Toybox REVIEW: S.H. Figuarts Zetton

The Ultra Series/Ultraman's sudden move from the Ultra-Act range to the S.H. Figuarts line is something that has caused a bit of a divide among collectors. And with fair reason too - to collect a line for over half a decade and then have it redone in a completely different scale is a bit of a slap in the face. But one thing that move has done that benefits both newcomers and longtime Ultra-Act collectors is that its presented to opportunity to focus more on the numerous kaiju that make up the Ultra universe. First came Alien Baltan, and now he's joined by perhaps the greatest of Ultraman's foes in the original series - Zetton. The ultimate weapon of the Alien Zetton, this giant monster not only defeated Ultraman but also went on to face off against future Ultra Heroes as well - most recently playing a key part in Ultraman Orb.

Like any giant monster should Zetton comes in a box much bigger than the usual S.H. Figuarts packaging you see these days - more akin to the old style packaging but with an extra bit of thickness as well. Like Baltan's packaging the huge window is broken up with a piece running down from the top corner to the bottom centre, interestingly featuring an image of the suit rather than of the toy. Zetton's glowing orange sections are complimented nicely by the box's orange/silver colour scheme, and as usual on the back of the box you'll find a number of figure images showing off the figure and its various accessories. 

Zetton is a giant, beetle-like kaiju with jagged antennae and no discernible facial features iother than two cube sections protruding out of its head. A cut down the "face" exposes a pulsating, translucent orange section - similar to those also present on Zetton's chest. The new range of Ultraman S.H. Figuarts has pushed screen accuracy first and foremost, with Ultraman and Baltan both looking like they had leaped out of the show. Zetton continues this high bar for accuracy, featuring wonderful sculpted detail on the leathery brown/black sections and the monster's tubed limbs. Though the paintwork is fairly minimal what Zetton does have doesn't go unnoticed, with each of the silver stud-like bumps on the wing shells accurately painted. The real beauty lies in those gorgeous translucent orange sections though, which really stand out on Zetton's relatively plain colour palette. Although the placement of the darker orange on the chest pieces is perhaps a bit unfortunate, the variety of orange tones on these pieces really make the whole figure an absolute pleasure to look at it.

As a big lumbering kaiju it's likely that the Zetton suit didn't allow the actor a particularly good range of movement, and this is something that's unfortunately translated over to the toy as well. The covered joints may provide the figure with a more seamless sculpt, but it also means the usually versatile joints are far more limited in what they are able to do - with the elbows and knees particularly affected by this. Despite being held together by the usual Figuarts joints the head is almost completely static too thanks to the way the collar piece drapes over the body - much like the case with Baltan as well. So what you see here is effectively what you get, with a fair range of articulation in the elbows, hips, knees and feet with the only unhindered sections really being the shoulders and wrists. It's about as much as you'd probably expect to see Zetton do in the show, so I guess it suffices for the figure as well.

What truly sets Zetton apart from Baltan though is the inclusion of accessories. Zetton comes packaged with two different translucent effect part pieces, depicting both stages of the "Zetton Final Beam/Zetton Breaker" attack. The first is a smaller wavey effect to represent the part where Zetton absorbs his enemy's attack, and then the second is a larger flat piece for the attack itself. While the offensive piece may be the more visually impressive, the most ingenuitive of the two is in fact the smaller one. This piece can actually combine together with Figuarts Ultraman's own Specium Beam piece to create a proper absorption/beam struggle pose. Connecting the two is a bit of a tight fit, but once joined together they stay together and create a really striking effect that both figures can take full advantage of.

Zetton's thick body also means the arms are more than capable of supporting that lengthy beam attack, so there shouldn't be any worry of the piece drooping once put into place. Both pieces are also connected to their own pairs of hands, so there's also no fiddling around to get the pieces to stay in place required either.

While Zetton ultimately doesn't have a whole lot to offer in terms of articulation and poseability, the iconic kaiju more than makes up for it in detailing and effect part options. The figure has a nice bulky build that's befitting of any good monster, making it more than a match for S.H. Figuarts Ultraman as well as any Ultra-Act figures you may have lying around (although the scale might not be quite right there). The effect parts are just the icing on the cake, with the combining one proving an option that definitely should be utilised more on both Figuarts and MonsterArts characters that feature beam effects. Ultraman himself might have been a bit of a lacklustre release if not for the accessories, but between Baltan and Zetton the Ultra Series' move to the Figuarts line certainly hasn't been a totally bad thing.