Kotobukiya's Mega Man X line continues to expand its character selection beyond just X and Zero. First, we got Axl, followed by Iris, two very popular characters that were long overdue for modern figures.
Now, Kotobukiya is tackling its most ambitious kit yet: Sigma, specifically his appearance from the original Mega Man X.
Was Sigma's first articulated figure worth the wait, or does it buckle under the weight of expectations? After the break, I'll go over everything this kit has to offer.
Review sample provided by BigBadToyStore
Sigma is far and away Kotobukiya's largest kit in any of their Mega Man lines, and rightfully so. This Reploid stands at a staggering 8.27" or 21cm, and this massive size is definitely warranted. In games and other material, Sigma is always shown to be considerably taller than our protagonists, so I'd say the scale is on-point.
However, this height does come at bit of a cost. Compared to the other kits in the line, I found that Sigma is a fair bit tougher to pose than the smaller characters. The pose pictured above, while admittedly not my best work, took a long time to achieve. It may just be a sense & skill issue on my part, but I found the legs a bit more hampering than I had expected.
But enough being negative for now. Sigma is an absolute beauty. The colors are super vibrant, and the face sculpts are all incredibly expressive. This is the kind of kit that absolutely dominates any shelf he is put on. Even with minimalistic poses, he is the center of attention at all times. But this isn't the only look for our evil friend. Sigma also includes his iconic cape...
Buuuut, the cape really is my biggest issue with the kit. The cape is a bit difficult to put on. To do so, you have to remove Sigma's shoulder pads and backpack, which is the easy part. Then you have to assemble the new pauldrons and cape onto the shoulders and back. Not an impossible task, but not exactly easy.
Once it is on, you'll notice that Sigma is quite a bit more limited in mobility than he was before, because this cape is just a few pieces of solid plastic. Thankfully, the cape is completely optional, so it definitely shouldn't be the end-all-be-all for whether or not this kit is for you. It still looks cool enough, but I'd rather do without. And you may notice by looking that the cape is missing a significant amount of color.
The cape is missing the gold and the purple that really made it pop and look regal. In fact, several parts of this kit are lacking color, most notably the hands. In most cases, the red parts of the hands remain unpainted. Those parts are significantly raised, so painting them shouldn't require too much effort, but the fact that the hands are missing color is really a bummer.
This kit will be a very fun project for anyone that is into painting and upgrading model kits. That might not be for everyone, or these issues just may not bother you in the first place. I'm just reporting what we see on the actual kit. And speaking of what we see...
Sigma includes three faces: stern, smiling (evilly!), and a maniacal laughing face.
Sigma includes four sets of hands: fists, fists for holding his Saber (not pictured, but mostly identical to the fists above), open hands, and gripping hands.
Lastly, we have Sigma's Saber. You have the option to have the Saber on Sigma's belt (with an optional piece), a pointy blade with erratic energy coming from the handle like in Maverick Hunter X, or a calm round blade as seen in the original Mega Man X (I forgot to remove the exploding energy from the hilt, but this blade isn't meant to have it, oops). If you're curious, Zero, or anyone else for that matter, can technically hold Sigma's Saber, but it is way too big for anyone else to properly wield.
Overall, even though this review had more negatives than usual, I'd still recommend this kit. To me, the pros outweigh the cons, making Sigma very shelf-worthy. I hope this is just the beginning for villain characters getting model kits. Bring on Vile, Berkana, that purple guy, other Sigma forms, Godkarmachine O Inary, the list in endless. Who would you like to see as a Kotobukiya kit?
Be sure to check out Sigma on BigBadToyStore. Use our special links so they know we sent ya!
I used this one as an excuse to get into painting model kits.
ReplyDeleteAlso that's a pretty sweet Fake Zero custom kit. Didja paint it yourself?
I painted it all except for the hair, that was done by RockmanHQ, and it's the highlight of the whole thing. It was made from a standard red Zero a long while ago, and the Maverick logo is a sticker I had made.
DeleteNice. My hand is a bit unsteady with the paints, so it's a bit challenging for me.
DeleteAlso making stickers seems like a pain in the ass but I might have to do it since I'm painting Sigma's chestplate. I need to fix all the seams and stuff, then cover that up, yadda yadda blah blah.
DeleteI highly recommend starting with spray paints. There are great tutorials out there, just practice and you've got this!
DeleteAh, I was about to say I'm hesitant about the airbrush thing because you've gotta thin it and unclog the device - it can be a pain in the booty. You're supposed to airbrush the pieces before you put them together, I take it? How would you do Sigma's red belt without the paint either being applied too thick or getting everywhere?
DeleteI'm still in the process of learning the airbrush, so I really don't know anything yet.
DeleteAlso, I had the stickers made at FedEx. You can print sticker sheets there, so I just made a bunch of different sizes since I wasn't sure how their sizing worked.
Ah, ok. I forgot Fedex did stuff like that - I'll have to look into it.
DeleteThank you, btw.
DeleteSince you all mentioned spray paints: I used a can of Tamiya TS-24 Purple for the inside of the cape, and I think it's just about perfect. No primer necessary. The color of the cap looks nothing like the paint itself once dried on the inside of the cape; it's more of an EVA-01 purple.
