The world of the Super Mario Bros is no stranger to toy shelves, but I’ll be darned if it hasn’t taken an awfully long time to get super-articulated figures based on the characters from that classic video game franchise. After years and years of seeing barely articulated figures and PVC figurines taking up valuable toy aisle real estate, S.H. Figuarts has heeded the call of the legions of super-articulated action figure fans by producing what could very well be the beginning of a truly wonderful and expansive toy universe.
Their first offering from the world of Super Mario Bros. is the main man himself — Mario! And as my esteemed colleague Pablolobo eagerly showed us just a few days ago, there’s quite a bit to be excited about here. Since Pablolobo did a lot of the heavy lifting in terms of packaged pics and figure close-ups, I’ll focus on providing an overview of what you get with the three sets.
What S.H. Figuarts has done here is pretty cool. Along with the Mario figure, they’ve released two additional accessory sets that allow you to put together the beginnings of Mario’s world as it’s viewed in the games. Now, if all you’re interested in is Mario himself, you have the option to purchase him without most of the other accessories. He does come with a coin, a mushroom, and a question mark box, but what you get in that set is pretty bare bones. That’s OK, though, because this is easily the best Mario figure produced yet by anyone ever. He can jump, he can run, he can do almost anything Mario does in the games (except grow). His articulation breakdown is as follows:
- Ball and hinge head/neck
- Ball shoulders
- Hinged elbows
- Swivel wrists
- Hinged hips
- Ball-jointed thigh
- Hinged knees
- Ball ankles
There’s no waist swivel, and I can’t get his head to turn without it popping off the joint, but those are small complaints I have in terms of the overall package here. This Mario looks great and is a ton of fun to play with and pose, so if you were to get just the Mario set, you’ll most likely be very pleased with your purchase.
For many fans, however, the basic Mario set won’t be enough because with these additional accessory sets, especially if multiples are purchased, all different combinations and configurations of Mario’s world become possible — and that’s a tough prospect to resist.
I picked up just one of each set, but I’ll tell you — if space wasn’t a concern, I’d have gone for several of each because even the basic configuration I have was way too much fun to put together, and it looks awesome on the shelf. And everything looks as though it popped right off the screen into your hands. It’s awesome.
The coolest aspect to the sets has to be the way Figuarts made it possible to suspend multiple blocks in the air for Mario to jump up and hit. They included a clear, posable stand so you can create Mario’s jumping action (or any other action pose), and as for what pops up when Mario hits the question mark box, well, Figuarts gives you the option of displaying either a coin or one of the mushrooms that makes Mario grow.
The coins are especially cool. They’re decked-out with a golden chrome finish that pops like crazy when the light hits it just right. Figuarts even give you a couple stand options for displaying the coins: one stand positions the coin as it would be if it were just sitting on the ground or on top of one of the brick levels, and the other stand raises the coin up in the air just a bit to mimic the “popping up” action when Mario hits a block and a coin pops up. That is pretty awesome because that’s an accessory that tells us they really put some thought into this set and wanted fans to be able to produce sets that are as faithful to the source material as possible.
The blocks are able to be displayed “suspended in the air” by way of a clever tray and stand system Figuarts came up with. A longer, flat unit plugs into the stand, and the blocks can then be arranged any way you like them. The blocks stay in place due to a peg system that easily locks them in place and keeps them from falling.
In addition to environment pieces, you also get two basic Goombas. There is no articulation to these guys, but they are perfect representations of their on-screen counterparts. They looks so innocent, cute, and evil all at the same time. They’re perfect.
To combat the Goombas, you can have Mario on his stand jumping up to squash them, but Figuarts also equipped Mario with a weapon with which to get them out of his way. You get one turtle shell that Mario can hold via a special set of swappable hands and some clear pegs.
The swappable hands are meant for the shell, and by inserting a couple pegs in the shell and into the peg holes in the hands (which can be seen in the above pic), Mario is instantly equipped to handle just about any foe in the game.
On a side note, check out Mario’s eyes in the above pic. Look at that paint job. There is a lot going on there with three shades of blue (that I can count), the black, and the white. The way they’re painted gives the character so much personality and depth, and this is something Figuarts could have easily skimped on, but they didn’t. When you look at Mario’s overall design, he looks quite simple, but then you get a look at his eyes, and you realize just how much care went into this figure. This is some fantastic attention to detail.
There’s no action feature, fortunately, so if you actually want Mario to be able to throw the shell, well, that’s where your imagination (or in this case, Gimp) will have to take over. But it’s great to see so many game-accurate features here.
The green tubes are what really make the display, though. They’re characteristically large, and Figuarts has provided a couple options for creating “depth” in the larger tube. The larger tube comes with the shallower mouth attached, and this allows the smaller characters, like the Goombas, to be posed as though they’re “rising” up out of the tube. The deeper opening can accommodate Mario easily, but if you want to create the look of a character truly “entering” the tubes, all you can really do is detach the opening (like in the bottommost pic) and insert the figure as though they’re “walking” in. It’s not the best effect in the world, but it’s an option.
What I’ve been using the larger tube for is storage for all the smaller accessories I’m not currently using in my display. It’s a perfect little unit for that purpose.
Mario himself stands about 4.25 inches tall, and given his classic cartoony proportions, he fits in well with almost any 5- or 6-inch action figure display.
It’s so great to finally, after all these years, have a Mario action figure that can do everything this figure is capable of. Word has it that his brother Luigi is up next in the series, so I’m excited to see what accessory sets are going to be available in conjunction with his release. If Figuarts can maintain Mario’s quality as they move forward, then passing on any of them won’t really be an option.
