So I haven't been updating this stupid thing at all, and I don't wanna talk about the weird things going on in my life... and nobody's watching anyway, so... shoop-a-whoop...
Alright, so I'll begin with a little background. Things have been going weird lately. People who were indifferent are opening up to me... maybe a bit too much... my girlfriend is acting a bit strange... also, I HAVE a girlfriend... Certain people are starting to do weird things that I won't talk about... my best friend is drifting further and further away from me... I'm scared for my safety because of certain things that are happening around here... my lifespan is forever shortened thanks to things wrong with my health... Religion is finding me, and making me think over things I feel I'm doing wrong... guh. Add into that school, and we have a whole lot to cover.
And so... I shall distract myself away from this...
First toy review to hit the online scene so far! Hoorays!
Alright, so this is my review of Sonic and Sega All Stars Racing Shadow the Hedgehog.
A nice and somewhat cute tie-in to the recent videogame, the SaSASR series so far focuses ONLY on the Sonic portion of the game, but it's quite nice nonetheless. Each figure in the “DELUXE” range comes with a fully posable figure as well as a very nicely made vehicle.
They are exclusive to Toys 'R Us at $15 each.
In the first series, there are Sonic with a car, Knuckles with a buggy, and Shadow with a motorcycle.
I haven't actually played this game yet, and only bought this set solely because of the GI Joe scaled Shadow. :3
The figure came in a beautifully crafted box... it's too bad it only lasted about three minutes before I scapped it, or else I'd get a picture of THAT, too.
...luckily, I have found a picture of said packaging online, so here we are.
It was held in place by two twist ties and three rubber loops.
So! A review of the figure itself! Let's start with Shadow, shall we?
[EDIT NOTE: I couldn't get my camera to work, so no pictures but the stock ones above]
Shadow is very nicely made. The sculpting is beautiful, and matches the game model almost perfectly, allowing a suspension of belief for the joints. Unlike the previous Sonic line figures, he has hollow ears. This makes me happy for some unknown reason... His mouth is actually visible due to a deeper cut, along with a small paint application inside to make it stand out.
All of the articulation is useful, and at 14 points, It's got a higher range of posability than even the 5 inch Sonic figure I already had, which had 13 points!
It lacks one of the main problems I had with the 5 inch Sonic I complained about... the brittleness of it. The other figure could be easily ripped apart due to the VERY soft connector pieces plaguing every joint. Not so is the case with this figure... and it's smaller! Thanks to the smaller size, it also lacks the OTHER chief concern... the ability to stand.
The feet are very heavy, and the head is lighter. Combine that with the strong leg joints, and we finally, at long last, have a Sonic series figure that can stand on its own!
The paint is very nicely applied, and matches the game model exactly, though there is a little sloppiness on the shoes... however, it may be intentional, because it is symmetrical to each foot. Why there would be a small red line near the base of every foot is beyond me, though.
EDIT TO THE ABOVE PARAGRAPH: It's obviously intentional, because the stripes are orange, and the color cannot be found anywhere on the rest of the figure. Heh.
The bottom of the feet surprisingly has a bit of black paint wash, as well, and is much darker than the reds used in the rest of the figure. It may be because he both walks with the bottoms, as well as skates with rockets, so it'd only be natural that they be 'burnt' a little...
On the bottom of the right foot, one of the rockets is missing; presumably for the purpose of standing on a display stand.
All in all, the figure is very nicely made! It has easily become my favorite Sonic series figure that I have ever owned. Of course, I've ONLY OWNED the previously mentioned 5 inch Sonic, and the not mentioned 7 inch Super Shadow, which was a “SUPER POSER” figure, and had over 27 points of articulation(!).
Now on to the main seller of this figure, the motorcycle.
First off, I'd like to say that the sculpting on it is brilliant. Though it isn't as detailed as the Shadow it came with, but what details it does have, are nice, clean, and neat.
It has two points of articulation, one at the steering, and one at the kickstand.
The plastic colors are silver and red. Silver takes predominance, thanks to it taking up the entire body. Red is only present in the wheels. Everything else is paint. I was surprised about this as I took a look at it closely, because the black parts legitimately appear to be separate from the rest. Of course, looking at that now, it's obviously not, but... yeah.
On either side of the gas tank are the Shadow the Hedgehog logos. This is very nice to me...
In an unexpected move, the tires are actually made of rubber. Of course, I'm used to the plastic tires of Transformers, so of course I'm shocked whenever I find rubber tires in a toy... But anyway, this is very nice.
When Shadow is placed on the bike, it becomes that much more obvious that it is oversized to fit the aesthetic of the game. This does not, however, make it less impressive.
The figure can put his feet onto the large obvious pedals on the sides, and hold onto the handlebars. However, you cannot turn the handle while he is riding it, or else it would throw the rest of his body off. I'm willing to forgive that, because of the obviousness of it.
My main gripe is that thanks to the figure's construction, he can't actually stay on the motorcycle easily without both of his hands on the handles. I can pose him with one hand off of them, but it's difficult to balance him on there. This is a minor problem compared to the good points, though.
Looking at this figure, it's not bad. But for $15, it can easily be passed over in favor of larger toys. Based on this figure alone, I'm willing to add at least Knuckles to my collection into the future, as well as any other Sonic series racers they may or may not create. I'd especially enjoy Tails or Dr. Eggman. I'm adding this to the RECCOMENDED pile. If you can find one at a lower price, it can be bumped up to the HIGHLY RECCOMENDED list very fast.
A four out of five.
...don't think I'm avoiding my issues! I'm working on them! >.<;;
I just don't wanna talk about them in a place that might have silent eyes watching! D:
--Rain
