Bandai Anime Heroes One Piece Figures Review
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If I mention One Piece to someone here in the United States, chances are good that the only response I would receive in return is
a look of bewilderment. That's odd as the manga and anime have been wildly popular in Japan for decades. It did get a chance
here in the US many years ago, but it didn't do well. It didn't catch on with the general population and became netorious for
stupid edits and a terrible dub. In the years since then, the line has found a decent fan base amongst anime/manga fans. But
the long term success aboard has now become the biggest impediment to people getting into the property as there is such a huge
back catalog of comics/episodes that starting from square one is a daunting task. And with the license relagated to niche
audience here in the US, merchandise has been quite limited as well, outside of direct imports. So I was rather surprised to
find that Bandai had released three of the core crew members as a part of their Anime Heroes line. The opportunity to check
out Bandai's catch all line of anime licenses and also fill the One Piece shaped hole in my toy collection was a perfect two
birds with one stone situation. And they've been sitting in a pile to be reviewed for six months. Time to rectify that.
Packaging - 4/10The packaging for Bandai's Anime Heroes line is functionally fine, but boring. The window box shows off the figure well. And the photos on the back show off the three figures released at the time. But apart from the One Piece logo, there's no indication of who these characters are, where they come from or anything about the world of One Piece. That may seem like a small issue, but a well designed package should do just as much to make you interested in the characters and property as the figure itself.
Sculpting - 8/10Right out of the package, it's clear that the sculpting is going to be a highlight if not THE highlight of these figures. The look almost exactly like the packaging image. Luffy seems like he is a bit too tall, but it actually works for him as most of that height seems to be his legs. The only real complaint I have is that the shoulder joints are quite ugly. They left large gaps to increase the range of motion at the shoulders. But you can now see a lot of flesh tone plastic through those gaps.
Paint - 8/10The paint work is much like the sculpting. They didn't go overboard with details but I also can't say that they missed anything that should have been painted. It is a little disappointing that they didn't go the extra mile and paint the exposed areas of flesh toned plastic in the shoulder joints. That's a bit unfair as it is penializes the paint work for a problem with the sculpt. But it is still a missed opportunity.
Articulation - Luffy & Zoro 8/10 Sanji 9/10All three figures have thirty five to thiry seven points of articulation. (I am not quite sure if the necks have double joints at both ends or not.) But either way, it gives the figures plenty of range of motion. And all of joints are suitably tight without being too tight. Both Luffy and Zoro have some limitation to the range of motion for their legs due to their outfits. That seems strange to say for Luffy, but the cuffs of his shorts make the second knee joint superflious. Interestingly, the leg can be pulled out a bit from the thigh to lengthen the leg and allow a greater range of motion for the knees.
Accessories - Luffy 2/10, Zoro & Sanji 5/10The accessories that each figure includes is where I was really disappointed. Luffy comes with two extra pairs of hands. So you have the choice of a closed fist, grasping hand or open hand with slightly curled fingers for both arms. That's fine, but kind of pointless in that he doesn't have anything to hold for the grasping hands. But they didn't bother with interchangable extended limbs of any sort or even stretched hands. At the least they could have included a spare head with him wearing his hat. Roronoa Zoro has the most accessories with grasping hands and fists and two versions of all three of his swords (sheathed and unsheathed). The sheathed swords all have removable handles which allow you to display they as sheathed swords or empty sheaths along with the regular versions of the swords. That gives you lots of options, but there is one unforgivable oversight in the lack of a head that can hold a sword. Zoro is the master of the three sword style, and this figure can't hold all three swords. Finally there's Sanji who comes with just three accessories: a second pair of hands and a flame effect. The swapable hands are fine, but again, he has nothing to hold with them. I would much rather have gotten a hand with a cigarette instead. But his flame effect is the best and most useful accessory to come with any of the three figures. Though it is a bit strange that they designed it to expect you to remove his foot to use it.
Value - 5/10The Anime Heroes figures should sell for $20 each. Though the price might creep up to as much as $23-$24 each depending upon the store. And for that price, they are a decent offering. They are also the only One Piece figures available in the United States other than import figures and possibly some Funko Pops! Honestly, their biggest drawback is that I want the whole crew. And with just these three released this year and the next One Piece series to include just Schanks and Portgas D. Ace, the chances of a full crew, much less both pre and post-time skip versions of the whole crew is quite unlikely.
Happy Hunting:I picked up all three figures from Target and their collectible figure wall which is usually located in the electronics department, though I have noticed some local stores also putting up a similar section in the toy department. The line also pops up at Walmart and Gamestop. And of course many online toy stores carry it as well. Though I should mention that these started hitting shelves in early spring of 2021. I still see them around, but the next series of One Piece figures should be coming out soon and these may start disappearing before too long.
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