Most of the time we buy action figures of properties we follow. Universes we know, characters we love. But every now and then a line comes along that makes you want the toys because they look awesome, and then those figures make you want to know more about the property. That’s what happened to me with Bandai’s Figure-rise Standard Dragon Ball model kit line.
To say I’d never heard of Dragon Ball before these models were announced would be crazy. Of course I’d heard of DBZ. I had seen episodes back when they were on Cartoon Network. Never a huge fan, just something to watch every now and then. But over the past few years I’ve become a huge fan of Bandai’s Star Wars figure model kit line so when DBZ was solicited I couldn’t pass it up. More model kits that give you nice action figures? Sign me up!
I’ve since started watching Dragon Ball Z with more attention paid, and I’m loving it. I’m not too far in because it’s been suggested I stop and find an edit that cuts out a lot of the filler, so I’ll circle back around for that.
The Figure-rise Standard Dragon Ball line gives us more of what we’re used to. Box with graphics. No biggie.
Inside is the familiar sight of sprues. Because of the construction, it takes a few more colors than what I’m accustomed to seeing in the Star Wars line.
Finally, instructions. Fairly easy to follow.
Assembly was a snap. No complications at all. Even the decals were easy to apply. This kit didn’t include waterslides for whatever reason, but the “stickers” are higher quality than what we saw with the Bandai America TMNT kits. I’ve had these on Goku for weeks and have put him through the wringer as far as posing goes, even splitting the upper boot back apart, and haven’t had a bit of problem.
The red lines on the boots and the tongue are the only decals, which is amazing considering how the eyes look on the finished product. The different colors of the eyes, pupils, and eyebrows is achieved by several separate pieces all coming together. Insane.
Also included is an alternate neutral face. Well, if you can call that mean mug neutral.
The switch is achieved by removing the front piece of hair.
The figure also includes several extra hands. Two fists, two clawed/grip, and one with two fingers pointing. I later learned the two fingers is Goku’s teleportation gesture. At the time I was only going by how the package had him posed.
What would Dragon Ball characters be without power effects? Even more, what’s Goku without his Kamehameha?
The two effects aren’t near as clumsy as I originally suspected. The stand for the blast is clear and less noticeable than the solicited Lego-looking stand. That link also gives you a look at how the faces are assembled since I forgot to take pics of that.
As far as the figure itself goes, the separate pieces that make it a model kit come together really nicely. Sure, there is a seam line here and there but most are hidden within muscle striations and clothing wrinkles. Except for one blatantly obvious spot: The bicep. For some reason those were engineered in a weird way to make them kind of ugly. I can kinda see what was imagined but it falls short in reality.
Another big misstep is the wrists. Too much gap. It can be hidden with some creative posing but I would have preferred they be flush even though there would be a loss to the range of movement.
Otherwise, articulation and aesthetic is fantastic. You can see the range of movement in my video review:
If I had to nitpick one more thing it would be the hair. It’s a bit translucent and ends up looking slightly weird, but I flip-flop on it. One day it’s strange, the next it’s a cool power effect.
But at the end of the day I love this figure. I would have preferred a black-haired basic Goku from the beginning of the series but I know this is more exciting and dynamic. It is a good start to a line that already has more additions coming. Final Form Frieza released with this Goku and then SS3 Goku, SS2 Gohan, Cell, and Majin Buu are already up for pre-order.
The unarticulated Vegeta with the Saiyan Pod is going to be a must-have too.
I’m also going to need that version of Vegeta as a full-on kit though.
So yeah, get on the DBZ model train. Goku is available at BBTS and for pre-order on Amazon.
