The second Street Fighter V Figuart that I recently received was none other than M. Bison, leader of Shadaloo and a has been an active character pretty much in every possible Street Fighter game since SF2, with the exception of SFIII and its expansion packs.
Rising to fame as the final boss in SF2 (until you got to SSF2T, where Akuma was the ultimate boss), M. Bison is definitely one of those characters that you just can't help but love. There was the video game version, the cheesy live action version performed by the great Raul Julia, the not so great live action version by Neal McDonough, and of course, the various animated adaptations..
He's ruthless. He's cunning. He's arrogant. He's got one hell of a backstory.
Above all, M. Bison is possibly the greatest asshole in the entire Street Fighter universe, and for that he will forever be in my heart.
But enough praise, lets move on with the figure itself.
As with Vega, I purchased M. Bison loose, but its not like he came with much to begin with:
- 1 x Main Figure
- 2 x Faceplates (Normal, Winning Smile)
- 1 x Cardboard Stage Background (not pictured)
- 2 x Open Palms
- 2 x Psycho Energy Effects
- 1 x Alternate Crossed Arms
No flight stand, as always, but I feel the lack of a cape should be considered a Hate Crime against M. Bison.
The Psycho Energy effects also appear to have extremely limited use for posing purposes.
So, stating the obvious, there's really no mistaking who this actually is. I'm just not entire certainly which version of M. Bison this is supposed to be. Based on my best guess, and the included parts, its the Classic Skin from the SFV game, just like with Vega.
If we're going with that logic, then to me the entire upper torso seems small, especially the chest.
Furthermore regarding the "Classic" appearance, there's no emblem on the cap or the belt, as these did not exist on the SF2 game sprites, or the SFV costume. But you know what IS there?
A freaking cape.
The face sculpts generally do the job. His neutral face is exactly that... very stoic looking and really captures his look when he's beating the crap out of you on Round One.
His trademark crazy smile is where the money is. Tamashii Nations did a decent job capturing the expression. The smile itself works just fine, but it's the eyes that are sort of indecisive between insane and just intense.
See what I mean?
But at least they kept his incredibly prominent chin intact.
The dedicated crossed arms parts are nice, as it is one of those essential Bison poses that an decent figure him should be able to do. He joins the ranks of other masters of the pose in my collection, such as Vegeta, Piccolo, Gilgamesh, and Frieza,
So... articulation? Being based on the Fighting Body, this pretty much guarantees that Tamashii Nations will at least TRY to make the figure posable. Much of it is similar to what Vega has, namely toes, ankles, single jointed knees, thigh twist, hips, waist, mid torso, standard shoulders with some lateral movement and a dedicated butterfly joint for raising and lowering the arms, double jointed elblow with dedicated forearm rotation joint, wrists, neck, and head,. Each of his shoulder pads plug into a ball joint located on his upper back.
Well, the bulk of the body and the waist area of his tunic do reduce the range of motion, though the good news is that Bison isn't exactly known for having moves that require too much articulation to replicate, as he's all about defying the Laws of Physics with Psycho Power. You can pull of a decent number of screen accurate-ish attacks, though not as many as Vega.
If you're trying to pull off a screen accurate Psycho Crusher, however, while the body can generally handle it (needs better hands), the shoulder pads get in the way as they were not designed to move that way.
Paint wise, it's a pretty straight forward figure so there weren't any real blemishes to note. The predominate red is basic plastic colour with some weathering an a top coat. Now that I look closer, I think that almost all of it is base colour plastic only, with the exception of the accent colours like the strip down the tunic, the belt and buckle, and the decoration on the hat. Eye decals are all white with a black outline.
Finally, there's Build Quality. Generally speaking, nothing really important to report. Everything holds together as it should, though I find the arms on mine come off maybe just a bit TOO easily. Finish wise, it's over all quite strong, but you'll notice some blemishes with the sanding and seamline removal, most notable being on the silver cuffs. No bubbles in the translucent Psycho Energy effects, which definitely helps to improve it's resistance to shattering.
So there you have it - M. Bison. It's a neat representation of the character, but it's missing a few things that I would consider essential M. Bison, most notable being a cape. Compared to the Storm version, that one comes with more accessories, but I'm not entirely certain about the articulation.
One thing is for certain, though. If you want a figure of M. Bison in what is undoubtedly his most famous look, THIS is the figure to get.
For Full Gallery, please visit:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/22877494@N02/albums/72157719364098062
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