Skip to main content

Spectrum Animation Ultraseven


While looking at kaiju and action figure reviews on YouTube, I came across these Spectrum Animation Ultra figures. They are 3rd party action figures, and after seeing a few videos, I thought that Ultraseven looked the best, so I scored myself one from ebay.










The figure is much larger than the standard S.H. Figuarts Ultras. He stands at about 7". The sculpt is pretty good, managing to capture Ultraseven's appearance without looking too cartoonish or odd. The proportions are good. He's painted in red and silver, with the paint on the head and face being quite shiny. His dark orange eyes also stand out amid the shiny silver, as does his green head lamp, where he shoots his Emerium Beam from.







His accessories include 5 pairs of hands (fists, karate chop, open palm, 2-finger pointing, and a holding pair to hold his Eye Slugger; the curved spike on his head). He also has one extra flat hand with his translucent Wide Shot Beam attached to it. There's also a base and stand, and a small cube that activates his light up feature (you can remove the face and there's a place to insert a small battery). This lights up his eyes. I suppose they could've included an Emerium Beam, but I'm happy with what he comes with. The other thing is that the Eye Slugger can be removed, and I like how it clips on quite snug in his head. Once it's on, it won't fall off, even if you hold the figure upside down, something that the S.H. Figuarts version seems to have issues with.












The articulation is where this figure shines and what ultimately made me want to get it. His head can look up, the neck can turn fully around, he sports swivel hinge hips and shoulders, with a bit off a butterfly joint on the arms. There's also an upper arm cut that helps give the arms extra range, especially for his shooting beam pose. Double jointed elbows and knees, ball hinge ankles and toes hinge. His upper torso and waist are on ball joints and have very good range, twisting far in each direction, and the waist is able to spin fully around. The thighs can kick up far and spread very wide, something that the Figuarts' cannot do. The smooth, fluid movements ensure that you'll be able to get him into good action poses.










Spectrum Animation Ultraseven is a great figure to own. Even though it's a 3rd party, unlicensed release, the improvement in articulation and decent amount of extras are enough to make the figure worth buying. Plus, it's also pretty affordable, and considering that Bandai's prices have only increased, getting a bigger figure with better engineering at a lower cost is a no brainer. I'll have to keep an eye on this company and see what other figures they release. They've already dropped some of the other Ultra brothers, and while I'm happy with my Figuarts versions, I might just be tempted to get more if they're as good as Ultraseven.









 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Ultraman Omega finale

Episode 25, the series finale of Ultraman Omega aired this Friday. From the very first episode I was hooked, and the series continued to maintain a high quality until the surprisingly emotional end. Sorato (Omega) regained all his memories, learning that he was one of many Space Gazers, who's job is to watch a planet and not interfere with any wars between the species (in Earth's case, humans and kaiju). A space Gazer's job is to observe, study and take notes, to learn from a planet's successes and mistakes, in the hopes of finding the right formula to achieve universal peace. Having returned to his previous role as simply a watcher, Kosei, Ayumu and Sayuki were forced to rely on themselves and their team to defeat the powerful kaiju Zomera. As he continued to watch the battle, Sorato/Omega found himself wrestling with the inactive role he was meant to do and his memories of the friendships he had forged with the others, as well as the examples of human kindness he had ...

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...

Help Me… I’m Possessed (1974) / #Missingcouple (2024)

I've watched some weird, obscure horror movies throughout my life. I can now add this lurid 1974 schlockfest to that growing list. In a castle in the desert, Dr. Arthur Blackwood runs a sanitarium filled with mentally disturbed patients (as well as staff). He claims to be working on finding a way to cure people of any violent tendencies they have, and brags about his younger sister, innocent, child-like Melanie, as evidence that his treatment works. When she was a child, their parents had to keep her locked up and chained in the basement, to control her violent fits. Now that he's cured her, Arthur has his wife Diane come to the castle to meet Melanie, so that they can be one big, happy family. Diane begins to grow suspicious that something is amiss after a Sheriff shows up investigating the murder of 2 local teens, and sets about on her own investigation, hoping to uncover the sinister secrets that she feels her husband is hiding. Help Me... I'm Possessed is an outrageous,...