Jay's Toy Shelf : Hasbro Transformers x Naruto

I grew up watching Transformers, and always enjoyed the shows, especially when they came out with Beast Wars on YTV in Canada back in the 90s. Such a good series of shows! I haven't seen many iterations of Transformers since the early 2000s, like the newer animated series, CGI shows or many of the Michael Bay movies, but you KNOW I'm coming for a crossover involving my favourite anime: Naruto! I haven't had a transformer in a very long time. I think the first couple I had were a mix of official ones like Blaster and then other transforming knock-off type things, like dinosaurs and such. This one is exciting, though!

This is a once-in-a-lifetime crossover between Hasbro's Transformers and Naruto, and I'm here for it. It's a little crazy to me that this is the first Kurama figure I technically own, though honestly, I would love to buy the one pointed out by a dedicated reader by the Blokees' company. This set of two features a box done in the style of a summoning scroll from Naruto, holding both a regular-sized Kurama and a smaller Gamakichi.

These transformers are.... well,l the transforming part isn't too bad, not incredibly complicated or anything. Their transformer looks aren't particularly aesthetically pleasing, however, and there is minimal paint and details here. Gamakichi, in particular, looks overly clunky and awkward in his robot form. The animal forms honestly look the best here. As with a lot of smaller transformers, these all have mostly flexible ball joints that allow decent movements. The accessories are fine, there's enough to work with, though they are also unpainted and not particularly sleek to look at. Rest of this interview....ROLL OUT!

Sculpt & Paint: 1/3 The paint applied is mostly to the face plate, which works well enough and is probably the best part, along with the headband. After that, there's some blocks of paint for certain patters, but the rest is just molded plastic. No shading at all. Because of the plastic chosen, it is very bright and not quite the oranges of the characters in the show. The vibes here are very plasticky and toy-like as opposed to giving a true anime aesthetic.

Articulation: 2/3 (21-29 points): There are some nice areas of articulation here, like the ankles of both, allowing full movement, the ball joints at the knees or swivels at the thing allowing good dynamism in the legs. The restrictions come in the hip side-to-side movements, and the arms are impeded by several clunky bits of the animal form. The animal forms themselves are more seamless in their movements and achieve much more natural poses.

Accessories: 1/1 There is a decent number of items for both the robot and animal forms here. Kurama gets two chakra foot pieces that attach (mostly well) to a single translucent blue moulded plastic. They also get the same plastic treatment for a small wind rasenshuriken and rasengan orb. Add to this is two kunai, one like Minato's, and one like a standard kunai (these are in a shiny type of plastic finish at least). Both have a weird hilt grip added so they can use it as if it were an energy gun, I suppose? Gamakichi comes with less, only a summoning scroll and a very small ninja knife/sword with a sideways peg. They're in a grey plastic again, with the scroll painted in the green and red border colours.

Fun Factor: 1/3 I think the funnest look for these two is the animal forms, and I guess I don't mind Kurama's robot form, but definitely not Gamakichi's. Kurama is easy enough to pose,e but Gamakichi is so top-heavy with tiny spindly legs that it's kind of a nightmare to keep him upright.

Verdict: 5/10 This isn't the best as an action figure. I think I mostly got caught up in a Naruto buying fever and a dry spell of SH Figuarts! It's a fun crossover, but the end result is not glamorous or anything. Buy it if you're a hardcore fan of both franchises, but it doesn't really fit into much unless you either keep it in animal form for the Naruto line or a robot line for some of your lesser detailed Transformers!