Bandai Ultraman Ultra-Act: Glenfire figure review

I'll admit I don't know a lot about Glenfire or the Ultraman Zero movie from which he hails but I am familiar with Ultraman. This character shares similarities in costume color/design and combined with a bunch of flames was enough to win me over. The Ultra-Act series are similar to Figuarts in design and articulation. They're like the Marvel Legends of Japan. Right off the bat the figure looks great in packaging and inside shows off his multiple hands and accessories. Open the tray carefully because the hands will spill out.

Glenfire stands 6" tall and has some really nice sculpting. From the fire crest (which can be replaced by a larger one) to his costume tech, it's finely detailed. His accessories are also wonderfully sculpted with a real flame-look to them that's often difficult to capture in plastic. The hands swap out with some practice. They're hard to pull off and you have a moving ball joint that adds to the difficulty of putting them back on. Articulated fingers may have helped here. His toes are articulated but unfortunately cause stability problems since they're rounded on the bottom.

Articulation is a mixed bag. While he sports more articulation points than a Hasbro Marvel legends not all of it is useful. Mainly because the internal hinges in the shoulders/hips can pop free easily when you pose him. Solid ML style ball hips/shoulders would have helped here but careful posing and he shouldn't give you too much trouble. His double jointed limbs give some great range of motion too.

The clear suspended orb in the middle of Glenfire's chest is really neat looking, as are his fire attachments. One is the fire-fist that replaces his hand and he also comes with two fire-staves. The larger one is unfortunately very heavy and falls out of his hands rather easily. Find your balance point. The other one is easy to wield and looks cool as well. Detach his smaller crest for the larger one and he looks like he's ready to do some damage.

Back to articulation, Glendfire and his double-ball-jointed-everything can strike up just about any pose you need but the balance issue with the feet may limit that. He has a plug in his back that can be removed, I'm guessing for a stand (not included) which could help with holding a pose. His paint work is basic solid colors with some very subtle dark shading on the red. You may want to apply a light gunmetal wash to his tech sections to get that great detail standing out.

So what's this guy going to run you? About 2,320 yen at Ami-Ami if you act now which is about $31 with the current high exchange rate. But if you want a 6" scaled flaming superhero with a bunch of neat fire effects this guy is pretty awesome. I've heard about issues with the first series of Ultra Act figures but this one seems to have cleared up any issues. Snag him and battle some baddies.