Toynami Naruto Action Figure Line

Toynami Naruto Line: Kakashi and Itachi

Got these figures at 20sgd each.. a little steep for 4" western figures, but well worth it.

Itachi I suppose is the weakest of all the figures from the wave 1 release of toynami's naruto 4" line. Because of its lack of accessories and minimal play value. Although he does indeed feature 25points of articulation as advertised by toynami, most of the articulation from the waist down is hampered in terms of range movement by the akatsuki coat.

Itachi close up.

For a 4" figure, you just have to admire how toynami executed making Itachi into an action figure. The Sharingan eyes are very well detailed even for a figure this small. Very well painted and not a paint bleed noticeable, very odd for a western mass produced action figure. The forehead protector is also very accurate with the konoha/leaf logo and the slash across the crest indicating the bearer as a missing nin/rogue ninja.

As mentioned, Itachi has limited articulation from the waist down, toynami didn't even bother sculpting hips for itachi, from what I can see, the legs and torso are connected by just a "T-bar" shaped crotch!:lol: Although this is a limitation to the figure per se, it only highlights how good Itachi is as a character. Even by just a simple standing position, Itachi can very well stay true to his anime personality. Specifically a Genjutsu master, Itachi rarely does intense moves. He just simply stands there and kills you with his stare, literally! :shock: However, what bothers me is his facial expression, although the eyes look good, I hate how he seems to be smiling a little bit. I think I could count the times I remember itachi smiling, and he rarely smiles, so I find it a bit odd that toynami designed his expression that way, anyways they could've easily remedied it with an extra "mangekyou sharingan" head but opted not to, oh well.. 

The only accessorie(s) that came with him is a pair of jutsu/seal forming hands. That's it, I can't help but feel a little shortchanged, they could've at least thrown an extra pair of kunai wielding hands, if not the extra head.. I had thoughts of cutting the robe so as to get a more range of leg movement, but after seeing that he has no sculpted hips, I'm glad I didn't. 

Like I said, no overly acrobatic poses for Itachi, but cool nonetheless, for this pic, I borrowed naruto's kunai wielding left hand as they are interchangeable and uses the same sized pegs/peg holes.  I don't know how they could've gone any other way in terms of sculpting the akatsuki robes but I think it would've been more awesome if they made the robes semi opened on the waist down so as to accomodate the wasted articulation for the hips and legs..

As seen on Itachi's return to Konoha (with Hoshigake Kisame)

Customized straw hat borrowed from my "love hina" figure.

You just gotta admire the extra details for the figure, the akatsuki ring is also evident on both the open and jutsu hands, sculpted and painted. Even the details on the nail paints for Itachi's hands and feet are there. I was expecting sloppy paints for the akatsuki clouds on the robes, but I was surprised that they were expertly painted. Very good indeed.

"What could a missing nin like you want from Konoha?"-Kakashi

Naruto and Itachi forest encounter

"I've given you some of my power, I hope the day never comes when you have to use it..."-Itachi

Overall I think this is the best Itachi action figure release. While there are more bigger figs of itachi out there, I think the additional articulation as well as the prospect of putting him alongside additional akatsuki members is a big draw for this figure. Unlike with bandai or other japanese toy companies, who would only release and re-release main characters to death, western companies like toynami, are more concerned with releasing secondary characters and a chance to complete the cast. This is how it was with Irwin and Jakks for Dragonball Z, I hope this also holds true for Toynami. Wave 2 consists of Gaara, Sasuke and Deidara. hopefully somebody brings these in locally at a more affordable and friendly price.

Thanks for looking, Will give my thoughts on Kakashi next (the gem of the line imo).

Super Robot Chogokin Gear Fighter Dendoh

Super Robot Chogokin Gear Fighter Dendoh

I intentionally decided to just get the main mech from the show so as to have a "feel" of how good the gear fighters release are, so far I'm contented with them, and after playing around with Dendoh, I think Knight Ogre is worthy of a purchase also.

