Dragon Ball Z or just one of them. Everyone likes the bad boy and Vegeta fits the bill as he started off as a brutal antagonist of Goku before becoming more like a rival with a conscience. When Vegeta first showed up, he was a little guy with outrageous hair and big shoulder pads. He also sported a tail and what was basically a skirt of armor. Following his defeat by the Earthlings, Vegeta winds up on Planet Namek in search of the Dragon Balls so he can have his wish for eternal life granted. And when he showed up on that planet, he was basically in the same attire as he featured on Earth minus the tail and also minus the skirt. And that’s what we have here in Vegeta 24,000 Power Level, the latest delivery from Premium Bandai.

He’s a little guy.

First of all, before we get into the figure do we really think this Vegeta needed to be a Premium Bandai release? Vegeta is immensely popular and this version has never seen release before. The Scouter Vegeta is old at this point and it’s the most similar to this release. I think this should have been a general release. There’s enough new stuff here that I get why it wasn’t one of the $35 Target releases, but if the recent Super Saiyan Gohan (Cell Saga) can be a general release then surely this could have been as well. It being released as part of the web store means it was $65 and required a shipping charge of $10.

I’m not sure how I feel about the off-white armor, but at least the hands will match to past releases.

That out of the way, let’s talk about the figure. This Vegeta is mostly new and it takes some old problems and attempts to rectify them. In some ways, Bandai and Tamashii Nations are successful, but in others not so much. Let’s start with the good and it’s that this Vegeta is short. To the top of the exposed flesh of his famous widow’s peak, Vegeta is just a tick over 5″. To the tip of the hair he’s more like 6.25″, but either way it’s shorter than Goku and noticeably so and that’s the way I like my Vegeta. When he became a good guy he basically had height creep as the show and manga went on. He never got as tall as Goku, but he definitely got much closer. And since he is shorter in stature it means he’s mostly new parts. The engineering is the same, but the muscle definition when compared to the Super Saiyan Vegeta release is a touch softer which is a nice detail. It’s very true to the look of the series at this point as this is before the characters became more defined and Toriyama incorporated more straight lines into his art.

You may opt to use this hand with other Vegeta figures.

And speaking of, the thing that will likely stand out most are the included portraits. Bandai took care to make sure Vegeta’s facial features reflect the artwork of this era, something I don’t think the old Scouter Vegeta attempted. It’s ultimately a subtle thing, but likely anyone who has spent a lot of time with DBZ can spot a face from this era vs a later one. The lines around the eyes are rounded off and the chin is less angular. He has more pronounced cheeks and overall the faces look terrific. The rest of the body is true to the show with the broad chest, yellow shoulder pads, and all-white boots. As is often the case with this line, paint is minimal. The white portions are more off-white and it almost looks like there’s a wash, but I don’t see any difference between the exterior whites and the interior so I’m guessing there’s nothing here. The yellow paint for the armor looks fine and the faces look great, but more shading would have helped.

“How is his power level so high?!”

One thing that has plagued characters from this era of the show when making the move to plastic has been these damn shoulder pads. Bandai’s solution over the years has been to make them hinged which allows access to the full range of shoulder articulation, but the trade-off is the shoulder pads look bad when the arms aren’t in a neutral spot. For this figure, Bandai opted to ditch the center hinge and instead use a hinge and peg system located at the base of the rear of the shoulder pad. This allows the shoulder pad to rotate back in addition to hinge up. It’s better, I suppose, but still not ideal and the most annoying aspect of the figure is that the shoulder pads just won’t sit flush against the chest no matter what position the arms are in. It’s worse on the figure’s right side, but it drives me nuts. I don’t like the old hinges, but they at least didn’t have this problem. Really, we should have multiple shoulder pads that peg in so we have a neutral one and one for when the arms are raised. They did this with Jeice of the Ginyu Force, but I don’t know why they’ve never done it again.

“This time, Kakarot, I shall be the victor!”

The accessory loadout with this Vegeta isn’t great, but it’s not terrible either. We get four different portraits: neutral, smirk, teeth-showing, and really angry. The really angry expression is nicely stretched and looks really expressive. It’s very much of the era. For hands, we get fists, clenching, splayed open, and chop with the thumb in front, otherwise known as Big Bang Attack posed hands. Even though this era of the character didn’t feature that move, he still held his hand up in such a pose to fire energy blasts. And since the Super Saiyan Vegeta and Super Saiyan Blue Vegeta lacked this hand, it’s nice to get it here and the whites match well enough. We also get a scouter and a left ear for when he’s not wearing the scouter. It looks great, though going without means there will be a seem in front of the ear. It doesn’t really bother me, but I also plan to always go with the scouter anyway.

With the arms sitting high, you will need to rotate the shoulder pads back which also exposes gaps between the shoulders and body.

Lastly, we get a new crossed-arms piece. Previous figures have had this feature and it’s always been done as one piece that connects at the bicep swivel. With this figure, Bandai made the piece the entire arms so they plug into the shoulder, ball, joint. It’s a little harder to work with, and there’s a floating shoulder cap that might go flying when you first pull the arm out, but it does work. The left arm and right arm also separate where the blue sleeve meets the glove of the left arm. This makes it a lot easier to focus on getting the shoulders in place before moving onto adjustment. At first, I couldn’t get the arms to fit on the figure in a way that would allow the shoulder pads to sit in a neutral pose. Even the image on the back of the box couldn’t pull it off and the shoulder pads are up. After more fiddling, I did get it to work better. If you want the arms towards the bottom of the chest, it’s do-able. If you want them higher, you’ll have to rotate the shoulder pads back or up. Either way, while I don’t know if I’m sold on this piece attaching at the shoulder vs the bicep, I do like how it’s two pieces instead of one and it works well enough. Much better than the same for Raditz, anyway.

Pulled back for a more “shelf look,” which honestly doesn’t look terrible.

Articulation for this release is both familiar and yet not. Some of it is pretty good, and some not so good. We already talked about the shoulder pads so we’ll start at the head where Bandai is, once again, using a hinged ball peg. It’s not great, especially if you lose track of what direction the hinge is facing. It’s also tight, which means the much looser lower neck joint will do the heavy lifting when moving the head. The problem there is that the piece sits really high and gets very gappy. It’s ugly, and I can’t think of a figure in this line with a neck joint this unpleasant. The shoulders are on ball pegs with a hinge in the shoulder itself so you get a butterfly joint, but it doesn’t work that great. You basically pull the arm out first to bring it around the front, but the chest is so broad that it would need to move out much farther. Biceps swivel, double-jointed elbows, and wrist ball-hinges are all fine.

The torso features a joint in the diaphragm that feels like a single ball peg. It does very little. The upper torso will rotate and shift side to side, but it gets almost nothing forward and back. The waist joint is just a ball and socket that only swivels so you don’t get to leverage the joint for more forward and back. The legs kick forward and back nicely, but splits aren’t possible as the legs only go out to the side about 45 degrees. The thigh twist is fine and the double-jointed knees as well. The ankles are back to the old ball pegs which are very limited in all facets aside from rotation. There is a toe hinge, but it doesn’t have much range.

