Summary: Pros: Great looking SSB Goku, well defined faces, excellent posability. Cons: Basic accessories Rating: 10/10 Buy? YES, a perfect representation of Goku's Super Saiyan Blue form!
Posts : 19096 Join date : 2018-03-29 Location : Somewhere between myth and reality.
Cool set. I was going to say how nice of them to include the extra facial expressions (like S.H. Figuarts/Bandai did for its Black Widow). But then I remembered something you've mentioned before about these, and how their hair color changes depending on their power or skill or agitation. Clearly this set depicts one hair color; does this mean that they produce different sets for the different color hair? Seems to me that it would have been nice for consumers to get one set with several interchangeable hairs in the different colors. Unsurprisingly, business is business...
I was a pretty huge Dragon Ball Z fan as a kid, and still am to some extent, so seeing these gives me nostalgia about the tons of figures I had as a kid and how I would 'switch out' their heads with different bodies to attain an alternate form/character/facial expression.
The accessories and different faces are nice, but something about the joints/shape of forearms is off-putting. As a side note I've been eyeballing the custom Phicen adaptations of Goku and Vegeta on eBay, their heads are kind of small but the tailoring on their clothing is fantastic.
GubernatorFan wrote:Cool set. I was going to say how nice of them to include the extra facial expressions (like S.H. Figuarts/Bandai did for its Black Widow). But then I remembered something you've mentioned before about these, and how their hair color changes depending on their power or skill or agitation. Clearly this set depicts one hair color; does this mean that they produce different sets for the different color hair? Seems to me that it would have been nice for consumers to get one set with several interchangeable hairs in the different colors. Unsurprisingly, business is business...
Haha you're right! These characters (the Saiyan race) change hair colors depending on how much power they're using! And you're very correct to think that they've sold EACH version with different hair colors! Not only that, since the Dragon Ball timeline is very long (starts back in the 80s), you can bet there are different versions for different eras haha! Hmm lemme see if I could pull up a few pictures... I'm gonna enjoy talking about my beloved Dragon Ball show as well (oh yeah and almost all the important characters have multiple forms or outfits so you can guess how many toys there are lol!)
Kid Goku - this one's from the original Dragon Ball storyline when Goku (original Saiyan name Kakarot) was still a child. His origin story is pretty similar to Superman's. He comes from a planet called "Vegeta" (which is also the name of another character, pretty much like how a human would name someone else "Earth"). His people, the Saiyan race (or Saiyajin in Japanese), are a race of warriors who love fighting. The only way to tame them is if you're stronger than them. The Galactic Emperor named Frieza (the white alien guy with a tail) was the strongest at the time and enslaved the Saiyan race. Frieza used the Saiyans to attack and conquer other planets so he can sell them to other aliens. Later on after realizing that the Saiyan race has the potential to become stronger as long as they're alive, Frieza felt threatened and so he called all the Saiyans back to their home planet Vegeta.
Goku's father, Bardock, is one of Frieza's Saiyan warriors. Bardock felt that it's weird for Frieza to call every Saiyan back to the planet and he just had this gut feeling that Frieza's up to no good. He decided to take little Goku and put him in a spacepod to send to a far away planet, populated with weak creatures, called Earth. He also tried looking for Goku's brother named Raditz, but Raditz was on a mission in a far away planet with Prince Vegeta, the son of King Vegeta (yes, the royal family has the same name as the planet lol!) Goku's mom, Gine, asked Bardock what he's doing. He told Gine that he feels Frieza's about to do something terrible to them and it's best to send Goku away to a planet where he'll have a chance to live because even if Goku's considered a "Low Class Warrior", he'll be far stronger than majority of the inhabitants.
After crash landing on Earth, Goku bumps his head and loses his natural aggressive Saiyan instincts. He is found by an old martial arts master in the mountains and Goku was raised with kindness. This caused Goku to develop a more gentle side, even though deep in his heart he still wants to fight people for fun.
Adult Goku - these two are Goku, just wearing different outfits based on different timelines (see, they're milking the timelines lol!). The left one is an SDCC 2015 exclusive toy based on his appearance during the Namek Saga (where he journeys to fight Frieza), while the one of the right is a "web exclusive" release based on his later appearance in the series.
As the years passed, Figuarts also upgraded the articulation system on the toys. Usually it's known as the "2.0" body type, as shown in this updated version of the same Goku.
Super Saiyan/Super Saiyajin (aka SSJ) Goku - this is Goku's first ultimate form in the series. During Goku's fight with Frieza, Frieza mercilessly causes Krillin (Goku's best friend!) to explode! This pisses off Goku so much that the peaceful and kind Goku becomes a ruthless, merciless warrior, more akin to his original Saiyan roots! His black hair turns yellow, a yellow aura surrounds him and his eyes turn green! He becomes exponentially powerful! Just like with the older Dragon Ball toys, he also got upgraded to the 2.0 body later on in a battle damaged version called "Awakening Goku".
Super Saiyan/Super Saiyajin 3 Goku - this is Goku's third form (he has a second form but it's just a spikier haired SSJ and it hasn't been turned into a Figuarts toy yet). Goku develops this form while he's dead (yeah he still trains even when he's dead in the other world!). The drawback is that although it's very powerful, it sucks out a lot of stamina from him so he can't use this to fight for long periods. He also hilariously loses his eyebrows. Figuarts made an old version of this, but the picture below is 2.0 body version that I have since it's way better than the old one.
