SHFiguarts Naruto

Looking at the promo picture of these figures, I was not too interested to get him at the first place because I kind of disappointed with what they show at the promotion pictures. But after thinking for a while, well…I changed my mind.  Naruto series has been started from 1997 (it’s been 17 years for god's sake, and if I’m not live long enough to see its ending, my ghost will not go away and haunt them for sure !) , so it’s kind of funny for me that he does not have many reliable action figure until now, considering how popular this series was.

Appearance

Perhaps Naruto was one of those protagonist character which will experience hard times to be liked judging only by his appearance. Instead of wearing cool costumes  or proportional exoskeleton type of body armor, or having a great six pack athletic muscular body with stretched spandex and bling-bling colors , he is just a plain worker type ninja who’s wearing a monkey suit and... Its color is orange. What could have been worse than that for a main character? That fact of reality gives me hard times to judge whether this SHF release looks good or not.  I'm not really enjoyed looking at those wide middle section of his body because it make him looks a little bit fat. But hey, that is actually how he should be looks referring to his anime/manga. So I won’t give any judgment and let you to decide whether to like this figure proportion or not.

 

Unlike how I expected before, over all appearance are not too bad. The joint area somehow looks really bad in most pictures, but not really much when I look at it directly. Maybe because the junction areas are exposed really detailed in a high pixels camera while my normal eyes couldn't really see those difference when positioning him at my desk. His zipper will have its own visual problems for became un-connected because they painted on different moving parts, which not much of matters for me also, but could be potentially annoying for others.

Others than that, I think he is quite good. Paints and details are overall great. I had this little scratch paint on his pants, but I think it's only small factory defect. It hair seems less yellowish than it supposed to by the way, but still perfectly fine for me.

There are actually some minor on its appearance but I just going to write it at the end of this post. 

Articulation
Naruto possesed all standard SHF articulation. So if you already have some of them , you'll get the big picture.

Head

Head is on a ball hinge, so it will have full rotation and a bit up-down movement. The Neck part in the other hand could only perform rotation and a bit side to side movement, without front-back movements because of how it constructed. So Naruto is kind of has limited movement at this area. Not bad actually, but a bit below of my expectation considering this is a long wait and its already their hundred releases which means that they should somehow experienced to do it better.

Arms and shoulder

Nothing much to complain at the arms section. Hinged Ball at wrist, double jointed elbow, ball swivel and pivot at shoulder to biceps. Pretty much similar with others SHFs. 

The pivot (rotation) point at biceps is placed up at his meeting point with its shoulder joint, which kind of limits his possibility in certain position. I actually prefer it to be separated and placed at the middle or third half of his biceps like most of kamen rider SHFs for more free movements. Shoulder to body connection area was curved at front, so he could have greater front arms movement. The separated shoulder cover could moved and rotate freely, so you could adjust it to cover gaps. 

Main Body

Similar to Standard SHF, this fellow body section are separated into three parts, chest, abs and hip.  The Chest and hips made as usual so you could have pretty much as you expected from any shf figures.

Abs part in the other hand is made a little different, at least from about six others SHF that I’ve been tried so far. I’m not quite sure why because constructively the abs seems to have the same construction with others. Maybe because they make its wall a little bit thinner than usual which makes the abs part feels a bit more like a shell, rather than a solid piece. It feels hollow and well... giving me some times before actually like it. But again, it just me… Anyway, it does not affect its function and do just fine as a moving part. You could move it up and down and also rotate it while adjusting your favorite posing.

no peeking

Legs

Nothing much complain at this area. Double hinged ball joint and pivot at upper tight, double jointed at knee, ball jointed and hinged at ankle, and hinged separated toe parts. Could not do a full spilt at linear vertical spread movement, but with pivoted upper thigh, making a side kick arrangement won’t be a problems. 

The only note at this section is that his feet are too small and his ankle joint kind off loose to support him for one leg standing position.

Accessories

Compare to others SHF, naruto has a decent number of accessories. Additional head band, a purse, alternative hands, alternatives faces, two pieces of kunai, and gladly the mighty rasengan effect. All function pretty well except for his left holding hand which could not hold kunai well. overall this guy is pretty much fun to be posed with.

purse and head band attached

Minor (quality?) issue

I've seen other reviews before and think that I may run out of luck because it seems nobody have this kind of issue as me. I never had theese kind of things happen for others SHF before which has given me higher expectation for this line of figures, untill now.