With the arms lower, the shoulder pads won’t need to be rotated back, but damn those persistent gaps!

For an S.H.Figuarts release, the articulation is pretty mediocre. We’re used to that when it comes to figures with this style of armor, but there’s no excuse for the lower half being as poor as it is. I’m surprised they didn’t go with a hinged peg in the diaphragm to get more crunch as his articulation there is worse than older figures in armor. This type of thing should be getting better, not worse.

When it comes to this edition of Vegeta, I’m a bit torn. Visually, it works for me as a representation of the character. The shoulder pads drive me nuts and the neck is pretty ugly, though I can at least pose around that to some degree. And the new crossed-arms piece works well enough. As for the rest, the articulation is lackluster and the paint is minimal. We get a nice array of faces and hands, but no effect part. He breaks one shoulder pad pretty quickly in the show so why not a swap-able piece for that? It also would have been nice if they made this figure convertible to a Saiyan Saga one with an included skirt and tail, but oh well. With a little more love, this could have been exceptional, but instead it’s merely passable.

We have plenty more Saiyans to look at:

S.H.Figuarts Nappa – Event Exclusive Color Edition

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

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by Joe

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

I’ve been getting a little taste of July of late in the dead of winter as not one, not two, but three action figure exclusives from San Diego Comic Con have arrived at my door. That’s because the nature of the exclusive has changed over the years. Why make a limited number of something and…

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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

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February 21, 2024

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

By Joe
Here come the Vegetas!

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

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

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

Assemble the blue-haired Saiyans!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Yawn! You Saiyans bore me.”

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

SH Figuarts Super Saiyan Vegeta

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

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Dragon Ball Super: Broly

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

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

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

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by Joe

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

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…

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by Joe

SH Figuarts Super Saiyan Vegeta

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

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by Joe

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August 22, 2022

Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero

By Joe

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, that Dragon Ball Super has been the thing I’ve loved most that I never knew I wanted. I was done, or at least content, with Dragon Ball Z. Dragon Ball GT wasn’t good, but I didn’t need it so it wasn’t something that bothered me. Then Battle of Gods came out which ended up being the start of something new for Dragon Ball and here we are. Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero is the second Dragon Ball Super movie following 19 volumes of manga, 131 episodes of the anime, and the movie Dragon Ball Super: Broly. And really, the last two Dragon Ball Z films were basically Dragon Ball Super since they were adapted into the anime in a longer form. The original Dragon Ball anime will likely always be my favorite, but there’s something to be said for Super which is more self-aware and comes across as being very confident in how to depict these characters, some of whom have been around almost 40 years. It’s funny and willing to poke fun at itself without resorting to more meta humor or fourth wall breaking. And it’s still action-packed and contains all of the tropes of Dragon Ball Z that have somehow become more charming as the years go by, maybe because of the nostalgia. Probably because of the nostalgia.

Super Hero is written by series creator Akira Toriyama and it’s very much a film a designed to place the spotlight on the B-team. When Toriyama was writing and illustrating the Cell Saga for the manga, it was conceived as a passing of the torch, and even a finale, from Goku to Gohan. Obviously, that changed quickly as Toriyama was convinced to keep going and we got the Buu Saga which basically returned Goku to the top of the mountain while Gohan trended towards a more peaceful existence and characters like Piccolo, Krillin, etc. settled further and further into the background. When Super came around, it largely followed that with the only difference being Vegeta moved into an almost co-lead with Goku, but when the anime came to an end, Goku was firmly back at the top.

The Red Ribbon army is under new management.

Now, the anime ended a few years ago, but the manga has continued. We basically have two different canons going on now. While there was always some differences between the two, they were often subtle and inconsequential. Now we have Broly and this film while the manga has gone in a very different direction. This film even features a time-jump that I don’t think has taken place in the manga. I’d have to go back and look, but regardless, there will likely be debate on what is and is not canon and I think the simple answer is we simply have two timelines at this point until (if?) the anime comes back.

Needless to say, this one takes place after the events of Broly and Goku (Sean Schemmel), Vegeta (Christopher Sabat), and Broly (Johnny Yong Bosch) are now comrades. They train together on the planet belonging to Lord Beerus (Jason Douglas) and it’s implied that Broly still has a ways to go in order to get his temper under control. Elsewhere, Piccolo (Sabat) has taken to training Gohan’s daughter Pan (Jeannie Tirado) in martial arts, though the young girl is having some trouble learning to fly. Gohan (Kyle Hebert) has immersed himself in his work neglecting his training and even fatherhood, which it’s hard to say what irritates Piccolo more as he and wife Videl (Kara Edwards) have become more and more reliant on Piccolo as a babysitter of sorts.

Gamma 2 (left) and Gamma 1 are the latest in android technology.

Brewing in the background is the threat of danger. The Red Ribbon army has been re-assembled by its new leader, Magenta (Charles Martinet), who is dissatisfied with being a mere pharmaceuticals producer and longs to restart the androids program. In order to do so, he turns to the great grandson of Dr. Gero, Dr. Hedo (Zach Aguilar), a young prodigy in robotics who was recently incarcerated. Despite the fearsome origin, Hedo is a bit childish and enjoys cookies. He also doesn’t aspire to be a great villain like Magenta and would prefer to create stylish androids in the model of a super hero. Magenta is able to woo the young scientist to his side by claiming that the individuals who took down Cell years ago are aliens out to conquer Earth and Hedo is willing to go along with this since it means money for his research.

With Dr. Hedo onboard, the Red Ribbon army successfully restarts the androids program leading to the creation of the twins Gamma 1 (Aleks Le) and Gamma 2 (Zeno Robinson). It’s Gamma 2 that comes into contact with Piccolo, whom he confuses for King Piccolo (we get a running gag of people referring to Piccolo by one of his former aspects throughout), and picks a fight since he fancies himself a super hero. Gamma 2 makes the mistake of thinking Piccolo was defeated and inadvertently leads Piccolo to the Red Ribbon HQ where he makes a startling discovery. Unfortunately, Bulma (Monica Rial) is unable to get ahold of Goku and Vegeta so it will be up to Piccolo and a rusty Gohan to save the world this time.

Daddy’s not coming to save you this time, Gohan, time to power up!

