Fortress of Testicular Fortitude

I know f-all about Jin Roh, so here's Wiki's explanation as usual.



I passed on this figure back in '06 when the first version was released. It had a different headsculpt but the same armour and weapons. It looked really good to me then.

Since TakaraTomy kindly decided to reissue the figure recently, albeit in two versions with the only differentiation being the headsculpts, I didn't want to miss out this figure which I know nothing about, except that it looks really cool.



The packaging does a good job in NOT informing you about the figure inside. Some retailers tend to wrap these figures in plastic, so casual browsers will have fun wondering what's in the box.





The package is made up of two sections, one for the figure itself, and the other for accessories, which is pretty much standard fare for 1/6 figures. What isn't a standard throughout sixth scale products' packaging, but should be, is the magnetic closures to keep both sections together. Sideshow's done this with their Star Wars figures, so it's no biggie, but it sure beats troublesome velcro.



No troublesome twist ties to deal with when removing the figure from the box, not even excessive tape to secure the figure in it's plastic tray, which should be something DC Direct should consider for their 13" line. Cos though their figures' base bodies are rubbish, I still get slightly excited when releasing the figures from their packages, and twist ties and tape are kill joys.

Looks like a load of accessories, but you'll use most of them up by the time Kouichi's kitted up.



Kouichi looks like a nice Japanese salaryman, slightly boyish with very nice cheekbones. The previous sentence veered on being ghey, so you decide whether you like his headsculpt or not.







If you don't, then either get his partner, Soichiro Toribe or use the masked head instead when displaying him.

He comes with shades which I initially thought I'd damaged when trying to fit them.



Thankfully the temple fits back into the frame. 1:1 frames should work like this too, saving parents and rough people alot of money.



Having learnt this, I would advise against getting Kouichi to flip his shades at will ala Ethan Runt from Mission Impossible.

Here's parts of the armour which were already fitted on, straight out of the box.
There must be official terms for the following items, but I'm naming them as I go along.

I think the boots are one of the funkiest bits about the figure.


Gauntlet


Crotch Guard


Chest Plate


Fanny Pack


Back Pack Mount


I started kitting him out by fitting his holster and pistol on his skirt.





Then added his backpack...



...and round dispenser.



Following the Japanese instruction sheet, I slotted the stick which seems to be either a futuristic taser or cattle prod into the allocated slots on the round dispenser. Be careful when doing this as the slots are pretty tight and you'll end up scraping paint of the taser/cattle prod like I did.



Next, I added the shoulder pauldrons.





Almost getting there...



Then the shield to the left gauntlet.





To ready the weapon for use, you'll have to fit the rounds to the automatic weapon, then to the round dispenser.









If you really like his face, you can display him like this.



If you think he isn't that good looking, you can add the shades.



If you think he's fugly or bought the wrong figure cos you mixed up the names of the characters, go for the masked option.

Start with these items.



Fit the balaclava on the blank head...



If you like Darth Vader, the next steps will be familiar.

Mask goes on...


...then the helmet.



Plug and play, baby!















This is one damn cool looking toy. I haven't played with it much and the articulation does feel limited by the outfit. This figure is using the same body as Takara Batman Begins so it's supposed to be well-articulated. I was initially thinking of keeping him back in the box immediately after taking him out for some pix, but perhaps I'll leave him on display for a bit.









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toy blog | toy collector | toy collecting | singapore