Ultraman no.6 is here! The last of the Ultra Brothers have finally made it into the Ultra-Act line and when I went over to Tokyo for a summer program, this handsome fella was on my BUY OR DIE TRYING LIST! Now it’s time for the review and check out whether my undying devotion to dudes in strange silvery/red suits is worth all that..TAAARROOOOUUU~
One of my favourite Ultra Brothers, I really dig those extra lines on his suit and his funky bracelet. And I remember the loss when Jack was overpowered at sunset and defeated by Knuckle Seijin and Black King only to come back next episode to triumph against those 2. Now the Ultra Act is in my hands and without knowing it, I had a heck load of pictures of this awesome Ultra! 帰ってきたウルトラマン!
The Showa brothers released in Ultra-Act form has proven to be surprisingly popular and with copyright issues affecting distribution of the brothers in South-East Asia..the prices have been rather crazy. Still I managed to grab Ace for a decent price of 4000 yen without a pre-order so a review is due!
Since the last few movies with Belial..the Ultra Brothers are now sporting funky new capes which distinguishes them as Commanders…the original Ultra-Act Ultraman came with a cape..but this spanking new one is a seperate purchase and looks pretty nifty! Let’s take a look!
I had plenty of enquiries about where I purchase my stuff and where in Singapore is a good place to loot etc. Well I decided to put that all to rest and introduce you guys to China Square Central! Located conveniently within walking distance form Chinatown Mrt, it’s where toy-lovers hang out every Sunday! Continue reading
It’s been ages since I touched any Ultra Acts and I’m glad to say that with Ultraman renewal, I’m back and swinging into the line! Ultraman Renewal version is an updated version of the previous Ultraman and with recent Ultra Act improvements, how can anyone not be excited?
I just did a random check on Ami Ami to see what new releases were up for pre-order and I saw not 1 but 3 items that is on my really want list~ Ahhh my heart then shattered like Haruhi above….since I’m not working anymore (studying full-time), my finances haven’t really recovered and with my pre-orders coming in every month, it’s more than I can cope with~ =(
I got both Belials as a combo set so after having done the review for Belial, now let’s take a look at Kaiser Belial!
Following both Ultra 7 and Ultraman’s review, it’s time to take a look at Ultraman Belial!
Much like how I viewed the Kamen Rider S.H. Figuarts, I wanted to collect all the Showa Ultras as all my childhood memories revolved around them. When Ultra 7 was up for sale I grabbed it with both hands and here’s the review of the Ultra warrior himself!
Following the same design as Ultraman, the box has the side shot of the character’s face at the front and action poses at the back. Ultra 7 comes in the same sized-box as Ultraman does but it’s much thinner, as he doesn’t have the Brother’s mantle at the back tray.
Since i was already used to Ultraman’s obvious joints, seeing the same thing on Ultra 7 didn’t bother me so much this time. That being said, 7’s joints seems to be more well hidden and he looks more uniform. His ankle joint is different from Ultraman’s and he feels much more solid and tighter than Ultraman did out of the box. However just look at the connection between his arms and shoulders. There is an obvious gap and try as I might to push in the arms, this is the most they will go in. So you will have dislocated arms right off the bat. Doh! The rear shoulder is also looking cheap due to the chest/shoulder pads thing not reaching all the way back. It just ends abruptly on the sides and the center is just painted silver making highlighting the emptiness. I can’t remember whether this is following the suit’s original design or just creative license? on Bandai’s part.
The red is also bare moulded plastic and only the silver is painted on Ultra 7. It sure doesn’t help to dispel the notion of cheapness that hit me when I first opened up Ultraman’s box. =\ Still the proportions are nice and he is a beefier version of Ultraman.
As much as I rage about how cheap everything looks and how terribly the shoulders attach to the arms, when I see the head sculpt I am more than soothed. Ultra 7’s eyes also use clear plastic and the paint applications of the eye have an orange gradient slowing moving up to white in the centre. It’s quite gorgeous but the only complaint I have is that both eyes have different looking gradients, which would look slightly strange when viewed head on. The helmet sculpt is really nice and it does look exactly as it would in the show. If Ultra-Acts have got only 1 thing right, that would be the head sculpts so far for me.
Ultra 7 can also use the Brother’s mantle from Ultraman. That would make sense, considering he was also shown wearing it in the movie. Ultra 7 looks better than Ultraman having the mantle though, maybe it’s personal preference?
Ultra 7 also has a large amount of accessories for your enjoyment. 7 comes with an extra Eye-Slugger, thrown Eye-Slugger, the Wide shot, and Emerium beam effect parts. Why did Bandai include an extra Eye-Slugger?
Left is the one that came attached to 7’s head right out of the box. Right one is the extra one. The only difference I could discern would be that the left one doesn’t have full paint applications around the ends where it plugs into 7’s head. So Bandai actually thought it would be lame for 7 to hold an Eye-Slugger with missing paint so they gave you another one! That’s pretty nice and since I unfortunately lost 1 Eye-Slugger in the course of this photo-shoot, I still have an extra one. =3 Also once you remove the Eye-Slugger, whenever you place it back in, it will be rather loose so be careful in case you drop it without knowing.
Articulation is still decent and he can strike a large variety of poses. Ultra 7 doesn’t feel as limber as Ultraman did and I would attribute that to the suit design.
With double Eye-Sluggers, you can even rip-off Zero’s stance and move!
The Eye-Slugger being thrown! This effect part is really light and the arm won’t sag or anything like that. I would also like to clarify that this part originally came only in clear plastic. I took the initiative to spray it clear blue as it looked too dull for my tastes.
The Emerium Beam! For some reason the green colour of the beam and the blast off is wildly different in colour. It looks strange and overall it’s nice that Bandai included it but I wouldn’t see myself posing him like this. It’s troublesome to plug both hands off and then pop in this effect part AND then adjust the hands to fit right above his blue jewel on his crown.
Size comparison between Ultra 7’s Wide Shot and Ultraman’s Specium Beam. Ultraman’s one is so much smaller and make him looks like a dweeb, =(
This is by far, my favourite effect part that comes with 7. It’s big, gorgeous and brings so much more to your poses.
Ultra Warriors in action!
Conclusion:
Let’s start with the cons this time. The red looks so plasticky and cheap, the arms have the really obvious gaps between the shoulders that is so unnatural, the loose Eye-Slugger and the decrease in articulation from compared to Ultraman. However should all that stop you from getting 7? I would say hmmm. if this is your first foray into Ultra-Act line, get Ultraman first instead of 7 since he is THE Ultraman and he comes with the mantle. However if you already have Ultraman and was wondering whether or not Ultra-7 is worth adding to your collection, yes he is. Bandai has improved 7 from Ultraman with tighter joints, larger accessories and all in all, a more solid figure. I am really glad I got him and I had plenty of fun posing him around that it actually made me consider getting Leo, considering how similar they are in design..
As always, thanks for reading!
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