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Vampire Hunter D- Epoch Meat and Potatoes; 5.0 Perks; 5.0 Homer Factor; 5.0					Description;  the legendary anime vampire killer brought to life. The figure is approximately 6" tall and wears a cape and wide-brimmed hat Steven Tyler would kill for.  The piece is mostly black with bronze high-lights and is surprisingly well articulated.  The figure comes with a stand, sword, and spare left-hand.  The cape is also removable.
	Akira... Gundam... Fists of the Northstar... Neon Genesis Evangelion... past and present some great pieces of anime', PLUS the Toy Gods have seen fit to recreate these masterpieces in toys.  Notice a title missing... come on... not that hard... think BIG FREAKING HAT AND SWORD... ok, ok... thinking VAMPIRE.  Ahhhhhh.. NOW you remember.  Oddly enough, 'Vampire Hunter D' wasn't one of the big anime pieces to make a splash into PVC immortality.  Hey, who could forget the hat, the duster, THE GIANT SWORD that would make Voltron and Toshiro Mifune green with envy... and the funky thing with his left hand... scary, but funny.  Who woulda thought one of the funniest side-kicks in anime would be a hand with a smart-ass face in the palm.  For you newbies, I am NOT joking.  Rent it, you'll see.   Well, licencing dollars have caused 'D' to see the toy-light, and a company called Epoch has created a small line of figures based on the anime classic.  The line is composed of our intrepid hero and the female lead Leila.   This is the first time I've heard of these folks, so I was rather leery of what type of work this company would offer to 'D.'  I shouldn't have worried, and neither should you. Meat and potatoes are surprisingly very, very good.  At first glance, this figure LOOKS good, but has no articulation whatsoever.  The sculpt is stunning, capturing the graceful lines and curves of the character, and a very well rendered cape and wide-brimmed had.  Steven Tyler, eat your heart out.   The paint is also amazing, mostly black with nicely done bronze high-lights.  Ah, articulation.  Well, when I first saw promo-shots, I was VERY worried;  visions of a nice sculpt and no joints danced through my head.  Granted it would be a nice STATUE of 'D', but I didn't want no stinkin' statue.  Hey, what's the point of having 'D' if he can't swing his sword, right?  Well, 'D' moves very well; hips, shoulders, knees, elbows, there is an immense amount of articulation on this figure.  No, we're talking Kaiyodo level joints here, but more then good enough.   Perks are equally sweet and well done.  The figures comes with THE long sword which is almost as long as the figure is tall.  Like the anime piece, the sword is stored in a huge scabbard mounted on 'D's back.  The scabbard is permanently attached to a large flowing cap on 'D's back, which is also removable, which is a nice touch.  Unfortunately, 'D's hat isn't removable.  Hey, can't winum all, right?  Oh, and then there is the hand, 'D' comes with a closed left fist AND an open left fist, with our little buddy's mouth wide open.  ... ok, that sounded very, very creepy upon reading it on the screen.   And one more nice extra; the figure comes with a stand that looks like a pillar sheared-off about 2 feet from the base.  A very nice, Gothic addition.  Homer factor?  A VERY pleasant surprise.  Like I said, I've never heard of these guys, and I was very, very afraid the end result would be a beautifully sculpted statue of 'D' rather then a nice action-figure. Lowe and behold, my worries were unwarranted.  Epoch has jumped into the deep end of the pool with a very, very good piece of work.  If you're looking for a figure from a classic anime piece, you cannot go wrong with this one.