I've been playing fighting games since Street Fighter 2. I'm... competent overall, but generally play better with Charge characters, even to this day, with my weapon of choice being Guile.
Being a popular character, Guile releases were pretty common in that you were likely to get one in any Street Fighter released line up. Sure enough, after a long, long, long wait, the entry into the S.H. Figuarts line up was released.
So kind of interesting, Guile was released under the Outfit 2 box style, which would imply there is an Outfit 1 somewhere out there, and not simply a side effect of being kind of lazy. Otherwise, you're not going to be overwhelmed with the contents:
1 x Main Figure
3 x Face Plates (Neutral, Angry, Shouting)
6 x Posing Hands
1 x Comb
1 x Sonic Boom effect w/stand
1 x Backdrop
Sadly, no Aviators with figure, which should really be treated as a Hate Crime.
So while I love the character, I'd be lying if I said everything was perfect, though it is far from the worst Guile figure I've ever handled. If you've ever used the character, or are familiar with him, you can probably immediately see that the proportions are way off. The hair is way too small, and the upper body is wonky, with chest and shoulders/biceps that are significantly undersized. Having said all that, you can make out at least how they put some energy into sculpting the body, particularly the arms that looks perfectly sinewy.
The faces... I honestly don't know what to make of them. Upon review, it's safe to say that the art style is from Street Fighter V. Bandai of course added a bit of flourish to make it more... anime for lack of better term. The Neutral face looks alright, but the other two look kind of weird. It's possible this is due to a lack of reference material, especially with the shouting face. Sculpting of the hair is again, not bad and has the right shape, but as mentioned, it is undersized.
While there are 6 total hands, two of them are dedicated to the recreation of Guile's winning pose where he combs his hair.. No, you can't quite pull it off.
Articulation on the figure is.. OK. I mean, yes it's got an ass cap restricting the leg movements, but overall it's no worse than the other figures in the line, which isn't a bad standard to meet. You get the double knees and elbows, pretty good neck/head articulation, and butterfly style shoulder joints. Things are definitely looking up.
The issue is that, while he doesn't look it, Guile is actually pretty flexible for a walking tank. The legs only rotate 90 degrees, which pretty much takes all his high kicks out of the equation. More back arch is needed to pull off a good number of his moves, including that pose when Guile is generating the Sonic Boom or Hurricane. Wrist articulation also doesn't have that range of motion needed to pull off his moves, even the hair combing pose that parts were specifically included to allow. There's also no real bicep swivel.
But perhaps the thing that hurt the most is the shoulder articulation. The figure just doesn't have the range of motion to either recreate his arm spread OR his cross armed poses. Range of motion pretty much allows for everything in between. A figure needs that extra bit of oomph on both ends of the shoulder spectrum.
Paint Applications are, for the most part, solid. There's a lot of that base plastic colouring, which is not surprising. Flesh tones appear to be all painted as is the hair. American flag decal on the shoulders look sharp. Even the face is reasonably well done. But nothing, and I mean nothing, can really explain the weird paint apps that are supposed to pass as a camo pattern. They look so.. primitive. Like if I were to take up a brush and recreate an actual pattern to the best of my abilities.
Build Quality does not raise any major concerns. Couldn't really find any issues with the overall build or joint quality. .No problems observed with poor assembly or the need for more sanding. Hands pop on and off with relative ease. The face plates are a bit snug so you'll have to push a bit harder than normal to ensure the gap is minimized. Also, careful with the arms as they can dislocate at the shoulder, something that can be fixed but it is annoying.
So for better or worse, this is the Guile we got for the Figuarts line. While the articulation limitations are unfortunate, I'd have been OK with it had they actually gotten his proportions right. Who knows, might have been able to blame the lack of articulation on how buff the figure was. Having said that, none of the Guile figures have gotten it perfect, and while flawed this is still better than the Jada one. Of course, it costs like double the amount, so being superior is kind of expected.
Maybe the Storm SF6 release will get it right?
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