Dendoh also comes with effect parts for the forearms and one skid mark effect (ala revoltech), which I think is not that useful, I would rather that bandai made wind effects also for the leg turbines instead. I like how they used shiny gold paint highlights on the chest and on Dendoh's forehead. Dendoh has solid chunks of diecast metal parts on the forearm and shin turbine frames (those silver parts that hold the gears). At first I was expecting bandai will make the gears made of solid metal also, but I guess they opted to making em rubbery plastic for  cost cutting and balancing issues. The white part on the front chest of Dendoh is also made of metal. Everything else is made of plastic. When compared with Alteisen, Dendoh seems to be lacking very much in terms of metal content. Plus the non usage of metal joints on the legs and shoulders worries me about possible breakage issues over prolonged play-wear.

My favorite move from Dendoh is his jumping crescent kick. I'm glad how this SRC version of him can replicate it with ease. Poseability is one of the main staples of SRC Dendoh, and he wont dissapoint, Dendoh can strike lots of poses that will please even the most casual mecha fans.

Another angle/view of Dendoh's crescent kick, this move definitely makes me crave for that missing wind effect for his legs. I tried using the skid mark effect but it just doesn't seem right for it..

Perhaps they can include the leg effects when they release Kiba? There was a prototype shown of kiba back when the line was announced, but most of the stuff are now in limbo (cybaster,kiba,Rgun etc.)

"Unicorn Drill Command Install!"

Bandai was sane enough to include one data weapon for each gear fighter release. Dendoh comes with the Unicorn Drill, and the horn can rotate just as how it was when used in the show.

 

"Unicorn Drill Final attack!!!"

Havin' fun with the src effect parts, for this one the electricity effect was from SRC Great Mazinger, although now that I think about it, it would've been more anime accurate to include the wind effects over the electricity effects.. Dendoh also comes with alternate parts for the backpack and his backpack can also be pulled to reveal the ducts and vents in preparation for the excess energy emitted during the execution of its final attack.

Super Robot Chogokin Alteisen

Super Robot Chogokin Alteisen

The best SRC release so far, comes with effect parts for the revolving stake. The stake is a solid metal almost like a real concrete nail embedded into alteisen's forearms. Handle with caution, seriously!

Alteisen also comes with a heat horn effect part, although its a cool accessory, I don't think it depicts the heat horn accurately as the horn is only supposed to glow like a heat rod and not turn fiery. Personally I would've preferred if bandai had included claymore mines effect parts instead, still its no biggie, alteisen is an awesome piece either way.

Super Robot Chogokin Weissreiter

SRC Weissreitter

This release from the SRC line features yet another SRW Original Generation character. I am not sure, but besides the deformer series ver., I think this is the first time we get a diecast rendition of Weissreitter, and an original and not super deformed ver. at that.

As expected from a super robot chogokin release. Weissreitter features multiple points of articulation and has diecast metal parts on the inner shoulders, inner feet, hip joints and some parts of the lower legs. The set includes multiple pairs of hands, the trademark long rifle,beam saber, optional "playtime" antennaes, binder back pack and optional wrist cannon parts. Weissreitter doesn't have any effect parts that come with it. And I hate how they designed the tamashii act stand adapter, It tends to get loose easily, and might be dangerous to display the figure with it. Bandai should’ve just opted to drilling a hole at the bottom or back of the hips just like what they did with the gear fighters, not only is it more cost effective, but it’s also more stable.

"Pierce Thru"

Not much to say about the weissreitter just that its yet another solid release, and one of the most anticipated SRW OG characters to date. I was surprised that bandai made a quick announcement and release for this figure, as Cybaster was supposedly the one in front of the line seeing that we have already seen prototypes of it at last year's bandai collector events.

No complaints though, I welcome this release, but it kinda raised some question marks on whether Cybaster is still in the mix or if whether it was totally scrapped and thus slated to be released instead in Bandai's ver. ka line..

