Storm Collectibles Ultra Street Fighter 2 Blanka

I've been loving the Ultra Street Fighter 2 series of figures from Storm Collectibles, and this latest Blanka figure is no exception. In fact, I think overall this has to be their best release yet! There's just so much to like about this figure.

Click through below to watch my full video review over on the Kool Kollectibles YouTube channel.

As always with the USF2 releases, this Blanka set comes packed to the brim with accessories. Of course it comes with his electric thunder, done very nicely in transluscent yellow plastic that captures the electricity very nicely. It also comes with 4 head sculpts in total, each of which are beautifully sculpted and painted. The expressions are very accurate to the game, and I absolutely love the loser expression that they always include with the USF2 figures.

The array of hands give you all the possible options to replicate his poses from the game. They also come nicely painted, with the reds at the base of the finger nails being a stand out detail. To round things off, the usual backdrop from the classic character stage is also included. 

The figure itself brings the best of everything that Storm has done before. The sculpting in the musculature is perfect, and the paint application brings it all to life. The shade of green is fantastic, and incredibly consistent across all parts of the figure.

The use of softer plastic or vinyl around the hips and groin area allow for the deep crouching poses. But I do worry that the area may tear if left stressed for long periods, so I would go for more static poses for long term display.

All head sculpts come with the same orange hair piece, that is made of a softer plastic. This way when posing with the head looking up, the hair is not so hard as to scratch the paint on the back or hinder the articulation. In fact, it's more the neck joint that hinders the figure looking even more upwards. That point of articulation is probably the only negative point that I would fault with the figure.

All other articulation points are the same as those from the previous best in Storm's range, such as Sagat, Balrog, and Fei Long. With the ankle rocking and stability in the joints, there's really no problem in getting him into a variety of poses that don't need stands to support.

The hardest pose is really the crouching, bent over pose to complement the electric thunder accessory. I had to do it at least once to capture a photo of his classic special move! The use of the additional ab crunch hinge helps getting him bent over more. But the ability to look more upwards would've sold the pose even more.

All in all, it's a fairly minor complaint against all the other positives of the figure. The sculpting, paint application, articulation, and general body proportions just perfectly fit into the series. His gorgeous orange and green bring some bright colour to the cast, and they just look sensational all displaye together. It's just pure 90s arcade nostalgia for me when I look at them on my shelf! Here's hoping Storm announce more USF2 figures for preorder very soon.

Storm Collectibles Street Fighter 6 Ryu

I've played Street Fighter since SF2 back in the early 90s, spending countless hours at the classic arcades. I even played some SFAlpha too, but cooled off the game until it came back with a vengeance in SF4. I didn't like SF5 at all, but then when SF5 came out, it felt like the perfect game.

It had the gameplay that I liked from SF4, with improved visuals. The new game mechanics were something that I learned and adapted to fairly well across a number of different characters too. As it turns out, I really do feel that it's the most complete and fun Street Fighter game since SF2.

As always, my go to characters is Ryu, and I love that they've balanced his gameplay to have really strong fundamentals, and he hits like a truck! Not the top tier in the game, but a character that you can learn and improve upon with time and practice.

I love the Storm Collectibles Ultra Street Fighter 2 series of figures for all the nostalgia they bring. And when I saw that they were also releasing Ryu from SF6, there was no way that I was going to pass on him! And I'm glad to say it's a fantastic figure release!

Click below to watch my full video review over on the Kool Kollectibles YouTube channel.

The set comes with a nice array of accessories, including a beautiful backdrop from the game. The softgoods cloak is a nice touch, but I prefer to display the figure without it. The fireball is a given, and the vast array of hands and head sculpts give you all the pose options you want to replicate his moves from the game.

The paint application is the usual high quality from Storm. The sculpt is perfectly proportioned, and the paint details bring out all the nuances in the musculature. The skin tone is really nice, and even the scarring on his body is sharply done. The dirt wash in his pants also nicely highlight the spotted detailing and folds in the sculpt.

The head sculpt too is a gorgeous rendition from the game. I've grown to like his bearded look and his character ages in the game. Add the scarring and the sandels, and his nomadic warrior persona really comes to the fore.

Articulation has always been a strong point for me with Storm. They have found a nice balance between a beautifully proportioned sculpt, with movement that has a great range of motion that doesn't have to break up that sculpt.

I always love their butterfly shoulder joints with the floating inner piece that fills gaps. The elbow and knee joints have also been perfected to still look great when deeply bent. The soft upper torso is icing on the cake, where it allows great forward, back, and sideways tilting to get those natural martial arts poses.

