Tag Archives: Ultra-Act

#0080: Ultraman Dyna

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , ,

ULTRAMAN DYNA

ULTRA-ACT

We now venture into Day 2 of the post-Christmas Review, reviewing the figures I received as gifts during the holiday.  My second review is another figure from the Ultra-Act line (Marking 3 reviews from this line in a row).  My last two Ultra-Act reviews have been of earlier Ultramen.  This time I’ll be jumping a head a bit to the 90s for Ultraman Dyna.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Ultraman Dyna was released as part of the 2012 series of the Ultra-Act line.  Dyna had a few different looks in his series, but for this figure, they’ve chosen to do his “Flash-Type” look.  As it was his default look in the show, it’s a good choice, though I wouldn’t mind seeing his “Miracle-Type” look down the line.  He’s just over 6 inches tall and has 40 points of articulation,just like the previous two Ultramen I’ve reveiewed.  Once again, the figure’s sculpt remains accurate to his appearance in the show.  Dyna’s design is more simplistic, not quite as much as the original Ultraman, but moreso thatn Taro, putting Dyna somewhere in between the two.  It all looks pretty good.  I miss the details on the gloves and boots that Taro had, but that lack of them is accurate to the character’s look on the show, so I can’t really complain.  The paint is somewhere in between the previous two.  It’s really good for the most part, but there’s a tiny, tiny bit of scuff on his chin.  Nothing horrible, just somewhat noticeable.  Everything else is nice and clean.  Continuing the trend of the others, Dyna has a nice variety of accessories.  He includes the requisite red color timer, an alternate light-piped head, a plug to allow him to be connected to a stand, an alternate shoulder piece, and 9 hands: fisted (L and R), Karate chop (L and R), splayed (L and R), thumbs up (R), a hand holding an energy ball, and a hand with a beam.  Like with the other two, the color timer’s a nice addition, but I don’t have much use for it.  The extra head is nice in theory, but iffy in execution, as light piping seems to always be.  The alternate shoulder piece is similar to Taro’s, allowing the shoulder to go into deeper poses, but Dyna’s is folded on both sides to allow both shoulders to move.  The hands are similar to the ones with the others, though the energy beam is more expansive, which fits a more modern Ultraman.  The thumbs up is also cool, and I quite like the hand with the ball of energy.  As with the others, the hands really add a lot to the figure.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Like Taro, Dyna was a Christmas gift from my super awesome parents.  Dyna is actually pretty important to me, as he was the first Ultraman I had a toy of, back in the 90s.  As such, he’s my personal favorite,  so I was very happy to get this guy this year!

