Tamashii Nations Sofvi "Pacific Rim: Uprising" Kaiju Raijin Review:
I normally do not buy import vinyl toys due to their price and lack of availability here in the U.S., but when I saw this lone boxed figure on the bottom shelf of the collector's aisle at Toys R Us today, I could not resist bringing it home.
The sculpt is fantastic! Lots of great little details and textures cover the entire Kaiju. It is constructed of a light yet rigid vinyl and based on its weight appears to be mostly hollow. There are only 2 points of articulation- swivel shoulders. The legs appeared to be jointed at first glance, but do not move. The apparent joints are simply tiny gaps where the vinyl legs are glued into the body. Only having 2 POA is disappointing, but from what I understand of Japanese vinyl toys is pretty standard. It would have been nice to at least have an articulated jaw but I am not going to complain too much.
The paintwork combines a few tampos/paint masks and some drybrushing and airbrushing to really bring this fearsome Kaiju to life. In an unusual move, the blue bioluminescence often displayed by Kaiju in the "Pacific Rim" Universe is depicted with a bright mtallic blue paint as opposed to the flourescent paints Neca used on their Kaiju toys from the first movie. While I prefer the Neca effect, the metallics to not detract from my enjoyment of this figure. All of the paintwork is clean with no noticable slop or bleed through.
Sizewise, this figure is more or less compatible with Neca's offerings from the first film. I do not know if the Kaiju in the second film are bigger than the ones from the first as I have not seen it yet, but Raijin looks great next to Knifehead, Tresspasser and the rest that Neca released.
At $40, it is somewhat expensive for what it is, but the fact that it is an import kind of justifies the price a bit. Since Toys R Us is closing, they are beginning their liquidation sales. Right now, action figures and their related product are only 10% off and this ended up only costing me $36 so it wasn't terrible although I wish it had more articulation.