And that’s basically what it feels like this film waned to do. Unlike other Dragon Ball films, Goku is not going to swoop in at the end to save the day. This is Gohan and Piccolo’s fight, and both are going to power-up to new, largely unexplained, heights. Do we care that these new forms are unexplained? No, because they’re both fun and expected. There’s a fair amount of fan service at play, especially with callbacks to some of the forgotten lore of Dragon Ball’s past, and the sort-of return of an old villain. That’s actually the one criticism I have with the fan service elements as the returning villain is more like a shell of its former self with no personality. It would have been fun to see that personality rekindled and its reaction to the current state of this universe, but oh well. The story is fun, and Piccolo’s infiltration mission he undertakes creates a surprising amount of plot for a Dragon Ball feature. Usually it’s just bad guy shows up, and a long fight ensues. This one actually has pacing and needs things to happen in order to get to the fight. And we’re also dealing with villains who think they’re the heroes, which adds a different twist. It might be less action-oriented as a result so some fans may dislike it, but I found it rather enjoyable and it definitely gave the film more of a Dragon Ball feel such as when Kid Goku basically did the same with the old Red Ribbon army.

The character and story are certainly familiar and a whole lot of fun, what’s different is the production. This is the first Dragon Ball film to be rendered in 3D. It’s a 3D that can look like 2D in some parts and it’s something the past film did in certain shots. This one, outside of 2D flashback sequences, sticks with the 3D throughout and the results are mostly fine, but there’s some ugly parts. For some reason, Goku seems to look the worst in this style and comes across far too much like a character from a video game. I guess it’s a good thing then that he’s not in a lot of this one. There are a few other shots and moments where it gets “video gamey” and it is distracting. And a lot of those shots happen early in the film which is unfortunate because the film begins with a 2D refresher that looks awesome and made me wish the entire film was animated in such a fashion. I would prefer this, and any future episodes of the anime, to look more like that, but I suspect this is the wave of the future for Dragon Ball so I better just get used to it. I do like the use of colors and light with this film going for a manga look. Scenes pop and some of the tracking shots and angles this film goes for are dynamic and really engaging. Director Tetsuro Kodama has done a fantastic job of presenting Dragon Ball as there’s a great energy to the animation and a real weight to the blows.

Piccolo is the film’s heart, and as a longtime Piccolo fan, I approve.

Another strength of the film rests with the audio. The voice performances are all as expected, which is pretty great, while the soundtrack is maybe the best Dragon Ball has ever had? There will always be plenty of fans that love the old stuff from the 80s, but this one has a terrific presence. Composer Naoki Satō really got the message across that this one should sound heroic. There’s a lot of super hero sounding compositions and the music is very dramatic. There were no odd moments, like chanting which was used in the last movie, that took me out of the moment at any time. Some might be disappointed with the lack of more familiar songs, but I for one really enjoyed this soundtrack and found it quite suitable for what the film wanted to present.

Dragon Ball Super – Super Hero is another great addition to the Dragon Ball universe. It continues this high quality return for the series which has really seen the film version of the franchise taken to new heights. Before, Dragon Ball Z films felt like filler. They were simple stories that basically were like the Cliff Notes version of the main series with placeholder villains standing in for the real thing. These last four have felt more like full-fledged movies and I suspect that’s because those involved in the creation of them wanted that to be the case. Dragon Ball has become this warm blanket for me that always shows up. It would have to be really bad to be a disappointing experience and this film is far from it. Because I seem to ask so little of the franchise to entertain me, it’s become harder to decide what’s best among these films, but easy to say that they’re all good. If you’ve ever liked Dragon Ball definitely check out Super Hero. Dragon Ball on the big screen is an experience in and of itself so this gets a strong recommend from me. And Bandai, if you’re reading, we need some more figures based on this one. You know what I’m talking about!

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September 1, 2021

S.H.Figuarts Nappa – Event Exclusive Color Edition

By Joe
Here comes Nappa!

When it comes to my S.H.Figuarts collection, I’ve been able to largely keep to just Dragon Ball. And by Dragon Ball, I mean the original anime and manga that centered on a young boy named Goku. Even though that’s my favorite edition of the venerable series, it doesn’t mean my favorite is the one shared by millions across the globe. Most fans prefer Dragon Ball Z to any other iteration of the anime (the manga just kept the name Dragon Ball until Dragon Ball Super became a thing) so there is ton more merchandise for those fans than there is for me.

Now, just because I have a preference, does not mean I dislike Dragon Ball Z. Like many American viewers, I saw DBZ way before I ever saw Dragon Ball. I saw it briefly when it was on a broadcast network in my area really early in the morning, but I became a fan when Cartoon Network started airing it. The popularity of the show led the network to center a whole block of action cartoons, most of which were anime, around it and Toonami was born. During those early days, only the first 56 episodes or so were dubbed in English (it’s confusing because there was enough material cut that the English dub had a smaller episode count for awhile), and since the show had failed to catch on initially, there were no plans to dub more. Those same episodes then aired over and over so we American fans came to know those characters and arcs rather well. And one of the early villains of the show was the Saiyan warrior: Nappa.

I hope you like yellow and black.

Nappa arrived with Vegeta following Raditz’s defeat with the idea being to get vengeance for his fallen comrade. Even though he viewed Raditz as weak and pathetic, there was enough Saiyan pride in the grunt to want to seek revenge. His comrade and superior, Vegeta, had other ideas though. He cared nothing for Raditz and only wished to find the Dragon Balls so he could wish for eternal life. Unfortunately for Nappa, Vegeta’s lack of affection for Raditz extended to him as well, and when Goku delivered a devastating blow to the warrior that left his back snapped in two, Vegeta decided to put the beast down rather than help him rehabilitate.

Yeah, I know, it’s the wrong Vegeta.

As a result, Nappa’s presence on the show was fairly brief. He shows up, beats up the lesser fighters, and then gets to be the sacrificial lamb to Goku in a bid to demonstrate how far the warrior has progressed in his training. Still, I always thought he was a really effective bad guy. A remorseless killing machine who just loves to fight. His design is simple in that he’s just a massive piece of man-beef with a bald head and moustache. He wears the giant Saiyan armor that was still rather new to viewers at the time, but has shown up in a myriad of places since, and just really looks the part of a guy you wouldn’t want to mess with. So many villains in the show are intentionally drawn small and unimposing as series creator Akira Toriyama seemed to enjoy toying with expectations. Nappa was different, though also kind of the same since the much smaller Vegeta was considerably stronger than him.

I love that scouter look.

A few years ago, a version of Nappa was released in the Bandai/Tamashii Nations S.H.Figuarts lineup that was really tempting. A comic book store near me had one on display in a glass cabinet, but I never could bring myself to bite on it. He even got marked down eventually, a paltry 10%, but a discount nonetheless, and I still passed. That version of the character had more of a manga appearance. His armor was basically black and brown, but he still looked cool. In the anime, his coloring was slightly different which happened from time to time. His shoulder pads were more of a yellow and the black portions had a blue hue to them. That was my Nappa, and when Bandai unveiled a version of the character that matched that appearance I finally gave in.

“Hands off the tail, Namek!”

