E's Collection of Things : Retro-Toy View #1 - Bandai D.Arts' Mega Man X

Mega Man X: Zero V.1

I don't smile!

Wallet Damage:
Price: $39.99 (or higher depending on where you get your figure(s))
Shipping: Under $10.00
Release date 9/2011
Retailer: www.bigbadtoystore.com

Today’s review will be Bandai’s D.Arts Mega Man X character Zero Version 1. Of all the figures I’ve collected over time and series I really enjoyed this is probably my all time favorite. So this article will have a little history on the character.
The reason for the Version 1 behind this character’s name is the fact that Zero goes through a couple of upgrade/design changes throughout the Mega Man X universe. Version 1 is basically (according to the comments of the series creator Kenji Inafune) the new vision of Mega Man he had when moving towards with the new technology of the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. New technology, meant something familiar yet different and for the Mega Man fans, but Inafune knew that his new Mega Man was a radically different feel from the original more light-hearted Mega Man, so Zero was re-casted as an additional character. Coincidently Zero would later receive a beam saber and his history traced back to the original Mega Man as the ultimate antagonist for Mega Man created by none other than…Dr. Wily (Mega man’s reoccurring enemy.).
If you want to know a little more on this and the rest of the Mega Man universe there are a series of art books from each of the Mega Man Universes available from Udon publishing detailing the history and development of each. They are titled as “ Complete Works,” anyway enough background info on to the figure.
The packaging (not pictured) is the same motif as X’s only instead of blue like X’s body the packaging is red with a golden X over the bubble window – nothing too spectacular other than motif matching. When you open the package and pull out the plastic tray with molded cover to securely hold and display Zero in his packaging you find the additional accessories:

· One “charged” (later in the Mega Man and in the start of the X series you can hold the fire button down to created a powered or charged shot. In this version Zero can only do a single powered shot.)

· One Buster cap with an open hole (like X’s buster cap, to hold the shot piece)

· One additional arm piece

· A pair of fist, a pair of open hands, and oddly…a pair of hands molded in the shape of either him holding something not included or giving a thumbs up.

· Two additional faces consisting: one with his eyes looking to the right, one with an fierce growl, and finally the standard stern look

Side by side Comparison

Mission Accomplished

Messing with natural lighting

How does the figure stack against X? How does the figure compare in general to other figures or similar figures? Compared to X, Zero is a (it hurts a little bit to say this, as I’m big fan of Zero) a disappointment.
Zero has all the articulation similar to X’s figure – with the exception of his legs. They seem a bit stiffer and the articulation seems more limited. Other than that there are no real complaints there, then if you look at the quality of the figure. On a side note, the blue crystal, and green crystals on his chest are clear and are transparent enough to match an accurate representation of the character. The paint application seems a bit lesser quality than X’s, where on the knee of the lower leg you can tell was painted white. But if you inspect the right leg you can tell there was some lacking quality on the paint. The hands also have some minor quality issues with the paint applications, aside from that the coloring is almost accurate except from what I’ve seen of the official art pieces of this version of Zero I thought his pelvis and shoulders were white. This Zero’s is a bit of brown mixed in giving it almost a very tan look. There’s even a metallic grey Z symbol on his left shoulder (though some Mega Man X illustrations of Zero do not show such a symbol…) Aside from paint quality, my figure (may not apply to the entire batch of Zero figures) has some physical issues. The other arm has a noticeable gap where the pieces come together. I’m fortunate this doesn’t affect the part holding together and holding the hand. The left leg comes off if I hold the figure for too long. The plastic that makes up the leg is sealed but for whatever reason the leg does not attach or stayed attached to the joint of the knee. Now another issue I have with this figure is the detail of the brown-dark gold ports on his stomach. They seem a bit large which only emphasis the feminine body. (Course for the longest time I had questioned if Zero really was male or female as the original SNES game never mentioned it!) Yet the feminine body doesn’t really hurt the portrayal of this figure at all…oddly enough. Now another issue is the hair…for a $40 dollar figure I’d hope Bandai would actually attempt to use a better method to make the hair…well act like hair. The detail on the hair is really good, but it acts as a weight on the figure. So if you’re going to pose the character on some extreme poses beware…the hair will undo your pose with no problems. Bandai went the cheap route and created a ball-n-peg style with the hair being one lump of detailed plastic. Said lump of plastic probably consumed whatever plastic they could’ve used for extra buster parts (like X’s parts: a tri-shot, or additional charged shot.) One other issue with the figure is the way the waist sits in the pelvis – there is a noticeable gap as if the upper waist and torso were designed before the pelvis…seeming sort of like this figure was made by two different people. Zero’s lacking accessories are a little bit of a surprise but the inclusion of some the items mentioned above made me wonder too about what Bandai was thinking. An example would be the thumbs up/hands gripping something. The space between the fingers and the back of hand could easily and securely hold the hilt of a weapon Zero does not receive until Mega Man X2. But these pair of hands could simulate his signature move after beating an enemy in Mega Man X4 where he stands with his back to the player with a single thumb up. Now keeping these peculiarities in mind I can see Bandai creating additional add-ons to this character for half the price to either a) upgrade the character or b) maybe this was a dry production run to see how popular Zero really is after over 10 years of being in the public domain to better determine if they can turn a profit or simply just stop with this version.
Now here are some very random shots...