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The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Swag

by Andrew Brown - December 11, 2012, 6:17 am EST
Total comments: 3

Japan's latest Figma action figure is here, how does this hero fare?

Max Factory has continued to expand their stellar line of Figma action figures into Nintendo's diverse cast of characters, much to the delight of fans.
Earlier this year, the company released their first Nintendo licenced Figma effigy in the likeness of everyone's favorite badass, buxom, bounty-hunting babe, Samus.

This time around, we get the Skyward Sword interpretation of Link, equipped with his ever-present Master Sword and Hylian Shield. How does Link stack up? Read on!

The packaging - front

Back - poses of a hero.

The package design is quite nice, matching both the traditional Figma box layout and incorporating artwork from the game's manual and box design. If you already own the Samus figure, you should be aware of the little holographic Nintendo authenticity sticker on the box, it appears this is going to be a mainstay for these collectors items. Don't buy bootlegs, check for the sticker first.

Let's open it up like so many hidden item chests and take a look at the veritable treasures within.

The box contains a cardboard stage, but you have to cut it up to use it.

Not shown here is the handy included snap-lock bag to store all your spare parts.

Ready for a quest.

One of the first things you'll notice is that Link is painted with a lot of flat colors and very little texture or highlighting. This is, of course, because Skyward Sword was a celshaded Zelda game, and the designers wanted to emulate the look of the rendering technique used. Creative use of lighting and camera settings would likely result in photos that look just like the game, but even without any embellishment or film trickery it still looks very nice. Link's face in particular has plenty of detail.

Heroing is serious business.

Like many of the other Figma figures, you can remove Link's face and hair and replace them with alternate expressions/styles. Link can either have a stoic, serious face or an open-mouthed battle expression, and you can have his hair hanging calmly or windblown as if plummeting from the heavens or in the throes of combat.

You could almost play rock-paper-scissors with Link.

You also get a set of eight alternate hand poses, making up a total of five for each hand, allowing for plenty of variation. It was considerate of the designers to include both left and right "gripping" hands for both the sword and shield, so you can choose whether to match the Skyward Sword artwork or make Link left-handed like in earlier games.

Something's about to get chopped.

His torso appears to be made up of three separate segments connected by ball-joints and cleverly concealed by the edge of his belt and sheath harness. This allows you to twist and bend Link into all manner of poses without the figure's seams becoming too visible. The bottom of his tunic is made of a bendable rubber that's split in several places so you can position his legs in plenty of poses without restricting movement. Again, it's inconspicuously modeled and shows the thought and detail put into the sculpt. Link's arms and legs have the standard Figma articulation joints, which are all modeled well and provide plenty of opportunity for creative or crazy poses. The back of Link's cap can also be rotated so it doesn't get in the way of his sword's hilt no matter which direction you have it tilted, and it also provides that little bit of realism to show his hat flowing to the sides or top depending on the pose you put him in.

Shiny metallic paint and stunning detail!

It clips into the sheath nicely, and won't slip out by accident.

The Hylian Shield, as it appears in Skyward Sword.

The back can be altered in a number of ways.

Ready to attach to Link's back.

The Master Sword comes with a sheath that attaches to Link's back via a small peg hole, and it slides in and out easily. The shield is especially clever in design and functionality. On the reverse side is both a handle and a leather strap, both of which can be removed and rearranged. Not only can you place the handle on the opposite side for the aforementioned left-handed shield orientation, but if you remove the strap and attach the handle horizontally around the sword sheath, a small peg will then hold it in place so Link can wear both the Master Sword and Hylian Shield on his back, just like in the games.
As an added bonus, the shield's handle can also be separated into two pieces, allowing you to easily slide the grip into the corresponding hand and then reassemble it to attach to the back of the shield.

Sheath...

...Sword...

...and Shield.

The last accessory is a transparent motion effect style piece - a kind of spiky, swishy piece of clear blue plastic that slides over the blade of the Master Sword, intended to resemble the trail left behind as Link executes one of his signature sword slashes. Perhaps I was unlucky and got a right hand with a loose wrist hinge, but adding this piece makes the sword a little top-heavy and it's difficult to pose it in some positions without Link's hand tilting under the weight. I'm not much of a fan of these sfx pieces in figurines anyway, so it's not a big deal to me.

LINK used SLASH!

Ultimately, this is a great addition to the Figma line and a worthy piece of collectible Nintendo history. The detail, much like the Samus figure before it, is spot on, and the clear base has several interchangeable connector pieces that let you position Link in just about any pose you can imagine - standing, running, jumping, even mid-air falling from the sky.
If I were to add anything, I'd have perhaps included some more facial expressions (Skyward Link has plenty of cheerful or inquisitive scenes in the game!), or some more of his item accessories such the Goddess's Harp, a bomb, a Heart Piece or even one of the basic shields, especially considering the rarity of the Hylian Shield in the latest game. Any such comments however quickly boil down to looking a gift horse in the mouth, it's hard to fault Max Factory for their incredible work.

I couldn't resist this iconic pose!

A fateful meeting.

Oh no! Diplomacy has failed!

Friendship restored, ready to take on Space Ganon together.

If you like these two figures, it's great to know that more Nintendo franchises are on the way with both Pit and Dark Pit from Kid Icarus Uprising announced. Pre-orders for these figures have yet to open up and a release date seems to be, pun unintended, up in the air at the moment.

Finally, I have some good news and some bad news.
EDIT: My source was slightly askew, I've fixed the following paragraph.
Both of Max Factory's earlier Samus figures and Link were scheduled to be distributed in North America by Diamond Comics, but there have been reports that the partnership with Nintendo has fallen through. These figures will no longer be released in the United States. This turn of events is likely to drive the eBay asking price for the original Japanese versions (which are considerably rare enough already) through the roof. I wish any interested parties the very best of luck in securing these figures. Perhaps we can take this to assume an official US localization of the toy lines? I'll remain cautiously optimistic.

In any case, thanks for looking, and like always there are plenty more pics in the gallery below. I have a few more Mariobilia features planned for the new year as soon as more great merchandise hits the store shelves.

The corrected info comes from videogamemm.com, thanks Nightram!

Images

Talkback

geoDecember 11, 2012

Just got mine as well. Have it set up at work and I love it.  Wish I had the samus one, though.

I have it, but don't plan on opening it. I'm still looking forward to the Pit and Dark Pit Figma figures that I heard are coming.

EasyCureDecember 11, 2012

that's cool! seeing link and samus together gave me a flashback to mario rpg for some reason

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