The different head sculpts complement the figure perfectly. You can pick whichever one you want to display to match one of his iconic poses from the game. I for one love the screaming head sculpt, which conveys the strength of his character so well.

All in all, I think this is another fantastic release from Storm. I am usually only an USF2 series collector, but am so glad that I also ordered this SF6 Ryu. If anything, I actually wish they would re-release an USF2 Ryu and Ken with this SF6 Ryu body proportions. That would make them fit in with the latest figures in a much more consistent way.

But either way, I hope Storm continue to release quality figures like this. Yes, their price range is high, but I feel you get the quality to go with that. With how much enjoyment I get just looking at this Ryu and others in my display cabinet, I really don't have anything to compain about. Here's hoping for more Street Fighter goodness in the not too distant future!

Yolopark AMK Pro Series G1 Megatron, Optimus, and Starscream

I was a bit late to the game with the Yolopark releases of their AMK Pro Series Megatron and Optimus. But seeing more and more photos appearing online, I just couldn't resist. I was so impressed that I ended up preordering their new Starscream too, and they did not disappoint!

These model kits, with some diecast parts, or hands down the best value figures on the market today in my opinion. At roughly US$50 each, there is nothing that I can think of with the size, paint application, build quality, and array of accessories that even comes close to being as value for money.

Click through below for my reviews for the three figures over on the Kool Kollectibles YouTube channel!

Each model kits comes packaged pretty nicely in its separate parts. So there is a bit of assembly needed, but thankfully there's no painting or glueing needed. The assembly process is fairly straight forward, but do be a bit careful in adjusting any tight joints in case of breakage.

Once all setup, the figures look fantastic. Since there's no transformation engineering to worry about, there's very little kibble, and the interpretations can be as faithful to the source material as it can be. The way in which the paint applications have been done is outstanding, and the battle damage and panel-lining brings out some great detail.

The latest Starscream is definitely more of a G1 cartoon aesthetic, and looks extremely similar to the MP design. I would've actually preferred some more artistic licence in a slightly different interpretation, like the did with Megatron and Optimus.

You can see in the Megatron comparison photos below that whilst the Yolopark is obviously a G1 interpretation, it has slightly different proportions from the source material and MP to give it a different character feel.

The Megatron figure also suffers from being the very first in their series. It lacks some of the technological advances in Optimus and Starscream, such as the adjustable hip joints that can extend the leg and provide more range of movement.

Optimus is a pretty accurate representation of his G1 form, and aside from the obvious scale difference, is pretty close to the MP too. The silver hips and thighs is nice from a paint application perspective that is a little more real-world. But I still prefer the nice shiny white in those areas of the MP.

Optimus and Megatron also suffer from the electronics in their eyes, so without the batteries the eyes look dead. Yolopark addressed this with Starscream using a plastic that still looks red without the light-up feature. For most displays, this is a massive improvement. I'll have to figure out a way to paint the eyes on my Megatron and Optimus figures.

All in all, if you're a G1 Transformers fan, this Yolopark G1 AMK Pro Series is fantastic. If you're thinking that you'll pass purely because they don't transform, then all I have to say is you're missing out on some great figures that look fantastic on display! I for one am hoping they announce more G1 characters soon in this series!

Storm Collectibles Fei Long from Ultra Street Fighter 2

It's always a great day when Storm finally release another Ultra Street Fighter 2 figure in their series. For 2024, it looks like only Fei Long and Blanka are on the schedule, but at least Fei Long has been released on time without any major delays.

And he's a pretty awesome release at that! Click the link below to watch my full video review over on the Kool Kollectibles YouTube channel. Hope you can give the video a like, and also subscribe to the channel to stay tuned for the upcoming Blanka review when that arrives. Have a read further below for more photos and my thoughts.

The set comes with a great set of accessories, including Storm's typical set of swap out head sculpts. I love the loser head sculpt that is a unique aspect of this USF2 series. The paint application across the figure itself, head sculpts, and hands are all very nicely done and consistent.

The special move accessories are also a nice touch. The flaming leg is good for the odd photo, but I don't think it's very practical on display, unless you have a separate stand of some sort that can prop the figure in the air. The nunchucks round out the accessories, and it's good that they include a metal chain with it, as they should in this price range.

With all the various hands and the head sculpts, you can pretty much put him into any iconic pose, either from the game itself, or for Bruce Lee who he's obviously inspired by. The ankle joints are a little tight, as well as the top of the thighs where they join the hips. So just be careful when moving those areas in case anything snaps.

The musculature of the figure looks awesome. Storm have perfected the use of the soft, vinyl-like torso area, along with the butterfly shoulder assembly. You can get some really organic and realistic poses from the figure. The range of motion is not hindered by much at all, and the figure balances well when you spend a bit of time getting the figure in the right pose.