Super Saiyan God Red Goku - this is Goku's fourth form after performing a divine ritual to gain the power of the gods. In this Red form, Goku is a lot faster than usual and he keeps the normal shape of his hair. It's his first step into attaining god level powers. He is forced into attaining this form when Goku stupidly challenges Beerus, the Lord of Destruction and all of his forms prove to be as useless as a child against this god. Beerus, being bored for being unchallenged ever since he became a god, threatens Goku that he'll blow up the Earth if he doesn't defeat him.
Super Saiyan God Blue Goku - this is the fifth form that Goku reaches after he finally gets proper training from Whis, Beerus' master. In this form, Goku's hair turns blue and is raised just like how it's usually up whenever he's in Super Saiyan form. This is Goku's new default powerful form that he uses to fight god level battles. Figuarts has two versions of this. The first one is based on his appearance in Ressurection of F (as in Frieza gets resurrected by his henchmen when they make a wish on the Dragon Balls). The new Blue Goku depicts him in his usual outfit, as seen in the current Dragon Ball Super series and the new Broly movie.
Ultra Instinct Goku - Goku's sixth and latest ultimate form. The Figuarts toy is coming out next year. This is the form that Goku takes after his SSB form proves to be useless against the almighty Jiren. The Ultra Instinct form is actually a technique that even full fledged gods like Beerus have trouble mastering. In this form, Goku's hair remains the same shape as his normal hair but the color turns silver. His reflexes become extreme, allowing him to avoid everything thrown at him. After this form uses up Goku's energy, Goku's body is overcome with pain and becomes defenseless.
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Posts : 19096 Join date : 2018-03-29 Location : Somewhere between myth and reality.
Wow, you put in a lot of effort into this. Clearly, you're both a fan and an expert. Looks like even the older bodies had pretty nice articulation for small figures. But my point was that you're being milked for money if all they are changing is the color of the hair. Though I see there are some minor additional changes, sometimes the color of specific outfit parts, sometimes a crest, etc (though the outfit itself remains exactly the same, except occasionally tattered).
Posts : 7190 Join date : 2019-01-11 Location : the far, bright center
Wow, thanks for the detailed explanation, Adeno! After all this time, I feel like finally know what Dragon Ball Z is about.
And yes, it does seem a bit over the top that there's a different figure for each of his 'hair colours', but since the various forms are central to each part of the story [and seems, in fact, to be the whole point of it], it does at least make sense that there would be a figure dedicated to those.
You mentioned the similarities with Superman in terms of his backstory, which are indeed there, but the first thing that came to my mind was the mythological Cúchulainn and his ríastradh, or warp-spasm/battle frenzy. Though in his case, his battle rage transformation is rather more overtly 'monstrous'. I do find it rather precious and amusing that, in terms of the physical appearance side of things at least, it is Goku's hair that changes so dramatically in these instances. :'D
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"The happy ending of the fairy tale, the myth, and the divine comedy of the soul, is to be read, not as a contradiction, but as a transcendence of the universal tragedy of man."
Ignoring current 'official' Star Wars content for my own sanity.
The Saiyans have tails originally, but Goku's tail got cut off during his childhood. When a Saiyan with a tail sees the full moon, they involuntarily get transformed into giant apes as well!
There's also another show called Dragon Ball GT which came after the original Dragon Ball Z. It was supposed to be the third sequel to the series, but the original author, Akira Toriyama, wasn't too involved in the project and that's why Dragon Ball GT isn't considered as canon to the storyline. In Dragon Ball GT, Goku and Vegeta, instead of reaching godly powers, attained a different transformation. According to the story, the new form they attained here is the true powered form of the Saiyan race. They are humanoids but they are also like apes. They have red fur all over their body and they have black hair.
A few years after Dragon Ball GT (which Dragon Ball fans didn't like that much), a live action US version movie was made... it pretty much bastardized what Dragon Ball was all about. It turned Goku into some kind of girl obsessed highschool guy, when in the original material, Goku's so innocent, when he was getting married, he didn't even understand completely what being married to a woman meant (he thought marriage was FOOD!). The fight scenes were too generic. Why the hell are there guns in a Dragon Ball movie?!
Because of how HORRIBLE Dragon Ball Evolution was, Akira Toriyama got pissed off at how they destroyed his life's work in the movie, and that's why he decided to get back and continue Dragon Ball. This is why we have new Dragon Ball movies and tv shows right now haha
Posts : 7190 Join date : 2019-01-11 Location : the far, bright center
Thanks for the info about the other forms, pretty fascinating.
And wow, I had not even realized that live action movie existed...it does indeed look TERRIBLE. Glad at least it lead to something positive in the long run, and that you now have more animated episodes and figures to go with them. ;D
_________________
"The happy ending of the fairy tale, the myth, and the divine comedy of the soul, is to be read, not as a contradiction, but as a transcendence of the universal tragedy of man."
Ignoring current 'official' Star Wars content for my own sanity.
skywalkersaga wrote:Thanks for the info about the other forms, pretty fascinating.
And wow, I had not even realized that live action movie existed...it does indeed look TERRIBLE. Glad at least it lead to something positive in the long run, and that you now have more animated episodes and figures to go with them. ;D
Yeah! From the pure sewage waste that Evolution is, Dragon Ball was reborn into something better haha Now there are new video games, mobile phone games (Dragon Ball Legends!), toys, and even cosplayers usually make Dragon Ball costumes and pretend to be them
By the way, there's also another live action Dragon Ball movie that was made much much much earlier, back in 1991 I think that was made in Taiwan. I remember accidentally finding an English dubbed VHS tape of it and I immediately bought it! You can watch it on youtube if you're curious, here I'll post it haha It strays from the original story of Dragon Ball, but at least the characters are pretty much the same (except for the bad guys who for some reason, still use guns and bazookas)
Yeah this one's English dub, the sub is another language for some reason
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