Re: Bandai's Ultraman Ultra-Act Series

I love those cool accessories

Bandai's Ultraman Ultra-Act Series

Ultraman Tiga Dark, Tiga Sky and Leo...

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Bandai of Japan has cooked up a number of new Ultra-Act action figures from Ultraman, the heroic space crusader. This impressive line of action figures continues to combine great articulation and a mess of accessories, including swappable parts. While you may not be able to find these at your local retailers, they are available in most import shops, and of course, online.

Ultraman Leo is the character from the Japanese program in the mid 70’s.

Check out Ultraman Leo in action:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZSvIcz9AKo&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL"]HERE[/ame]

Ultraman Tiga Dark and Skytype are from the Ultraman Tiga program that began in 1996 and launched a number of films.

The boxes for each figure are a unique blend of stylized graphics and color photography showing how badass the figure inside is. Within, the figures are trapped in plastic trays with their accessories secure in each section. Instructions with diagrams are also included and while the text is all in Japanese, it’s easy enough to follow the pictures or figure it out for yourself.

The odd (ultra) man out in this trio is Ultraman Leo, with his 70's design. Remember, kids, these costumes were designed to be worn by stuntmen performing martial arts, so like the Power Rangers, they’re not the greatest to look at. Sculpt on Leo though is very accurate, even down to the seam that goes down the back of the costume. The paint on Leo is clean all around.

The two Ultraman Tigas share the same mold but of course differ in their color patterns. Tigar Dark is black and silver while Tiga Skytype is blue and silver with yellow stripes.

Next comes the articulation. There are joints here that are truly unique and I hope that more toy companies will adopt them as they do make a difference. The neck joint is an interesting one where the head is on a hinge that goes up and down in a natural way while the bottom of the neck allows for a left to right motion. Then there are the ball hinged shoulders, double elbows, wrists, upper and lower torso, double knees, heels, toes and the double hinged hips. The hips are an amazing feat of engineering as they can be popped out ever so slightly for a more extreme bend or higher kick. It really is genius.

It wouldn’t be a Bandai release without the great accessories included with these action figures. And though they’re only about 5 inches tall, they’re treated to such great detail that these could rival most Sideshow 12” figures today.

Starting with Tiga Dark, he comes with a total of four pairs of hands, a ninth hand with beam firing out, a wrist beam attachment, and also a few items for the chest. Ultraman comes packaged with a blue power core but that can be removed and swapped out for the red one also included. There’s also the energy blast that can be plugged in as well.

Tiga Skytype also comes with four pairs of hands, and three additional hands with various energy blasts coming out of them (11 hands total!). Also like Dark Tiga, he has the blue and red chest piece that can be swapped out.

Ultraman Leo comes with four pairs of hands, a blue and red chest piece, nunchuks accessory, and two flame attachments (one for the hand and one for the foot). If you get the right Ban Dai display stands you can pose Ultraman Leo in a winning kick. Until then, mine will just be stomping out his foot on fire.

Getting these toys could be a pain, but all three - Tiga Dark, Tiga Sky and Leo - are in-stock now at BigBadToyStore.com priced between $25-35. Fans of Ultraman, you need to add these to your collection!

FOR TONS OF NEW PHOTOS OF ULTRAMAN TIGA DARK, SKY AND LEO - CLICK HERE!

Review and Photography by David Yeh

Review Samples Courtesy of Bluefin

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