Zangief comes with 3 interchangeable heads (grimace, teeth bared grimace, and shouting), 5 pairs of interchangeable hands (fists, karate chop, fingers splayed, splayed with more curl, and pointing finger extended), a display stand and 2 effects parts to clip onto his hands. The head
sculpts are absolutely amazing, with all three matching one another in terms of proportions and design, while looking different enough to make each worthwhile. My favorite is the teeth bared look. The paint is equally impressive, with the eyes having a glossy sheet to them, pupils aligned perfectly, and no slop whatsoever, even around delicate parts like the lips and teeth. The mohawk is sharp, with a bit of five-o'clock shadow around the hair. One of my three heads has a small blip on the underside of the beard where the paint was not applied, but that's not likely to be an issue beyond my own figure.
The hands are truly hunormous, as my four-year-old would say, and are made of the same slightly-flexible rubbery plastic as seen on previous releases. There's a very slight difference between the two curling fingers pairs, with one having the index and pinky fingers more curled, while the other has the pinky and the one right next to it more curled. I guess one might be better for gripping and the other for motioning. Personally, I'm going to stick with the fists on my shelf.
The rest of the figure is equally as impressive, in terms of both paint and sculpt. The flesh tone is perfect and uniform, with no bleed or overage at any of the many scars (which are sculpted as raised details) adorning his body. The laces, boots and boot tops are amazing (and considering the level of slop on the Figuarts Cammy's boots, are worthy of high praise), as are the clean yellow and red lines of the wrist bracers. Overall, the figure is gorgeous to look at. If sculpt and paint are your primary reason for buying into this line (as for me), you will be very impressed and happy with Zangief!
The articulation is present, though it may not have as wide a range of motion as one would like. As with previous releases, the upper portion of the torso and the trunks are made of rubbery plastic, allowing for additional flex when posing. The joints on Zangief are a bit quirkier than those on the other figures: my standard head is bobbly, with the socket being just a tad too large for the ball in the neck, and the torso separates at the waist pretty easily if there's any strain put on the joint by a twisting pose, as does the arm at the shoulder. It's the kind of reaction that many of my S.H. MonsterArts figures would have if the joints are extended to their maximum. The girth of Zangief makes him a little tricker to pose, but as you will see from shots around the internet, he can achieve a wide variety of them.
The effects parts are cool translucent plastic sprayed with a bit of white, and clip onto his fists securely.
For my purposes - a shelf of beautifully sculpted and painted Street Fighter action figures - Zangief is a perfect hit. If you are someone who loves action poses or who expects a great deal of articulation out of their figures, you might find him more restricted. That said, given his look and design, I'm not sure how the articulation could be worked any differently - Storm seems to have done the best they could, given the circumstances. Zangief really pushes the boundaries of price, though, with a final shipped cost of $115. I'm thrilled that I have him, but I'm also hoping we don't end up with any other figures in that price range. Otherwise, I'd have to start making some really hard choices.
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| Alongside SOTA Toys Zangief |
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| The Storm Collectibles Street Fighter V Collection so far... |
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