2/5th of the SRW OG ATX Team with Cybaster and Trombe Huck

SRW OG's "Love Team" Weissreitter and Alteisen.

Bandai Soul Of Chogokin GodSigma

Bandai Soul Of Chogokin GodSigma

While I’m not really impressed with godmars, I felt I needed to backtrack him because of the impending release of soc godsigma. The twin gods of the soul of chogokin line will finally be complete. This is definitely one of my more memorable purchases, not because of the item itself, but because of what I had to go through to have it replaced, I bought one at Singapore CSC China Square Central, but after paying for it, when we were inspecting the contents, the white robot uranus, had a broken right leg, not wanting to refund me the payment, the shop owner insisted that I get a replacement at their other branch in plaza singapura. So I had to leave the shop, without the already paid item, and travel two mrt stations to Dhoby Ghaut to get a replacement at  plaza singapura. But I'm glad everything worked out ok, as the godmars they had in stock there was in pristine condition and have no qc issues whatsoever, also, Plaza singapura has some more toy shops to scope out, so it’s all for the better.

Super Robot Chogokin godreideen

Super Robot Chogokin godreideen

I always planned on getting this when it was announced, cept' I knew I won't be getting it asap. So when I found it for a good price at Singapore's China Square Central, I knew its time to get one.

godbreaker

While godreideen is not that heavy because the metal legs are hallow to accommodate the transforming gimmick, I was a bit surprised that the figure included a decent amount of metal on the legs, hips, limb joints and upper torso, Although I was actually disappointed that he was no fun to play with.  One of the marketing points of the src line is its high amount of poseability and great play value but with godreideen, it's hard to pose this thing, sharp points all around and tight joints makes this src a chore to play with. Imagine posing a sea urchin, that’s how it feels like... L Though the fault is mainly due to godreideen’s physical design itself and not the toy.

godblock

Another thing is, godreideen doesn't have those clicky joints, again which takes away the fun of posing him, while he does have ratchet joints, you can only use it when in godbird mode, since its the legs of the godbird that has the clickety sounds. Plus the black portions of the limbs makes it feel like you're playing with an sh figuarts action figure and not an src, the black portions just feels as though you're posing a humanoid figure and not  a mech.

godvoice

godreideen's wings have additional articulation points to imitate its godvoice move.

godgorgon

Probably the coolest looking weapon for godreideen is the godgorgon, Again, Bandai made good use of translucent parts on the bow’s energy string, just as how they'd use them on other src effect parts.

godbird

This is undeniably the redeeming factor for this particular src release. godreideen just looks incredibly good in godbird mode, and is more playable in this form imo.  Too lazy to count the additional articulation produced by the talons, feet and legs, but trust me when I say that they are a lot.  Plus those talons are sharp. You could practically injure yourself if you're not careful. The transformation is also solid and I was actually thinking that bandai did a heck of a good job in executing its godbird mode. The legs has a folding peg on the sides to provide additional stability when joined together. Also while the manual shows that you need to parts swap the head and remove the hands to transform him in godbird mode, I think even without doing this godbird looks great just the same. It's just that when you look at him topside you'd see godreideen's face staring back at you.  But I still think it adds more fun seeing as how you can change him back and forth both modes without really needing to remove or swap anything.  The wings also looks more magnificent in godbird mode. I'm really surprised and glad how bandai was able to execute one of their first transforming srcs.

godreideen is not an amazing figure. He looks good visually and would make a great display piece, but if you're looking to pose and play with him, you'll be a bit disappointed, that said, the godbird mode alone I think is worth the purchase for this particular src.  I enjoyed transforming him and trying to put the godbird in cool poses with its talons trying to look threatening. I would highly suggest getting him if you can get him around the same price I got him for which is 45sgd. I intentionally passed on src normal reideen seeing that I already have him in soc form, but now that I think about it reideen might be the better release of the two because his body design is more mech like, more poseable and probably more fun to play with, I will definitely consider getting it if and when I see it for around the same price I got godreideen.