ULTRAMAN GINGA

S.H. FIGUARTS (BANDAI)

Fun FiQ Fact #0067: This marks my fifth Figuarts Ultra review since they ended Ultra-Act and switched over to SH Figuarts full-time, and only my second live-action Ultra in the style.

I got into smaller-scale imported figures, specifically Bandai’s Figuarts-style range, with Ultra-Act, the specifically Ultraman-themed line.  With the end of Ultra-Act, I stepped back on Ultras specifically, but I dipped my toes back into the waters with the Anime-based figures, before jumping in headfirst late last year with Ultraman Z.  And, since Ultraman’s like a hard narcotic to me, and I’m the recovering addict in this analogy, I find myself greatly in need of more live-action Ultramen.  Like, say, for instance, Ginga!  Yay Ginga!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Ultraman Ginga was added to Bandai’s SH Figuarts line in October of 2019.  The figure stands just under 6 inches tall and he has 37 points of articulation.  Well, he’d have that articulation if mine weren’t defective.  Yeah, unfortunately, about 30 seconds after taking Ginga out of the box, his neck joint cracked, and the only option for repair was gluing it.  Real bummer there.  The articulation scheme is a little on the fiddlier side (which I think may have contributed to the breakage on mine), but it works well enough, and I especially like the range he gets on the shoulders, even with the extra armor.  Ginga is based on his standard starter design, which is a pretty fun one.  It goes for the traditional red and silver Ultra look, and then adds a bunch of transparent blue accents, which are totally fun.  His sculpt is a pretty good rendition of Ginga’s design.  It’s a little cleaned up, notably missing some of the folds from Ginga’s actual suit.  Ginga’s color work is pretty cleanly handled.  I especially like the translucent blue, and it adds some really fun pop to the figure.  He’s packed with four pairs of hands (in fists, gripping, flat, and open gesture), an additional hand with a Ginga Cross Shoot effect attached, the Ginga Spark Lance, and both versions of the color timer.

THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION

Ginga was one of the last Ultra-Act figures, and I came very, very close to buying one, but I knew the line was ending, and I just fell out of it all.  Since then, I’ve always wondered about the world where I got a Ginga…okay not really.  But I did still kinda want one.  The Figuart was in the big epic collection currently being processed at All Time Toys, and I was looking to snag him, when the owner Jason just handed him over, because he knows I like Ultraman.  I was bummed that he broke so quickly after I opened him, but, on the flip side, at least it happened on one I didn’t have anything into.  And, ultimately, he wasn’t beyond repair.  His neck’s gonna be a little stiffer than it’s supposed to be from now on, but it’s not the end of the world, and I do still really like the figure.