McFarlane Toys Ra's Al Ghul - Batman: Arkham City (Build-A-Solomon Grundy)

 I've reviewed a Ra's Al Ghul figure before for the more realism-bent Christopher Nola Batman trilogy, but today I finally have a figure of the Arkhamverse version. In an attempt to rid Gotham of its worst criminal elements, Ra's and his league of shadows secretly fund the plan to create Arkham City. Batman, on the heels of the last game having been poisoned by Joker's Titan toxin needs some decades old blood to fight off the side effects, and who better than Ra's to get it from! After a tense encounter, he defeats him and takes some of Ra's blood. He later meets Ra's again when, unsatisfied with how Hugo Strange is handling Protocol 10, sees Ra's plunge his sword through Hugo! The more I think about Arkham games (except maybe Arkham Knight) the more I realize they put in too many villains from Batman's rogue gallery, giving each of them not quite the time they deserved (or maybe too much in Riddler's case).

The figure is pretty close to the game appearance, with some pretty impressive details, such as the well done tattooed dragons on his arms. It's a pretty good figure, and miles better than what I saw of the DC Collectibles release back in the day! After getting Talia Al Ghul from the older figures back in the day and seeing how bad it was, I decided not to buy all the figures. He's got good articulation and is a welcome addition to the Arkham rogues! 

S.H. Figuarts Naruto Uzumaki - Naruto Shippuden

 Naruto is the title character, so here's the best for last! I love the character, and even though the latest show is about Boruto, his son, they put so much of him in it anyway cause they know what the fans want! If you don't know about Naruto, he had one of the most powerful chakra creatures in the world sealed inside of him as a baby, was ostracized by his village and yet kept under watch at the same time. Through trials and the irresistible power of his friendship, he managed to overcome and rise to become a hero of the village. 

 This version is the base form of the Shippudden character: the teenage, pre-Kurama and pre-Sage mode versions. Don't let that deter you though, this is my current favourite Naruto figure and the best engineered and proportioned in my collection! This one comes with a lot of great options and does so many things very well. Believe it! 

S.H. Figuarts Kakashi Hatake - Naruto Shippuden

 Kakashi is definitely one of my top 5 favourite Naruto characters. He's cool, extremely knowledgable, calm to the point of seeming catatonic, and has some interesting parts to his backstory. Add to that that he became Hokage, the leader of the Hidden Leaf Ninja village for a period of time. He's capable of taking down nearly any character in the Naruto universe with the exception of Moon people and Tailed beasts, though I reckon at the height of his power he could give them a pretty good run for their money solo. Here I though the previous SH Figuarts Kakashi was super well done, this one is better in most every way! 

He's got superior articulation and range as well as some more interesting face swaps. I have one minor issue with the articulation and one major one with the accessories. I love that they extended the shoulder pads out and gave you more posing options here.