Storm Arena Ryu and Ken from Street Fighter Alpha

Ever since Jada Toys released their awesome 1/12th scale Street Fighter 2 series of figures, the question was always whether Storm was going to compete at that slightly smaller scale. Luckily the answer is a resounding yes, with Storm announcing the Storm Arena Street Fighter Alpha/Zero 3 series.

I have to say, Storm has Jada beat in terms of sculpting, paint application, and just overall artistic likeness to the source material. There's just something about the Storm figures that make them less toyish that the Jada figures.

Click through below for my video review of the Ken figure, and scroll further down for more thoughts and pics.

Both Ken and Ryu come with the usual array of hands and special move accessories. It's great that they both also have a stand for some in-air poses if you prefer that in your display. Ken also comes with a great swap out head sculpt with his iconic smirk, and Ryu comes with his swap out snarl. I also love the backdrops, which all seem to be slightly better quality these days. All in all, pretty nice sets for the both of them.

The body proportions on these Storm Arena figures are just spot on. In comparison, the original SF2 Ryu and Ken figures definitely look way too stocky, where their legs are too short. I still love having the SF2 figures in the collection, but a new reboot in the more accurate recent body proportions would be most welcome!

Ryu looks fantastic too, and I love his younger representation against the older versions of him from SF2 and SF6. You can clearly see the better body proportions in the SF6 Ryu figure, and it's great having all three to see how Storm have evolved their designs over the past few years. With such a focus on this smaller scale Storm Arena series, I do hope Storm do not forget about their larger series of figures!

Despite being slightly smaller, the Storm Arena figures have amazing articulation. They're able to be posed in incredibly realistic and natural poses that convey the game dynamics so well. Storm really have taken the competition to Jada, and we have Jada themselves to thank for that!

No matter how you pose this pair, they simply look incredible together. I cannot wait to get the other figures already announced, such as Nash, Dan, and Sagat. Chun-Li in her atheletic outfit as also been shown at conventions, so hopefully she comes out with Cammy not too far behind!

Storm Collectibles Jun (Princess) from Gatchaman (Battle of the Planets)

 I was so happy to see that Storm Collectibles were making Gathchman figures, but am really disappointed that they have not announced any more of the team since Jun. This seems like the usual trend with any company that make these figures, where only a couple are made and the rest of the team abandoned.

Putting that aside though, the figure that Storm have released is pretty awesome. There is a flaw in mine though, that annoys me no end especially when their customer service simply do not respond to help in any way. But I go through that in my video review below and in my thoughts further down.

The box art is pretty nice, and much wider than Ken's box. But everything fits fairly neatly (until I found my flaw).

When I unboxed and took out the contents, the base head sculpt had a broken antenna at the back of the helmet. This is because it was placed in the clamshell in a way where it was crushed against the back of the clamshell instead of being placed in there properly.

Despite me trying to contact Storm to ask for a replacement via several different means, they simply never responded and never sent a replacement. There were mentions informally that support would be coming, but I never heard anything. So it continues to be a massive disappointment with a company that makes such great figures, but cannot seem to organise any semblance of decent customer service.

Once setup next to Ken though, she does look fantastic. The paint app is really nice, and complements the cartoon aesthetic perfectly. The main issue with the helmet is the visor, which distorts her face significantly. This didnt happen to Ken, so it's a shame the plastic and molding shape they used for Jun causes this distortion.

It's great that they learnt from the first release, and gave her a slightly more dynamic cape pose that's an intermediate cape between fully stoic and flying dynamism. This slightly flowing cape is really nice and just what Ken needed too. The red paint on the inside still rubs off on the shoulders though, so be very careful there.

Her articulation is pretty great, and is assisted with swap out skirts that give her additional range of motion. I won't bother using her weapon accessories, but it's nice to know they are there for any photo opportunities, or for you much better posers out there.

I really do hope Storm haven't given up on the team, and make a new announcement soon. If not, the disappointment continues in finding a company that can manage to complete the whole team!

Transformers Masterpiece MPG-13 Shattered Glass Jetfire

I always try to get two versions of an MP mold in different colours to display in different modes. So could not resist getting this Shattered Glass repaint of the Jetfire mold. Click through below for the video review over on the Kool Kollectibles YouTube channel!

The set doesn't come with too much, and the lack of a flight stand is disappointing. Luckily I have all the MP-52 figures and their flight stands, so at least I had a way to display it in flight.

Bot mode is nice enough, but the vast amounts of unpainted black paint is also disappointing. It doesn't look too bad on display, but more paint would've been appreciated. Tolerances in the transformation were a bit better than the original, so I found it easier to transition between the modes.

Since I have all the cartoon colours in bot mode, I'll definitely have this version in jet mode. It's a bit cumbersome to display on the flight stand from MP-52 since there's only a single connection point. So I may use some other flight stands that have more connection points, and see how I go.

Either way, this will be it for me for this mold. I don't see Takara making any other version anyway to be honest. Hopefully they announce some actual new G1 Season 1 and 2 characters soon, and not just repaints!

Transformers Masterpiece MPG-10 Lift-Ticket and MPG-11 DK-2 Guard

 More Diaclone repaints in the MPG (rebranded MP) series. After so many years, they finally released the black Ironhide, so I could not resist! Click through below for my 2-part review of the two figures, or scroll further down for more pics!

Video Review Part 1:

Video Review Part 2:

Both sets come with a decent array of accessories! Hate that Takara went cheap and provided stickers instead of tamping on the decals!

Both figures look pretty awesome in either car mode or bot mode.

Next to their original releases, the new colourways look fantastic. It's always great to have the old Diaclone repaints as homages to their original toys from the 70s.