Buffaloman is yet another entry in the Kinnikuman series, which means yet another updated, fully articulated 1/12th scale M.U.S.C.L.E. action figure, which means somewhere deep inside me you can hear a tiny ’80s kid dropping his jaw. You can probably hear Robert Palmer’s “Simply Irresistible” if you listen long enough, but that’s only because that song was played so often that the echoes of it have a half-life.
Buffaloman is the sixth release in the Kinnikuman series, and more have either been solicited or shown in prototype stage, so there’s no sign of this being a failed line. While we have yet to see some of the more … let’s say “wackadoodle” designs … there is a definite diversity to the lineup, as it hasn’t been one version of Kinnikuman himself done over and over.
One very prominent aspect of this line is visible from the moment you set eyes on any one figure: this is not a line of figures for people who want invisible articulation. The articulation is as loud and audacious as the figures themselves. There are big hinges, very visible breaks, and you’re not going to look at one of these figures and think of it as a poseable statue. However, if these weren’t as extremely articulated as they were, the line wouldn’t be the same. Despite the fact that the articulation is all there for you to see, it still manages to be subtle and fluid relative to the figure. While the the sculpting itself gets across the source material beautifully, there’s no denying that this is first and foremost an action figure made for playing and posing.
And like the rest of the figures in this series, Buffaloman is crazy movable. From deep bends and wide splits to all the crazy positions his arms can be put in, there’s almost no end to the expressiveness of the figure.
There’s no soft plastic here, so those knee spikes are not bending, and those drums on his arms and legs don’t slip off politely. Everything is one piece.
His stomach piece, like all of the Kinnikuman figures, is a floating plastic piece over the articulation points, which means he bends and twists and such at both the mid-torso and at the waist for more extreme posing. There’s a light airbrushing on the muscles that make them pop out.
It really takes having one of these figures in hand to truly appreciate the vast range of options and poses that you have with them. While some toys are fairly static and only look good in a handful of positions, you can lose hours fiddling with these.
He comes with several faces and several horn piece that can be arranged in various ways. He has a normal smiling face, a screaming face and a screaming face with sweat. These toys continue to love their beads of sweat. The horns are all swappable. If you remove the horns and then slide the hair off, you can pop on different faces and then pop the hair back on. I love the economy the technique allows, as you don’t get a number of different heads all with the same hair over and over. You just get the face.
He also comes with a handful of different hand sets. He comes with some regular grabby hands with articulation, a pair of fists, and one pair of devil horns, because Buffaloman listens to Metallica. Or it could just be because of the whole “horn thing” he’s got going on, but I’m going to pretend he rides the lightning anyway. These can all be paired in any number of ways.
If you’re already knee deep in this line, you no doubt need no convincing to buy any of these figures. If you’re brand new to the line and have even the slightest amount of curiosity, you won’t be disappointed by having one of these in hand. These put the fun in toys.
Buffaloman is still available at Amiami, Hobbylinkjapan and Big Bad Toy Store
