Saturday 5 March 2022

Toybox REVIEW: S.H. Figuarts Deadpool

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Release Date: February 2022
RRP: 7700 yen

Marvel has been a big seller for Bandai Tamashii Nations' S.H. Figuarts line for some time now, but in focusing purely on characters as they appear specifically in the Marvel Cinematic Universe has definitely limited their scope somewhat. However with Disney's buyout of Fox as well as the consolidation of the Marvel Cinematic MULTIverse being carried out in both Spider-Man: No Way Home and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, those days might finally be over. There's been one big name missing from the line this entire time, and that gap has finally been filled with the long-awaited arrival of the Merc with a Mouth himself – S.H. Figuarts Deadpool.

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S.H. Figuarts have never been a line to shy away from a good box design but it's been a while since they've done anything as good as this. Deadpool comes in the perfect packaging for the character's irreverent brand of humour, the front featuring a graffiti tag of his name alongside a suitably cheeky pose. The Japanese text that accompanies it simply says "Deadpool (Deadpool)", denoting both the character name and film the figure hails from. The pattern of X-Men logos on the white backdrop is also a pleasant sight given that Bandai have never tackled anything from the X-Men franchise in the Figuarts line before. On the back of the box there are a number of additional images showing the figure in various poses against a Deadpool logo backdrop. Inside the figure and its numerous accessories are spread across a moulded plastic tray. 

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The figure is based upon Deadpool's appearance in the two Deadpool movies – keeping the original comic book look of his iconic costume but updating it with a few real-world features. The most obvious of these being the texture of the material itself, which has been moulded across most of the red areas here to give the figure a realistic look. On top of that, these areas have then been given an additional wash of black paint to bring out that detailing all the more. It looks absolutely fantastic, and really makes those red areas stand out against the smooth black surfaces that make up the remainder of the body. With the exception of a few minor touches (to be discussed further down in the review) the accuracy to the onscreen suit is exceptional, with all the correct detailing when it comes to all the buckles, straps and pouches. The belt is particularly well painted – complete with all the silver clips and the Deadpool-logo buckle. Not only is it just a superbly executed figure in general, but because of how little they changed for the films it works so well alongside both comic and live-action figures. 

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Rather than include alternate heads with the figure, Bandai have employed some older tech they've previously used on Spider-Man figures and included alternate eye pieces to convey different expressions. An additional six pieces (three left and three right) have been included alongside the default neutral expression, giving Deadpool gleeful eyes, a squinted sinster expression and a wider-eyed look. Swapping the eyes around involves the simple task of popping the head off the neck joint and then poking the eye pieces out from the inside using the special tool piece included in the box. Experienced Figuarts buyers should be quite familiar with doing this, but even if you've never experienced this means of parts-swapping before it's delightfully straightforward and doesn't run the risk of any breakage. Taking the head off doesn't even involve popping it off a ball joint, instead it simply slides off and clicks back on without issue.

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Good looks aren't everything Deadpool's got going for him either, as this looks to be another winner when it comes to delivering that quality S.H. Figuarts articulation that we all know and love. Altogether Wade features;
- Ball jointed head, neck, torso, waist and wrists 
- Swivel hinge shoulders, hips and ankles
- Butterfly joint shoulders
- Double hinge elbows and knees 
- Single hinge toe sections 
- Bicep and thigh swivels 
Whereas you might find with a lot of Marvel Figuarts that they get a slightly lesser degree of articulation depending on their design (single hinge elbows for example), Deadpool is treated to the full works they give fully costumed heroes. While there may be a little stiffness in the joints at first, all work exactly as they should and the far more practical live-action design (i.e. less pouches than his comic book counterpart) means there's very little restriction on any of the joints. At a push one could argue that the double hinged knees have a little less bend than you'd expect, but it really is a fairly minor complaint to have overall. The great texturing the suit has also continues onto a fair amount of the elbow and knee joints, meaning that the high quality of the sculpting isn't lost in the posing either. From brutally murdering enemies to posing like the attention seeker that he is, you can guarantee that any pose you can get this Deadpool into will be done with a ton of personality. 

