Skip to main content

3rd Party Figure and Accessory


From the same seller who produced the Baraba figure that I enjoyed so much, I went ahead and purchased this new custom of the Ultraman Ace kaiju Vakishim that he did. This order has turned to be a bit of a fiasco.



The figure comes in a mock S.H. Figuarts box he printed himself. It includes photos of the figure, as well as a pic of the star kaiju. I paid for the figure at the end of March, and he sent it out on April 1st, from Glasgow, UK. After over 2 weeks of checking the tracking number, and it continuing to come up as LABEL CREATED, NOT YET IN SYSTEM, I contacted him to see when he had mailed it, as the last figure I bought from him came within a week. After confirming that he sent it out on 4/1, he contacted his local postal office to inquire about the parcel's status, and they gave him a useless answer that rivals the rubbish responses that our local USPS gives when asking about missing packages. Others whom he had shipped the figure to also reported similar issues of very slow delivery and non-working tracking numbers. I was beginning to think that it had gotten lost in the mail and I’d probably never see it. Especially after the tracking number suddenly came up as NOT TRACKABLE. To my surprise, it showed up on Monday. I was psyched to finally get this figure after waiting so long. 




I initially noticed that his head horn wasn’t in the box. I looked all over, but couldn’t find it. Eventually I did find it, buried in a pocket amid the styrofoam. So that was a relief.








Anyway, I put on the head, neck and tail, and started to mess around with it. The jaw hinge was so loose that the mouth couldn’t stay closed, and the right arm was super loose and flimsy, barely able to hold any pose without dropping down to the side. The left arm was loose as well, but not as bad. I applied some Kiki solution to these parts, and it helped with the jaw, but not with that right arm, which is still as weak as cooked pasta. When that arm popped off and I looked at the joint, I saw why it was so loose. The joint system, if you can call it that, does not have a decent grip on the peg. A more traditional ball joint would have worked better.


And then, as I moved some of the other joints, I noticed the claw end of that right hand came off easily, requiring more Kiki solution. A plastic tube that’s in the leg seemed to come out as well, but I was able to push it back into place. And then I noticed how easily the paint chipped, around the shoulders and thighs when moving them. There was also some paint chipping on the spikes of one of the claws.







The sculpt is nice, but the easily peeling paint is a bummer. The articulation is also limited. His head can move up and down and side to side, the jaw opens and closes, the shoulders move out and around (but have trouble holding any poses besides down), the claws curve in at 2 places, the thighs move a bit, there’s slight knee bend, and some ankle movement. Because his tail end is so heavy, he has trouble standing on just his legs. The kaiju himself wasn't very expressive, so the limited articulated isn’t that big a deal, but it would just be nice if the joints weren’t as flimsy as spaghetti. See below....












I'm not sure if I'll buy any future custom Ultra kaiju from this dude. I love the Baraba figure he made, but this Vakishim , after waiting so long for it, is a bit of a letdown. It does look nice, though.









The other delivery I got was a 3rd party torso for the S. H. Figuarts Ultraman Tiga figure, that comes with 2 batteries that give him light up eyes and color timer. I purchased it from SHF Upgrade, and it was delivered from Hong Kong within 1 week.






The first thing that’s noticeable is the shade of silver on his face is darker than usual. Also, the lines on his chest are black instead of gold. Perhaps this was done so that the light up effect would stand out more? 



You insert a small battery (included) into the head panel, and another one into the torso. Using a magnetic stick, you touch the forehead and chest to activate the lights. The chest has several settings, to mimic when his color timer is full, and when he’s running out of energy. Check out the video demonstration.


This accessory is fun for taking night-time photographs, or simply giving your Tiga figure some fun light features. I especially like the color timer light variations.








This is a cool accessory if you want to make your Figuarts Ultraman Tiga pop. I definitely enjoyed taking photos of him with glowing eyes.




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

S.H. MonsterArts King Kong '21

The next May pre-order to arrive is S.H. MonsterArts King Kong from the Godzilla vs. Kong film. I was psyched to get a highly articulated Kong from Tamashii Nations, and the great ape is finally here. Kong is a little shorter than Godzilla (just like in the film). The details of the sculpt are all well done. Tamashii Nations did a good job capturing his look well, from his hair covered body to a few scars on his chest. His faces, including his eyes and teeth on the open mouth head, as well as his axe, are all well painted. The only issue is that they seemed to have gone with a glossy finish, so he seems too shiny, especially on his face and chest. A duller matte shade would've suited him better. At least it would've kept him from looking like he over-moisturized. As for his articulation, he's quite flexible. His head is on a ball joint, ball jointed neck as well, ball jointed shoulders and thighs, upper arm cut, single jointed elbows and knees that go in further than 90 deg...
1 comment
Read more

S.H. MonsterArts Godzilla 1991 Shinjuku Decisive Battle version

The latest Godzilla figure I pre-ordered from the S.H. MonsterArts line has arrived. It is the 1991 Shinjuku Decisive Battle version, to go along with the Mecha King Ghidorah release from earlier this year. While the suit is almost the same as the one used in 1989's Godzilla vs. Biollante, they made some slight adjustments. Compared to the BioGoji figure, this one is much thicker, therefore, he does look different from that other release. His sculpt is the classic 90's era Heisei look, with small head, thick thighs, large dorsal spines and a long tail. Like all the other Godzilla suits of that decade, he has a cat-like face, both cute and menacing. While the King of the Monsters has had multiple looks throughout his 50+ years, it's the Heisei era that seems the most iconic. Artwork, toys, comics, etc, have all utilized this particular design. Similar to the 89 suit, this 91 figure has a small set of dorsal spines, followed by a much larger one, and then gradually getting sm...
Post a Comment
Read more

S.H. Figuarts Ultimate Ageis/Ultraman Zero Armor option parts set

Earlier in the week I received my S.H. Figuarts Ultimate Ageis/Ultraman Zero Armor option parts set. I was busy with work and doing other reviews, but I finally got around to checking these out. They turned out to be pretty cool option parts. Ultimate Aegis is a set of armor created by Ultraman Noa . My initial thought was that they may be a bit of a hassle to attach to the Ultras. They ended up being fairly easily to swap out and put on them. The only issue I had was with the large piece (Final Ultimate Zero) that Ultraman Zero holds. I was having trouble getting his arm peg into the fist (it’s attached to the piece). Then I realized that I had on his forearm with his bracelet, so I swapped out the regular forearm without the bracelet and it went in easily. For the ultimate Zero Sword, each hand piece comes with its own fists, a red (for X) and blue (for Zero). The top of the fist has a peg that attaches to the piece, and then you ...
2 comments
Read more