During the virtual San Diego Comic Con in July, Bandai put what would have been its exclusives on its Premium Bandai webstore. The whole thing was a shit show, and getting from one screen to the next was incredibly tiring as the website was just overrun by collectors looking to buy one of the five Dragon Ball exclusives. It took me over an hour, but I did get an order in for Nappa. I had to wait over a month for delivery though, which funny enough, makes Nappa the first SDCC exclusive I have received in 2021. Either because the global shipping crisis delayed release, or because manufacturers expected they wouldn’t need to have product on hand for a physical con, most of the exclusives ended up being pre-orders. My NECA purchase might arrive in October, or it might arrive in December and my Mondo purchase is dated January. My guess is the reason for the delay is actually a combination of both reasons spelled out, but ultimately, it’s a case of “it is what it is.” You want this stuff? Cool, you got it, but you’re going to have to wait.

These chop hands really draw attention to how massive his hands are.

Nappa arrived in the usual SHF window box only this one features a black and yellow motif to accentuate that it’s an event exclusive. My event exclusive Kid Goku was packaged similarly, though I never did post a review of that figure since he’s the same as the other Kid Goku, just with a blue gi instead of orange. Nappa is a chunky boy. He’s not the tallest SHF figure I own, but he’s probably the heaviest. He stands just a tad shy of 7″ and really fills out the package he comes bundled in. He’s a great figure to hold as he looks and feels like a collector grade action figure. The plastic is firm and each, individual, piece has a lightness to it, but the sum of its parts results in a nice heft for this guy. All of the musculature is well sculpted and the anatomy and design of such really echoes the source material well. As is the case for most of the figures in this line, there’s not a ton of paint, but what’s there is clean. Nappa actually commands more paint than usual as his gloves and boots feature some gray piping with mustard braids around the wrists and ankles. The mustard yellow of the abdomen, shoulder pads, and skirt pieces are all painted and there’s even a slight wash on his muscles. The painted portion of his upper chest area matches the sculpted flesh color of the neck well. The only paint application that looks a little odd to me is the moustache on his smirking head because it doesn’t follow the crease of his smile on the right side. I don’t think it’s supposed to though, it’s just one of those things that looks odd. I’d have to closely inspect the source material to see if I’m wrong, but it only looks odd when the figure is placed right in front of your face. Otherwise, I have no complaints about the aesthetics of this guy.

He’s a bit of a ham for the camera.

Where the SHF line rises above most is in its ability to wed these impressive sculpts with a ton of articulation. Nappa has a whole bunch at his disposal and it’s all of the stuff you would expect. He has a ball joint at the head plus another at the base of the neck so he can look all over the place including up and down. At the shoulders, he has a ball joint plus a butterfly joint. Because of the bulky armor, he can’t bring his arms out and across his chest as well as some figures. The shoulder pads are on hinges so they can be moved out of the way, but the bicep hits the edge of his pec. There’s a biceps swivel and double elbows, but his arms are so thick that he can’t bend past 90 degrees. On the plus side, none of the plastic joiner pieces are over-exposed to accommodate a truly wide range of motion so his arms look pretty nice in whatever position you place them in. His hands are attached via ball pegs, and even though they’re recessed in those gauntlets he’s wearing, he can still move them around pretty well. In the abdomen, he has a ball-joint that I don’t think is hinged. At least, mine won’t go up. He can bend back okay, but not forward very well and you definitely have to be mindful of the upper chest area rubbing on his abs and ruining the paint. At the waist, he has a very small ball-peg that basically just affords swivel rotation. There’s a little tilt there, but nothing game-changing. At the hips, he can kick forward and back about as far as you would ever need him to. There’s a thigh twist and double-jointed knees that go just a tiny bit past 90. At the ankle I believe we have a ball-joint. It’s nice and tight, which is what a big figure like this needs, but doesn’t provide a huge range of motion. There’s also a toe hinge, but it’s not very good and is kind of ugly because the joint is too far forward.

I couldn’t really get him into a kneeling pose to sell this one better.

Nappa moves reasonably well. Obviously, there’s no getting around that armor he wears. It’s big and bulky. The hinges on the various flaps help to some degree, but there’s only so much they can do. While I wish he could reach out in front of himself better than he can, I wouldn’t want to put any cuts in the armor to facilitate that so I’m happy with the choices Bandai made. It helps that Nappa doesn’t really have a signature energy blast like a Kamehameha or Special Beam Canon that he needs to mimic. He’s more of a brawler, and if Bandai ever did want to do a more articulated version of him they could also do a battle damaged one that doesn’t have the armor. As I mentioned in the prior paragraph, the lesser articulation means his joints mostly look really good. His elbows and knees look pretty great whether bent or out straight and there’s not a lot of gapping issues on him. The only area, besides the useless toe hinge, that I think looks a little unsightly is the neck. He’s always going to have a small gap there and since his neck is bare there’s no way to hide anything. The trade-off for the neck articulation is one I’d make though. He is an action figure, after all, not a statue.

Time to fly!

There’s a lot of plastic in Nappa, so it’s probably not surprising to see his accessory count is on the smaller end. Nappa comes with four, distinct, facial portraits. He comes with a smirking face, a yelling face where he’s looking straight-ahead, a yelling face where he’s looking down and to the left (or like he’s trying to look behind himself because there’s a guy grabbing onto him) and a smirking face with scouter. The scouter is non-removable so you only get one display option if you wish to use it. I always think of him as having the scouter on so that’s my preferred look, but I like the others as well. The head where he’s trying to look off to the side is definitely present so you can recreate the scene where Chaoz blows himself up why clinging to Nappa’s back. It’s even illustrated on the back of the box. I don’t have that figure though.

The base of the stand looks pretty cool, it’s just that Nappa isn’t the best figure for such a stand.

In addition to the alternate heads, Nappa also comes with 3 sets of hands. He has fists in the box, but also has grabbing hands and a set of hands that are in a “chop” position. I’m assuming he does some chops in the anime, though I really can’t recall specifics (maybe when he’s smashing up the jets) and the product shots on the box are of no help as none feature them. He also has a seventh hand which has two fingers extended. It functions like a cool, style, pose sort of thing and he may have done an attack that utilized such a gesture, or I could be mistaken. I think it’s present because that’s how he makes holes in the ground to plant the Saibamen. Of the sets, I definitely prefer the grabby hands, but all of them feel like they have use and I’ll likely switch them up, though I don’t know that I’ll ever display him sans scouter. That’s it though for accessories. As usual, there’s no blast effect which would have been nice. A big, mouth, blast would have been pretty fun and unique. I think the standard version might have come with a small one? Or the shop I used to see him at just happened to display him with such. That blast effect wasn’t the best, but I’d still take it over nothing.

Goku, on the other hand, works just fine. The third stand (not pictured) uses Whis’ symbol for the base.

