DSC_8494
It's been a slow slog as of late, between work, summer parenting duties, and the overall inkiness of living in a condo that likes to have Chiller failures. I have a few interesting pieces to go through.. eventually. Figured I might as well start with something familiar to people.
For every stupidly hard piece to find that I miraculously find, there's at least a good dozen or so that I'm so far behind on, it's not even funny. Such is the case with the Twilight Princess Figma releases of Link and Zelda.
Released in 2017, I... never got these for some reason. I knew of them, and, unlike other pieces that I have, these were recent enough to be actually sold at EB Games. Yet somehow, it's taken me three years and a nice price on Facebook before I finally purchased these pieces. Coincidentally, I've not played the game either so.. maybe they're related?
This particular Figma came back into the forefront of thought for me as it was featured as the top video game figure or something like that on Toy Galaxy. More on that in a second.
Link came in two flavours - the normal version, and the DX edition with extra accessories, which apparently is everything that is not the Master Sword and Hylian Shield (Ordon Sword, Hero's Bow and Arrow, Ball and Chain, Hawkeye and the Clawshot).
I believe the price difference between the two sets was like $10 or so, which really made owning the DX version a no brainer.
But accessories aren't the only things in the box. There is the figure, three total expressions (neutral, focused, shouting), the various accessories as mentioned above, six extra hands including a pair dedicated for use with the bow and arrow, and two Figma stands with clips and bits for various display options.
Link, without a doubt, is a gorgeous piece. The paint work on Figma, in general, is pretty good stuff, but the colours utilized on this set are arranged in a way that makes the figure pop. The duller green of the tunic is offset by the various accent colours, including use of metallic colours for buckles and the chain mail he wears under the green. The metallics used fofor the various pieces of equipment are dazzling.
The only messy paint app would be the on the Hawkeye.
The sculpting of the finer details on the figure compliments the excellent paint work. There's some nice detailing on the tunic and armour, and while I can't comment on the accuracy of the hair and face I can say it's very clean and passes for A Link in my books. Where the details shine, however, is on the various accessories, particularly the scabbard of the Ordon and Master Sword, as well as the blade of the Master Sword itself.
Also, it's worth noting that the various chained weapons feature actual metal chains, which is both nice and a bit of a pain when it comes to posing.
Articulation of the figure is kind of where my biggest beef is, and where I disagree with the findings of many polls, including the one on Toy Galaxy that I talked about. Lets talk the positives. The upper body is fantastic. All your typical points of movement area there, including kind of dislocated shoulders that allow for some real deep reach towards the chest so you could do a two handed sword pose. There is even articulation of the cap.
The issue is, however, that effectively you have no articulation of the upper legs due to the restrictions of the skirt, which of course, means you basically no leg articulation at all. Kind of annoying for a toy that is meant to be posed in all manner of dramatic way to have basically no leg movement at all. This limited movement, coupled with the top heavy nature of the figure, means you'll probably be using the stand for anything even remotely fancy looking.
Yet somehow, it was voted the top video game toy by the public. No wonder I don't get along with "the public".
That, friends, was Twilight Princess DX Link, a flawed masterpiece, but jeepers that's one hell of a flaw. The Figma is very pretty to look at and if museum poses are your thing, it's certainly will fit the bill. But as far as video game figures go, it's certainly not the greatest.
DSC_8494
It's been a slow slog as of late, between work, summer parenting duties, and the overall inkiness of living in a condo that likes to have Chiller failures. I have a few interesting pieces to go through.. eventually. Figured I might as well start with something familiar to people.
For every stupidly hard piece to find that I miraculously find, there's at least a good dozen or so that I'm so far behind on, it's not even funny. Such is the case with the Twilight Princess Figma releases of Link and Zelda.
Released in 2017, I... never got these for some reason. I knew of them, and, unlike other pieces that I have, these were recent enough to be actually sold at EB Games. Yet somehow, it's taken me three years and a nice price on Facebook before I finally purchased these pieces. Coincidentally, I've not played the game either so.. maybe they're related?
This particular Figma came back into the forefront of thought for me as it was featured as the top video game figure or something like that on Toy Galaxy. More on that in a second.
Link came in two flavours - the normal version, and the DX edition with extra accessories, which apparently is everything that is not the Master Sword and Hylian Shield (Ordon Sword, Hero's Bow and Arrow, Ball and Chain, Hawkeye and the Clawshot).
I believe the price difference between the two sets was like $10 or so, which really made owning the DX version a no brainer.
But accessories aren't the only things in the box. There is the figure, three total expressions (neutral, focused, shouting), the various accessories as mentioned above, six extra hands including a pair dedicated for use with the bow and arrow, and two Figma stands with clips and bits for various display options.
Link, without a doubt, is a gorgeous piece. The paint work on Figma, in general, is pretty good stuff, but the colours utilized on this set are arranged in a way that makes the figure pop. The duller green of the tunic is offset by the various accent colours, including use of metallic colours for buckles and the chain mail he wears under the green. The metallics used fofor the various pieces of equipment are dazzling.
The only messy paint app would be the on the Hawkeye.
The sculpting of the finer details on the figure compliments the excellent paint work. There's some nice detailing on the tunic and armour, and while I can't comment on the accuracy of the hair and face I can say it's very clean and passes for A Link in my books. Where the details shine, however, is on the various accessories, particularly the scabbard of the Ordon and Master Sword, as well as the blade of the Master Sword itself.
Also, it's worth noting that the various chained weapons feature actual metal chains, which is both nice and a bit of a pain when it comes to posing.
Articulation of the figure is kind of where my biggest beef is, and where I disagree with the findings of many polls, including the one on Toy Galaxy that I talked about. Lets talk the positives. The upper body is fantastic. All your typical points of movement area there, including kind of dislocated shoulders that allow for some real deep reach towards the chest so you could do a two handed sword pose. There is even articulation of the cap.
The issue is, however, that effectively you have no articulation of the upper legs due to the restrictions of the skirt, which of course, means you basically no leg articulation at all. Kind of annoying for a toy that is meant to be posed in all manner of dramatic way to have basically no leg movement at all. This limited movement, coupled with the top heavy nature of the figure, means you'll probably be using the stand for anything even remotely fancy looking.
Yet somehow, it was voted the top video game toy by the public. No wonder I don't get along with "the public".
That, friends, was Twilight Princess DX Link, a flawed masterpiece, but jeepers that's one hell of a flaw. The Figma is very pretty to look at and if museum poses are your thing, it's certainly will fit the bill. But as far as video game figures go, it's certainly not the greatest.