Toybox REVIEW: Figma Link

Ever since Figma broke into the world of poseable figures, there's been hope that one day they might tackle Link from The Legend of Zelda. When Max Factory then announced Metroid's Samus Aran for the line, that hope began to grow until finally Zelda fans were given the figure they'd been dreaming of. After years of nothing but gashapon figures, expensive statues and poorly made action figures, the Hero of Time has found a place where he can truly shine. Here is the review of Figma Link, in his appearance from the latest Legend of Zelda game: Skyward Sword.

The box sports a cloudy sky image (its Skyward Sword after all), with a rather fitting green and gold trim for the Figma logo and details. Meanwhile the spines and back of the box display Link in a variety of different poses, as is the norm for Figma releases. Open up the box and the figure and its parts are separated onto two trays, with the sword sheath and effect part stored underneath the main tray.

As you would expect Link has a huge range of articulation in his body, but also houses a few surprises. As well as a ball jointed head, shoulders, arms, hips, legs and feet, Link features a swivel joint in his waist and even his hat! What's also notable is the toe joints, which while not unique to the figure is somewhat of a rarity to the line. The tunic is made of soft plastic, so doesn't hinder the hip joints too much and allows Link plenty of action poses.

Now anyone who's played a Zelda game knows that Link is also famed for his wide variety of accessories, and while what we got may not be to everyone's tastes its still an impressive array. Included with the figure is the Master Sword (and sheath), the Hylian shield, a skyward slash effect part, an alternate face and a total of 11 hands. Sadly there's no sign of any bombs, mogma mitts, bow and arrow or any other Skyward Sword weapons. But the truth is whatever Max Factory chose to include, they were never going to please everyone as far as Link's arsenal was concerned so limiting things to just the main essentials is a good call. Also included is the standard Figma stand with two alternate plug parts.

On the subject of the Master Sword, we come to perhaps the only flaw in what is otherwise the perfect figure. While the shield features a removable grip so that it can be placed firmly in Link's hand, the sword does not - making it an absolute nightmare to get the sword into (and subsequently out of) his hand. Some reviewers online have noted that the sword's pommel (the bottom bit) is in fact removable, making it easy to slip in and out of his hand. However many (including myself) have commented that the pommel doesn't want to budge (as if it's been glued into place) and if it was in fact meant to be removed the instructions would say so like they do for the shield. If you have a pommel that can be removed reasonably easily consider yourself lucky, however if you don't BE VERY CAREFUL. Placing the sword in the hand is no easy task, and carelessness could easily wind up with the hilt breaking into two. The best advice is the run the hand under warm water to loosen it up, and then roll the sword in carefully under the thumb.

HEART CONTAINER AND RUPEE NOT INCLUDED

Simply put, this really is the Link figure everyone has been waiting for. Even with the sword issue, it's an incredible figure that is not only the best Zelda figure that's been released thus far, but also may be the best Zelda figure that's ever released. With a Figma Pit (from Kid Icarus) due sometime next year and Bandai working on Pokemon for their D-Arts line, even if we never see a Figma Zelda, Ghirahim or even Ganondorf a Super Smash Bros. reunion is definitely on the cards. A must have for Nintendo/Legend of Zelda fans, but also a huge recommendation to Figma fans who might be looking for something different among their hoard of anime girls.

Mega Bloks Power Rangers Super Samurai Battle Pack 1

With Power Rangers Samurai at its end and the chance of there being a wave 3 of blind bags I thought I was done with Mega Bloks mini figures. However an early Christmas present from a good friend has opened my eyes to a few more options just before the line properly comes to a halt and the Power Rangers Megaforce figures roll out. Amongst the various kits, two battle packs were released: each housing four figures (two rangers and two Nighloks) and a buildable display stand. One figure from each version is a special "limited edition" variant with translucent parts.

Battle pack one contains: Translucent Super Mega Mode Gold Ranger, Super Blue Ranger, Master Xandred and a flying Mooger. Meanwhile battle pack two has Super Mega Mode Green, Super Red, translucent Deker (Nighlok form) and a standard Mooger.

Without further ado, let's take a look at battle pack one.

First we have the limited edition Super Mega Mode Gold ranger, who features an almost entirely transparent body and comes with a mega blade weapon. The raised visor section on the helmet is a nice touch so you can differentiate between standard and mega modes, and the all black body is also a welcome contrast.

Super Blue is exactly the same as his wave 2 blind bag counterpart, only this time the figure is all the solid colour. His weapon is disappointingly missing the gold detail on the black box, but otherwise its a solid figure.