That’s not all I have to talk about though. For SDCC, Bandai had four figures available plus a fifth set which was a box of action stands. They’re personalized to coincide with the figures they did and I grabbed a set. I think it was 40 bucks, but it got you 6 stands, 2 each of the following design: Goku, Whis, and a Saiyan Space Pod. I grabbed it because I really did need more stands and I thought they looked pretty slick. Unfortunately, when it comes to Nappa it doesn’t work too well because he is just so thick. The stand is designed to grab the figure around the waist and has some added crotch support, because even action figures need crotch support. The clasp really can’t get around Nappa’s waist, but he can at least be position on the crotch piece. You will likely need to tighten the screws in the stand as far as they’ll go to accommodate his bulk or else it will just topple. I like that the pack came with two of each style though since anyone who has the previously release Saiyan Saga Vegeta will likely want to use one with him. I do not have that figure, though if he ever gets a re-release I’ll probably grab one now. I was able to finagle a flying pose for Nappa with the stand, though I don’t think I’d trust it on a shelf. That means it’s more like a base for Nappa, and having the space pod as a base is kind of cool in its own way, but it would have been nice if it had been specially engineered to work better with the bulky Nappa.

This figure has some shortcomings, but ultimately it nails what it needed to the most and that’s the look. This looks like Nappa from Dragon Ball Z and he looks fantastic. It would have been awesome if they had found a way to make him move a little better, (and at least one of the product shots on the back of the box must be a render because he can’t wipe his mouth with the back of his hand) or stuck in a cool effects part, but he can definitely can hit all of the important poses for the character. Really, the biggest negative about him is now I want more figures that display well with him. A Saiyan Saga Vegeta is the most appropriate, but it did cause me to look at the recently released Kid Gohan, but I don’t think I need him. I considered Kaioken Goku, but he squared off with the unarmored Nappa so that doesn’t feel necessary. I did grab one figure, and I’ll tell you about him soon enough, and I also pre-ordered the new Krillin so Nappa should have a few guys to play with in due time. This is a guy that enjoys being violent, so I definitely need to feed him.

This dude looks good and he knows it. He’s not quite as tall as King Piccolo, but definitely chunkier.

This action figure is an event exclusive from Premium Bandai. Other retailers did buy some stock, but they tack on a sizable surcharge. Even with that surcharge, it looks like most have sold out so if you want him you may have to go to the secondary market. Some people are probably looking to flip him, and Bandai did open a pre-order window since their website was so terrible so some people (and possibly retailers) will get him in Q1 2022 so if you don’t like the prices right now you can wait and see if they improve next year. Bluefin Brands has also been hosting a pop-up shop that will be selling the con exclusives. They’ll probably only hit major cities like LA and New York, but maybe you have a buddy who can get to one for you or something. If you prefer the older version, maybe the release of the more anime-accurate Nappa has knocked the price down on that guy a bit. I’m pretty happy with him, even if my Saiyan Saga collection is rather light, and I don’t think any DBZ collection of S.H.Figuarts should be without a Nappa.

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January 20, 2019

Dragon Ball Super: Broly

By Joe

db super broly poster

Dragon Ball Super: Broly

The first movie under the Dragon Ball Super umbrella is one that sets out to take what was previously non-canon and adapt it into the main series. The most recent two Dragon Ball Z films; Battle of Gods and Resurrection ‘F’, ended up being the start of Dragon Ball Super which is now well over 100 episodes into its own series and several volumes of manga as well. It was last year that the series took a pause, seemingly coming to an end, only for this feature to be announced soon afterwards. Over the summer it was revealed that the subject of the film would be the infamous Broly, a character created for the prior Dragon Ball Z films that is either a fan-favorite or fan-hated character, depending on who you ask. In that universe, Broly was the featured villain of three separate films, and according to this humble blogger only one of those three films was any good. Broly is simply an all style and no substance villain. He’s big, mean, and powerful, but he has no real motivations beyond wanting to annihilate the hero of the series, Goku, whom he despises because he made him cry when the two were infants. Yup, you read that correctly.

Finding out that Broly would soon be adapted for his fourth film and presumably brought into canon left me with mixed feelings. Those feelings quickly shifted to positive ones though as what reason did I have to really doubt series creator Akira Toriyama? Broly already had the look, and aside from the reason for hating Goku being quite lame, the rest of his origin was fine. There was enough of a skeleton there that could be fleshed out into something worthwhile. And after doubting that there was anything left in this franchise, I’ve been proven wrong time and again by the last two features and basically the entirety of Dragon Ball Super. Toriyama, and those working with him, seem to have a handle on what sets this world apart from others. It’s the humor, as well as the action, that makes it go. The series can’t stop to take itself too seriously, or else it will betray what it is. Anchoring the series on the Goku and Vegeta characters is also fan-service at its best. It’s their differences as characters that works so well. It meant taking away most of what once made Vegeta a villain, but Dragon Ball Super has managed to make him likable and understandable without also softening him too much.

dbs broly normal

Broly is re-introduced in this one as canon with a tweak to his base design.

Before I go any further, it is worth pointing out just where this film follows in the grand scheme of things. If you’re like me and have been following Dragon Ball Super via the dub that airs weekly on Toonami then you’re going to have some things spoiled for you. This film takes place after the events of Dragon Ball Super so far, so it’s after the Tournament of Power which has yet to officially begin. If you watch the Japanese dub of the show, then no problem as you saw the finale almost a year ago. For us just watching on a standard cable package, it means having the events of that tournament some-what spoiled. And I mean that very loosely as the setup for that tournament is that all of the universes who lose are destroyed. I don’t think any viewer expects the universe inhabited by Goku and his friends to be wiped out and have the story end there, so the fact that this film even exists is only the most mild of spoilers. The film doesn’t go into any detail about how that crisis was resolved, so I didn’t feel particularly spoiled by anything. Only the fate of one character would really count there, so if you want absolutely nothing else spoiled you may want to stop here as I can’t really discuss this film without mentioning that character at least in passing. There’s your final warning.

king vegetas court

King Vegeta’s court where Paragus is informed on the fate of his son.

Okay, with that out of the way we can freely talk about Dragon Ball Super: Broly! This is a review, not a synopsis like I did with my DBZ movie feature from last summer, so I don’t aim to spoil anything pertinent to the film beyond just going over the general plot and setup. If you’re a longtime fan, you’re probably most curious about how this new Broly (Vic Mignogna) equates with the old. He’s a different character, but it is also largely the same. The film begins several years before the present day when planet Vegeta was still a thing. In addition to seeing the early days of Broly, we’re also treated to something previously untouched upon and that’s the transfer of power over the universe from King Cold (Jason Douglas) to his son, Frieza (Christopher Ayers). It’s fun seeing that acknowledged, though it’s not particularly thrilling. Broly himself though is soon introduced as a baby, and like the prior Broly, he seems to have incredible untapped power. King Vegeta (Christopher Sabat) appears jealous that this child rivals his own infant son, also Vegeta (Sabat), and it may explain what he does next.

dbs kid goku

The flashback also contains a brief look at young Goku in a somewhat touching scene.

