S.H. Figuarts Father of Ultra

Last week I received the latest SHF Showa Ultra figure, the one and only Father of Ultra, who made his debut in the series Ultraman Ace. He’s the 1st of the two Ultra related August releases I had pre-ordered (the other being Ace Killer).

Father of Ultra is easily recognized by the huge horns on his head. The rest of his body is the standard red and silver color scheme that the other original Ultra brothers have (different colors wouldn’t be introduced until Ultraman Tiga decades later). Bandai did a fine job in capturing his look, much more accurate than the highly stylized Ultra Act version, which made him quite muscular. For his accessories, he comes with 6 pairs of hands (fists, two sets of holding, 2 sets of flat/karate chop, and grappling). He has an extra right flat hand that shoots out his signature beam, called the Father Shot. What makes this different from other releases is that the beam and hand are 2 separate pieces, with a clear plastic peg on the side of the fingers that clips into a hole in the beam effect. This makes it easier to swap it into the wrist peg. He also comes with an alternate red color timer, and the final accessory is the Ultra Array, a dumbbell-shaped weapon which emits a blinding flash that stuns his opponents. The dumbbell ends can be removed from the bar in order to slide it into his hand. This accessory is nicely detailed, with the round ends being a clear plastic surrounded by silver stalk-like tentacles, and the bar being silver with red stripes on each end. The Father Shot is a translucent blue and yellow.

The articulation is everything we’ve come to expect from SHF Ultra figures, including head and neck on ball pegs, hinged, ball jointed shoulders and thighs, extra butterfly joints in his shoulders, double jointed elbows and knees, with swivel at the elbow for extra arm range, ball joint upper torso and waist, upper thigh rotation, peg wrists, swivel ankles, and toe hinge. He’s able to easily achieve various sitting, kneeling, running, kicking and action poses. Bandai gave him the upgraded joint system for their standard releases, which allows for better range than some of the earlier figures in the line.

S.H. Figuarts Father of Ultra turned out to be a nice release. He comes with enough accessories and sports good articulation to make him worth the price, which was much cheaper than most single MonsterArts releases with no accessories. I suppose they could’ve included a cape, but otherwise, he has everything to make him worth owning. There are just a few more Showa Ultras left to be released in the SHF line, such as 80 and Joneus. The next release should be the Mother of Ultra, so that Father can have his wife to complete his family, along with his son Taro and grandson Taiga (both of which I own).

Here’s a stop motion short, pitting Father of Ultra against Space Godzilla.

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