Master Xandred is perhaps the most exciting figure in the set for me personally, given my bad guy count currently consists of a human Deker and two Moogers. Mega Bloks have done a pretty good job in recreating what is a pretty detailed suit, but some of the paint apps are pretty sloppy when you look at them close up. Xandred has his own unique sword, moulded in gold plastic and featuring a pretty detailed dragon detail. Perfect for leading a small army of Nighloks.

Finally there's the flying Mooger (again, not really sure why it's "flying"), who is completely identical to the wave 2 blind bag release.

The display stand the figures come with comes unassembled, made up of two thin blocks, two large two spot blocks, two four spot blocks and one piece with the Samurai symbol on it. Its obviously not complicated to put together, and makes a great alternative to the coloured blocks the blind bag mini figures have. I'm half tempted to see if I can't get some more black pieces to make it a little bigger.

While originally I was going to overlook these, you get your money's worth out of them. Perfect for expanding your display, and featuring some rather special figures too. Expect shots of battle pack two in the near future!

Toybox REVIEW: Tokumei Sentai Go-Busters Minipla LT-06 Tategami LiOh (Part 2)

This second part of the minipla Tategami LiOh review looks at his various combinations with the other Buster machines.

Go-Buster LiOh
This is LiOh's combination with GT-02 Gorilla and RH-03 Rabbit, so its essentially a version of Go-BusterOh that uses LiOh rather than Ace as the core component. While the transformation is quite similar to that of Go-BusterOh (Gorilla becomes the feet, the Rabbit the arms etc.), there are a few minor differences. The rabbit and gorilla headpieces attach to the back of LiOh, whose arms need to be rotated up for the new arms to fit into place. The lion head attaches to the centre of the robot, and the front of the heads need to be switched (with the basic LiOh head being housed in one of the legs). Despite Ace not actually being part of this combination, his sword is Go-Buster LiOh's primary weapon.

Truth be told, the Go-BusterOh minipla combination was an unstable mess and (for me personally) the weakest part of this year's line. However thankfully Go-Buster LiOh fixes all the problems I had with that and proves to be a very stable combination with tons of play value. The added gorilla feet give LiOh much needed proper feet articulation and its sleek build is much more imposing than the short bulky mess of Go-BusterOh. Colourscheme wise it even blends much better. The only real flaws are the fact you need Ace's sword when it could have easily been included in the LiOh kit (see Kanzen GokaiOh's Gojyujin arms) and  how far the chest sticks out in comparison to where the shoulders are, but that's more a by-product of the design itself rather than the toy.

As far as the big Go-Busters combinations go (so Buster Hercules doesn't really count), Go-Buster LiOh is definitely the stand out one. Its a bit of a bummer that you need Ace's sword for the weapon, but Ace comes so highly recommended anyway that you should already own him if you're considering LiOh. Finally a combination worth raving about.

Go-Buster King
Moving up into the 5-piece formations, Go-Buster King is the combination of LiOh, GT-02, RH-03, BC-04 and SJ-05 - making it the equivalent of Great Go-Buster. While Great Go-Buster was fairly underwhelming on the show, the minipla turned out to be a surprise hit with me. Can Go-Buster King repeat it success? The answer is sadly....no.

Once again many of the transformation components are similar to Great Go-Buster, with the lower half of BC-04 once again forming feet and SJ-05 becoming the arms. Its when you get the the backside of the King that the problems really start to become obvious. Everything that hasn't been used in the combination so far just sort of hangs there, with parts joining together with no real rhyme or reason. If the giant helicopter blades strapped to the back weren't bad enough, a complicated backpack of BC-04, GT-02 and RH-03 parts stuck near the top of the robot makes things even worse. Not only does it look ridiculous, but it has some real trouble pegging in securely properly so if you as little as breathe on the thing it completely falls apart. Not great when one of the selling points of this line is that they have articulation.

On a personal standpoint, the SJ-05 just don't have the same bulk that the RH-03 ones do on Go-Buster LiOh. Its undeniable that King is an absolute beast of a combination in terms of mass, but the weedy little arms look stupid no matter how much huge weaponry its carrying.

After Go-Buster LiOh turned out to be such a roaring success I was excited for the Go-Buster King combo, especially since Great Go-Buster had turned out so well. But in reality this formation is just as underwhelming as Go-BusterOh was. Its a complete mess of parts, much of which many feel like an afterthought, and often struggles to stay together unless you leave it completely static. If you want a hulking brute of a robot, stick with Great Go-Buster.