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!
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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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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