Topic: World of Nintendo - Skyward Sword Link

[smeagol92055]

So I was in Target this afternoon and, while scanning the stacks for that most holiest of all grails, the DCU Multiverse Christopher Reeve Superman (hey, a guy can dream,) I spotted a new line of Nintendo toys, seemingly released to coincide with the new Smash Bros game!
Wario, Yoshi, Mario, and Link were all on the pegs. Well, the first three were, but Link had fallen down behind a stack of stuff and I almost entirely missed him!



Now, I've had my eye on the Figma 6-inch Link at my local comic shop for a while, but that puppy clocks in at sixty bucks, which, as a teacher with a kid, I just can't swing. This little guy, on the other hand, is 1/18 (ish) so he fits with the scale of the rest of my collection AND he was only $8.99! I figured, what the heck, Merry early Christmas to me, and snapped him up!

Here's my (literal) breakdown of the figure: (Or would that be a figurative figure breakdown?)



He's got 13 whopping points of articulation, and his breakdown points are all comfortably tight, while his semi-soft to soft plastic body allows him to be taken apart without fear of ripping or breaking anything.
He's got a TON of detail on him! Everything from his earrings to the Hylian engravings on the Master Sword are painstakingly recreated. He's the Skyward Sword Link, which means he's right-handed, and the modelers even took that into account with his shield and sword. His paint job is superb, without many obvious flaws that I could spot. My only complaints about the figure is that the registration of the Hylian royal crest on his shield is ever so slightly off-center, his tunic is too hard to allow his legs any real range of forward or backward motion for poseability, and the lack of pegstand holes in the soles of his boots. (Not that I can't fix the latter with a dremel, but it's an annoying oversight that I would have to do that.) Luckily, he's fairly solid on his feet, so displaying him doesn't present much challenge, even without the pegstand.
And now, a photodump, because I can. Enjoy!
(Also, if you can name the three video game crossovers I've referenced in the photodump, you win one free Internet cookie.)

[Tamer]

You had me at 13 points of articulation. Time to share this news on the front page.

I keep seeing figures like this and then see what we get for the same price for our SW Line and I just can't help but get ticked!

[Mandalore25]

I was about to post about this figure too, but your review is pretty good. One thing that I feel you missed is that the boots are too short making the knees rather low. Sticks out a lot to me, but for the price it's not a big deal. The left hand is a bit large, preventing decent use of the shield until fixed, (the shield, not the hand). He isn't to scale with the rest of the figure collection, but by making him the way they did he does fit in better with other 3.75in figs. Thought it was kind of a low blow to make the mystery accessory the shield, and was a bad move for it prevented people from buying it until they found out. I would have liked a bow, bomb, or clawshots. None of this stopped me from picking up two, perks of working overnights at Target, to make a dark Link. Figma is too expensive to do that... But I have one and it is the most beautiful figure I've ever seen! Totally worth the $100 I paid because I bought it before they announced the redistribution.

[smeagol92055]

The left hand is a bit large, preventing decent use of the shield until fixed, (the shield, not the hand).

I thought that as well, but the hands pop out of the wrists quite easily for proper placement of the shield. If you look in my first posed photo (taken in Target right after I bought him) the shield is just placed in his hand. In later shots, it's positioned correctly on his arm.

[smeagol92055]

For my next purchase, I'm going to get a Safari Ltd. Belgian Draft Stallion, which is the closest breed of horse that exists in the real world to what Epona is in the games.
Here are a few screenshots of the product:



I'll be using watercolors to add a star to the forehead (since it's a rubber toy and normal paints will have a harder time adhering to the rough hair texture on it) and then I'll be using photo references to make a screen-accurate saddle for him out of Sculpy!
I can't wait to share this custom with you!

[Mandalore25]

That's brilliant! Never thought about how the 3.75 scale factor opens up new possibilities, can't wait to see more.

[smeagol92055]

Okay, guys, be SUPER CAREFUL with your Link figure. The shoulder joints are as thin as toothpicks! I just snapped Link's left arm right off! Luckily I had shoe goo on hand, so he's okay now. Of course, it means he won't have any range of motion in that shoulder anymore, but he's just for display purposes, anyway.