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S.H. Figuarts Kyrieloid


This week I received the new Kyrieloid figure from S.H. Figuarts. I already own the Ultra Act version, but this one looked nice, so I pre-ordered it. In some aspects it’s better than the older release; in other ways it’s not. Let’s check out this odd alien dude.








The Kyrieloid originally made their debut in Ultraman Tiga, and proved to be a formidable adversary for him. They are to Tiga what Baltan was to Ultraman original. Kyrieloid returned for an episode of Ultraman Trigger, but that, along with Tiga’s appearance, wasn’t anything to write home about. Still, it’s nice that Figuarts decided to release another foe from the Ultraman line.







This figure comes with 4 pairs of hands (fists, pointing, open and relaxed), a right hand with his fire effect molded into it, and a small stand to hold up the effect piece. His sculpt looks sweet, accurately captures his bulky build, with black & white color scheme and translucent red chest piece that resembles a heart. The flame effect piece is well done, going from light to dark orange towards the end. It’s just heavy, so you’ll need the stand to support it. Sculpt wise, this one looks better than the Ultra Act version, though Ultra Act trumps it as far as paint, having more shading on the white parts and face to better bring out its various details.








The articulation is a mixed bag. His head is on a ball joint, as is the pointy piece on the back of his neck, so he can look down far and well in each direction. His shoulders have a butterfly joint and are on ball pegs, with upper arm that’s also on a peg and can swivel around. Shoulder pads are soft plastic that also attach via peg. Upper torso and waist are on ball joints with decent range, he has ball jointed legs with upper thigh swivel, single jointed elbows and knees that barely bend in about 90 degrees, and toe hinge. His ankles can move up and down, but it’s very minimal, and since they can’t swivel or turn, it makes it a bit challenging to stand him securely at times. When moving the arms, they can detach at the upper arm cut if you stretch it too far, and the shoulder pads can easily slide off if you apply too much pressure to them. And if you don’t utilize the stand for the flame effect, it’s weight will cause his forearm to drop and pop out. The Ultra Act has better engineering in his shoulders, elbows, knees and ankles, while the Figuarts has better head, neck, upper torso, waist and thigh movement. Too bad you couldn’t combine the best of both into one, then you’d have a perfect figure.










Due to the uneven articulation, S.H. Figuarts Kyrieloid is just an ok figure. He looks great, you just won’t be able to get him into many dynamic poses due to the lack of ankle range and single jointed elbows and knees. And he’ll fall apart if you stretch certain joints too far. Luckily those pieces can easily pop back in. Still, it sucks knowing they could’ve made him fantastic if they had taken more time to work on his engineering.









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