I found Ken a couple weeks ago at Target and was surprised to find Dhalsim and M. Bison last week, especially since they just went up for pre-order last Monday. It seems like a lot of folks have had Ken for a while, but since I found the whole wave so close together I decided to review them together. Let’s take a look at Jada’s Street Fighter II Dhalsim, Ken, and M. Bison!
The packaging on this line is so clever with the window serving as the screen in the arcade cabinet shaped box. I also appreciate the character select portraits they use on the front because it reminds me of what the sculptors were shooting for with the sculpting and how well they accomplished that goal.
Generally with this line the figures come with at least one alternate head, one alternate set of hands, and an effect piece. Specifically, Ken gets a smiling head, an angry head, a firey Hadouken blast with a stand, fists, and Hadouken hands. Bison has stern and grimacing heads, fists, claw-like hands, an energy effect, and two sets of shoulder pads. Dhalsim gets stretchy limbs, claw hands, chop hands, a calm head, and angry head, and a stand.
Ken’s accessory is pretty familiar as it appears to be re-use from Ryu’s, which makes a lot of sense. It’s got the imprint of the hands on the inside of the effect itself and is cast in a bright translucent orange that has an ombre paint effect that transitions to red. Ken’s portraits are perfect for him, the smile matching his character select portrait well and the angry head is great for fighting. I especially like how they added a bit of a wind-swept look to the angry head’s hair it makes it look in motion or perhaps blown back slightly by the energy of the hadouken.
Bison’s energy effect is translucent purple and can fit over either fist. The alternate portrait with the gritted teeth is another great match for his character select portrait. The shoulder pads are articulated and swivel along the shoulder swivel similar to some black series Stormtrooper figures. There are two sets of shoulder pad covers that snap onto the base shoulder pad, one with a cape for his entrance look and a plain set for his fighting look. The cape pretty fantastic for this price point and is fully wired and poseable.
Dhalsim gets four extra stretchy limbs that are actually wired and bendable, which I was not expecting. The stretchy limbs are one piece and are easily swappable with the articulated arms. I do wish the fists on the stretchy arms could be swapped with the other hands, but they cannot be removed from the stretchy arms. I believe the stand is there to assist with balancing stretchy limb poses, though I was able to balance the figure on there too. The more claw-like hands and stoic face match his resting pose in the game and the angry head works well for fighting. I do think they strike a good balance of accessories and price point on this line, and the stretchy limbs are absolutely fantastic, but I do miss the ability to pose him in any sort of Yoga Flame action.
The sculpting on all three is pretty darn perfect for my taste, matching the source material well while adding some interesting textures where they can to clothing and wraps. The variety of builds in this line after just two waves is pretty impressive.
The articulation scheme is similar across all three figures and mostly all equally effective for the most part. The figures have:
- Swivel/hinge shoulders, wrists, hips, and ankles
- Swivel biceps, thighs, and boot (except bison)
- Double hinged knees and elbows
- Ball and socket head, lower neck, mid-torso and waist
- Hinged pectorals
I’m really impressed with the mobility of the ball and socket torso and waist combo. It gives better crunch action than most figures of this type as well and excellent tilt. The only real articulation issue I had with this wave is that I don’t think the pec hinge on Dhalsim is all that effective, at least not as effective as his peers. That may have something to do with his slightly thinner frame.
The paint is also really nice for this price point with each figure getting a subtle bit of air-brushing in the low-lying areas of the sculpt for some dimensional highlight. I think the skulls on Dhalsim’s neck could use a bit of a wash, but I love the wash on Ken’s blonde hair. The metallic paint on Bison’s armor is good and shiny, though it isn’t on the knee disc, so there is a bit of unsightly red poking out when the knees are bent.
While I have couple of nit-picks here or there, this is a fantastic group of figures that do justice to this classic game. I cannot wait for the next wave. If I have any problem with the line, it is that I can’t get enough as quickly as I’d like, but that’s a good problem to have. The next wave is Cammy, Guile, and Dee Jay and after that is some of my favorites with Blanka, Sagat, and Vega. With those two waves, we are getting pretty close to a complete cast!
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