Release Date: May 2025
RRP: 11,000 yen
One of the greatest feelings one can experience as an S.H. Figuarts collector is when a figure revealed at a Tamashii Nations event finally escapes Bandai purgatory and gets an official release date. First revealed all the way back in 2019, S.H. Figuarts Alien Hipporit was never heard or seen from again until the lead up to the 2024 event, when it was announced that he would finally be released in 2025 as a Tamashii Web exclusive. First appearing in episodes 26 and 27 of Ultraman Ace, Alien Hipporit is notable for successfully capturing all five Ultra Brothers as well as even fighting Father of Ultra to a standstill - the latter only securing victory when he tore out his own Colour Timer to revive Ultraman Ace.
The Ultraman S.H. Figuarts line has been around for nearly a decade now, but even after all those years its remained pretty consistent when it comes to box design. Alien Hipporit comes in dark brown packaging featuring green and blue accent colours, which perfectly matches the creature's rather murky colour scheme. Taking pride and place on the front of the box is an image of the Hipporit suit lifted directly from Ultraman Ace, with a faint picture of the figure just behind it facing off against S.H. Figuarts Ultraman Ace. On the right spine you'll find the usual bookend style image showing off a full body shot of the alien, and then on the back are a few further photos showing off the (limited) articulation and (minimal) accessories. Note that due to the figure's size and shape, the box is also considerably thicker than your average S.H. Figuarts release. Open it up and the figure itself is neatly laid out on its plastic tray, however the trunk and tail pieces have been removed in order to allow the figure to fit.
If there's one thing the Ultraman range rarely disappoints on, it's the level of detail they put into the sculpts of the alien and kaiju figures. Despite being humanoid in shape Hipporit is just about as alien as they come, with quite a unique design featuring lots of different colours and textures. All of this has been faithfully recreated on the S.H. Figuarts version, with the red, green and blue all looking like the different materials they'd be on the suit itself. But of course your eyes are immediately drawn to that strange, almost elephant-like head sculpt - complete with twin antennae on either side, bell-like "ears" a horn-like protuberance and of course that long trunk in place of a mouth. Those transparent yellow eyes look great on the bright blue eye pieces (particularly with the pupil details that have been added on top), and the overall result is an alien design that feels very representative of the era it hails from. Alien Hipporit probably isn't likely to top any "iconic Ultraman aliens" poll, but he is an alien iconic to Ultraman Ace - so much so that he got a figure before Yapool of all things. Interestingly it also looks like the final figure has been slightly tweaked from the 2019 prototype - sporting far more muted colours in comparison.
Alien Hipporit shares the same predominantly ball-joint construction as much of the other aliens and kaiju in the Ultraman range, which allows for a good range of articulation without the risk of anything breaking (as parts are more likely to just pop off than snap). From head to toe Hipporit features ball joints in his antennae, snout (x2), neck, shoulder pads, shoulders, elbows, waist, tail (x3), hips, knees and ankles. The top spine of his back can also move independently of the neck. Though it may seem like a pretty good range of movement, sadly this isn't a suit design that translates well to an articulated figure. What Hipporit does have is extremely limited in movement, resulting in a figure that doesn't have much to offer in the way of poses. Certain parts of it don't hold together all that well either - for example the right foot is constantly popping off mine because it won't fit tightly onto the ankle joint. It isn't especially bad per se, but it is very reminiscent of the early Ultraman alien Figuarts where the design team perhaps hadn't found their footing yet. Which perhaps isn't all the surprising given this figure has been on the back-burner for a few years now. Arguably the most expressive part of the figure is the head, with the trunk and antennae more moveable than expected.
Ultraman releases can be a bit hit or miss when it comes to accessories, especially when it comes to the various monsters and aliens Bandai have released thus far. Sometimes they'll come with attack effect parts to rival the Ultras, and sometimes they'll come with nothing at all. While admittedly Alien Hipporit doesn't come completely empty-handed, it isn't a very remarkable assortment either. Altogether he comes swappable trunk parts (one straight and one bent), the Ultraman Ace figurine he uses to "demonstrate" exactly what he plans to do to the hero, and an additional left hand to hold onto the figurine. The alternate trunk and hard parts are nice enough (albeit minimal), but the only thing really worthy of note here is the Ace figurine, which despite being done in the low-budget style of the onscreen prop (right down to the texture on the face) still ends up looking more accurate. As probably the most iconic thing you could release with an Alien Hipporit figure it makes sense that this was the main accessory Bandai went for, but it's disappointing that he doesn't come with any attack parts when he went toe-to-two with the Ultra Brothers AND Father of Ultra. Particularly when so many of Hipporit's attacks have a fairly basic elemental look to them (fire, wind, electric), so wouldn't need a great deal of detail to them.
Given the six year wait from prototype to release it goes without saying that S.H. Figuarts Alien Hipporit was LONG overdue, and it's about time the most effective villain from Ultraman Ace (sorry not sorry Yapool) got the respect he deserves. As usual these releases really can't be beaten when it comes to how accurate these sculpts look to the actual suits, but sadly Hipporit falls a bit short when it comes to articulation and accessories - two other cornerstones that make up a successful Figuarts release. Admittedly those aspects aren't too difference to some of the other monster releases (particularly in the range's early years), but as the prices go up they become more and more noticeable. But with the only other Ultraman Ace villain on the market being an expensive set with multiple accessories, Hipporit is a much-needed addition to the Ultraman collection nonetheless.
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