Who here didn't like XMen Vs. Street Fighter? Well, I'm glad we agree it's one of the greatest fighting games ever conceived. Having said that, no, these figures aren't from that series. It's just a random way for me to justify two completely random figures in one review
Many years ago, Capcom did a Japan only online Street Fighter game titled Street Fighter Online: Mouse Generation. No idea how well it ran, but I do know it was a cross marketing product, as the characters in the game featured those god awful Revoltech joints of the era, which of course meant there were Revoltech figures on the horizon, which explains why despite being made by Goodsmile, these were sold by Kaiyodo. It looks like the entire cast was made, and weren't particularly expensive.. or at least they wouldn't be if you got them in Japan back in 2009.
Priced at around 2,000 Yen, these figures came with the most fundamental of accessories, which in the case of Chun Li mean a few extra hands, a Kikoken effect, and a figure stand. This isn't a figure that is remembered, TBH, and I only ended up getting it because I was in Vancouver and had a lot of time to kill and took a joyride to Chilliwack.
As a moderately priced novelty piece, this Chun Li isn't bad. It does the job of "here's something right from the game" quite well. As a good figure, however, this figure doesn't exactly excel. First off, there's the size. It's not super tiny, but I'm pretty sure she's about the height of your typical 3.75 in. G.I. Joe figure, though fortunately much better designed.
The joints generally don't bother me, as I'm aware that joints means articulation, but that one at the base of the neck is too much, even for my tastes.
Articulation is pretty good by 2009 standards. You're not going to get butterfly joints or any of that sort of fancy stuff, but the basics are there. Having said that, the nature of the Revoltech joints makes posing a pain in the ass, especially the ones used in her hips, throwing off balance of the legs. Swap a few hands and you'll be OK overall. Just don't expect any miracles.
As with articulation, Paint and Build Quality are also functional, but temper your expectations. I think these days, if you're just looking for a functional Chun Li figure, you've got much more to choose from in the price point this would have been competing in, without the annoying reality of dealing with non cooperative joints.
The Jean Grey is actually one of the pieces from my mid August 2023 Alberta trip - yep, still going through that stuff. It was funny I ended up buying this - I mean, the $80 CAD wasn't bad, especially for a Mafex, but what was funny was the seller was basically moving to Ontario, which is where I was visiting from in the first place.
I'm definitely no comic buff, but I THINK this one is best described as the Jim Lee comic version, which is effectively the one featured on the 90s animation. I don't think I've seen a modern Mafex with accessory load out that impresses me or disappoints me. They do like to lean into full alternate heads rather than face plates, which is both advantageous and limiting:
- 1 x Main Figure
- 3 x Head Sculpt (Neutral, Gritted Teeth, Head Covering Down w/Neck Cover)
- 10 x Posing Hands, including a pair of dedicated energy hands
- 1 x Base/Stand
I guess some sort of energy effect for her forehead would have been nice but as Jean doesn't have any weapons, a few extra energy effects is really all you could expect for this set.
Accuracy of head sculpts is kind of hard for me to critique, as the artist changes all the time and I quite honestly have no idea what it's supposed to look like. What I CAN say is that she kind of looks like a middle aged Linda Carter to me, and that at least there's consistency among the three heads. It sounds stupid, but yeah, I've seen sets where it looks like they used completely different artists. The gritted teeth one is a bit over the top, but it does the job. Sculpting on the hair appears to be appropriate. Not particularly super detailed, but nice enough you notice the effort and, more importantly, comes out nicely.
Body wise, I don't really think there's anything particularly outstanding or special. It's the typical Mafex female body, for better or for worse, that's been used on several suited female characters.
As the body is basically uninhibited, save for the long hair, you're basically given the fully range of motion. The shoulder pads rotate with the shoulder, so even the arm articulation isn't inhibited, though it does look kind of dumb. The Mafex body lacks ab crush and a true back arch, but the ball jointed waist allows for some motion in that regard. Head can tilt forward nicely, but all other points of motion are limited. Double jointed knees and elbows are of course, a welcome touch.
Paint Applications are minimal, as always, mostly the face and of course the non yellow spots. The funny thing is that despite the paint work being relatively simple, there is loss of crispness on the edges, most notably being the ab section where there is actual smearing of the blue paint. I'm chocking this one up to just bad luck, as I've never seen anything this bad, even going down to Legends. Otherwise, pretty typical quality, nothing particularly outstanding but nothing requiring particular skill either.
Build Quality wise, again, pleasantly surprised by a the lack of breaking pieces that seems to b e a staple of Spiderman releases. Things meshed together nicely, joints worked properly, the figure could stand with both feet flat on the surface. Nothing much more to say, which is refreshing considering the rep of the company.
Both these figures are pretty average for what they are, taking into account price points and all that. In the instance of Chun Li, things have been superceded as one would expect for a figure released in 2009. In the case of Jean Grey, she's not bad, it's just the $100 USD price tag is really meant to make this figure prettier and some extra parts compared to 2023 Legends release, but to me functionally there really isn't much the Legends can't do but the Mafex can. I think for 1/4 the price, unless you're in love with this particular aesthetic chances are you won't miss it. I know all things considered, I'm not enough of a Jean Grey connoisseur to insist on the Mafex version.
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