Review: Ultra-Act Ultraman

I was exposed to the Ultra series much earlier in my childhood than Kamen Rider so every time I see any of the Ultra-brothers, it brings a smile to my face. When I got into S.H. figuarts I got wind that Ultraman has his own line, termed Ultra Act and so went ahead to order him off Hobby Link Japan when he was available. I have him for quite some time already so let’s take a look at the first ever Ultra warrior!

The box for Ultra-Acts looks much better than a standard S.H. figuarts one. The front has the side view of the character and the back has illustrations on the poses it can pull off. Perhaps it’s the black colour but it just feels classy.

Ultraman comes with 2 trays. One for the figure and his accessories, and a 2nd tray for his mantle and Specium beam effect part.

First things first, his size. Ultraman is much larger than a standard S.H. figuart and since both retails for a similar price-tag, are you getting more for less? =3

First impressions are that the joints are really obvious! Secondly, only the silver is painted on with the red being moulded plastic. That really looks cheap but as I looked closer and longer I start to see the good points. The sculpt is really slim and although it is a classic design, it’s brought across in a simple yet modern way.

From the sides Ultraman looks trim and fit as well! One thing that bugged me was how obvious the ankle joints were, in relation to his feet.

Most S.H. figuarts has clear plastic used for their eyes so will Ultra-Act follow the tradition? Well in a way yes, as you can see Ultraman has a clear plastic eye with the eye pattern moulded inside. It’s accurate to the character and looks great. The head sculpt is sweet and coupled with the eyes, it’s absolute win.

For extras, Ultraman does come with quite an amount. Specium beam and Ultra slash, extra hands and a red-coloured timer.

The Brother’s Mantle is also included. It was seen in the Mega Monster Battle: Ultra Galaxy Movie and all the Ultra brothers presumably royalty would wear it. For the Ultra-Act, the mantle is a solid piece of plastic and can’t move. The sculpt is nice with many folds but I personally prefers a cloak that goes swish swish~  =3

Putting the cloak on is a breeze, just slide it over Ultraman’s head and there you go. He looks really impressive with the cloak and it’s likely that I would display him thus. You would need the clear stand to balance the cloak so try not to lose it.

Well for having joints so obvious, Ultraman should be super pose-able and he doesn’t fail to deliver. You can pull off whatever you think of and it’s a whole lot of fun messing with him.

Since Ultraman has no cumbersome skirt of chest armour to obstruct his pose-ability, he is really limber and great to pose. However after playing with him for a bit his joints especially the arm and hip connections begin to get loose. It’s a bummer that now my left arm can’t be held up for too long a period since it will gradually sag downwards.

Another thing that is visually unappealing would be those lines at the side of the figure. Those are where the 2 pieces of plastic join together and I wish Bandai did more to hide it since the silver parts stick out like a sore thumb. Ah well, let’s move on with the effect parts.

The Ultra slash effect comes stuck on to the hand and all you need to do is to swap the hands for it. It’s clear blue(almost) plastic with a slight white gradient around the inner rim.

The red colour timer is made of clear red plastic and you just need to pop off the blue one and insert the red one. There is a tiny groove at the bottom of the hole it plugs in into so make sure it’s secured. It would be really irritating to search for a part as tiny as the timer. =(

Schwatch~

The grand-daddy of all Ultra attacks. It’s as important to Ultraman as Rider kicks are to Kamen Riders. The Specium beam is more or less similar to the Ultra slash effect part. Here’s a view from the side.

Conclusion:

Bandai gave new life to the Ultraman action figures line with the Ultra Act and boy did they do well. The figure is pose-able and has plenty of accessories to recreate almost all his attacks in style. The sculpt is accurate and the inclusion of the Brother’s mantle is just the icing on the cake. Well, those are only the good points though. The figure looks cheap due to the bare red plastic and terrible seamlines. The looseness of the joints after playing will eventually get on your posing nerves. Would I recommend this Ultra-Act? YES. Despite it’s many flaws, it’s a wonderful take on an iconic character and I doubt there are any Ultraman figurines out there that can beat this in terms of price, sculpt and accuracy. If you’re a fan of Ultraman, this is a must have and now I’m really looking forward for an Ultraman Taro or Zoffy Ultra-Act.

As always thanks for reading!

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