2017 was a great year for toy purchases for me, so there were a lot of contenders for the top spot. I absolutely love my Figuarts Game of Death Bruce Lee; the NECA Ninja Turtles set; Figuarts’ Padme and Anakin; Hasbro’s Baze, Chirrut, Rex, 40th Vader and Thrawn; Mythic Legions Baron Volligar; all of the Guardians of the Galaxy Marvel Legends; and Super 7’s Trap Jaw. One criteria I always fall back on for my personal “best of” is what figure stayed out the longest, never got put away, and still gets played with and posed on the regular. For this year that figure was Itami.
Occasionally the topic of your dream action figure comes up on the forums, and ever since I got into Marvel Legends-style figures, I’ve wanted Toshiro Mifune’s wandering samurai for hire character from Yojimbo and Sanjuro in that style.
Now Itami isn’t exactly that, but he’s damn close. Thanks to IBMMT’s backstory and the AI variant figures, Itami is also so much more than that. Beyond the Mifune wish fulfillment, it’s a super solid toy and I love all the accessories, the proportions and the feel of the figure. He’s even wearing my favorite color.
On top of all of that, my friends made him!