Like the prior Broly, this one will find himself banished from planet Vegeta. His father, Paragus (Dameon Clarke), suspects the king did it out of jealousy, but the king claims he did it out of fear over what Broly is capable of. A power so terrible cannot be controlled and he could destroy them all. It’s hard to say what the truth is, but Paragus refuses to see his son exiled to a barren world alone. He steals a spaceship and chases after him all while swearing revenge on the king who did this to him and his son. We also get another peek at Goku’s father, Bardok (Sonny Strait), and even meet his mother, Gine (Emily Neves). It retcons the events of Bardock’s solo film a bit, and also shows us a softer side to the character which provides some context for how Goku (Sean Schemmel) came to be so different from other Saiyans. We also get to check in on a toddler Vegeta and Radditz, which is amusing, and see the destruction of planet Vegeta from another angle. There’s even a mention of a brother to Prince Vegeta that I was not aware of. I don’t know if that’s mentioned at all in the episodes I have not seen, or it could be a hint at something to come in a future movie or series.

dbs paragus

The design for Broly’s father, Paragus, is also still in-line with his old portrayal only now he’s aged up. He’s also still a dick.

After the lengthy setup, the film jumps to the present day and finds Goku and Vegeta sparring. They’ll soon find out that Frieza is up to not good, and his stealing of the Dragon Balls from Bulma’s (Monica Rial) lab is what sets the plot in motion. That will get all of our main players to Earth, including a now fully grown Broly and his father, where the action takes place.

snow clothes goku and vegeta

Goku and Vegeta showing off their trendy new winter duds.

To no one’s surprise, the majority of this film is action as the two heroic saiyans take on Broly. Broly is depicted as actually kind-natured this time around, but his power drives him mad. It’s a subtle change from the previous version we’ve seen, but it’s handled far better and this character actually has meaning. He’s a sympathetic character, much more so than before, and one the audience isn’t necessarily instructed to root against. His design is only a little different from his old one, but he has a slightly more refined look. There’s some grit there as well and he actually looks like someone who has lived his whole life in exile. He’ll find some sympathetic characters which help add to his story, and overall I think he’s a fine addition to the cast this time.

dbs god vegeta

Vegeta demonstrating his mastery of the Super Saiyan God form.

The action is the main attraction, and after the slow-paced opening I am happy to report that no action was spared as a result. This is a meaty film, and by its end you may even start to feel exhausted. It keeps upping the visual ante along the way though, so it never gets boring. New tricks are unleashed, some more abstract than others. My favorite was a first-person camera in the middle of the fight that really pulled me in. It sounds like a gimmick, but it worked really well to see the lightning-quick action unfold from such a perspective. It was also tastefully utilized, so it didn’t overstay its welcome. There’s plenty of big spots, and also some rather brutal ones. Nothing is gratuitous though, and overall if you’re a fan of action this is one satisfying and spectacular film. There is also less emphasis on fan-service this time around when compared with the last two films. There’s no effort to get all of the old gang back together and the cast is actually fairly trim. This one simply has a story to tell and a battle to feature.

dbs goku blue

The film is visually stunning, but there are moments where I felt like I was watching a cut scene from Dragon Ball FighterZ.

The film is still mostly done in 2D with digital hand-drawn animation, the design of which was handled by Naohiro Shintani instead of Tadayoshi Yamamuro who has done virtually all of Dragon Ball previously so all of the characters have a slightly altered look to them, though I wouldn’t go so far as to say they appear off-model. Those hand-drawn parts are delicious for the eyes and Dragon Ball has never looked better. The movements of the characters are so fluid and sharp, and the slightly muted color palette is reminiscent of the manga more so than the actual anime. Vegeta’s battle suit, in particular, uses a more navy color than a bright blue and Goku’s orange gi is just slightly pale. This being Dragon Ball, there’s also lots of bright greens and blacks and some cute character designs amongst the villains. There are instances of obvious CG, most noticeably when space ships are shown. It’s also still used in battles, but it’s less of a distraction than in past films. There are still times though when I felt like I was viewing a cut scene from a video game as opposed to an anime. I wouldn’t go so far as to say those moments were jarring, but the hand-drawn stuff is just so flawless that I wish they just tried to stick with that as much as possible.

broly vegeta snow

Arctic settings are among my favorites in Dragon Ball. The brightly colored characters just look great against a cool backdrop.

The music composed by Norihito Sumitomo is also quite bombastic and in-time with the visuals. Some of the main themes, in particular Broly’s and a character I won’t mention by name as it would constitute a spoiler, include a chant in the song where the name of the character is spoken. It further adds to the fighting video game feel of some of the visuals and I’d consider it ludicrous if this were any other property save for maybe Mortal Kombat. It manages to add to the spectacle of everything. Also, some old favorites return though it’s worth mentioning this movie doesn’t feature an opening credits scene like the old ones. I kept waiting for it to pop-in, until I realized it wasn’t coming. It’s probably for the best, though I did kind of miss it.

dbs full power broly

If you’re looking for some of the old Broly you know (and love?) you’ll get that here as well.

Ultimately, I was left feeling like seeing Dragon Ball Super: Broly on the big screen was very much a worthwhile experience. This film was designed for that setting, and I really enjoyed my time with it. I was surprised to find it actually showing at quite a few theaters in my area, and further surprised to find many shows sold out. Thankfully, I was planning on seeing this alone as I couldn’t find two seats side-by-side anywhere. The machinations of the plot are pretty contained so if you haven’t bothered to watch Dragon Ball Super you shouldn’t have too much trouble getting into this and and figuring out what’s going on, so don’t let that be an obstacle. If you ever cared about Dragon Ball, then you owe it to yourself to catch it on the big screen.

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September 24, 2018

Dragon Ball Z Movie Wrap-up – The Rankings

By Joe

teaser gokuWell I hope you’ve enjoyed the summer feature this year at The Nostalgia Spot – Dragon Ball Z Movie Monday. We’ve taken a look at all 13 original Dragon Ball Z films in chronological order, run-through their plots, dissected what they did well and not so well, and now we’re going to rank them. It should be noted that this ranking is going to be rendered obsolete in just a few short months as on the way is the first Dragon Ball Super movie:  Broly! Yes, Broly. He’s coming back for a fourth movie appearance, but this time it’s different. Those Dragon Ball Z films he was in are technically not canon. Yes, series creator Akira Toriyama designed the character of Broly and the general back story, but he was never intended to be a “real” character, so to speak. With the 14th and 15th DBZ films, things started to change. Both Battle of Gods and Resurrection ‘F’ are now canon and were adapted for Dragon Ball Super. Since Toriyama is involved with Broly, it stands to reason that this will be an all new version of the Legendary Super Saiyan and for the first time ever he’ll be an actual part of the overall Dragon Ball plot.

db super broly

Broly’s coming back, whether you like it or not.

