Review date: 2/7/2005
Revised: 6/23/2005

Manufacturer: Kotobukiya

Released: 2005

Availability: HARD

Type: PVC Figure

Sculpt:
Simply stunning. The first thing I noticed was the size of this figure. Since it's a 1/6 scale figure, it's absolutely huge. I think it's slightly bigger than most of my other 1/6 scale figures. As for the actual sculpt, it's awesome. They managed to capture the look of Ryu perfectly. He looks just like his video game counterpart. The details are also astounding. All the intricate patterns on his headpiece are sculpted and even all the various cloth textures from his mask and "cape" are there. Speaking of the mask, it's also very well done with nice folds and creases around the neck area. The way the "cape" flows is very realistic and is also well sculpted. It looks great. Moving down, his body sculpt is equally impressive. His arms and hands were well sculpted and are just as accurate as his head sculpt. They're big and muscular, just like in the video game. His outfit retains the smooth texture that we saw in the game. The grooves and various sections where his muscles and pads that are around his torso has also been nicely done. All the little buckles and straps were also finely sculpted. And I can't forget his armbands and shin guards. They also have an incredible amount of intricate detail and look very good. What can I say? I am totally surprised by the amount of work that went into this figure. He looks like he popped out of the video game itself! Great job. :D

My only complaint with the sculpt is probably the pose. Well, not really the pose, but more like the position of his right arm and sword. It looks a little awkward from the way he's holding his weapon. I think it would've made much more sense if he had a "Ninpo" hand gesture instead. Something tells me they wanted to show off his sword so this was probably a pose that was made during a compromise. Who knows. I would've liked his right arm down with the sword along his side. It would've been better, in my opinion. Another somewhat disappointing aspect of the sculpt is the soft plastic for the sword. The handle is slightly warped bending more than it should. The blade of the sword is also slightly warped but not by very much. If only they had used a harder plastic for the handle and used real metal for the blade, then it would've prevented that problem. But those are minor complaints and it shouldn't be a problem for most collectors.

The only accessory included with the figure is the base. It's nice and large but not too large. It holds the figure up very well and has a wood grain texture to complete the look of the figure. Simple yet elegant. Some might complain that they didn't include the Ninja Gaiden logo or title on the base that other figures of this type might use. But who would want that?

The figure has ZERO articulation. It's a solid piece and there doesn't seem to be any part that can move. The only "movable" items are the kunai on his left leg. They can be rotated to your desired angle which was a good idea. But other than that, he's a big statue.

Paint:
The paint job is very good also with some minor problems. The colors are accurate and look great. Everything is very well done and is relatively clean. Some might find the silver paint a bit dull but it works for this figure. The blacks looks very good and actually retains the same texture we saw in the game. The leather outfit has a dull sheen and the armbands and shin guards have a much glossier look. There is a lot of detailed work with the paint job. Everything from the buckles to the tiny screws on his kneepad to the gold wristbands and silver bracelets are all very well done. Some might find his skin tone a bit dark but that's how he looked in the game so I can't really complain. It's all very accurate. The base was painted with a glossy black paint which gives it a nice solid look. Nicely done. The sword's handle and blade were painted too and they look somewhat accurate. The blade itself has two colors to split between the "sharp" part of the blade and the rest of it, but it's okay. I think it would've worked better if the paint had a chrome look instead. Minor complaint.

But it's not perfect. My figure's right gold wristband had a weird part where the paint came off or is scraped so I had to fix that. Another problem is that the orange paint that showed where the fingers were separated was slightly sloppy. There's also minor slop on other areas where they had to paint small parts like the silver buckles and whatnot. But it's relatively clean and is something most people won't notice. The defects are minor but I couldn't give it a Flawless reward because of this. Still, the paint job is better than what I've seen from other figures like this. Good job once again.

Where can I find this?
Pretty hard. It seems only stores in Japan have him and because he's popular, some might have trouble finding him. But since he was just released (as of this review), you might be able to find him if you look hard enough.

UPDATE: A US distributor got a hold of the figure and it was released here so it's easier to find. But they changed one thing, it seems the figure's base was changed. The US version's base is rectangular and is painted with a light wooden color instead.

The figure in its box. Nice design with the original game logo but all they had were the same pictures of the figure all around the box. I think it would've been better if we had one shot of the character from the game to make comparisons. Good design overall.

"Hey Rachel, let's go out babe."

The pose is cool but why is he holding his sword like that?

Great details. The kunai on his leg can be rotated.

The legs. Nice amount of work on the shin guards.

The stand. Very simple and elegant.

The back. The same quality applies. Very nice.