I didn't feel the need to heat up any joints or accessories to swap out, unlike many figures from Super7. The head sculpts here in particular swapped out very nicely, without feeling too loose or too tight. Sometimes there are concerns around paint rub or flaking when posing or swapping out hands and head sculpts, but this time I had no issues at all.

Together with the rest of the cast, they all look fantastic. He is a little leaner, especially when compared to the original Ryu and Ken. The scale seems a little on the smaller side, but only slightly. You can tell especially with the size of the head sculpts that are smaller than the others.

But in the original game, he did have a slightly smaller body, and it mostly aligns with his character profile in terms of his height and weight. Looking at Ryu and Ken, I really do wish Storm would re-issue them with the new body proportions that they've designed with their newer figures. Ryu and Ken still look too stocky, with legs that are too fat and short.

But in the scheme of things, I think they all look fantastic. As a long time SF2 player since the early 90s, the cast of figures just brings so much nostalgic awesomeness to my collection. I can't wait for Blanka to release, which should happen in August if all goes to plan. Stay tuned for that review!

Transformers Masterpiece MP-44S Optimus Prime

After MP-44 Optimus Prime was released, it took a while for all the controversy to die down regarding that figure. But once it did, and people started wanting a toy accurate Optimus to go with MP-36+ Megatron, the hope for a repaint of the MP-44 mold grew. Takara is always one to cash in one repaints, so this release of a toy homage of Optimus in the new mold was inevitable.

Unfortunately, the love and detail that Takara put into MP-36+ toy Megatron did not transfer completely to MP-44S Optimus. In a lot of ways, Takara could have made this a truly magnificent release, but chose to cut corners in some very disappointing ways.

Click through below to watch my full review over on the Kool Kollectibles YouTube channel. Make sure to give the video a like, and subscribe to the channel to stay tuned for more reviews!

For me, the car mode is an improvement over the older MP-10 Optimus. The rear is certainly cleaner on the MP-10, but the I prefer the detailing in the MP-44 mold and the way it sits closer to the ground. In this toy homage, they've painted in the silver stripe around the cab. I like that they kept it fairly simple otherwise, with no other detailing such as no silver lining around the windscreen.

This version doesn't come with a trailer to cut down on cost, so I used the one from the original MP-44 release. I think the complete setup looks better on the new mold too.

In bot mode, this figure truly shines, but then this also highlights where it fails. It was surprising that the red on the newer figure is a brigher hue than that of the original MP-44. There is still a gorgeous paint application, and the silver areas on the thighs and hips look fantastic.

However, the laziness in using stickers instead of tamped on decals like MP-36+ really put this figure to shame. Takara have been able to use tamped on details on the likes of Megatron and Artfire to great effect, and it should've been a no-brainer to do this with Optimus.

They also did not include a toy homage head sculpt, but just reused the hero headsculpt from the MP-44 release. The use of yellow eyes just doesn't cut it for me. The MP-36+ included multiple face plates and a toy accurate head sculpt, so they definitely should've treated Optimus here with the same level of respect.

The use of a darker hue in the blue areas is both an homage to MP-10 and the original G1 toy I think. It does look great and goes really well with the brighter red. Overall, I'm still happy to have this toy homage in the collection. But Takara definitely leaves a bad taste in the mouth with the shortcuts they've taken with what should've been a flawless release.

Transformers Masterpiece MP-58 Hoist

Another new G1 mold in the Masterpiece series is always a great occasion since Takara release them so slowly these days. The previous Trailbreaker was pretty awesome, and this new Hoist is just as good. If you think the transformation is a reuse from the Trailbreaker, you'd be completely wrong! The engineers at Takara have done some incredible work to design a very similar car mode, coupled with a completely different transformation, into a bot mode that matches the cartoon aesthetic perfectly.

Click through below to watch my video review over on the Kool Kollectibles YouTube channel. Hope you can subscribe to stay tuned for upcoming reviews.

Box and packaging is the usual standard Masterpiece style, and the set comes with a decent array of accessories. You can recreate some of the classic scenes from the cartoon episodes, such as when they all acted on set in alien masks.

There's also the swap out bumper piece to go with the more realistic chromed look or the cartoon style matte grey finish. I love the cartoon look, but I always use that bit of chrome when provided on figures, since I think it adds that extra bit of premium style on display.

The main attraction is of course the figure itself. The car mode is awesome, with a beautiful deep green and orange paint app. The rear carriage folds down and can tow other vehicles if you hook them over the little notch at the end.

