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!
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