The Box Office hasn't been particularly kind to superhero movies as of late, even tried and true. One example of the epic collapse is Thor: Love and Thunder, which despite bringing back Jane Foster and having some high energy visuals, turned off audiences because of the shift of tone for the movies... even though Ragnarok kind of gave the idea this is where the character was heading anyway. As always, I suspect this cold reception to the movie was probably the reason for character goods, like the S.H. Figuarts releases, not doing particularly well.. well that and the fact the Mighty Thor figure didn't exactly look great.
The figures went on clearance on pretty much every vendor I've seen, though it's still more than I'd normally pay. But, luckily for me, prices in Hong Kong were acceptable and I'd get free shipping because of guilt trips, so here we are, though pour one out for the poor box which was left in Hong Kong, probably forgotten in a ditch somewhere by this point.
Retailing for about 8,000 Yen, loadout was a bit on the short side, if I'm being honest:
- 1 x Main Figure - 2 x Face Plate (Normal, Lighting Eyes)
- 6 x Gripping/Posing Hands
- 1 x Stormbringer
- 1 x Stormbringer Effect Blade
I think a few more lighting effects are warranted, along with a helmeted sculpt.
Thor is a beefcake in the movies, and I feel that this sculpt overall captures that. This is probably heavily based on the work done for the Raganrok figur, which was solid looking to begin with. I think maybe the shoulders are a tad undersized, but that sort of thing happens pretty often with figures of this size.
Sculpting for his latest look is, as per Figuarts norm, pretty sharp, size considered and all that. I really do enjoy his latest armour, as it's the most vibrant we've seen the character, which is a good match for the tone of the movie... which again might be why this figure didn't sell. You'll notice, however, that there are some flaps around the waist that, rather than being made with the soft pliable rubber they usually are, are instead of rigid plastic, with only the side panels featuring joints of any sort.
As with pretty much most of Marvel line up, Thor features Digital Painting on top of their face sculpt. The hair is alright, acceptable given the scale, and it does at least feature the braids as well. The face sculpt itself looks kind of squished, with the eyes being smaller than anticipated.
It's interesting, though how making the eyes completely white, and adding a glowing effect, can fix most of those problems. It's been said that the eyes are the portal to the soul, and 9 out 10 times when I have beef with a sculpt, its because the eyes are off one way or another. I don't think the face plates are any different other than the eyes.
The fabric cape also features wires so you can do some posing, giving the cape that "blown in the wind" look. Most other people are likely more adept at using the wires than I am, so if my photos looks kind of "meh", that's my excuse.
So despite having quite the robust body, including having pull down hips for increased range of leg motion, the bulk of the armour, in particular the pauldrons and waist flaps, really do put a damper into how dynamic you can pose the figure. Further limiting the ability for believable crouching poses is the need for increased head tilt, though it's hard to say if it's an engineering issue, or if its the fact the bulky sculpted hair at the back kind of screws with things.
Paint wise, the figure is generally sharp looking and up to Figuarts snuff... except for the face. There's the size of the eyes and the general effects of using dithering rather than solid paint apps. But perhaps the greatest issue with regards to the face is that the skin tone is significantly darker than the rest of the body, like Thor was spending too much time in the sun while wearing a full body track suit. Otherwise, the figure is exactly as you'd expect.
Funny thing, Build Quality wise one of the issues is also with the face, at least on my copy . Specifically, there is an issue with my Normal face, which really doesn't like to stay on the head. The slightest touch or slight movement, and the face would just come off. The other issue I found was that the wrist joints don't like to support the weight of Stormbringer.
So as far as a Figuarts go, Thor isn't bad, but it's not great either. Certainly, in museum poses the figure isn't too bad, especially if you swap out the faces and use that cape the right way. But dynamically? Well, it's average at best, hampered by the outfit he's wearing, though I guess it is at least more capable than your standard Marvel Legends figure, though not by much.
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