Review: S.H. Figuarts Wild Tiger
You can’t keep a good concept down, and that has to be why I keep bringing up Tiger & Bunny whenever I can. The story of personalities clashing in the realm of corporate-sponsored superheroes has kept a steady hold on my attention ever since I first heard of it, and watching the final product hardly disappointed. While a big hit both here and in Japan, one of the first signs of its popularity was the scarcity of the Wild Tiger S.H. Figuarts release when I was attending a con earlier in the year; that led to my brother picking up one on a trip to Japan, long before I’d ever see the show. I was reluctant to open the figure, hearing about the broken hips many other samples suffered, but with shock oil in hand, I finally opened him up.
Another factor played into that opening but you’d only know about it if you’re following us on Twitter. You are following us on Twitter, right?
Anyway, keep reading to find out my impressions of the first Figuarts release I’ve ever owned!
In the past I’ve mentioned how striking the designs of Tiger & Bunny are and Bandai hardly dropped the ball with this figure. Kotetsu T. Kaburagi, a.k.a. Wild Tiger, comes to us with all the flair that’s seen on the show, with nary a detail spared. There’s a number of different materials used in the figure but the overall adherence to the source material is near-perfect. The slightly elongated limbs, the tiger emblem on his chest, even the details on the bottom of his boots are all there and all noticeable, even at this smaller scale. If there’s one area where they outdid themselves, it’s definitely in the sculpt and design. The little markings underneath his eyes are rendered just as sharply as the grooves in his gloved hands and there’s even details on the bottom of his feet.
The feet themselves are a good example of the mixed materials used, as they’re die-cast. While that seems to be a common feature among many figuarts releases, the effect is both sharp looking as well as practical. The heft they give his legs helps to balance him some and the ankles aren’t limited at all by the transition in materials. The rest of the figure is constructed of a great quality plastic, with no sign of mold lines or stippling, with everything looking incredibly sharp. On the literal side of that sharpness, the clear shoulder epaulettes look great
Paint is equally amazing; everything is clean and clear, with no smudges or scratches on mine. I’ve seen some figures with a random streak here and there, usually white slop on some of the green piping, but mine has none of it present. The sponsor logos on his shoulders and chest are flawlessly applied as well; in fact, all the decals look great right down to the tiny little tiger emblem on his chest. Really the only appearance flaw in my Wild Tiger is the tiniest little black dot on the back of his right leg and some slightly smudgy white paint on the inside of an elbow.
I’ve seen some comments that the articulation on Kotetsu is a little lacking but, while he’s not going to be giving any of your super-posable Spider-Man figures much of a challenge, he’s hardly a statue. The design of the armor limits a lot of motion but there’s still enough to work with if you give it enough effort and you could probably get a ton out of the figure if you’re absolutely fearless about harming it. Breaking them down isn’t easy to phrase, as the joints are a little more unique in their construction than just “ball jointed shoulders”, but they move in most of the typical ways we’re used to. Points of articulation include:
– Pseudo ball-jointed neck
– Cut elbows and knees
– Swivel biceps and thighs
– Wrists
– Ankles
– Torso
– Waist
The joint that’s the biggest casualty of the armor is the neck; it can move around easily for the most part but the armor’s high collar keeps him from looking up too high. He can still look to the sides very well, and the forward tilt is great, but if you want him crouching and looking up you may have some trouble.
Wild Tiger’s hips are a point of concern as he’s one of the releases from some time ago with “squeaky” joints. That squeak is a foul portent indeed, as it’s an indication that the end part of the joints are too big for the space they fit in and can result in the legs shearing clean off. You can fix the legs with some shock oil (tutorial again and video) but the mere thought of the figure breaking like that kept me from opening it for a long time. Seriously, I’ve had Wild Tiger since at least May and I just opened him two days ago.
I’m glad to report that the shock oil totally fixes that issue, revealing that the hips are actually cleverly designed; they even extend on a small peg to allow for deeper crouches and kicks while still looking pretty seamless. His arms have a similar setup that can be a little hard to see because of the shoulder pads. It’s hard to describe the system, and it’s a little past my currently limited photography skills, but I can best describe it as an extremely refined take on the “gap shoulders” some of the early Marvel Legends had that let figures like the first Hulk put their arms together. It works so much better here and the rest of the articulation in the arms/legs lets you make the gap pretty much unnoticeable.
