Nintendo is known to be very selective with its licenses and nobody thought the day would come when we would have quality, articulated figures of the classic characters we grew up with on the screen. Well the time has come, Max Factory brings us Samus Aran of Metroid Other M in the Figma series. From the very first glimpse Samus is instantly recognizable in her orange/red/yellow armor peering through the plastic window back at you.
Samus' suit design is 'Other M' rather than the more recognizable Super Metroid/Prime everyone was expecting. However the sculpting is top notch with lots of great curves, panel lines, excellent proportions and detailed undersuit ribbing. The head looks great with the green inset metallic visor and you get five hands to choose from. Her right gun-arm is also great looking with two tips. The joints do look quite thin aesthetically speaking and leave a bit of a gap in the knees when bent. They're removable so an avid customizers could drill out the knee and elbow sections to install a more realistic looking arm-thickness joint.
Articulation is excellent with nearly full range of motion in her shoulders despite their large size. This is thanks in part to a two-branch ball joint system allowing them to move independently of Samus' actual arms. Her head is on a double ball joint which works great for looking around but not so much looking up due to the design. Her elbows and knees while single joint have the range of a double joint and her feet have toe and side-ankle motion. Overall I'm extremely impressed and can get Samus into some amazing poses.
Paint application is near-perfection level with no slop, perfectly cut colors, and smooth, even application of the metallic paint used on her suit. She's only done is base colors however and there are lots of panel lines that a customizer could darken in to bring out the detail in this figure even further. I really like how the green details stand out against her orange but the whole suit really needs a darker color separating its sections to keep Samus looking too basic.
Samus' accessories are plentiful. You get four alternate hands in various poses including a thumbs-up and the open/closed gun tips. Two blast effects are included tho one is just an extended version of the first. It was a missed opportunity to add a grappling beam or missile effect here and I'll just be leaving the shorter burst in the extras pile. Also included is the morph-ball form of Samus that can attach to the included stand. That stand is quite nice and features tight metal screw joints. A Figma branded baggie is included to hold all your parts and if you own a Figma stage the back of the package can be punched out to cover it with the Metroid logo.
Back to the joints, they're half-joints again but feel MUCH more durable than normal Figma joints. And trust me I've been sent enough broken Figmas to see how easy these can snap. But you don't have any of the give associated with thin plastic sections here. They also lock fairly firmly in their sockets unlike Revoltech joints that end up slipping out over time. The only exception are the alternate hands that have smooth posts. The clenched fist seems to want to fall out at the slightest touch now and you may need to rough the post up or apply a tiny layer of glue to build up if this happens to you.
So what's the verdict? This is an excellent figure! Samus is nearly 6" tall and good enough to be in scale with your Marvel Legends but not Halo. Though I wish Figma would use more paint techniques like panel lining or airbrushing for the price, you can't complain about that zero paint slop. Our sponsor
Big Bad Toy Store had Samus in stock and when she's restocked I suggest snagging her. Your only other choice for US sellers is
Amazon or
Ebay which has her selling at a slightly lower price (all eBay links are eBayPartnerNetwork affiliate links that help me out!) at this point.
Link from the Legend of Zelda is up next and you'll want to get him if Samus' quality is any indication of what's in store!
Nintendo is known to be very selective with its licenses and nobody thought the day would come when we would have quality, articulated figures of the classic characters we grew up with on the screen. Well the time has come, Max Factory brings us Samus Aran of Metroid Other M in the Figma series. From the very first glimpse Samus is instantly recognizable in her orange/red/yellow armor peering through the plastic window back at you. 
Paint application is near-perfection level with no slop, perfectly cut colors, and smooth, even application of the metallic paint used on her suit. She's only done is base colors however and there are lots of panel lines that a customizer could darken in to bring out the detail in this figure even further. I really like how the green details stand out against her orange but the whole suit really needs a darker color separating its sections to keep Samus looking too basic.
Samus' accessories are plentiful. You get four alternate hands in various poses including a thumbs-up and the open/closed gun tips. Two blast effects are included tho one is just an extended version of the first. It was a missed opportunity to add a grappling beam or missile effect here and I'll just be leaving the shorter burst in the extras pile. Also included is the morph-ball form of Samus that can attach to the included stand. That stand is quite nice and features tight metal screw joints. A Figma branded baggie is included to hold all your parts and if you own a Figma stage the back of the package can be punched out to cover it with the Metroid logo. 
Back to the joints, they're half-joints again but feel MUCH more durable than normal Figma joints. And trust me I've been sent enough broken Figmas to see how easy these can snap. But you don't have any of the give associated with thin plastic sections here. They also lock fairly firmly in their sockets unlike Revoltech joints that end up slipping out over time. The only exception are the alternate hands that have smooth posts. The clenched fist seems to want to fall out at the slightest touch now and you may need to rough the post up or apply a tiny layer of glue to build up if this happens to you.
So what's the verdict? This is an excellent figure! Samus is nearly 6" tall and good enough to be in scale with your Marvel Legends but not Halo. Though I wish Figma would use more paint techniques like panel lining or airbrushing for the price, you can't complain about that zero paint slop. Our sponsor Big Bad Toy Store had Samus in stock and when she's restocked I suggest snagging her. Your only other choice for US sellers is Amazon or Ebay which has her selling at a slightly lower price (all eBay links are eBayPartnerNetwork affiliate links that help me out!) at this point. Link from the Legend of Zelda is up next and you'll want to get him if Samus' quality is any indication of what's in store!
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1 comment:
I think posts like this, which utilize your vast gaming experience, will help gamers, both veteran and novice alike, to choose games to try or buy that they would normally not consider or even know about. I also love that you do your lists properly (not that there was any doubt) by starting at the bottom and working your way up. I hate lists that start with "1". Great post buddy! I collected mu Metroid fromPIJ,
http://bit.ly/METROIDOtherM
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