My latest kaiju figure is Red King from the Ultraman series, by S.H. Figuarts. This is another kaiju that fans have been asking for, and considering his popularity, it’s surprising that he took this long to appear in the Figuarts line (though they did do a Red King in the now defunct Ultra Act series). Well, he’s finally here, so let’s check him out.
Red King is a goofy dinosaur-like kaiju with a body filled with scales and ridges that make him look like a giant mutant corn cob, or even the Michelin tire man. His body is thick, with a long neck that narrows down into a small little head. As you can clearly see, he’s not red. He was originally supposed to be that color, but for some reason, they kept the name but not the crimson shade. Instead, he’s a dull yellow with dark greenish highlights and stripes throughout his body. His face sports a snout, small black eyes and a mouth full of teeth and fangs sticking out at the sides. Bandai did a fine job in accurately capturing his look. For accessories, he comes with an extra pair of fists, an extra right hand with a peg in the palm so it can be inserted into the end of a boulder that he can hold. In the first episode he appeared in, he picked up boulders to toss at enemies. He never had any other powers besides brute strength, so extra hands and a large rock are appropriate extras that fit his character.
I own the older Ultra Act version, which is larger, a bit taller, and is painted a darker shade of green. That one also came with extra hands and a rock accessory. One thing to note is that the mouth on the Ultra Act version doesn’t open very much, while this Figuarts one can open the mouth much wider.
The articulation includes the top jaw on a ball joint that allows it to open wide. He sports 3 cuts on his neck that allow him to tilt and turn his head, a ball joint upper torso and waist, ball joint shoulders, elbows, thighs and knees, ball peg wrists and ankles, and a multi segmented tail. The thighs also sport a drop down feature for added range. He can bend and crouch down, raise and lower his arms, bend his elbows, kick his legs out forward, spread them out to the sides, and his tail can curl upwards and to the sides. I like the way they designed the top of his jaw so that it makes it easier to open it, instead of the limited engineering that plagued the Ultra Act’s mouth. You just have to make sure it aligns properly with the bottom of the jaw, as the ball joint can spin fully around, allowing for derpy mouth poses. The bottom of the jaw is an extra piece that clips into a bar that holds it in place. The added cuts in the neck also allow the head to be more expressive.
Ultimately, Red King is a cool release from the S.H. Figuarts line. The sculpt and paint are nice, the accessories are decent, and he can move and pose fairly well. Now that they’ve finally given us a Red King, perhaps Tamashii Nations will release more of the classic Ultra kaiju, such as Neronga, Ragon, Bemstar, Dorako, Gubira or Jamila. We’ll have to wait and see which kaiju they decide to give us next. As for Red King, he was worth the wait.
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