There doesn’t really seem to be a standard amount of accessories included across the different Figuarts lines, with some of them having more gear than others seemingly being a factor of exclusivity or practicality. While some of the Kamen Rider and Sentai releases may have multiple weapons, or even dioramas, Wild Tiger, comparatively, is on the light side: he’s equipped with two pairs of extra hands, two “Wild Shot” arm attachments, and his alternate oversized “Good Luck Mode” arm.
While they may seem like minor additions, the extra hands are vital, both from a practical standpoint and a licensing one. Kotetsu talks with his hands; it’s one of his most charming features, and something that provides for more than a few of the show’s great moments when he’s in costumes. Considering that, it’s easy to see how important alternate hands might be. In fact, they’re one of the main allures of the other two variations of the character out there, as both come with even more hands than what we get here. For this release though, we have a pair of semi-splayed palms and a pair of gripping hands for use with the Wild Shot attachments. The former are pretty wonderful both for expressing bewilderment and posing dramatically and the latter are necessary for the other accessories. Wild Tiger’s sporting a pair of fists right out the package, so Bandai’s got their bases covered as far as the standards go.
Keeping in mind all the warnings I’d heard about Wild Tiger’s hips, I was absolutely terrified to remove his arm for the Good Luck Mode part; you have to grip the figure somewhere to provide leverage and it wasn’t a cakewalk figuring out a way to get around holding the legs. Still, I managed to pop off Kotetsu’s right arm safely, and fit the alternate arm in its place. Once you get the major peg part out the rest is easy, but it’s getting through that peg. Putting the normal arm back on was a little harder but I managed after removing one of his shoulder pauldrons which are a terrible pain to reattach themselves.
The Wild Shot parts are actually pretty cool considering how simple they look. The movable handle makes it easier to fit the joystick parts into Kotetsu’s hand, and it’s a lot easier to pop off the clear arm gauntlet to put these attachments on than it is to remove the lower arm for the Good Luck Mode piece. I’ll note that Shot parts are another accessory with a variation included with another release of the character; the One Minute version has Wild Shots with cable extended, though I consider that a little less exciting than having a “pointing” hand.
Bandai also included a snazzy little base with one of those little posable plastic arms we all love so much. The arm isn’t quite as mobile as a Figma stand’s but the clip that holds the figure is a little tighter. That’s probably the result of it coming off a plastic tree, but I don’t mind having to bust out my sprue cutters if it has a solid grip like this.
While the Good Luck Mode arm looks great, it’s a little too nerve wracking to switch out for me to display him like that permanently despite how well it functions. I’m also a little annoyed at the lack of paint detail on his hands, though it doesn’t seem like they intentionally left it out considering how unerringly accurate the rest of the figure is. Bandai made a great figure of an interesting and elaborate design, one that has enough articulation to satisfy me despite the light accessory compliment. I’ll probably be looking at finding the ‘1-minute’ version at some point because of all those extra hands. While it does annoy me that the second release is a glorified reissue/accessory pack disguised as the most minor of variants (at least currently anyway), Kotetsu’s such a likable character I don’t mind having an extra and I apparently hate the idea of financial security at a subconscious level. Besides, those extra hands have some of the gestures that really help sell Wild Tiger as a personality when he’s in his superhero guise, including the “bunny ears” he makes when giving Barnaby his nickname.
I’m pretty late to the party with this one, but you guys benefit in that there’s plenty of other reviews out there if you need more opinions. Check out the Daytime Ninja’s take on his site, for one. There’s also this review over at Toybox Collection and this one at Play Evolution. David Cabrera has a review in the Astro Toy column on ANN and there’s a pair of reviews on Myfigurecollection.
Wild Tiger is my first ever S.H. Figuarts and I’m pretty impressed despite my initial abject terror at the prospect of breaking his hips. I can’t really quantify his value, due to him being a gift, but if you shop around you can easily snag one under $35 especially since all the different variations Bandai has since released helped the scarcity of this release abate somewhat. If you like the show and want something more practical than the 12-inch Perfect Model edition and more posable than the gashopan releases, this is easily the best option; just be sure to have some shock oil ready for him.
Planned Banter 
Hi there! Thanks for the link to my blog!
No problem! You take excellent pictures BTW; I especially like the one of Kotetsu in mid-run.