When I ran a guest review from Blue Devil on the SH Figuarts Piccolo, I knew I was going to have to take the plunge myself. It’s a slippery slope, buying figures imported from the Far East. Once you take the plunge, you find yourself getting used to paying more and expecting more from your toys. For Goku and Piccolo, I paid about $32 each, all in. But are they worth the two to three times what I’d pay for a similarly-sized figure here in the States?
Let’s take a look at the packaging and the contents. Goku and Piccolo come in attractive picture window boxes with some nice photography of the figures on the sides and back of the package. A couple of pieces of tape hold the box closed and the trays together – slice those and you’ve got access to the figures and their accessories, with the packaging fully intact. If you want to return everything to its original state (excepting the tape), no problem.
There’s also no rubber bands or twist ties attaching the figures and accessories to the trays. Instead, there’s a clear cover to the tray themselves that hold it all in place. I learned this the hard way when I stood up Piccolo’s tray with that cover removed to take a picture, and half the items fell out.
I suppose for what I paid, these guys ought to come with a bunch of extra stuff, and they do. Each comes with seven interchangeable hands. Goku also comes with two faces, one intense, and the other doing his Super Saiyan yell. Piccolo comes with three interchangeable heads, his cloak, and 2 front pieces to his cloak – one full piece and one partial, to be used with the crossed arms piece that you can swap in for his regular arms.
Goku
Both figures feature the same articulation, so I’ll cover that together. If you’re a fan of hyper-articulation, these figures will not disappoint you in that regard. If you’re familiar with the jointed pegs you get on the wrists of some of the higher end figures, you’ll find that in the upper neck, wrists, and ankles of these figures. They provide a really wide range of realistic movement in those joints. In addition, the lower neck is attached to the torso via what seems like a ball and socket.
And it’s in the head and neck where I have my biggest criticism. Because the neck peg is jointed, I had a very tough time knowing when I was getting the interchangeable heads attached to the peg or if I was just bending the peg away from the socket. Pushing the head down onto the neck peg also moves where the lower neck is positioned, and I found that because the heads were so easily removed, trying to reposition the lower necks often pulled the heads off, starting the frustrating cycle anew.
Piccolo
Each shoulder is ball jointed and attached to another ball in the torso, allowing you to hunch the shoulders in all direction – you can really get some great poses out of them. And the figures can be extended at the waist and hips. This is so you can get a crunch in the torso and move the legs forward and back with greater range of motion but still look very tight when the figure is in a vanilla pose. The only notable absences are thigh swivels, but I didn’t miss them much.
The paint is pretty simple but well executed. There’s no shading or airbrushing, but the simple colors are done without any overspray or masking issues. As Blue Devil pointed out in his review, the purples on the torso and legs of Piccolo are slightly off shade, the only real shortcoming color-wise.
A lot of people wonder if they’ll finally have DBZ figures that fit in with their other 6-inch scaled toys. Well, it depends. Goku is clearly shorter, and even if you extend him fully at the torso and hips, he’ll still be short. Piccolo, on the other hand, can match the stature of the larger-scaled DC Universe Classics figures without having to extend those joints fully.
Personally, I don’t think these quite fit with DC Universe Classics, for example, but those are really 6.5-inch figures anyways. They should fit a bit better with the still-alive-and-kicking-but-slowly-shrinking Marvel Legends line.
So, what do you think – are these imports worth the cost? I think they are – they come with lots of accessories, have great articulation, and only a couple of flaws – but then again, I’ve already paid for them. Gohan is next, and I’ll probably be picking him up.
Great pics Ron. Nice review too. You might want to give one of those Bandai Tamashii stands a try when you order Gohan.
These look really nice. I might end up ordering the Goku.
have you thought about buying this, i really like it http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/product.aspx?product=BAN12342&mode=retail http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/product.aspx?product=BAN12487&mode=retail
Wow, I don’t like these at all! If you guys want some good dbz figures buy the Medicom RAH… they are works of art!
They’re not that bad though.
Where did you order from? Amiami.com has the best prices on them (at around 2600 yen a piece).
My experience with teh SH Figuarts line has been nothing short of stellar. Don’t these have a pseudo thigh swivel at the hip? Thought they did.
I think the height on Goku next to Superman is perfect. Goku is only 5’7″.
I agree with Mainman. Goku’s height is only 5’7 (some say that it’s only 5’5), so the figure is perfectly in-scale with the 6’3 Superman.
These are awesome btw. I have waited for a 6-inch line of DBZ toys, and finally we have them. Now is not the time for nitpicks and negative ninnies.
since the top of Goku’s head (not counting the hair) just comes up to Supes’ shoulders, that only works for me if he’s 5’5 or shorter – but it can be fudged since you can extend his legs and waist to make him taller. but hey, if it works for you as is, it’s all good! 🙂 in any case, I think both of these figures are awesome.
to answer the earlier question, I did pick these up from Amiami, and I also pre-ordered Gohan a while back. I just looked again, and Gohan is still available for pre-order, but for 25% off. I also saw that BBTS is carrying these. a little more expensive, but I think that’s offset by domestic shipping, plus you can take advantage of the Pile of Loot.