DeleteHonestly, I was really disappointed by the Kotobukiya kit. I know the magic of model kits lies in them being molded in a single color, but it really bothers me that the cape is just plain red—and made of plastic, though I get that all model kits are plastic. I would have liked them to do what they did with the new Batman figure, where the cape is actually made of fabric. Aside from that, it’s a good figure, but I’m glad I didn’t buy it; I’m hoping the Hiya version will be the definitive Sigma. Thanks for the review.
ReplyDeleteHis forehead gem doesn't have the silver ring around it, either. Kinda makes it look like he has a huge zit on his forehead, imo.
DeleteI painted that with some tweezers and a silver sharpie. There is actually some moulded detail in those forehead gems where the ring should be, so I had something to follow, but it wasn't super easy to see.
DeleteOh, that's good to know. Time to bust out a magnifying glass, I guess.
DeleteWild how different this looks from the product photos they show for it, including the inside of the cape and the red lines on the hands. I don't know, for that much money, I might wait and see if they do a reissue with more paint apps... or wait for Hiya's.
ReplyDeleteTo be fair, a couple images on the box reflect what you get in the package with no extra paint. But they are tucked away on the side. I think that is a first for the line, but I'd have to check em all again.
DeleteKotobukiya always does that. The product shots look great, but then you get it and see the actual assembled model picture and the head is almost one color. *cough* Victoria *cough* Foxeye
DeleteYeah, as much as I was happy to see this announced and it looks great, this was a pass for me.
ReplyDeleteIt looks too big, I never liked this idea of Sigma being almost twice the size of X and Zero. Next to a D-Arts or MDLX this will look way oversized.
But mainly, the biggest draw of this line for me is how they look great right out of the box. This one requires way to much painting for me.
I’ll hold on to my FiguartsZero and maybe replace it for the Hiya Toys if it ever comes out.
While not really related, especially given it's not a model kit, buying figures of another character that all had plastic for cape, only to buy the Figma and find out that on top of an action plastic piece, there's also a posable cape one on top of that was wonderful. It is understandable that for a model kit, and one as large as this Sigma, Kotobukiya wouldn't go for something as excessive, but it's still a shame. Pretty and fair elaborate review.
ReplyDeleteThat aside, him being so large reminds me of how he was depicted in sprite art and stuff, which is pretty cool. His faces are also pretty exaggerated, very Sigma-like, which is fun. Who's the purple person you mention among the list of potential villain kits, I wonder?
Wish people would stop comparing model kits to actual figures/statues. They are apples and oranges.
ReplyDeleteOf course something that you put together yourself won't have the same fit and form of a high-end figure or statue. Part of the reason why you buy these kits are for the experience of actually assembling them, not just for marveling when they're done. Koto has to balance precision/detail with something that 99% of its buyers can actually put together without breaking.
If you want to compare these to something, the closest thing would likely be the Bandai kits that came out back in the mid and late 90s, in which Koto clearly wins (mainly because of technology now vs. then, so no knock on Bandai really). We've never had such an extensive line of Mega Man models so while there are a few things about these kits I'll call them out for, I also give Koto lots of credit for giving us them.
That's true. Thankfully, a lot of action figures are way more on-model than they were in the 90s and 80s.
Delete@MatureMMFan
Delete"Part of the reason why you buy these kits are for the experience of actually assembling them," is a statement with which I fully agree. However, if buying a model kit is buying an experience: why does Kotobukiya do a terrible job of communicating what kind of experience they are selling with these kits?
Blokees is a great example of this, as their entire ad campaign is selling a specific build experience; when people buy a Blokees kit: they know what to expect.
There are kits from MENG and Revell which are all molded in one color, and have to be drilled, trimmed, and assembled with glue; there are Gundam kits by Bandai which are completely color-accurate and require no glue; there is everything in-between. Sometimes there are stickers for color correction; sometimes there are decals. When I buy an RG: I know what I am getting; I know what to expect from an HG, too; When I buy from Meng: I know what I am getting; same with Moderoid, Revell, Tamiya, etc. I expect to pay more if more of the "work" has been done for me.
I have built over 50 models from various different companies, and Kotobukiya is consistently a wild-card when I open the box. It's almost become a game; what things did they overlook with this kit, and what will I have to fix?
The MM11 kit is basically perfect, so ... why are they so inconsistent?
The Kotobukiya experience would not be as frustrating if they did a better job selling a cohesive experience. I'm not terribly frustrated that I have to put a little paint in a little recess, or add some panel lines. It's frustrating if there's an adjacent part which was designed to be color-accurate, which sandwiches two colors together (like SOME parts of HALF of Sigma's hands), but they couldn't be arsed to do that where I am now putting some paint? All the right colors are already in the box! What did Kotobukiya gain from cutting that particular corner? What was the intended "experience" they are trying to sell when I have to paint the molded red plastic parts anyway to match the parts which should have also been molded in red, but were overlooked?
You're right that buying a model kit is also buying a build experience, but Kotobukiya could take a lot more responsibility for the quality of those experiences, and could do a better job communicating those experiences to buyers.
I think the figure is actually pretty cool, despite the missing colors on the cape and the open hands.
ReplyDeleteAfter all it's the first shot in this line with this size modelkit.
It's also the case for the others.
I remember when I made the entire set of 4th armor X and standard X alternate maverick powers/colors and people on IG mocked my amazing work but I laughed them off and kept going and have sold over 72 of my customs to fellow collectors. Spray paint works great especially when you seal the paint on. Don't let angry inexperienced people stop you from doing what you can enjoy let them embarrass themselves lol.
ReplyDelete