Action Figure Review: Shadow Link from World of Nintendo by Jakks Pacific

 Today I'm looking at yet another figure from Jakks Pacific's World of Nintendo line, but this time is a retailer exclusive: The Spencer's exclusive Shadow Link. Hailing from the Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time (remember this is Shadow Link; Dark Link appeared in Zelda II: The Adventure of Link), this guy confronted you inside of the Water Temple. It's easy to forget he was there, though, as the Water Temple's insanely frustrating layout tends to overshadow everything else about it. Anyways, Shadow Link is a repaint but he also qualifies as a unique character, at least in my mind. Spencer's seems to have a full line of Shadow Link merchandise so this is a pretty cool exclusive from them. World of Nintendo is one of my current favorite lines and, while I'm always fearing that the line will just disappear one day without a trace, the recent number of store exclusives seems to bode well for the line's survival. I was easily able to head to my nearest Spencer's and find this guy sitting on the shelf. Let's jump in and check out Shadow Link, shall we?

 The Facts:

Height: 4 3/8ths inches

Articulation: Swivel/hinge ankles, boot swivels, hinged knees, swivel/hinge hips, swivel waist, swivel/hinge shoulders, bicep swivel, swivel hinge elbows, swivel/hinge wrists, and a swivel head.

Accessories: Sword, shield, and scabbard.

Non-Scalper Price: $20 dollars

Since Shadow Link is the shadow form of the heroic Link of Hyrule from The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time, it makes sense that Jakks would reuse the Ocarina of Time Link figure that was released earlier this year. Since this figure is a simple repaint, check out the previous review for all of the details on sculpt, articulation, and such. You can find that review here!

 The Positives:

* While Shadow Link is a simple repaint of the OOT Link, he's more than just an all black figure with red eyes. He actually has some gray on him, too. The gray really adds a bit more depth to the figure and just makes him visually more interesting. While most of the figure is black Link's tights are a nice dark gray. Simple but really effective.

 * Shadow Link comes with a shield, sword, and scabbard. These are the same three accessories which the Ocarina of Time Link included but they've been given a really nice black, silver, and gray paint job. The paint looks really nice and further helps to add some value to this figure. I love this shield! It just looks so stunning!

 The Negatives:

*This shield is really, really frustrating to get on! I can't find any way to get Shadow Link's shield into his right hand and over his wrist except with brute force. Even then it's not a perfect fit. This is just a really oddly designed accessory.

   I like this exclusive but, as you might remember from the OOT Link review, I wasn't terribly impressed by that figure. Well, this figure is essentially that figure with fewer paint apps and a higher price tag. Yeah, I don't usually bring up price too much on toys, but Spencer's is charging $20 bucks for this guy. That's nearly double what you'll pay for a World of Nintendo figure anywhere except Toys R Us. Still, the all black paint scheme is cool and, ultimately, I do love the uniqueness of this figure. He's a Good figure and worth picking up if you're a huge Zelda fan or a World of Nintendo Collector. Other folks might want to look elsewhere, though: This guy doesn't offer much new or unique here if you're not already sold on this line.

I've reviewed a few other Link figures on Action Figure Barbecue including a Link figure offered as a preorder bonus for Ocarina of Time back in 1998, the World of Nintendo Skyward Sword Link, and the Ocarina of Time variant of Link.

I've reviewed a number of other World of Nintendo figures, too, including:

World of Ninendo (4 inch) by Jakks Pacific (2014)
Blue Toad
Bowser
Bowser Jr.
Cat Luigi
Cat Mario
Diddy Kong
Donkey Kong
Falco Lombardi
Fire Luigi
Fire Mario
Fox McCloud
Ganondorf
Gold Mario
Goomba
Gravity Suit Samus
Luigi
Mario
Metroid
Pink Yoshi
Princess Peach
Red Toad
Samus
Sheik
Shy Guy
Tanooki Mario
Waluigi
Wario
Yoshi

World of Nintendo (2.5 inch) by Jakks Pacific
Boo
Chain Chomp
Olimar
Purple Pikmin