Friday, 24 December 2021

Toybox REVIEW: S.H. Figuarts Ultraman Trigger Multi Type

S.H. Figuarts Ultraman Trigger Multi Type 01

Release Date: November 2021
RRP: 3850 yen

If you've ever wanted to get into the wonderfully addictive and horribly expensive world of S.H. Figuarts collecting, then the beginning of a brand new Kamen Rider and Ultraman series is always the best time. For the past few years Bandai Tamashii Nations have been offering the titular heroes from these two franchises at a lower than normal price, enticing buyers in before they become to resigned to the standard price tags and endless Tamashii web exclusives like the rest of us. 2021 saw Tsuburaya Productions celebrate the 25th anniversary of Ultraman Tiga, reimagining its legend with Ultraman Trigger: New Generation Tiga. What better place is there for Bandai to start a brand new series of releases than with the all-purpose base form – S.H. Figuarts Ultraman Trigger Multi Type.

S.H. Figuarts Ultraman Trigger Multi Type Box 01

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While personally I wish there was a little more variety in the S.H. Figuarts Ultraman boxes, there is at the very least a nice uniformity between them. Ultraman Trigger Multi Type adopts the same basic design they've been using for the New Generation Hero releases for some time, only this time with a rather fitting purple colour scheme. As always it's nice to see a shot of the actual suit on the front of the box to accompany the window showing off the figure inside, while the side of the box features that great bookend-style image making it perfect for display. The back of the box features the usual display of images showing off the figure in various poses, and inside both Trigger and his accessories are neatly laid out on the moulded plastic tray.

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True to the form's name and the character's designation as "New Generation Tiga", Ultraman Trigger Multi Type is a reimagining of Ultraman Tiga's own Multi Type – adopting its distinct purple, red and silver colour scheme. Trigger however adds a lot more gold into the mix – whereas Tiga kept it solely to the upper torso and shoulders, Trigger not only expands it in those areas significantly but also extends it to the forearms, shins and head. It's quite strange to see a base form Ultraman with a head that's another colour beside silver, but that light shade of metallic gold blends in with it beautifully. Each of these gold areas also sport deep engravings similar to that of the ancient tablet that tells the legend of Ultraman Trigger, sculpted perfectly into this S.H. Figuarts release. Though the figure may come at a cheaper price point there's certainly no loss in quality when it comes to sculpt or colouring, with the paint application just as sharp as ever. The upper torso is made of a softer, more flexible plastic that allows some bend when it comes in contact with the shoulders, but it's nothing to the extent of Shinkocchou Seihou Ultraman Tiga's rubbery body.

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As far as articulation goes Trigger Multi Type doesn't seem all that different from the Ultraman figures we've been getting for the past few years, but when you begin to play about with it you quickly see that it does have a few surprises. Altogether it features; 
- Peg jointed head
- Ball jointed lower neck, torso, waist, wrists and hips
- Swivel hinge shoulders and ankles
- Butterfly shoulders/pecs
- Double hinge elbows and knees
- Elbow and thigh swivels
- Single hinge toe sections 
Bandai have already carved out an impressive range of articulation on their Ultraman figures, and with how minimally armoured most of them are they're able to make full use of it too. But the shoulders are always an area that could do with improvement, especially with how tricky it can be to perfect some of their cross-armed beam poses. With Ultraman Trigger they've managed to raise the bar once again, with shoulder joints that stick out far enough that the arms can be brought more forward than ever. On top of that you have the additional butterfly joint movement and the soft plastic torso piece, making getting the perfect beam pose easier than ever. The solid red shoulders can break up the colour and sculpt a little, but it's easy to enough to hide after a little playing. Everything else works just as well as it always has, which each joint pulling off a satisfying range of motion. The way the top of the legs tuck into the crotch piece when stretched outward just take a bit of getting used to (as well as a touch of caution as they feel like they could easily break), but it’s a great configuration for maximum articulation without breaking up the seamlessness of the sculpt.

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Falling into that category of "initial S.H. Figuarts releases from a new tokusatsu series", collectors who've been into the line for the past few years will know exactly what that means for the accessory count. Altogether Ultraman Trigger comes with four additional pairs of hands and an alternate red colour timer – and that's it. No Zeperion Beam, no Trigger Slicer, no Multi Spacium Beam and certainly no Circle Arms. I have no doubt that we'll be seeing some of these parts sometime in the next year or so, but you're definitely going to have to buy another figure to get them. While I completely understand Bandai's tactic of making these first releases as cheap as they can in order to draw in new collectors, but Ultraman Z Original proved that they don't have to be that much more expensive to get at least one accessory. Just over 1000 yen more, and it came with a bigger hand count AND a beam effect. Sure there are already numerous beams released with other Ultraman figures that are all technically compatible with Trigger, but that's not the point. Focusing on the few accessories that the figure does have, the hand selection is decent but nothing out of the ordinary for an Ultraman release – two sets of knifestrike/flight hands and two pairs of posed/grappling hands to compliment the default closed fists. After a nice string of easy to switch colour timers this one is another small and fiddly one, but luckily a little bit of heat should be enough to soften it up to easily remove. Just be careful while doing so, because that gold paint feels like it could scratch pretty easily.

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I was all prepared to give S.H. Figuarts Ultraman Trigger Multi Type a rather middling review simply because I'm done with these initial releases that don't come with any significant accessories, but then it went and turned out that the figure itself is actually pretty great. It still doesn't get full marks because Bandai could have easily thrown in the Circle Arms or Zeperion Beam without driving the price up too much, but when it comes to the core figure they've definitely made some slight improvements to the standard Ultraman body that sets it apart from previous releases. And on top of that, it is extremely affordable. It'll be interesting to see if Trigger follows the same template as Z with every subsequent (and web exclusive) release including a different accessory, and if that is the game Bandai want to play then it's sadly something we're all probably going to have to get used to.

2 comments:

Ink'd Kaiju Dude said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Ink'd Kaiju Dude said...

I agree that Ultraman Trigger turned out to be surprisingly solid despite not coming with any extras. Though the beam that comes with Z original fits him, so there's that. They've just teased photos of Trigger Dark, and that one comes with an extra for Trigger. Go figure.