Figma No 226 Captain America Max Factory Good Smile Company Avengers

Across the pond it's Independence Day so what better time to look at The Star Spangled Man - Captain America.

Being a Figma figure, Cap comes with the Figma stand

Multiple hands

And of course, Cap has to have his shield

This Cap figure is in his uniform from the original Avengers movie and the paint and sculpt are bang on.

The shield has a lovely metallic paint sheen and the silver of his star and the accents on his suit are also shiny metallic. The suit is a royal blue with dark blue sections. The red of the suit is rich and the white is good and thick and covers the blue well.

The paint continues to impress on the back of the shield with sculpted details and silver paint and the straps that Cap holds are a light brown leather colour.

The articulation, this being a Figma figure, is excellent. First up, there's eye articulation - I didn't move them, I know I'd never be able to get them straightened up again. The head looks up and down and left and right, the shoulders rotate round and move up - the chest is a rubber piece so it doesn't inhibit any movement. The elbows, as are the knees, are Figma discs. A lot of criticism has been aimed at these joints because of they look, but the range of motion that these give the figure is solid so I don't mind them so much. The wrists rotate and swivel.

There's an ab crunch and waist swivel, the hips are on ball joints so the legs swivel out and forward and back. The knees, as mentioned before, are on discs so bend smoothly, there's ankle articulation and the toes bend.

I really like this figure (I'm a big Captain America fan), and this is a solid addition to any Avengers or hero collection.

If you can afford this figure I'd say go for it. In saying that though I know that there's an SH Figuarts Captain America in his Age of Ultron uniform coming soon, so it might be worth waiting for that if it's possible to get your hands on it.

Go Figure!

S.H. Figuarts Iron Man 3 Iron Patriot

I've been meaning to write about this figure for a while seeing as I've had it for several months now!

SH Figuarts do great work and are well worth the money to have imported from Japan. The articulation, accessories, paint application and sculpt are all top drawer on SH Figuarts figures and this Iron Patriot is no different.

Firstly, Iron Patriot comes with six repulsor effects that can all be attached to his palms or bottom of his feet.

He also comes with his minigun that attaches to his back, which also comes with a blast effect that attaches to it.

And as far as hands go, we get 4 different pairs. There are closed fists, blaster hands with pegs to attach the repulsor blasts to, blaster hands without pegs, and flat palms.

Iron Patriot himself is just a class act.

The paint is gorgeous and metallic, with flecks throughout adding to the realism. This figure looks metallic though it's not - the feet are die cast metal though to keep the figure balanced and to stop it from falling over.

The paint is also incredibly clean and neatly applied.

Iron Patriot's minigun fits nicely into one of two slots on his back. The gun is also articulated so it can sit flat against his back or angle it over his shoulder ready to fire.

The articulation on Iron Patriot is great. The head looks up and down and left and right. His shoulder armour is articulated so the shoulders aren't hindered at all. The shoulders have a ball joint inside and out so it's almost like a butterfly joint giving his arm a great range of motion. Elbows are double jointed and the wrists are articulated. There is an ab crunch and waist swivel.

There are articulated flaps at his hips so that his legs aren't hindered when moving. His hips have double joints, again almost like a butterfly joint so there's a great range of motion forward, back, and outwards. There's a thigh swivel, double jointed knees, articulated flaps at the front and back of the feet, ankle pivot and hinge and toe articulation.

This figure is one of the jewels in my collection, I absolutely love it. It's almost flawless as far as I can see - the only 2 things that are missing for me are: the eyes and arc reactor look as though they should light up, but I guess if they did this figure would cost even more! And secondly, I wish it came with it's own flight stand - that would make it.

If you can afford this figure, I'd say it's well worth picking up. Of course you can get about 3 Marvel Legends for the price of this one figure, but I'd recommend this over those all day - especially with the prices that some of the rarer Marvel Legends can hit.

Go Figure!

S H Figuarts Injustice: Gods Among Us Batman

Bandai Tamashii Nations have started to produce figures for the videogame Injustice: Gods Among Us through their S H Figuarts line. And when I saw just how cool these things looked, I found it very hard to turn down Batman.

Batman is one of my favourite superheroes (isn't that the same for EVERYONE?!) but I like getting him in some different costumes, and a new armoured up suit, complete with die cast pieces, had to become part of my collection.

Batman comes in a nice window display box, which shows the figure inside off nicely and displays the accessories. And Batman comes with a few.

