Bandai Japan: S.H. Figuarts Neptuneman and Robin mask (Kinnikuman)

Whether you call it Kinnikuman or M.U.S.C.L.E., Figuarts is showing a decent dedication to releasing figures in this ever-growing subline that sometimes gets overshadowed by other Figuarts offerings. While I’m hugely excited for each new Star Wars offerings from Bandai Japan, I’m almost more excited to see what’s next with Kinnikuman.

I’ve taken a look at the previously released Kinnikuman and Warsman. This time around we get NeptuneMan and Robin mask, continuing the trend of oddly named, unique-looking characters that look just like those little peach colored eraser-looking things we Americans bought at the checkout aisles if we could persuade our parents with a sincere please.

These two continue the trend of the more humanoid offerings, and a few peaks at what’s to come later in the line reveals more of the same humanoid shaped characters (even if they have more than two arms they still count as humanoid), so it will be very interesting to see how deep the line goes and if we get the more out-there characters. For now I’m enjoying what we’re getting and look forward to the slow rollout of figures.

Figuarts has garnered a well-earned reputation for psychotic amount of articulation, and the Kinnikuman line has, so far, taken those already high levels to new heights. NeptuneMan and Robin Mask continue that trend. Being limber super-wrestler-types, they both can get into a massive amount of poses, with so many articulation points they’re basically containment units for joints. But the best thing about them is that despite all those points of articulation, there is a natural flow to their silhouette so that in most poses they don’t suffer from a marionette syndrome or look like jagged chunks of plastic. While they aren’t as streamlined as your average offering from Hasbro, they still manage to look great in random poses. These are built for play and for hardcore display options.

Robin Mask is the less deadly of the two of them, just in terms of his toy. He’s of similar build to the previous two figures, so if you have the other two, you know what to expect. As is standard with Figuarts, he comes with multiple hands and a variety of heads. There’s not a lot of difference between the three heads: one is regular, one has a battle damaged slash, and the other has a bit of stylized sweat. I think I’ll be keeping the standard head on, but I like the optional heads.

That point on top of his head is hard plastic and pretty pointy. But he doesn’t quite make the grade as a deadly weapons. However, Neptuneman is is a bit more dangerous.

Look at those spikes. On an American toy, they’d be dulled and be a rubbery type of plastic, right? Well, not so with this figure; these spikes are, along with his vest, a hard plastic and have a decent point on the end. I already put out my eye and the eyes of several of the other kids on the playground, so this is no joke. Apparently one of Neptuneman’s favorite movies — if you do some research on his character — is to grab an opponent and get him in a bear-hug, impaling the hapless foe on his chest spikes.

Ouchie.

Of course, Robin mask does the same thing to his opponents on his helmet spike, so neither of these guys get medals for fair play.

Basically, you do not want to hold Neptuneman too tightly because he will absolutely stab a dude in the palm.

Neptuneman actually comes with alternate hands and heads as well. His heads seem to be stoic, angry, and angrier. Works for me. He also comes with an alternate unmasked head for previously released Warsman, with a separate faceplate that Warsman can hold. It’s an awesome touch and adds a cross-collectivity to the line.

The articulation for both is as follows:
Upper neck
Lower neck
Shoulder Hinge
Shoulder peg
Shoulder ball
Torso swivel/crunch
Waist swivel/crunch
Double elbows
Mid-elbow swivel
Ball-jointed wrists
Ball-jointed hips
Swivel thighs
Double-jointed knees
Mid-knee swivel
Ball-jointed ankle
Rocker ankle