Failed products aren't new, and everything eventually becomes obsolete. The fun stories, on the other hand, are the products that crash and burned for whatever reason. History is full of wonderful examples of this, usually from the most successful companies out there. Bandai has been making Figuarts for quite a while now, and while there are side product lines here and there, they've generally been the same sort of thing in terms of product sizing and price point. Well, a few years ago, they introduce the Imagination Works product line, which I guess was targeted to provide collectors with a premium figure collecting experience. Scale was a weird 1/9, head sculpts were given more display options, and the bodies were provided with soft goods.
The inaugural release was Goku and to say collectors didn't approve is putting it very nicely. There were massive QC issues with joints, then issues with the way the joints looked (Goku didn't have a fabric outfit), and my favourite, the rubber on his arms ripping. These issues basically resulted in Goku not selling very well, and when Goku doesn't sell well, your product line is basically tarnished forever. The line did release two more entries - Vegeta, vastly improved as his character design allowed for a spandex suit covering the base body, and Luffy from One Piece. Then, nothing for several years.
Now while it wasn't a priority to get a Vegeta, the opportunity to get a loose complete one for $80 CAD arose, and as you know, I rise to that challenge.
No in box pics for obvious reasons. But in terms of content I'd say the value isn't horrible. The set retailed for 10,000 Yen, and included the follows:
- 1 x Main Figure
- 2 x Head (Base, Super Saiyan... 2, I think?)
- 4 x Faceplates (Neutral/Gritted Teeth Base, Neutral/Shouting Super Saiyan)
- 8 x Hands
- 1 x Crossarm Effect
- 10 x Eyes (5 for each mode)
- 1 x Base/Stand
The base, for what it's worth, is certainly better built than your typical Figuarts offering.
I feel the Imagination Works figure captures the overall proportions of Vegeta better than the Figuarts. Now while I get why the armour part isn't a soft good, you figure they could have at least completed the spandex under suit for the chest portion.
Size wise, here's a comparison with the Figuart. As expected, the Imagination Works is taller, but not as obvious is the muscle definition , as well as the sculpting on the hair. The crossed arm piece looks better on the Imagination Works, but you can probably see that the the Figuarts armour is broken at the mid torso level, which basically means that the Imagination Works figure is missing some articulation.
The faces are... weird looking for me. It's not they're not detailed, it's more that they have this much grittier aesthetic than I expected. Perhaps this mimics his Manga look more so than his Anime look? What is nice, however, is that those additional detail lines on the face that are usually just marks on the Figuarts are actually mould details that have been highlighted. Eyebrows are also actually raised here, which is another appreciated premium touch. It is nice being able to combine the faces with the various pupil directions, which does open your posing options up quite a bit.
Despite being a bigger figure, articulation is.. actually slightly worse than the Figuarts, though to be fair we already covered that when it was mentioned the chest armour is one piece. It's just so weird because if they were gonna make the chest non soft goods anyway, why not give that extra point of articulation.
Now the poor bastard can't really twerk all that well.
Otherwise, it's pretty much identical to the smaller Figuarts... so basically improved posing options isn't the reason to get this figure.
Paint Application is an area that is slightly better than the Figuarts. I mean, despite the price point, it's still painting by exception (only where you need it). The quality of paint apps continues to be solid, though you'd think for the price point they could have done a bit more panel lining, or even gone for the full cell shaded look. I think the flesh tones on the face are actually painted. Also, the photographs don't show it particularly well, but the hair is actually slightly frosted at the tips, and not just a solid pearl finish yellow across the board.
Build Quality is generally a highlight of Figuarts offerings, and I'm happy to say that that remains consistent. Everything holds together quite well, with no real concerns about things staying in place or in position. The manufacturing on the face parts appears to be a bit on the rough side, and looks like it could use a bit more sanding.
Ultimately, this figure is certainly better than the Goku release (not sure how it compares to Luffy) but you're really not getting a much better ownership experience over the Figuarts other than Vegeta looking prettier. All things considered, it makes sense that Bandai just abandoned this product line and just doubled down on their main line releases instead.
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