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In regards to accessories, it's probably best to address the elephant in the room first – Deadpool doesn't come with any guns. For whatever reason, Marvel (aka Disney) and DC (aka Warner Bros) have decided that action figures of their characters shouldn't be coming with firearms which has affected a lot of recent releases – particularly higher end Japanese figures like this. In Deadpool's case it's also had a bit of a knock-on effect on the design of the figure itself, which now omits any holsters and left some rather odd holes in their place. It's incredibly unfortunate and totally understandable that omission of such a key accessory can make or break this figure for people, but at the end of the day the matter was completely out of Bandai's hands so they shouldn't be held at fault for it. In an attempt to make up for this though Bandai have included a pretty good selection of accessories nonetheless, comprised of the aforementioned replacement eye pieces, eight additional pairs of hands, two swords, sword sheath/backpiece, a knife and an alternate leg holster with the knife removed. The only other thing missing that could have feasibly been included is an alternate unmasked head, which was probably skipped over in favour of the eye pieces. 18 hands is a pretty incredible number for a modern Figuarts, and includes everything from the standard open hands/closed fists/weapon holding hands to some more irreverent ones perfect for silly Deadpool poses. The sword sheathes and knife holsters plug into their respective slots on the figure nice and tightly, with the sword piece also having removable handles so that you can display them stored and equipped. Both the swords and knife are fairly basic in design, but nicely moulded and movie accurate so you can't really go wrong with either of them. And in the absence of any pew pews, they're the best Deadpool's got for taking down his opponents. 

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Of course Bandai aren’t stupid, and even though their hands may have been tied on what they could and couldn't include with this figure they still know exactly what their customers want. So while this figure may sadly not include any guns, it does at least have a pair of hands with moulded trigger fingers. These should be compatible with most firearm accessories at this scale, whether they be from other figures or accessory companies such as Little Armory (who I will definitely be using to kit up my Deadpool). While it isn’t the most ideal solution, at least it means that your Figuarts Deadpool CAN be fully armed if the swords alone just don't cut it. 

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Had it come with guns I'd be willing to sit here and argue that S.H. Figuarts Deadpool was the best Marvel release the line has ever had, but the fact such an inane decision has been made to prevent is enough to make this figure fall just short of perfection. Deadpool without guns is a concept that doesn't bare thinking about (be it onscreen or as a toy), and although the option may be there to supply them from elsewhere potentially having to pay an additional cost to make a figure feel "complete" is always a negative. But if this isn't much of an issue for you then you'll be treated to one hell of a figure – one that boasts the very best when it comes to Figuarts sculpting and articulation. It's a shame this release took so long to happen, because wind back a few years ago and it probably would have been able to get away with having guns. Oh well, c'est la vie.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I just wish there were at least empty holsters. Leaving the peg holes in there is so awkward. And whole guns are going to be easy to find for him to hold, filling those holes won't be so simple.

Any suggestions on what Little Armory set to look for? Pretty inexperienced in accessories like those and not sure where to start.

Alex said...

Honestly I've never bought a set either but I've heard good things about them and they definitely look the part. These are the sets I currently have my eye on.

https://www.hlj.com/little-armory-la028-glock17-18c-type-tmt28227?utm_source=myshinytoyrobots&utm_medium=affiliate

https://www.amiami.com/eng/detail/?gcode=TOY-SCL2-38587

Anonymous said...

Go to dstar.com and check out the desert eagles and holsters that he has printed and painted. It sucks to have to pay more after an already high price tag, but it's worth the perfection of this beautiful figure.

Anonymous said...

Sorry, dstartoys.com

Connor said...

They're fairly small compared to the sh figuarts. Look on ebay for 1:12 sh figuarts sized guns