For the first time ever the original giant hero makes his appearance in the S.H. Figuarts line! After years of steady Ultra-Act releases that line has now been retired with it’s characters having been folded into S.H. Figuarts beginning with this release, S.H. Figuarts Ultraman 50th Anniversary Edition!
Celebrating 50 years of the Ultraman franchise, which began in earnest in 1966, this new release seeks to improve upon past flaws and open a new chapter for Ultraman figures. And does it live up to it’s expectations? Well that depends on your point of view. This figure seeks to replicate almost perfectly the design of the Ultraman suit. It’s nature as a poseable toy sort of comes second. But it’s undeniably a well made figure that should include more than enough accessories to make up for any issues you might take with it’s design. Such as the famous Baltan Ship, or the Tamashii Action Option Building sets.
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For the first time ever the original giant hero makes his appearance in the S.H. Figuarts line! After years of Ultra-Act releases that line has now been retired with it's characters having been folded into S.H. Figuarts beginning with this release, S.H. Figuarts Ultraman 50th Anniversary Edition! Celebrating 50 years of the Ultraman franchise, which began in earnest in 1966, this new release seeks to improve upon past flaws and open a new chapter for Ultraman figures. And does it live up to it's expectations? Read below to find out!
Packaging
Befitting of the 50th anniversary of one of the most iconic tokusatsu heroes ever, this set comes packaged in a gloriously lavish slipcover box. Think Shinkochou Seihou style really just with a rather large parts tray and several bags of additional parts under it. There's also a really dynamic illustration of Ultraman on the inside of the lid. If nothing else this release is probably one of the more elaborately packaged Figuarts ever. It's just a stunning box, and as you all know I LOVE good packaging. Sadly the figure itself doesn't necessarily live up to expectations.
Main Figure
While this figure is an S.H. Figuart, you can't really talk about it's strengths or weaknesses before putting it in the context of what preceded it. Ultra-Act. This line was designed from the ground up to scale with Bandai's long running series of Ultra & Kaiju vinyls. These poseable collector style figures were meant to fit right into a classic Ultra fans' collection. So they were always a bit larger than the companion collector line S.H. Figuarts. So the inclusion of Ultraman characters in the SHF line now, can seem puzzling. The Ultra-Act size sort of helped set the line apart from Bandais' other collector brands in a unique way that Ultra fans could really appreciate. I myself have several ultra vinyls mixed in with my various Ultra-Acts.
So on that topic here's the biggest way the S.H. Figuarts Ultraman departs from either of it's Ultra-Act predecessors. It's smaller. It's roughly about the average height and size of your typical S.H. Figuart, meaning it's about an inch or so shorter than Ultra-Act Ultraman V2. The mass of the entire figure is roughly about 20% smaller as well. While you'll of course notice this size difference, you can't really relate it to price. Yes this figure is smaller AND considerably more expensive that V2 Ultraman was, but it's been released long after that, costs have gone up on toy production. So coloring your opinion with price isn't really fair to do. My review is also of the deluxe 50th Anniversary Edition, so it's considerably more expensive in the first place because of it's accessories. The standard SHF Ultraman retails for 5616 yen, the 50th Edition for 8640 yen, meanwhile the last V2 Ultra-Act retailed for 3456 yen. So you need to put it's price in proper perspective.
Now as for functionality, well frankly not a a lot has changed since the Ultraman V2/Renewal release. Yes the Ultraman figuart is a new mold, it even opts for more visually pleasing built in hips rather than the drop down ones used in the Ultra-Act. But that's mostly to replicate the suit used in show, rather than to function better as a toy. But aside from this there aren't a ton of appreciable differences between these two. The Figuart isn't really capable of anything terribly more dynamic than the Ultra-Act, it can execute the same poses with perhaps a degree more flexibility. But ultimately not a lot of has changed. There are built in swivels inside the elbow which while appreciated, I'd have prefered a true bicep swivel. However I understand that they're aiming to look like the suit, not a toy. In pursuit of that aspiration though the design itself is very flawed, like for instance shoulders that can't really get up much higher than 45 degree angle.
Sadly this figure also tends to suffer from some pretty odd QC on the joints. Many suffer from very loose and weak hips (the term noodles has been used), while others have shoulders that require shock oil because they're so tight. Mine has quite a bit of play in the hips while posing, and some of the paint apps are very inconsistent. Mostly the silver on the abdomen. In a side by side comparison with the older Ultraman V2/Renewal Ultra-Act, it's hard to say that the new figuart really is any better, at least to me. If you were buying the standard release figuart, I would honestly suggest getting the larger and generally more impressive Ultra-Act V2 instead. At a base figure level the SHF just doesn't bring enough to the table. And the older Ultra-Act itself is much cheaper these days.
