I am such a complete and unapologetic Megaman fan, that I can barely express how much I love the little Blue Bomber, and the classic property as a whole. Megaman is (by far) my favorite video game property and is in my top five of any entertainment property of all time. So, with the upcoming release of Megaman 11, and the fact that Jakks Pacific now has the MM license, I am trying to keep my excitement tempered with the idea of new action figures.

There is no property currently in existence that I want to have a robust and complete line of action figures more than the classic Megaman universe. I have been satiated, but ultimately disappointed, by several Megaman releases (mostly by  Japanese companies) that have brought GREAT figures of Megaman, but not really anyone else from the property. Listen, I love Megaman, but one of, if not the BEST, aspects about Megaman is the rogues gallery and Robot Masters that feature into each game. How it is possible that we are in a spot where we STILL do not have action figures of like, 95% of those characters, is, quite simply MADDENING. 

So, that is why my enthusiasm is tempered at this moment. I am DYING for Megaman action figures, and I DO believe that Jakks could have a formula that could really work to get them to us, but I plan on going into that later. Right now, the first of their product line-up, which I expect to cover the classic series, the upcoming Megaman 11, and the new Cartoon Network series, is hitting GameStops in the US in the form of their new “8-Bit” figures. If you collect the World of Nintendo line, you will be foundationally familiar with the concept of these, but the new Megaman offerings take things further than where WoN has gone in terms of playability and movement.

 I have always been a fan of this execution from Jakks, all the way back to the first series of 8-bit WoN releases, and while I would not go so far as to call these proper action figures, they sure are fun to collect while I wait for the latter. These are rolling out slowly right now, and I do not believe they have been spotted outside of GameStop at this point yet, but I am counting on them eventually showing up at online retailers and, hopefully, Target. There are four two-packs to collect, each featuring different color decos of Megaman (in two different poses) against four of the six Robot Masters from MM1. Yeah, Bombman, and most importantly, Iceman are not present for this first wave, so as much as I hope these are a success and keep coming, those two guys are REQUIRED for this line. Iceman is my favorite MM1 RM (and tied for my favorite all-time RM), so I better be seeing something about him SOON.

But for now, let’s focus on the the four sets that we DO have, because all in all, they are pretty great. It took me a few, uh, STOPS at a few different GameStops to put the whole set together, but if you are hunting now, be on the lookout for MEGAMAN vs CUTMAN, HYPER BOMB MEGAMAN vs GUTSMAN, ICE SLASHER MEGAMAN vs FIREMAN, and ROLLING CUTTER MEGAMAN vs ELECMAN. Yeah, that is a lot of Megaman figures, but there are two different sculpts featured here (firing his arm cannon, and “throwing”), that are utilized appropriate depending on the included weapon, and let’s face it, Megaman was almost called the “Rainbow Kid,” due to his constantly changing wardrobe, so I am not fussed by it.

As mentioned, these figure go past the World of Nintendo offerings as these figures are double-sided (as opposed to just being flat and black on the back), come with accompanying accessories that can connected and posed with the figures, and do feature some limited points of articulation. The latter varies from figure to figure in terms of success as the movement is limited to the arms, and while the Masters and the “throwing” Megaman figures can achieve some dynamic and varying poses successfully, the bent arm on the cannon firing Megas fall a bit flat. However, I do appreciate the thought put into all of them, and it is neat to see the 8-bit execution evolve a bit, especially when I didn’t expect it.

Let’s a minute to say a few things about each individual set.

MEGAMAN vs CUTMAN

This set feature Cutman (who is the only Robot Master as of late to get any type of figure release until now), and Megaman in his standard blue outfit. Now, if this matchup was set in proper game order, Megaman would be outfitted with Gutsman’s weapon and orange outfit, but I get releasing a standard Megaman in the first set. Even though it should have come with Bombman. Technically. I will stop now.

Both of these figures, like all in these sets are lifted right from the game screen and they are spot-on from an adherence to a style guide accuracy standpoint. Cutman, and the rest of the Masters, is the highlight of this set, and his pose is iconic and dynamic, and the blades on his head come off, just as they should. There is a hole on his “front” hand so you can attach the cutter to recreate his throwing pose. Likewise, Megaman comes with a standard plasma cannon shot in yellow that can attach to the end of the cannon. The holes and pegs are all standardized so you can pass the weapons around and mix and match as you please.

Now, I am not sure what the case pack out is for these sets, but it seems as though I am seeing more of this one than the others (the Fireman set took the longest to find for me), so it might be packed heavier than the rest, but that is not confirmed.

