GAMMA 1 & GAMMA 2

DRAGON STARS (BANDAI)

Okay, not gonna lie, I’m starting to get just a touch burned out on Marvel Legends, so I’m gonna do my best to mix in a few non-Legends reviews here, just for my own sanity. So, let’s talk about a thing I don’t talk about here too often: Dragon Ball. My primary association with the franchise is Z, specifically the Android and Cell Sagas, and I haven’t really had much interaction with its current iteration, Super. That said, last year Super did a sort of continuation of those two sagas for their latest movie, Super Hero (which, for those playing at home, makes the official title the somewhat redundant sounding Dragon Ball Super Super Hero), a Piccolo and Gohan-centered story that brings back the Red Ribbon army. Our two new androids for the movie are the super hero-inspired Gamma 1 and Gamma 2, who I’ll be looking at today.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Gamma 1 and Gamma 2 are plot across the two Super Hero tie-in assortments of Dragon Stars, with 1 being in the first and 2 in the second. The first set hit just before the film’s US release, and the second just at the beginning of the summer. Both figures stand about — inches tall and have — points of articulation. I’d only handled one Dragon Stars figure before these two, and wasn’t exactly thrilled with the movement on that one, so I was iffy on these ones. Obviously, they’re not sporting Figuarts level articulation, but it was better than I was expecting, especially on the upper half. The lower half is less practical, in part because of the “skirt” piece blocking the hip movement, in part because of the difficulty getting the ankles to turn on both axises, and in part because of the tendency for the waist on both figures to pop apart if you push them too far. All that said, I did find the tolerances on Gamma 2’s joints to be just a touch better than Gamma 1’s. In terms of construction, these two are largely the same. The body sculpt does a good job of capturing their retro super hero-style attire from the movie, with plenty of sharp detailing on the outfits. The capes are both made from a softer rubber, which I think works pretty well. They hang flat, rather than going for anything dynamic, but I think it works out okay. The difference between the two figures lies in their heads, which get differing numbers of fins, corresponding to their own respective unit numbers. Additionally, they also get slightly tweaked expressions, with 1 being a bit more stoic, while 2 is slightly more jovial. It’s minor, but it works well for their respective characteristics. The paint work between the two is again pretty similar, swapping reds for blues between the two. Application is clean on both figures for the most part. Both figures are packed with two sets of hands and a blaster designed to match their respective head design. I found the hands a bit tricky to swap the first time around, but on Gamma 2, they seem to swap just a little bit easier.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I really only care about the Android and Cell Sagas of DBZ, so I haven’t kept up with everything since. That said, I was immediately intrigued by the designs for these two, which made me kinda want the figures. Once Gamma 2 hit it was even harder to resist, so on Jason’s recommendation, I sat down and watched the movie, and about 20 minutes in, I knew there was no way I was passing on these. I was a little hesitant to go back to Stars after being disappointed in the only other figure I’d gotten from the line, but I actually really like how these two turned out.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with these figures to review.  If you’d like to see a video of these guys in action, I helped out with one for their YouTube channel, so check that out.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.