Toybox REVIEW: S.H. Figuarts Ultraman Cosmos Luna Mode

Release Date: September 2025

RRP: 8800 yen

Bandai Tamashii Nations' journey through the Ultra Series has landed firmly in the Heisei era, and although collectors were treated to a trifecta of Shinkocchou Seihou releases for the Tiga/Dyna/Gaia trilogy the mainline S.H. Figuarts range seems like a comfortable place for the rest. And following the release of Ultraman Gaia last year, naturally the obvious place to go next is S.H. Figuarts Ultraman Cosmos Luna Mode. Star of the 2001 series of the same name, Ultraman Cosmos was a general retail release and one step closer to a complete range of "core" Heisei Ultras in the Figuarts line.

Packaging continues to remain consistent across the "modern" Ultraman range (the Showa era figures having their unique design, albeit the differences slight), with Ultraman Cosmos coming in a blue coloured box which matches Luna Mode's colour scheme. Despite the main colouring differing with each Ultraman release, it's the black lower section that ties them all together. The front of the box features a nice big image of the Cosmos suit to accompany the window section revealing the figure, alongside the Bandai Tamashii Nations, S.H. Figuarts and Ultraman Cosmos series logos. One side of the box features the usual bookend-style image of the figure alongside the character name, whilst the other simply has the name (in both English and Japanese text) running along the top in smaller font. The back of the box then features a handful of images showing off the figure in various poses, and then inside both Cosmos and his accessories are neatly stored on a moulded plastic tray.

Though not the first predominantly blue Ultra to appear in the franchise, Ultraman Cosmos is undoubtedly one of the most significant purely because of what Luna Mode represents. Cosmos himself is known for his gentle fighting style and compassion towards monsters, and Luna Mode's blue colouring is meant to represent the "kindness" of Ultraman. Even amongst the currently released Ultraman Figuarts Cosmos arguably stands out even amongst the other blue Ultras because of his more traditional and simplistic suit design. And it's a look Figuarts have pulled off brilliantly, although that said it's not like they don't have plenty of practice doing Ultras by now. Despite the straightforward colour scheme, little additional flourishes of colour like the gold on the "ears" and translucent blue Colour Timer help tie it all together. There simply isn't a detail out of place.

Cosmos is an Ultra that adopts quite a few unique poses, and with articulation remaining largely consistent across the whole Ultraman range how well the S.H. Figuarts body would be able to pull them off was a big question. Ultraman Cosmos features;

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

- Butterfly joint shoulders

- Swivel hinge shoulders and ankles

- Double hinge elbows and knees

- 'Drop down' ball jointed hips

- Single hinge toe sections

- Thigh swivels

Bicep swivels remain a rarity for Ultraman figures, and Cosmos doesn't really have any swivel motion in his elbow joints either to make up for it. But despite this, the arms are actually surprisingly good elsewhere instead. The movement the butterfly shoulder joints add for example is huge, and then on top of that the swivel hinge shoulders connect to the torso via their own ball joints. The trade off are some quite obvious sculpt cuts at the shoulders, but these can be easily hidden with some careful arm movement/posing. Most else here is standard Ultraman Figuarts fare, but even the torso joint feels like it has more movement than usual despite it just being a standard ball joint connection. The same goes for the ankle joints, which are particularly helpful when it comes to balancing - another thing Cosmos manages really well. Posing Cosmos on one foot is possibly the easiest I've seen in my years of collecting Figuarts, adding so much more possibility whilst also ensuring Cosmos' more unique poses are adequately covered.

Cosmos' accessories include ten additional hands, replacement Colour Timer and "Full Moon Rect" effect piece. The Colour Timers are small so can be a little fiddly to pry out of the figure in order to swap them, but are still far more manageable than some of the early Showa releases. As well having its unique design, Cosmos' replacement Timer stands out as the light is more of a purple than the usual red - making it a nice change from the norm as well as being more in-keeping with Luna Mode's colour scheme. The Full Moon Rect (notable for having a calming effect on kaiju rather than the usual destructive force) effect piece is an impressive rainbow coloured beam that fires from the right hand, with a replacement hand attached directly to the beam as tends to be the case with the Ultras' beam effects. Attaching it does require the wrist joint entering the socket at an angle, but it's less fiddly than it sounds and detaching the piece afterwards is equally straightforward. While the beam's moulding and colouring are very impressive and arguably one of the most unique in the Ultraman collection, its size does make it a little heavy - resulting in the wrist and shoulder joints quickly drooping if the weight isn't distributed perfectly. While Cosmos can hold the pose well once the positioning is right, I do wonder how well the joints would hold up over time if displayed like this for an extended period of time. But what's perhaps most notable about Cosmos' accessories is that it's the hand selection that's the clear winner here. On top of the usual selection of closed fists, open and knife-strike pose hands, the set also features pairs to recreate his distinct martial arts-style stances. Even the default hands on the figure are unique, curved upwards at the wrist to mirror such poses. Together with just how well this figure can balance even on one foot, Cosmos is so much fun to pose and repose in a way that feels particularly unique to him.

From first glance it may seem like the only thing that really stands out about S.H. Figuarts Ultraman Cosmos Luna Mode is the colouring, but the more you mess about with him the more charming he becomes. Despite having the same strengths and weaknesses as your typical Ultraman release, the fantastic variety of hands on offer open the figure up to all sorts of cool and unique poses to make Cosmos stand out. With Bandai swiftly moving onto Ultraman Nexus next year it's yet be seen if we'll get anything else from Ultraman Cosmos any time soon, but even if we don't this remains a really solid standalone release from the series and the perfect addition to wider Ultraman display.