HYPER BOMB MEGAMAN vs GUTSMAN

There is something about Gutsman, and Dr. Wily’s obsession with his design that makes him (or at least cues from him) ubiquitous in the series, and very “toy-etic.” I am glad that everything about Gutsy was carried over into his 8-bit figure, especially his large stature. Now, he will not pose with his “super arm” up to toss a boulder, bit since one was not included, I guess that is okay, and I will always take a standard and iconic pose over a moment-specific stance. Instead of a boulder, Gutsman has a larger “energy blast” (my term) included. I am not familiar with this, and at first I thought it was a charged Mega Buster shot, but that would not be accurate to the game either. This is the piece I will probably have the least amount of use for, and I am kind of interested to hear where it came from in terms of design and background.

Jakks got the accompanying Megaman correct with this set in the Hyper Bomb version. The green looks great on MM, and the pose for this one is the throwing version, so it is accurate to the bomb throw. The bomb itself is also perfectly accurate and, as you know, just a couple will turn the strong and intimidating Gutsman into rubble. They figure uses the small amount of articulation well, as the bomb connects to the front of the hand, you can pose it up or down to show the point of the bomb toss that looks best to you.

ICE SLASHER MEGAMAN vs FIREMAN

If I had to pick a favorite set from this first release, it would probably be this one. Yeah, Iceman is my favorite MM1 Master, so I support the release of his weapon, but Fireman is probably my second favorite Master in terms of design, so I am glad to get this guy for sure. There is a lot of red, white, and orange in the four Masters that have been released thus far (another reason Iceman is badly missing), but to me, Fireman’s design is the most directly indicative of his powers, and he always seemed to be the appropriate hot head of the first six, so there are a lot of things going for him. Ice Slasher Megaman is the obvious choice for this set, and the figure uses the shooting version of MM. The dark blue and white costume has been a stalwart in the series since day one, so you can get some varying use out this, because he could just as easily be “Air Shooter” and others.

The actual Ice Slasher piece is just what you would expect, but the Firestorm shot looks more like the little fire that is left on the floor after the shot than the much larger actual Firestorm blast released by Fireman. I am pretty okay with this choice as it looks more like a traditional fire shot, but it does speak to some additional re-jiggering of the enhanced shots across these sets, with the Hyper Bomb and Rolling Cutter being the most accurate to me.

ROLLING CUTTER MEGAMAN vs ELECMAN

The final set feature the dangerous Elecman, the first Robot Master completely designed by the legendary “father” of Megaman (that is not named Dr. Light), Keiji Inafune. Elecman might be my second favorite figure here after Fireman, and while he is not the most imposing or dynamic of the set, he recalls a lot of nostalgia for me, as I always thought of him as being the top-ranking Robot Master as a kid. He could be easily taken out by the Rolling Cutter (included here), but it is well-documented that, even after so many subsequent attempts by Dr. Wily, Elecman remains one of the most power bots of the entire franchise.

The Rolling Cutter Megaman is, like the Hyper bomb, the throwing version, this time decked out in grey and while. The cutter accessory is the same as the one included with Cutman, so there is not variance if you were anticipating a different state of the blades being opened or closed. Elecman’s Thunderbeam has been changed as well from the large shot that moves in three directions (it is a DEVASTATING hit) to a more traditional and stereotypical lightning bolt shape. Again, this fine, I guess, but a bit of an odd choice in the change. I understand the straight screen translation of the the Thunderbeam being a bit tough to capture in plastic, but this takes the edge of it off quite a bit since it is so small. Oh, and Elecman can only hold it in his “back” hand, so an attack pose is made rather moot.

HOORAY FOR MORE MEGAMAN TOYS!!! Overall, I really like these sets and Jakks has done a good job with the evolution of the 8-bit figure style, and most everything is true to Megaman in spirit. I REALLY hope they continue on with this because, at the very least, Iceman and Bombman are REQUIRED, and it would be really nice to also get Dr. Light, Roll, and Dr. Wily from the first game represented here. Or even get crazy and toss in Oilman and Timeman, too. Then, on to Megaman 2!

Also though, I am keeping my fingers PAINFULLY crossed that Jakks will take up the World of Nintendo pattern and get us some proper Megaman and Robot Master action figures. There is so much potential here, and the line could be build off of a base body concept (like Marvel Legends), and could even include build-a-figures if they want. This is what I am waiting for. This is what I am begging for. So Jakks, please make it happen. I have some ideas I can share, but that is for another time. In the meantime, go hit up your GameStop stores and find these figures, you will not regret it.