Toybox REVIEW: S.H. Figuarts -Shinkocchou Seihou- Ultraman Dyna Flash Type

Release Date: April 2023

RRP: 8250 yen

With 2022 marking the 25th anniversary of Ultraman Dyna, it was fair to assume that Bandai Tamashii Nations would celebrate the occasion in the same way they had for Ultraman Tiga's anniversary the year before. While it took a little while for them to confirm, Bandai did indeed pull through to expand the S.H. Figuarts Shinkocchou Seihou Ultraman range with S.H. Figuarts -Shinkocchou Seihou- Ultraman Dyna Flash Type. The third character to be released (and fourth overall), Dyna's 2023 release may mean he's coming a little later than his actual anniversary, but with last year providing a new version of the original Ultraman instead we have been getting at least one general retail Ultraman Seihou a year – and more Ultraman is never a bad thing no matter what pace it comes at.

Ultraman Dyna Flash Type comes packaged in the usual two-piece S.H. Figuarts Shinkocchou Seihou box, which we've seen with the previous releases takes the form of a matte black top half and silver foil underside with the Ultraman range. The top/front of the box is covered with a nice big head shot of the figure itself alongside the various Bandai, Bandai Namco and Tamashii Nations logos, with the sides sporting "Ultraman Dyna Flash Type" in the usual silver foil lettering. The underside features further images of the figure in various poses, and then inside the contents are spread across two plastic trays – one for the figure itself, and then a shallower one underneath housing all of the accessories.

It goes without saying that I'm a big fan of Ultraman in general, but there's something about Ultraman Dyna's design that specifically stands out to me. Whether it's just the fact that the placement of the red and blue on the suit that immediately brings Superman to my mind, but there's something that feels really heroic about the way Dyna looks. The placement of the colours are just brilliant in general - the red and blue not overpowering each other but instead working with the silver to create something really vibrant that stands out, yet doesn't stray too far away from the basic Ultraman look. When it comes to Shinkocchou Seihou figures you immediately expect Bandai to offer up the best of the best, and in lesser armoured figures like these you can really see that "true bone carving" method of sculpting stand out. Joint cuts aside you look at Dyna and you can really see the inspiration taken from the original suit, with little touches line the indentation in the torso and shoulders giving it a far more organic and natural look. Of course that look is also partly thanks to the use of rubbery parts on the figure, which has been a staple (but somewhat controversial) element of the Ultraman Seihous. These parts cover Dyna's entire torso, which is split into the upper chest, abdomen and crotch piece. As great as they look it's still not really certain how well these parts will stand up to the test of time, but a more immediate concern is the risk of paint apps smudging - something that was particularly prevalent with Tiga upon release. While there were a few cases reported online after Dyna's release thankfully it didn't seem anywhere near as widespread. My copy has a little bit of blue smudging on the right-hand side of the Tector's silver border (near the colour timer), but it's nothing too obvious.

If there's one thing the Ultraman Seihou range can't be faulted on though it's the incredible range of articulation they have to offer, with Dyna once again maintaining that high bar and showing that the line is definitely something to be praised. Altogether the figure features 

- Ball jointed head, neck, torso, waist, wrists and hips 

- Swivel hinge shoulders and ankles

- Butterfly joint shoulders

- Double hinge elbows and knees 

- Single hinge toe sections

- Bicep, thigh, elbow and knee swivels

Including those double hinge elbow and knee joints with built-in swivels is such a great extra feature, and as daunting as using them can be sometimes (I wouldn't recommend twisting them too much, as well as naturally being as gentle with them as you can), it's amazing how much difference that little bit of extra twist will give a pose. If there's one thing an Ultraman Shinkocchou Seihou can do, it's give you a flawless beam pose every time. One thing that is quite noticeable on Donna is that the shoulder joints stick out quite far from the torso piece, so in certain action poses can look rather exposed. Some might consider it a little unsightly, but again you can't really argue with the results because those arms are a dream to pose. That all said, the underlying fear of accidentally stretching or tearing those rubbery parts is still present, so I would exercise a bit of extra caution around posing the torso and getting a feel for just how much those joints can take.

Accessories are pretty much standard for an Ultraman release. Altogether there's an alternate red colour timer, five pairs of alternate hands (including relaxed open hands, grappling hands, two sets of knife strike/beam pose hands and of course a pair of all-important Dyna-specific thumbs up hands) and a Solgent beam effect part. After Tiga's Zeperion Beam effect mixed things up a bit by being attached to an alternate forearm part, the Solgent Beam goes back or normality by being simply attached to an alternate hand. Although all these beam parts tend to get a bit samey after a while Dyna's is very nicely done in a vibrant translucent blue with bits of white and purple running through it. The alternate colour timer is also very easy to switch out, despite being relatively small. All in all it's a decent set of accessories, but given this is a Shinkocchou Seihou release it would have been nice to see it go the extra mile and have something extra as well. The Seihou Ultraman got the Ultra Cutter as well, so why couldn't Dyna had the Dyna Slash or something similar? Then again Tiga didn't get anything unique either, so it was to be expected.

S.H. Figuarts -Shinkocchou Seihou- Ultraman Dyna Flash Type is definitely a step up from the somewhat troubled Ultraman Tiga, but the jury's still out on how well these Ultraman Seihous will stand the test of time compared to the rest of the range. As functional as those rubbery parts may be when it comes to improving articulation, how much extra they truly offer the overall figure is questionable when you factor in potential paint issues or future degradation. Living in the now though, Ultraman Dyna is a beautiful addition to the Ultraman Figuarts collection – bold, colourful and a whole lot of fun to play with. Here's hoping for a Gaia next year to round off the TDG trilogy, as well as an Ultraseven to mark its 55th anniversary as well.