DSC_4403
Before all this recent insanity with mail finally being delivered, I had just started getting to know the S.H. Figuarts Dragonball FighterZ: Android 21 figure a little better.
Bit of an interesting story behind this one.
So since COVID started, I've been paying a bit more attention to my online toy options. Sure, there's the usual Japanese stores, and there's the local stores I utilize when numerically it makes sense. Once in a while, however, an anomaly appears.
This anomaly was named shop4ca.com, and online store based in the UK that seemed to target the Canadian market.
I'd been watching them for a while, and all the online reviews were kind of mixed, though some of them were clearly COVID related anxiousness. Still, after getting through that Nippon Yasan fiasco, I figured I'd wager my $58 CAD to see if I could get an Android 21 shipped to me.
Sure enough it worked out, and now I wish I had gone in on that discount Broly too. Oh well.. hindsight!
Android 21 is an original character created as the main antagonist of the FighterZ game that was well received across the board... well, except for the way DLC was handled. A scientist of some sort, she's actually composed of the six, I believe, lifeform types in the Dragonball universe, taking on her Buu form for battle. To make things more complicated, I believe she suffers from multiple personalities, but that an essay for some other day.
As expected, the figure of Android 21 is of her fighting Buu body. I know the Dragonball Super series took many traditionally male characters and created females of them, and it's nice to see that FighterZ made a female Buu. She's got the usual making of a Buu - Pink skin and Aladdin style wardrobe complete with black and gold accents, but instead of an earthworm-esque head, 21 basically retains her normal ace, albeit with white hair and for most of the time, evil red eyes. She also has a tail, which I'm guessing was stolen from Frieza.
The set retailed for 5,500 Yen, and its pretty packed for that price point. You get the figure, a tail attachment, four total face plates (3 variations of her evil Buu face, and one with her Good persona), 9 total hands, and a donut.
I like this figure release. It's a female, which is a nice start. I love how despite coming with 9 hands, there isn't a single clenched fist, which honestly just means 21 can put her hands in elegant positions no matter which ones she has on. Unlike Frieza, 21's tail is actually useful both in term of posing her dynamically, as well as actually being long enough to stand her up.
Based on the 2.0 body style, she's got all the joints - toes, ankles, double jointed knees, dedicated thigh swivel, displaced hips for greater range of motion with some minor thigh swivel motion, waist, mid torso, shoulders with some lateral motion, bicep swivel, single jointed elbows, wrist, and head. She's also got a point of articulation for her hair to move up and 2 points of dedicated articulation for the tail.
Overall, articulation is pretty good, with some improvements to the shoulders and a functional neck joint being nice to have items. But her lower body and legs? I'd say you should be able to do pretty much anything you have in mind. While we're on the legs, I love how the bulk of the pants doesn't get in the way of anything, and how they help to conceal joints.
Paint work is nice and sharp, with no overspray or bleeding issues, even on finer details like fingernails. Decals on the faces are well made and properly applied. Finer detailing on the figure itself is not washed out due to the application of paint. You get what you pay that Figuarts money for.
Finally there's build quality. In general, like with paint, it's pretty much spot on. Good fit to the parts, excellent joint tightness, overall QC was found to be to good. Then there's the rough spots where they clearly didn't clean the flashing off correctly, which seem to be limited to the the armpit area and finishes on the golden bands.
So overall, a surprisingly smooth transaction with a store that I've never heard of with a trust factor of 50%, and a figure that manages to actually exceed what I expect from a Figuarts thanks to some truly great lower body articulation. Unless Tamashii Nations decides to do an Android 21 in her human form, that should be it for the FighterZ specific line.. or so I think, as I've never actually played the game.
Next!
DSC_4403
Before all this recent insanity with mail finally being delivered, I had just started getting to know the S.H. Figuarts Dragonball FighterZ: Android 21 figure a little better.
Bit of an interesting story behind this one.
So since COVID started, I've been paying a bit more attention to my online toy options. Sure, there's the usual Japanese stores, and there's the local stores I utilize when numerically it makes sense. Once in a while, however, an anomaly appears.
This anomaly was named shop4ca.com, and online store based in the UK that seemed to target the Canadian market.
I'd been watching them for a while, and all the online reviews were kind of mixed, though some of them were clearly COVID related anxiousness. Still, after getting through that Nippon Yasan fiasco, I figured I'd wager my $58 CAD to see if I could get an Android 21 shipped to me.
Sure enough it worked out, and now I wish I had gone in on that discount Broly too. Oh well.. hindsight!
Android 21 is an original character created as the main antagonist of the FighterZ game that was well received across the board... well, except for the way DLC was handled. A scientist of some sort, she's actually composed of the six, I believe, lifeform types in the Dragonball universe, taking on her Buu form for battle. To make things more complicated, I believe she suffers from multiple personalities, but that an essay for some other day.
As expected, the figure of Android 21 is of her fighting Buu body. I know the Dragonball Super series took many traditionally male characters and created females of them, and it's nice to see that FighterZ made a female Buu. She's got the usual making of a Buu - Pink skin and Aladdin style wardrobe complete with black and gold accents, but instead of an earthworm-esque head, 21 basically retains her normal ace, albeit with white hair and for most of the time, evil red eyes. She also has a tail, which I'm guessing was stolen from Frieza.
The set retailed for 5,500 Yen, and its pretty packed for that price point. You get the figure, a tail attachment, four total face plates (3 variations of her evil Buu face, and one with her Good persona), 9 total hands, and a donut.
I like this figure release. It's a female, which is a nice start. I love how despite coming with 9 hands, there isn't a single clenched fist, which honestly just means 21 can put her hands in elegant positions no matter which ones she has on. Unlike Frieza, 21's tail is actually useful both in term of posing her dynamically, as well as actually being long enough to stand her up.
Based on the 2.0 body style, she's got all the joints - toes, ankles, double jointed knees, dedicated thigh swivel, displaced hips for greater range of motion with some minor thigh swivel motion, waist, mid torso, shoulders with some lateral motion, bicep swivel, single jointed elbows, wrist, and head. She's also got a point of articulation for her hair to move up and 2 points of dedicated articulation for the tail.
Overall, articulation is pretty good, with some improvements to the shoulders and a functional neck joint being nice to have items. But her lower body and legs? I'd say you should be able to do pretty much anything you have in mind. While we're on the legs, I love how the bulk of the pants doesn't get in the way of anything, and how they help to conceal joints.
Paint work is nice and sharp, with no overspray or bleeding issues, even on finer details like fingernails. Decals on the faces are well made and properly applied. Finer detailing on the figure itself is not washed out due to the application of paint. You get what you pay that Figuarts money for.
Finally there's build quality. In general, like with paint, it's pretty much spot on. Good fit to the parts, excellent joint tightness, overall QC was found to be to good. Then there's the rough spots where they clearly didn't clean the flashing off correctly, which seem to be limited to the the armpit area and finishes on the golden bands.
So overall, a surprisingly smooth transaction with a store that I've never heard of with a trust factor of 50%, and a figure that manages to actually exceed what I expect from a Figuarts thanks to some truly great lower body articulation. Unless Tamashii Nations decides to do an Android 21 in her human form, that should be it for the FighterZ specific line.. or so I think, as I've never actually played the game.
Next!