Along for the ride with the Assault Lily figure was this little number, the reissue of the JoJo Part 1 Dio Brando figure. It was supposed to be ready earlier but a few delays occurred, which is pretty much par for the course these days.
Dio Brando is the OG villain of the series and probably the most infamous of them all, being brought back for the Stardust Crusaders story arc, and referenced in arcs beyond that. A poor boy, he was adopted by the Joestar family, and went to great lengths to usurp their fortune from the JoJo, Jonathan Joestar. Oh, and a creepy stone mask turns him into a Vampire that can only be defeated by Hamon Energy.
He possesses the usual vampiric villain traits, including an uncontrollable need to be cruel. Plus, if you watch the anime, Dio has by far the most awesome voice actor in the series, rivaled only by the guy they chose to do Jotaro.
Retailing for a cool 8,030 Yen, the contents of the package are respectable:
- 1 X Main Figure
- 2 X Head Sculpt (Normal, Vampiric)
- 9 X Hands, Including one for holding his trademark rose
- 1 X Rose
- 1 X Neck Stump (for body less mode)
- 1 X SAS Stand
I'm honestly kind of surprised that they didn't include the Stone Mask, as there's much official artwork depicting him holding the mask like Vega.
So, one of the things to keep in mind is that the figures were not released in chronological order. Medicos started with Startlight Crusaders, then went forward. Then at some point, they decided to fill in the missing figures from Part 1 and 2, and by that point they (Medicos) had moved onto a newer version of the body.
As photos show, the older and newer figures really don't mesh, so Medicos REALLY needs to remake those earlier figures.
The improvement is very similar to what happened when Play Arts went to Kai. I'm not sure if the price increased like the Play Arts did, though. Overall, the entire figure was scaled up though unfortunately there was no effort to improve the actual articulation of the body.
Still, the scaled up bodies afforded more space for detailing of parts on outfits and heads that are appropriately sized for the body. These larger heads of course, in turn, allowed for more accurate depictions of the characters. The neck looks a bit long and wide, though.
Interestingly, I think there may have been yet another iteration of the body, as my Final Battle Joseph Joestar is kind of in between Jotaro and Dio in terms of height, but the joint system appears to be more refined, , including much needed butterfly joints for the shoulders.
Articulation is pretty much what you'd expect from a hard plastic body, and are effectively consistent across the body types. You get toe, ankles, double jointed knees, thigh twist, hips, waist, mid torso, standard shoulders, bicep swivel, double jointed elbows with forearm rotation, wrist, neck, and head. It's really too bad about the lack of butterfly joints for the shoulders, as that really would increasing the posing range of the figure immensely. Further limiting the posing prowess of Dio are the way the groin and leggings are designed, which make wide legged stances a challenge to pull off - pull down hips would have helped with that. A more generously sized chest area may also have allowed fore greater range of motion there.
Aesthetically, there's that Marvel Legends still head joint, which fortunately is hidden better than with Jotaro.
Dio is painted beautifully, with generally very minor paint bleeds to report. No issues with texture, even on the hair. Unlike Jotaro, the shading used to give the skin some depth isn't poorly done and actually fades in correctly. Decals for the eyes are very much what I've seen in anime.
With regards to Build Quality, nothing bad to report on this figure. Everything fits together beautifully, finishes are what I expected for this level of figure, and there are no issues when it comes to joints holding poses correctly.
Overall, I'm definitely happier with Dio than I was with Jotaro. There are some short comings, of course, though I'm trying to decide which is the greater flaw - the lack of butterfly joints, or the lack of the Stone Mask, though the reissue of the Pillar Men (who are also late) may resolve the issue with the Stone Mask. But flawed or not, at least Dio LOOKS great.
If Medicos ever does a proper Stardust Dio, I may have to get. The extra articulation would help pull off his iconic poses, of which there are certainly more reference pictures for the Stardust arc.
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