Night 3! ok, uploading bit late…but still….Ultra Act Gridman, or as I knew him as Servo from back in the 90’s…Gridman essentially was Ultraman for the computer age…Fighting monsters brought to life by Kilokahn, voice by Tim Curry of all people (must have had a house payment to make) and starring…a Lawerence brother? Wow…ok, perhaps some of my TV watching back then was questionable…but how does this line rate to my standards?
Gridman comes in a gorgeous box, all circuit themed and of course great production shots on the back . Say what you will, but Bandai really doesn’t let anything be just “simple.”
The Ultra Act line is a Bandai line dedicated to the Ultraman series of figures. So like Figuarts, these are super posable and hyper detailed! So the thing is when there are short comings, well they do stand out…
Gridman is based in red with silver armor. Yellow and blue highlight the details with just a touch of black. The translucent blue and yellow in his chest is just sexy and gives that pseudo high tech look. The shoulders are interesting with how their pad allow full movement, but do kind of flop out of place, so you have to reset them to look right. All Ultra style heroes initially are brawlers, so his arm joints allow all the basic fighting poses. I do like how his gauntlets are different on each arm. The one has a jewel that is to be the focus of his power, but we will get to that later…
One thing Ultra Acts have over Kamen Riders, they have a peg hole in their back. Like the SRCs this means you don’t have to use the clamps from a Tamashii stage for posing, and man this is a blessing! I hope more of the Riders will get this.
It allows one top put him in all kinds of cool high flying poses, and since no diecast, this won’t put any extra strain on the stage.
Exceed charge…no wait…wrong figure, (still need to review Faiz for you guys)…but anyway, like the Figurats, the Ultra Act series allows Gridman to be flexible for most poses. Double knees and elbows I now take for granted, but no waist? And he can’t look up? Those are let downs for me I have to say.
For accessories, we have 4 sets of hands. Fists, splayed, tight gripping and loose gripping hands. These are pretty tight top pop on and off. Not Rider W tight, but still I had to work them on.
We have his sword which is SHINEY!!! Black handle with the yellow blue inlay cinches the look.
You have to make sure you use the proper hand, but he hold it nice and tight with the smaller gripping hand.
then we have the shield. Not the largest but it gets the job done. What is interesting is that the handle unfolds, but not all the way. I could see this transforming to a hatchet or blaster (I know he didn’t have one) but it opens only part way. This is held with the more open hand.
In tandem they pair grate together.
Allowing full defense and offense is always good, but sometimes well…you just need to go all out…
And that is where this guy comes into play…he would combine the sword and shield first to a large axe, but then it would be this bad boy…
This is almost as big as Gridman, and still super shiny! Needless to say, use the bigger holding things hand when wielding this.
Gridman can hold it unassisted, but you have to have that proper balance.
Last but not lest we have this amazing effect part. The points are sharp, be careful. Remember that jewel in his gauntlet I mentioned at the beginning? Well it can pop out, it is tiny, so don’t lose it. This beam pegs right in that space…
and looks friggin awesome! The various colors give it a shimmering look, and the points really cinch the blast effect.
This look makes up for the short comings, and killed my buyers regret.
So is Gridman perfect? Nope, but he is impressive. I really wish the neck and waist offered more, but still the accessories make up for it. Now the cool thing is if you remember in the show, Gridman/Servo had some help…and rumor has it they will be released as well…and yes, this geek will have them!
-Starscreamer