That’s all well and good, but before we can even think about that movie we need to sort out these other 15, of which 3 feature Broly. The core 13 are what we covered this summer, but I had taken a look at the two most recent films previously and made entries about them. Even though their plots are now part of Dragon Ball Super, they were released as Dragon Ball Z films so it feels right to include them in the rankings. Hopefully the first Dragon Ball Super movie will challenge the best of these, but for now, this is what I think of the fine fifteen:

Goten urinating

Lets kick this one off properly!

15. Broly – Second Coming – It’s kind of funny the first film on my list just so happens to feature the character of Broly. If this version of Broly were returning for a fourth feature, then I would be disappointed. Broly was fine in his film debut, but his return engagements saw the warrior reduced to an even more mindless fighting machine. Broly – Second Coming also stars Trunks and Goten, and it feels like maybe they weren’t ready to anchor a feature. Gohan makes his presence felt in the film’s third act, but he can’t rescue this one. Broly – Second Coming is perhaps the most dull, with the biggest rule-breaking ending, and is thus my least favorite. It’s not without some charm, so I hesitate to call it flat-out bad, but it will be a long while before I revisit this one again.

cooler surprised

Maybe this was a bad idea.

14. Cooler’s Revenge – You will probably notice a trend amongst these bottom entries. The movies that just feel like one long fight do little to entertain me, and Cooler’s Revenge commits the sin of having Goku get taken out immediately only to sit on the sidelines for a large chunk of the film’s duration. No one wants to sit and wait for Goku to show up – not Cooler, and certainly not the fans. And the fights that do occur in this picture aren’t very engaging, but we do get some fireworks from Super Saiyan Goku and the transformed Cooler. It’s also his connection to Frieza that helps move this one past Broly – Second Coming.

Slug ears.png

Not the best?! I don’t want to hear it!

13. Lord Slug – Similar to Cooler’s Revenge, this one also has Goku get taken out for a large portion of the film. Unlike with that film though, there’s not a great reason for that to happen. Yeah, he gets hurt a bit, but it doesn’t seem like the type of injury that should knock Goku out of commission for such a long time. Anyways, Lord Slug gets to move past Cooler because at least there’s some interesting visuals here. A lot of fun backgrounds and the enemy designs for Slug’s henchmen are interesting as well. I also think the fight between Slug and Goku is a bit better than the one with Cooler, even if it features that goofy half Super Saiyan thing from Goku. This is also a film I look at and can envision it being better than it is with just a few tweaks here and there.

Bio Broly trunks goten

Swamp Thing got nothing on Broly.

12. Bio-Broly – It seems like this film is most often cited as the worst DBZ film and I can see why, on the surface, that would be the case. It returns Broly, but in an even weirder form than before that’s somehow even more mindless. There’s no Goku, Vegeta, Piccolo, or Gohan, and overall the stakes are possibly the smallest they’ve ever been. On the other hand, Goten and Trunks get another crack at being the stars and they’re more entertaining here than previously. There’s a good balance of nuanced humor with the childish brand that sometimes rears its head and we also get a good dose of both Mr. Satan and Android 18. Perhaps best of all, there’s no silly rule-breaking ending involving the dead Goku this time and in the end we get a film that’s perhaps not super engaging, but it makes up for it to some degree with humor and charm.

13 trucker hat

Trucker hats rule.

11. Super Android 13! – Another extended battle movie, but this one ups the excitement by adding yet another Super Saiyan to the mix – Future Trunks. We also get more androids, which at this point in time felt a little like overkill since we already had five in the main series, plus Cell. Still, the android villains kind of work and given how secretive Dr. Gero was it wasn’t out of the realm of possibility that he’d have even more waiting to awaken. It’s just too bad they all have the same general programming of needing to kill Goku. For the English dub, Funimation actually took some liberties and gave Android 13 a little personality. It wasn’t much, but it was something. The fights are generally satisfying, though the resolution kind of “meh.” More than most, this one is all about spectacle.

Goku Vegeta Cooler.jpg

Dragon Ball Z Movie 6 – The Mega Powers Explode!

10. The Return of Cooler – Cooler gets to improve upon his debut by pairing up with a super computer and gaining a shiny, new metallic body. Vegeta also gets to debut in a DBZ film as a Super Saiyan, and for the first time ever, he and Goku team-up to take on Cooler. There’s actually some semblance of a plot here and it’s not bad. There’s a little mystery, and if Funimation didn’t decide to go with such an obvious title the actual re-debut of Cooler would have come as a surprise. The film just kind of loses me in the final act. It’s no Spirit Bomb attack at least, but it is kind of odd.

Tree_of_Might

In this one, Goku fights a tree.

9. The Tree of Might – If this were a ranking of best looking Dragon Ball Z films then The Tree of Might would be a contender for the top spot. It hits the sweet spot between the very soft, round look of Dragon Ball and early Dragon Ball Z while also bringing in more definition. The characters are all muscled-up and impressive looking, the special effects mesmerizing, and the battles don’t move at a super-sonic pace. More interesting enemy designs, the debut of Icarus, and even a Giant Ape fight! The actual plot is just what holds everything back as a planet devouring tree hardly seems like an interesting adversary. And then there’s the confusing Turles and the lack of a really great fight involving him. If Goku and Turles were able to wage an all-out epic battle then that probably would have vaulted this one up the list, but instead it settles close to the mid-point of our list.

dead zone gif

Oh yes, that’s the good stuff!

8. Dead Zone – It’s rather appropriate that the debut film, Dead Zone, is right in the middle. I consider it a good measuring stick for all of the DBZ films. It has a simple, but effective plot revolving around the kidnapping of Gohan and a villain out for revenge and immortality via the Dragon Balls. That villain is Garlic Jr., who gets to follow a typical villain mold for this series in that he’s not imposing to look at, but he’s hiding a monstrous transformation. The fight choreography is top-notch and probably the best the series had. Watching Goku dodge the blade attacks of Garlic Jr’s minions is easily the film’s most fun visual. There’s also the odd drunk Gohan sequence that’s pretty amusing by itself, and we even get a pee joke. The film kind of falls apart in the final act, a common occurrence sadly for these films. We’re teased a Goku vs Piccolo fight that never gets going, and Garlic Jr. is defeated in a very anticlimactic fashion by Gohan. Basically, Gohan powering up alone pushed Garlic into the Dead Zone? I don’t know, it’s still a lot of fun though.

Bebi_Burori

Legendary Super Saiyan? More like Legendary Cry Baby.

7. Broly:  The Legendary Super Saiyan – Broly peeks on our list at number 7, which isn’t half-bad (literally). His debut film was the longest at the time totaling over 70 minutes and it utilizes its time well. It moves at a methodic pace teasing the emergence of Broly and then devotes a sizable portion of its run time to the actual fight. Where it stumbles is with its odd handling of Vegeta and, stop me if you’ve heard this one before, the resolution to the actual fight with Broly. His defeat just feels cheap. I don’t know what would have worked better since they kind of wrote themselves into a hole considering how powerful Broly is, but surely something better could have been utilized. Nonetheless, it’s still fine and this is how a Broly film should function where the plot revolves around him, but doesn’t necessarily require him to do much aside from just being there. The other characters move the narrative and provide the context. Oh, and his origin is great aside from why he hates Goku. I think that aspect of his origin was supposed to be funny, but it just doesn’t fit here.

vlcsnap-00003

You wanna get nuts?! Let’s get nuts!