I found the wheel clearance not that great, but that was resolved after a bit of adjusting after transformation. But I tend to keep my main cast of characters in bot mode anyway, so it wouldn't have been a problem for my display.

The doors and hood open just like they did on Trailbreaker. The details are slightly different under the hood, mostly influenced by the different transformation sequences. You can fit one of the human accessories from previous figures into the car, but it's pretty tight and I didn't even bother trying.

Overall, if you're a fan of car mode, you'll love this new Hoist. I think it's a pretty faithful representation of the Hilux variants that were produced back in the day.

But I'm a bot mode fa, and Hoist does not disappoint. The transformation sequence is drammatically different to Trailbreaker's and really do bring out the chunky stature Hoist had in the cartoon. The hips and thighs are a very faithful recreation of the cartoon aesthetic, and it really makes him stand out as something different amongst the MP cast.

They include a couple of swap out face plates too. I decided to go with the look he had in the episode with Grapple and the Constructicons, with the more pronounced chin guard.

There were only a couple of trickier parts in the transformation sequence. The panel rotation and folding in the shoulder areas can be confusing, so definitely follow the official Takara transformation video to make sure you do it right.

The other trickier part was making sure the backpack pegged into the back of the waist tightly. The first time will require quite some effort, but you will hear a satisfying click as it pegs in properly. Once that is done, the figure holds together very well and looks like he just jumped out of the 80s TV screen.

Side by side with Trailbreaker, the major differences in transformation and design become obvious. I love how the Takara engineers were able to factor this between the two characters, giving them the unique style that they deserve, as opposed to reusing the mold like the classic G1 toy. I think Takara has found the perfect balance in bot mode proportions whilst maintaining that realistic licensed car mode.

Displayed with MP Grapple, these two really do look like they came straight out of the G1 cartoon episode. It just makes me wish even harder for Takara to hurry up and do a proper MP Constructicon series!

All in all, I think if you're a G1 cartoon fan, then this new Hoist is a no-brainer. I just hope Takara continues this amazing design aesthetic and give us more G1 Season 1/2 characters this year.

Tweeterhead Masters of the Universe Trap Jaw

Sideshow started this "Legends" series of MOTU statues back in 2016, and handed over the reigns to Tweeterhead that has continued the series since about 2021. And for MOTU fans, Tweeterhead have given us some of the best interpretations of these classic characters that have ever been produced.

I'm glad that Tweeterhead have taken this series to the next level. I've loved every one of their releases, and this new Trap Jaw is no exception. Click through below to watch my video review over on the Kool Kollectibles YouTube channel!

Thankfully there is no exclusive version for this Trap Jaw, so every release has all the swap out parts to tailor this just the way you like it. For me, I like to have that hint of the original cartoon style, mixed in with some new interpretations. So I decided to go with the classic, almost NFL-like, head sculpt as opposed to the new orc-like interpretation.

I also coupled it with the more basic hook arm that is also more reminiscent of the cartoon. Together, I think the two swap out pieces pay perfect homage to the 80s cartoon, whilst coupled with the incredibly detailed body and paint application of the rest of the statue.

Every single angle of this piece is amazing to behold. The blue of the skin texture brings that perfect burst of colour to offset the dark purples, silvers and greys, and the muted green and browns in other parts of the statue.

The dark purple of the base is almost grey or dark gun metal in hue, but it does fit in nicely with the older statues from Sideshow that have a slightly more purple tinge. The body of the statue itself is incredible, with sculpted details across the board.

I love the silver and grey metallic paint application for the boots and armour pieces. The browns for the leather sections looks great too, and matches well with the muted jade green in the thighs and belt areas. The swap out pieces are fairly easy to attach, and it all comes together beautifully.

The alternative cannon arm is very intricately detailed, and is monstrous in size. It's almost too big, but does give him a great menacing option for that more modern style. The alternate head sculpt has a nice little open mouthed growl to it, but it reminds me too much of orcs from Warcraft, so I chose the classic portrait instead.

Either of the options will still look incredible on display. The sheer size is impressive, despite some complaints that this series is only 1/5th scale, not 1/4 scale. I'm actually glad they're slightly smaller, and can fit more easily in my display cabinets.

The bad guys together from both the Sideshow and Tweeterhead simpy look amazing. As a MOTU fan from way back in the 80s, these interpretations are how I imagined them in my childhood brain to be. Tweeterhead have produced the perfect mix of adult mature aesthetics with that awesome nostalgic feel to the characters we love.

I've preordered the Beast Man exclusive from Tweeterhead, and cannot wait for that to arrive later in 2024. With teasers of Sorceress and Man-At-Arms, I hope this series continues to release characters from that awesome universe.