Home News
Reviews The List
NYTS Links
Dictionary Gallery
I don't get it; Power Rangers, Kamen Rider, Kikaider, all of the corny-yet-fun TV shows get the deluxe treatment, but Ultraman? The same old, mundane, vinyl look. Ok, ok, there is a certain nostalgic charm to the old vinyl figures, and the sculpts aren't that bad on those things. Still, how about something COOL, something you could display on your shelf that people can go 'Ooohhhh' rather then 'Is that your nephews toy?' Here are a few thoughts.
Ok, the size on these figures is fine; they're all about 5" tall, so we've got a good scale. But, GET RID OF THE VINYL ALREADY. How about some REAL hard plastic so that we can sculpt DETAIL on the figure. Sure, Ultraman doesn't require the super-mega-over-the-top-you-can-see-the-stitches-in-the-costume look other figures have, but how about some folds from the uniform, perhaps more detail on the funky costume like the 'panel-lines' on the armored portion of the suit?
Next, since we've gotten away from the soft-plastic, ARTICULATION, ARTICULATION, ARTICULATION. It always drove me bonkers that these figures could only move at the shoulders and the waist. So let's load it up, and go with a Kaiyodo-style joints so we can reproduce some cool fighting stances on the figure.
And of course, the little blue power-indicator on Ultraman's chest has to light up. While you're at it, might as well give the eyes a yellow glow.
Accessories? Hmmmmmmmmmm... at the very least have a small PVC version of the heroes alter-ego that'll be about 2" tall. And to top things off, how about packing the figure with a diorama of a destroyed city; some toppled buildings, that sort of thing. Nothing like a good background to display your figures in.
Now there you go, a deluxe version of Ultraman. And no, your nephew is NOT allowed to touch is one. So there.