6. The World’s Strongest – The second DBZ film still feels a bit like an odd duck. It is somewhat rooted in the spirit of the original Dragon Ball, and bringing Master Roshi back into the fold is certainly welcomed by me. The sci-fi nature of the plot is slightly out of place for Dragon Ball Z, but less so when you consider some of what was featured in Dragon Ball. If the villainous duo of Dr. Wheelo and Dr. Kochin were given ties to the Red Ribbon Army then they would have felt right at home. Like Dead Zone, it gets a lot out of its visuals. The fight choreography is again top-notch, and the big finish with the Spirit Bomb works since it hadn’t been done before. I love the arctic location and the humor infused into it. Even the whole premise of the film, a couple of long dormant scientists mistaking Master Roshi for the strongest fighter in the world, is pretty amusing and the Metal Gear-like Dr. Wheelo is certainly an interesting opponent from a visual perspective. This is just another fun DBZ movie that moves at a brisk pace and is able to squeeze everything that’s charming about early DBZ  into it in a satisfying manner.

pudding 1

When a god asks for pudding you give him pudding!

5. Battle of Gods – The return I had no idea I cared about. Battle of Gods both resurrected Dragon Ball Z as an anime brand and launched Dragon Ball Super. It introduced the God of Destruction, Beerus, and his godly attendant Whis who have become some of my favorite characters across all of Dragon Ball. Beerus is not only an all-powerful god, but a cat. We’ve seen cat creatures before, but Beerus is able to subtly weave in cat-like behavior into his mannerisms that’s so entertaining. The film also brings together basically everyone from DBZ as far as the earthlings go, and it’s heavily reliant on comedy. So much so that it comes at the expense of action, which is where some fans seemed to be let down. That and Goku’s Super Saiyan God form was fairly underwhelming. Still, what action is present is solid and the film looks fantastic when it’s not trying to use CG effects.

bjoack group shot

Some cool guys and Yamcha.

4. Bojack Unbound – The first movie that did not try to rely on Goku, Bojack Unbound put Gohan in the spotlight in a bit of rehash of his fight with Cell and the awakening of his Super Saiyan 2 powers. It could have been a bit lame, but it’s anchored by some character development that works and the introduction of one Mr. Satan who never fails to be amusing. The entire film takes place on an island as the Z fighters have entered a tournament for riches. There’s plenty of humor to be found at the expense of both Mr. Satan and Krillin, and also plenty of action. The part of the film I liked most was the little peak at a post-death Goku Vegeta, who is essentially depressed about the loss of his rival. The film maybe could have been better if that had been its primary focus, but instead it chose to just make that a small piece. The actual villain, Bojack, is kind of boring to be honest, but we get a good series of fights out of him and his minions. It’s also fun seeing the Super Saiyan 2 moment rehashed, and the film just looks fantastic.

vegeta cries

Tears in Hell.

3. Fusion Reborn – Probably not surprising, but a film that spends quite a bit of time devoted to exploring the relationship of Goku and Vegeta is going to rank high on my list. These films often don’t go for character development, instead choosing to just capture the essence of the main characters and sticking that on-screen. For Vegeta, that typically means you just get a cocky jerk who is only fighting because he wants to be the one to defeat Goku instead of the villain of the moment. In this one, both fighters are dead, and they need to not only team-up to stop the Buu-like Janemba, but literally become one fighter via fusion. Vegeta can’t stand the thought, but Goku proves persuasive. The two seem to develop an understanding of one another and have a bit of a quiet reckoning leading up to the big moment, and it’s very rewarding and very sweet. In addition to that, the movie combines impressive visual flair with a ton of funny bits including Goten and Trunks taking on a resurrected Hitler. This one distills the qualities of the Buu Saga that I actually like into a tidy 52 minutes and it’s arguably the most “fun” of all the Dragon Ball Z movies.

goku vegeta bicker

Play nice you two.

2. Resurrection ‘F’ – The most recent film may actually be the only one more fun than Fusion Reborn and that’s because it’s very much a fan-servicey kind of movie. It brings back Frieza, the most hate-able of all of the villains, for another round. Now he’s powered-up to a new form, but so are his chief rivals Goku and Vegeta. Debuting their new Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan (Super Saiyan Blue, for short) forms, the two Saiyans are basically on equal footing for the first time since their inaugural fight way back on Earth during the Saiyan Saga. In addition to watching them pummel Frieza, we get to see the other, lesser, fighters square off against Frieza’s minions including Master Roshi! Krillin shaves his head, Gohan gets angry, it’s basically all here. Beerus and Whis also return and they’re just as amusing as before and the film’s visual style is truly stunning. This may be the best looking DBZ film so far as it dials back on the crude CG from Battle of Gods. I think I still prefer The Tree of Might’s look to this one, but it’s close. Ultimately, this one works because we get to see that jerk Frieza get bested once again, and Vegeta even gets a little revenge. It also further adds to the Goku/Vegeta dynamic in a worthwhile way, something that Dragon Ball Super will continue to explore.

tapiotrunks

This is a sweet one, right up until a child is asked to execute his buddy.

1. Wrath of the Dragon – I guess when it comes to these movies, I’m more of a “plot guy” than an “action guy.” Wrath of the Dragon doesn’t feature a ton of fighting, but it does spend a long time on the quieter things. I enjoyed the introduction of Tapion and his story, and seeing a different side of Trunks felt very rewarding. We’ve seen Goku take on all kinds of crazy beings, so it was nice for a change to just spend a lot of time looking at a character that’s mostly been underserved by both the films and the series. It gives the film a different mood. It’s a bit sad, but also endearing, and it still packs in some moments of triumph. Some of the early plot machinations are a bit silly, and the almost total absence of Vegeta felt puzzling, but Wrath of the Dragon still manages to tell the best story of all 15 films and that’s primarily why I placed it here.

In truth, the top 5 films felt pretty interchangeable for me. Bojack Unbound is really watchable because of the action pieces, while Battle of Gods feels the most dense because of all of the new lore introduced. Fusion Reborn and Resurrection ‘F’ bring a lot of humor and silliness to the table, making both very re-watchable, while Wrath of the Dragon just seemed to strike a nice balance for me. Hopefully, the upcoming Broly can match the best Dragon Ball Z put out. It’s basically guaranteed to look amazing, and I’m sure we’ll get some flashy action sequences no matter what. I’ve had fun revisiting these films. I never held a high opinion of them, but I think I had more fun with them now than I did when I was younger and a bit more cynical. They are what they are and they exist simply to entertain for 45 minutes or so (and make money) and as long as they don’t betray what the series stands for then that’s good enough for me.

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