Ultraman figures began the slow path to this new smaller scale with the SHF X Ultra-Act Manga Ultraman. As a collaborative piece it was meant to take Ultra-Act styling and implement it at Figuarts scale. It also helped convey how much smaller Ultras are in the Ultraman manga world. However even the manga Ultraman himself seems to tower over this 50th anniversary figuart. It just looks puny in a display with anything other than the recently released S.H. Figuarts Baltan that goes with it. I hate to continue to harp on size concerns but the biggest draw of the Ultra-Act line (for me) was the size of the figures. They are meant to represent giants after all. But at lease this 50th Edition release does make up for some of these shortcomings with accessories.
Accessories
Now this is by far the ONLY thing in my opinion that makes this release worth getting. It comes with plenty of accessories necessary to creating a sense of scale with this specific figure. However the standard non-DX release only comes with a fraction of what's present here. Keep that in mind:
1 - Red Color Timer. To represent Ultraman's loss of stamina & power in battle. Frustratingly diffcult to exchange for the normal blue one. You had better have very long fingernails or be good with an exacto blade to pop the timer off.
3 - Sets of additional hands. Very very standard hands, no unique expressions or poses other than the minimum of what's necessary.
1 - Spacium Ray effect part. Actually this part comes attached to a duplicate hand as well. It's actually a decently heavy part so you'd better hope that your Ultraman has good QC. The arms on mine are just barely strong enough to hold this whole thing up. However because of the figure's small feet (and small surface contact) maintaining balance in a dynamic pose with that additional weight can be difficult.
1 - Tamashii Stage with arm and hands.
1 - Rebound Ray Effect sheet.
1 - Rebound Ray pedestal. To hold the effect sheet.
2 - Gray Tamashii stages. An odd new type with multiple ports on them to accommodate the included buildings and street panels.
1 - Road Plate. Meant to plug onto the other two gray stages down the center, with buildings lining either side. There really really should have been more than one of these included. You just can not create a believable diorama with the sampling of parts included. And the only way to get more is by purchasing either of the two types of new Option Act accessory sets which include more of the streets, gray stages, and buildings. These sets are decently affordable as well.
4 - Generic Buildings of indiscriminate design. 2 dark brown, 2 beige. Just to be used with the other stage parts to create a city setting.
4 - building plugs which attach to the bottom of the buildings and plug into the included stages.
4 - stage connectors to be used with the new gray stages. These connectors are literally crap and have zero tension in them. They are useless and cannot hold the stages together whatsoever. In fact the only thing that really does is the Road Plate.
1 - Alien Baltan spacecraft. A really lovely inclusion since Baltan was Ultraman's first and most memorable enemy. It looks really nice but feels kind of hollow. It's more of a set piece than anything though. This piece is only included with the 50th Anniversary set. Neither the standard Ultraman release or the Option Act building sets include it. So for many collectors this may be THE reason to buy this particular release. (I may have only realized after shooting & editing the entire gallery as well as selling Ultraman, that I photographed this ship upside down....)
While that really is a fantastic breakdown of accessories, as I said above you're only getting all of this is you pay out extra for the 50th Anniversary set. The regular release includes only a fraction of these. And while some of these accessories are nice, I still feel like you need to buy multiple sets of the Option Acts to make a really great display, which is itself not a cheap option either. The one I've created in the gallery bellow looks pretty pathetic because they're just aren't enough parts for anything better looking than that included in this set. It's a great selection of accessories, but I just can't help but feel it's off somehow.
Final Thoughts
Frankly, I can't help but feel this entire release (not just the accessories) is off. Call me a stick in the mud, or a whiny collector, but I fail to see why including Ultraman in the S.H. Figuarts line required a downsizing of the characters. It sort of feels like a smack in the face to long time Ultra-Act collectors, myself included. I have no intention at all to re-buy smaller versions of the various Ultra-Acts I already have. Especially if inconsistent choices in design and QC issues like those present in this release continue. Given the issues I have with this release, unless you're in it jut to get all of the accessories, I can't see a really great reason to get S.H. Figuarts Ultraman 50th Anniversary Edition. I'm going to continue rocking my older Ultra-Act Ultraman V2/Renewal for a while longer it seems.
Part 2
- Tamashii Act Option Building
- Effect Parts
- Battle Scenes
Nice review, figure does look good, but damn is that an expensive set x_x
I'm curious about how the buildings scale with SRC Sentai mecha or minipla.
Kinda crappy that Bandai had to make the ultraman figuarts smaller. The ultra act look much more like the suit from the show. Nice gallery but I see this line kind of pointless.
The Ultra-Act may be better than the Figuart in all other respects, but the Figuart is the one that looks the most like the suit.
That packaging is classy and it's a good looking figure. But...
Although I have ordered Zetton, so maybe I'll end up buying the damn things anyway.
The expression on his face combined with the flames reminded me of that one comic.
The Ultra-Act may be better than the Figuart in all other respects, but the Figuart is the one that looks the most like the suit.
... this is basically where I'm at.
Although I have ordered Zetton, so maybe I'll end up buying the damn things anyway.
Keep reading: S.H. Figuarts Ultraman 50th Anniversary Edition Gallery - Page 2
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