Bandai S.H.Figuarts ONE PIECE

[JeffSaylor]

Figures ahoy with Monkey D Luffey and Portgas D Ace...

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S.H.Figuarts Monkey D Luffey is IN-STOCK now at HobbyLinkJapan.com.

S.H.Figuarts Portgas D Ace is IN-STOCK now at HobbyLinkJapan.com and BigBadToyStore.com.

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The whimsically unique hit anime series One Piece by Eiichiro Oda has entered the action figure arena thanks to the fine folks at Bandai Japan. The elastically-gifted leader of the Straw Hat Pirates Mokey D Luffey and his adopted brother Portgas D Ace are brought to life as part of Bandai's S.H.Figuarts collection.

PACKAGING: Both One Piece action figures come housed within a full color window box fully exposing the figure and accessories within the box. Several images of the figure in different poses adorn the window box illustrating the various display options the figure has. The front of the package features several elements from the One Piece cartoon including a stylized wooden frame, series logo and character name.

SCULPT: Both Portgas and Monkey figures feature immaculate details that define their particular characteristics and individual personalities. Both figures include several different head sculpts with different facial expressions which are craftily sculpted and capture several different moods that the characters can be displayed in. For a set of animated character figures, the sculpted details on both the Portgas D Ace and Monkey D Luffy are precisely detailed.

PAINT: Each figure is painted flawlessly with a vibrant array of colors that accentuates these exciting animated characters. A very nice detail to note on the Portgas D Ace figure is the translucent flame attachments which are beautifully colored and add excitement each piece’s overall look.

ACCESSORIES: Both of these figure come chock full with plenty of extra accessories that add even more excitement to each character. These accessories consist of several detachable hands and faces to create many different looks for the characters.

Portgas D Ace features the following accessories:

- 5 pairs of detachable hands (closed fists, pointing, pointing (flame tip), open hands, pointing (2 fingers)
- 3 flame attachments (arm and leg (2)
- Removable hat
- Removable necklace
- Detachable short sword
- 2 Flame blasts (attach to fingers)

Monkey D Luffy features the following accessories:

- 3 pairs of detachable hands (gripping, closed fists and open palm)
- 2 detachable heads (spiked hair and rounded for straw hat)
- 4 detachable face pieces (Screaming, Angry, Happy and Regular)
- Detachable bendy extended right arm with oversized fist
- Removable straw hat
- Piece of meat with bone and bite mark

ARTICULATION: The Bandai S.H.Figuarts articulation system is very similar to other multi joint technologies and offers a vast range of articulation to the One Piece figures. The articulation joints on Monkey and Portgas are nice and snug allowing the figures to hold their poses and not fall over. If the extensive articulation on these figures wasn’t enough, the articulated display base included with each figure takes display options to a whole other level by allowing collectors to display the figures in dynamic aerial poses also.

OVERALL: After playing with these super articulated figures of Monkey D Luffy and Portgas D Ace, it makes me wonder why US toy companies hold back so much when there is so much potential for domestically licensed action figures. While these action figures may appeal more to fans of the animated series than those who are not, they are still very cool collectibles and will blend in nicely with other anime-based figures. Bandai's S.H.Figuarts series has a lot of potential and it will be very exciting to see what other popular licenses will be incorporated in to the line in the near future. These One Piece S.H.Figuarts figures retail for about $35 each and are available now through several of our fine sponsors, such as HobbyLinkJapan.com and BigBadToyStore.com.

FOR EVEN MORE ONE PIECE FIGURE PHOTOS, CLICK HERE!

Review and Photos by Jorge Pelaez

Review Sample Courtesy of Bluefin

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