Jay's Toy Shelf : S.H. Figuarts

Given that I've missed quite a few weeks due to summer break, here's a second post of the week!

Joker is the starter for the entire Injustice storyline. He begins by drugging Superman to believe that a pregnant Lois Lane is Doomsday. He kills her, and when the haze clears, finds out Joker was behind it. In a very "Man of Steel" grim-dark, kills Joker and realizes that humanity can't take care of itself. This begins the regime of Superman in which Injustice is set.

This Joker is kind of a mix in design from several places. His lapels and coat are a bit longer like the older cartoon Joker or the Arkham version. He uses knives, chattering teeth, a crowbar (a la Red Hood storyline), gas bombs and a very long handgun (inspired by the '89 Batman movie no doubt!).

I am a fan of redesigns of beloved characters because it shows a creativity and a desire to breathe some new life into them, and I think this one works well. He's got the gangly, sharp-edged, colourful villainous look any Joker fan loves. The joints work well, even if some of them are vaguely Figma looking. The figure is pretty great, as is to be expected by S.H. Figuarts, and each detail is super well painted.

Sculpt/Paint: 5/5 Great sculpt and paint. The shading on the face is well done, the jacket and clothes are well finished and bright. Every detail is there, and it would be hard to point out any flaw that really matters here in that department. I really like how they changed up his purple coat at the back with all the belts and add-ons. It creates a unique take on his costume where many others basically just replicate something from comics or shows. Sweet!

Articulation: 5/5 (33 points): An excellent ab crunch, hip joints and arm joints that have a great range of motion here. He has a fairly inconsequential toe hinge, but a pretty great range of motion for his elbows and knees considering they aren't double jointed, but rather have a very large ball joint like Figma figures typically do. He doesn' have a waist swivel per se, just a diaphragm that sort of fulfils the role of swivel and crunch forwards, back and sideways a good deal.

Price/Availability: 4/5 About the same price as the original MRSP for the fig. Available mostly online only, though the hardcore hunter may find the occasional one in a store.

Accessories: 5/5. He has a complete, well sculpted and painted set here. He includes the long gun, knife and crowbar for weapons. For extras, he has two articulated chattering teeth sets, as well as a joker card that is AMAZINGLY tiny and well printed (but...I lost it!! argh...). He comes with three heads whose features seem a little small to me: grinning head, smiling head, and gas mask head (another cool head variant). As per usual, he comes with a set of open gesture hands, weapon grasping hands, trigger hand (right), a card grasping hand, and another set of open hands. I was a bit surprised he didn't get any punching hands given it's a fighting game, a pie or a gas canister. But everything that is there and well done.

Fun Factor: 4/5 Definitely a greatly articulated Joker to pose and play within this scale. Unlike many Jokers, he has some very good range at the waist. The balance isn't perfect because of how heavy his top half is but he looks amazing on the shelf and in a wide variety of poses.

Verdict: 23/25 Great
Another great release from S.H. Figuarts. He's a must to face off against Injustice Batman, and really well done. Everything from the paint, shading, accessories and sculpt is super well done.
High recommends!