Is that a gap?

Pack them in wet condition or perhaps just another bad molding?

Glue becames too expensive?

I know it’s only an optional part... But burrs? On an original high quality plastic figures?

Again, I guess this is only a quality issue which might only happen at me, so you might not get the same.

Pictures

 

 

 

the only jutsu that kakashi sensei ever teach me ...

size comparison with Real grade and shf akiba red

Final thought

I do have a mixed thought about this figure. Over all, I’m quite happy getting him as my collection. But I also realize that few minors happen which might not be acceptable for others. So… read my review, find others in the web and then make your own decision. One thing for sure, he is still the best Naruto action figures that you could get around this day IMO. So I still encourage you to go and get him if you’re happen to be a fan.

Robot Damashii Gundam Age 1 Normal

It is my fortune that I happen to like Gundam Age’s mecha designs. The thing is, gundam age toys and figures always came in reasonable low prices, while they are seems to always produce in good quality even for their bootleg mokits.  Not really sure why… maybe because the series did not have so many fans or else… but one thing for sure, this Robot damashii is the cheapest and so far the best that I could get IMO.

Appearance

This guy became low price, maybe because of his “stretched” body shape. His main body looks a bit longer than it has to, which could be UN liked for many of his fans. But for me, I think this looks is better than his original proportion.  I don’t know… maybe it’s related to those “tamashii” (souls) things… and I think this guy has more souls than his regular shape. Simple said... I love it. 

Other than that, it’s pretty much standard. The details, color separation and paint job are not much, but quite neat and decent. 

Articulation

This is the department which this guy really shines. I would like to say… the best in my find so far.  The only down fall is at his ankle joint.

Head

Full rotation, side to side, up-down movements in a good range. Nothing to talk or complain about.

 

 

Hand and shoulder

Shoulder armors are clipped on at a hinge joint for up-down movement.  Many things happen at shoulder joint which I kinda lazy too describe… the point is, it’s produced good swivel movements and biceps rotation.  Double jointed at elbow and another additional pivot rotation at lower arms. 

Hand pegs have ball movements. Hand pieces are attached with a hinge pegs which different from usual robot damashii.  Well… it has its own advantages for sword handling pose, like when you want to make “front stabbing” pose… but it also gives an extra effort for hand swapping, and the pegs and hole joints are feels a bit fragile. So I leave it’s up to you whether to like it or not. 

 

Main body

 Main body separated into three section, chest, abs and hip section. I do not know what happen inside, but they could perform front, back, side to side and rotation movements very well.  You need to lift the abs joint a bit for full rotation by the way. Over all they are really good.

The abs to hips and shoulder connection could be detached for part swapping between others robot damashii gundam age 1 variant, which I think pretty useless, unless they sells Titus and sparrow parts only as alternatives.

The only thing that visually annoying is the gapped areas which created at some places when it performed some big body movements. 

gaps

Legs

With swivel and hinge/pivot at hips-thigh connection, double jointed knee, age 1 normal have those good-standard-everywhere-legs movement. Hips armors have a good articulation and did not hinder anything. The front armor has different movements for each yellow and white part which works pretty well to support front legs movement. 

The knee pad has a bit movement at bending, but still could not hide its exposed joint very well. It does not really matter for me though.

The ankle articulation is a bit limited. It only connected with a ball joint so it not quite a pose able. The feet also not separated which was not better than its high grade counterpart. Its ankle armor also hinders its movements a bit. Overall not bad, but nothing fancy either.

 

Accessories

While the figure was great, its accessories kinda dissapointed me a little. Except for its rocket burst effect and alternative hands, he actually has really nothing to offers than his high grade model.

The shield, beam sabers, and dodge rifle pretty much the same as its high grade’s and only differs in size. Beam handles could attach at his hip side armors.

The dodge rifle has some moveable part though, so it might a liiiiiitle bit better.

Pose-ing

 

side to side with RG

Final thought

Is he recommended? If you happen to like how he looks and pretty much all right with his lack of accessories, than it is a yes, he is a good one.  Not to mention that you might be able to find him for sale at almost everywhere at this moment. 

Good byeeee