I have the previous Boba Fett variants in this Star Wars Movie Realization series, so could not pass up the Mandalorian variant. Prices were certainly crazy on Ebay, and the official US Bandai retailer doesn't ship outside continental USA, which is damn ridiculous. But at least I managed to get the figure from Big Bad Toy Store, despite the markup. It was still far cheaper than Ebay, and I'm glad I managed to add it to the collection.
Click the link below to watch my full video review on the Kool Kollectibles YouTube channel. Hope you can subscribe and give the videos a thumbs up too 😀
Packaging and contents are pretty much what's standard for this series now. The array of hands is nice, and the weapons are beautifully done too. Of course the main weapon is the long rifle that is prominent in the TV show, and Bandai did a great interpretation of it here.
The pistol looks nice too, and the shorter sword is on par with most of the other figures that also included it. Apart from these accessories, of course the main incentive to get this figure is for the Season 1 Mandalorian armour.
There is obviously a lot of reuse in the armour and figure in general, being mainly a Boba Fett variant. But there are also quite a few unique differences of note. The soft goods cape is definitely something to watch out for. It doesn't really hang naturally due to its material, and the rifle has to be attached to his back under the cape which is not show accurate.
Therefore I made a mod to the cape by making a small hole where the peg on the long rifle can use to attach to his back over the top of the cape. It looks much better that way and is something that Bandai should've done themselves!
The chest and torso armour pieces, and aspects of the gauntlets, kama, and shin armour have unique molds or variations. And of course the helmet itself is unique. The paint application is a great representation of the Season 1 armour, with lots of great weathering and black wash to really bring out the sculpted detail.
I heard that Bandai gave an interview where they stated more Mandalorian armour variants are planned, so I assume a beskar armour variant from Season 2 is coming. Not sure how much that is going to end up looking like Jango, but at least for now these four variants do look pretty damn awesome together. If you're a fan of this series, it's definitely a figure to add, especially since they're so slow in releasing anything new in the series! Hopefully you can get it for a decent price!
The Storm Collectibles Ultra Street Fighter 2 figures are some of my favourites in 1/12th scale. This new E.Honda isn't from USF2, but I couldn't resist getting it since it has his classic outfit. I do hope one day they release an E.Honda USF2 figure, but this will suffice for now.
Click the link below to watch my video review over on the Kool Kollectibles YouTube channel! Also make sure to give the video a thumbs up and subscribe to stay tuned for more videos 😀
The set comes with a decent array of accessories, and the swap out head sculpts are the usual high quality sculpts and paint app. The biggest thing missing is of course an accessory depicting his iconic 100-hand slap move! I really hope they include that with a future USF2 version, which would come with the additional swap out loser head sculpt too.
Poseability wise, this thing does everything I expected a bulky character like this would do. The body torso is made of a softer almost vinyl type material that allows for a great range of motion. The shoulders have the usual nice articulation and butterfly movements. Even the legs and knees have good enough motion to get into some natural sumo poses.
Together with the other figures in this series, they certainly all look fantastic together. It just brings back so many great memories of me playing in the arcades in the 90s. I'm really looking forward to the USF2 Zangief, and hopefully they announce the teased Balrog soon too. If they go back and complete the rest of the core SF2 World Warrior cast, it'll be a dream come true for at least this particular SF2 fan!
I grew up in the 80s watching all the classic cartoons, with Transformers, Masters of the Universe, Voltron, Thundercats, and Battle of the Planets being my favourites. But another show that I also loved watching after school was Inspector Gadget. When I saw the announcement that Blitzway, typically known in the 1/6th scale realm, was releasing an Inspector Gadget figure, I just knew I wouldn't be able to resist adding it to my 6-7" (1/12th) scale 80s cartoon collection.
And Blitzway, partnering with 5PRO Studio, did not disappoint! It's a fantastic figure that fans of the cartoon will definitely love! Click the link below to watch my full video review over on the Kool Kollectibles YouTube channel. Make sure to subscribe too and stay tuned for more upcoming reviews 😃
The packaging art and style is very reminiscent of Bandai S.H.Figuarts action figures, which is fine since it's all collector friendly. Unboxing is great as you appreciate each accessory and smile as you remember scenes from the cartoon that used them. And the set is definitely packed with a lot of his commonly used accessories.
The swap out mechanism used for many of the accessories with the keyed pegs can be rather fiddly, but once pushed in tight they all look nice. The roller skates have some nice diecast use, and roll exceptionally well. The neck and arm extensions also look great with a nice silver metallic paint app and softer rubber outer material that must be over a thick metal bendable wire of some sort. You can definitely bend them to get more natural poses, and there doesn't appear to be any risk to damaging the paint.
The umbrella is painted a beautifully rich red, and the handle also sports a diecast post which gives it much more stability. It looks great when using the metal arm extensions and the swap out hat pieces to which the arms extensions can be attached. You can pretty much place anything in those hands coming out of the hat, so using the umbrella or other accessories like the magnifying glass and torch look great to show off as many accessories on the figure as possible.
The fiddliest accessory would have to be the go go gadget copter. Placing it on the swap out hat piece is the easy part. But attaching the metal handles to the base, whilst articulating the arms into a decent pose was next to impossible without the handles detaching from the base. In the end I just settled with having the handles placed gently into place at the base without them really being inserted properly. It looks OK, but I wish they had implemented this better.
The spring leg extensions however work fantastically well, and actually do have a metal spring mechanism. He used these legs extensively in the show, so I was always going to use them in my display. I tossed up whether to use the hand extensions in the hat, but ended up decided to go with the copter, skates, and spring legs. This was because I wanted to also use the included flight stand and have him in the air behind some of my other 80s cartoon action figures.
Overall I think it looks pretty damn fantastic. The swap out face plates and eyes give more posing and display options too so you can mix it up any way you want. The smiling face for me really brings out his character so I chose that one.
The body of the figure itself is also very nicely done. The paint application is great across the board, and I love the use of the softer plastic for the jacket. It doesn't hinder articulation too much, and still looks natural over the body. Articulation in the arms and legs is par for the course. I do wish neck articualtion hid the gap just above his tie a bit better, but the tilt action really allows for some great expressive poses.
Overall I think Blitzway and 5PRO Studio have done a fantastic job with Inspector Gadget. I passed on the other figures in the series because they're more mini-statues and figures. But if you're a fan I think getting them all makes for an awesome display on the shelf. I hope they release another Gadget figure with different accessories, because he still used so many others in the show too! But until then, then is perhaps the best Inspector Gadget figure on the market since the 80s! Go and get it!