Batman comes with several interchangeable hands (one of which kind of holds his grapple gun)

The grapple gun is surprisingly over sized. I really would have thought it would fit nicely into Batman's hands, but nope, it's sadly too big to fit well.

The grapple gun also comes with 2 attachments. A grappling hook and a grappling hook on a bendy wire

There are 2 batarangs which re nicely sculpted

Batman also has an interchangeable head. It really adds to Batman's overall look I think. It gives him this fantastic armoured up, ready to do battle look

And lastly, this isn't so much an accessory, but you also get Batman's cape which comes in 3 sections. Unfortunately the cape is a hard plastic mould which means you can't really pose it. In saying that though, it does look really nice. It's got a nice blue tinge to the blackness and the tears and tatters on the bottom are sculpted really nicely.

You can put Batman's 'middle' cape on separately but he looks much better with all 3 pieces clipped into place.

The work that's gone into this figure is just great. The details and paint work is just absolutely brilliant, and those details go right through the figure.

The gauntlets on Batman are incredibly sharp, as are the points of his ears but they look amazing!

Batman is super poseable too which should be expected from SH Figuarts. His head rotates and there's a joint at the base of his neck, his shoulders have a ball hinge joint, there's a bicep swivel, elbow joint and swivel, and his hands rotate round, up and down.

There's an ab crunch, swivel, hips swivel, double jointed knees, his ankles swivel rotate and pivot. And his cape swings out. In 3 places. Really, there's no lack of articulation in this guy!!

But for me, as much as I love the articulation, the best thing for me about Batman is the look. The gorgeous silvers, greys and blacks used on this figure look amazing, and the metallic blue on his armoured mask really pops.

There are a few die cast metal pieces on this figure too - the thigh guards and the ankle bracers. These help give the figure some nice weight and help him stand nice and steadily.

DC heroes, Marvel heroes, Star Wars and more coming your way soon! Go Figure!

Figma 153 The Legend of Zelda Link

I'd heard a lot about Figma figures and how highly articulated and detailed they were, and when I saw the Link figure they released, I knew it was something worth saving for!

Figma toys are imported from Japan and are therefore quite pricey. In my opinion though, if you're really into your toys and the subject matter then they're well worth it. This version of Link is from Skyward Sword for the Wii, and Figma nailed this figure. It's a gorgeous piece and if it's true that Figma are going to be doing other versions of Link, I'm going to need to get saving!

Taking Link out of the box, you find him safely packed in plastic.

You can see here his shield, sword, sword sheath, and alternate hair and face. And that's not all Link comes with, he also comes with 4 extra pairs of hands

He also comes with the Master Sword, which is just an absolutely beautiful accessory. Beautifully sculpted and detailed

The Master Sword also has a nice sheath to be stored in

And the final accessory for use with the Master Sword is a "swoosh" effect, as though Link was swinging it through the air

And of course Link comes with his Hylian shield, how else would he defend himself?! Again, this is an excellent looking piece

And he also comes with the Figma stand, which is brilliant for getting Link into different poses

Link himself is, unsurprisingly, beautifully done, well painted and highly articulated.

Straight out the box he looks much like this

The detail in Link's outfit is great, the green tunic and hat, his pointy pierced ears, the silver mail under the tunic, the brown boots and yellow trousers. He also has changeable hair and face. You simply pop the hair off first, then the face, then you can change them. You get this scary look first.

And that can quickly become this!

Link's articulation is really great. From top to bottom: Link's hat swivels, his neck is on a ball and hinge joint though his head can't really tilt back due to his hair. His shoulders pivot and turn, and his elbows have Figma joints, which are discs that make his elbows go back and forth very smoothly. His wrists have small peg holes so you can switch the hands, but the hands themselves have joints so they can move back and forth and of course the hands can spin in the joints.

Link has an ab crunch and swivel, his hips move back and forth and up and down, and his knees also have the Figma disc joint, boot cut swivel, ankle and toe articulation.

As you can see, Link has a serious amount of articulation.

And I don't remember this bit in Skyward Sword, but...JAZZ HANDS!!

The details in this figure really are brilliant. Gorgeous sliver buckle, small pouch on the belt, blue wrist guards. This figure is a perfect representation of Link from Skyward Sword and what really nails it his face. It's a beautiful paint job and both faces really convey Link's very subtle personality.

If you can afford this guy and you're a Zelda fan, I'd highly recommend ordering this piece. It really is great and I find myself posing him differently on my shelf at least once a week!

Go Figure!