#0079: Ultraman Taro

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , ,

ULTRAMAN TARO

ULTRA-ACT

Today marks Day 1 of my post-Christmas Review, where I’ll do reviews of all the figures I received this year as gifts during the holiday season.  Up first is my second review in the Ultra-Act line.  Last time I looked at the original Ultraman, this time I’ll be looking at Ultraman Taro, the fifth incarnation of Ultraman.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Taro here was released as part of the 2013 series of the Ultra-Act line.  This is the character’s first release in the line.  He’s based on the character’s appearance in his series Ultraman Taro, which ran from 1973 to 1974.  As far as I know, Taro only had one look, and this is it, so I suppose it’s the logical choice.  Taro stands just a hair over 6 inches tall, making him about the same height as the first Ultraman.  He’s also got the same 40 points of articulation as the previous figure.  The joints are a bit tighter on this figure, which I prefer a bit more.  The figure’s sculpt looks fairly accurate to the character’s look on the show, though it does appear that Bandai has given him a slightly more “heroic” build than the stunt man in the original suit had.  This is fine by me, as it helps to keep the older Ultras in a similar style to the more modern ones, and quite frankly, makes for a more impressive figure.  Taro’s design is a bit more detailed than the original Ultraman’s, and they’ve pulled off those details convincingly.  There’s some great work on the hands and feet showing all the seams and wrinkles present in the boots and gloves.  The paint here’s not quite as good as it was on the original Ultraman, in my opinion, but it’s still very well done.  My only real issue is that the green gem on his forehead is a tiny bit sloppy.  It’s forgivable, given the scale they’re working at, but I wish it were just a smidge better.  Like the last Ultraman, Taro’s got a wide array of accessories.  He includes an alternate red color timer, a plug to allow him to be connected to one of the figarts stands, his lance, his king bracelet at full expanded size, three interchangeable left glove cuffs, an alternate shoulder piece and 10 pairs of hands:  fisted (L and R), karate chop (L and R), action gesture (L and R), a hand to hold the king bracelet (R), a hand to hold the lance (R), a hand with a beam attached (L), and a wide splayed hand (R).  The color timer is a standard for the line.  It’s the same as the normal one, just red.  The plug for the stand is only of use if you’ve buy one of their stands, which I haven’t.  The lance and the king bracelet are nicely done, and fit well into the appropriate hands.  The glove cuffs allow you to display Taro with his bracelet in various states.  The Shoulder piece is a clever idea.  It’s bent on the right side to allow the figure’s right shoulder to be placed in more deep stances.   The hands all look great and swap out with ease, and add a lot of play value to the figure.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Taro was a Christmas gift from my parents this year.  I’ve been wanting one for a while, and my parents got a hold of one for me for the holiday.  I was quite excited to get this guy, as he’s one of the more unique looking Ultramen, and really looks cool in the display.  Thanks Mom and Dad!

#0078: Ultraman

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , ,

ULTRAMAN

ULTRA-ACT

So, after yesterday’s review being a bit of a downer, today I’ll be looking at something far more exciting!  This is my first review from Ultra-Act, a line I’m beginning to love way too much.  The purpose of the line is to release highly-articulated, highly-accessorized figures of the many versions of Japanese hero Ultraman!  I’ll be looking at the one who started it all, the original Ultraman.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Ultra-Act figures, similarly to Marvel Select, aren’t released in traditional waves, but rather single releases.  Ultraman was released as part of the 2012 series of the Ultra-Act line.  He’s the second release of this version of the character, with a few “improvements” from the original.  More broadly, he’s based on Ultraman from the 1966 series, but specifically he’s based on the design from a bit later in the series.  It’s the look that the character sported for the majority of the series, and it’s how most people remember the character.  It’s also the most refined of his looks from the show, so it was well chosen.  Ultraman stands a hair over 6 inches tall and has 40 points of articulation.  The sculpt looks fairly accurate to the character’s look on the show.  The details are a little soft, but that’s actually appropriate, so no issues there.  The eyes are really well done, with the texturing being handled very well.  The paint is superb, with no noticeable slop or smudges.  The flat finish helps to make it look more realistic, which is cool.  The accessories are definitely one of the figure’s coolest areas.  Ultraman includes an alternate color timer in red instead of blue, 2 dust clouds that can be placed at Ultraman’s feet, and 10 hands: fisted (L and R), relaxed (L and R), splayed (L and R), karate-chop (L and R), peace sign (R), hand with energy beam (R), and hand with an energy disk (R).  The hands are of course the main affair here, and they’re all done really well.  They swap out pretty easily, and the variety of gestures really adds a lot to what you can do with the figure.  The color timer and the dirt cloud I can take or leave, but they’re also neat additions and go a long way to make the figure worth-while.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I got this guy earlier this year from Amazon, with a little help from my parents funds-wise.  He’s so much fun, and I super glad to have him.  I’ve been a huge Ultraman fan since I was 3 or 4 years old, but I’ve never had a figure that really lived up to the character until now.  The Ultra-Act line is a bit on the pricey side, being imports and all, but having this guy in hand, he’s so worth it!  He’s just one of those figures that’s hard to put down.

What more do you want from me?  It’s Ultraman!