Action Figure Barbecue: Dracule Mihawk (Hawkeye) from S.H. Figuarts: One Piece by Bandai/ Tamashi Nations

 

   The second season of Netflix's live action One Piece dropped a few weeks ago and my wife and I are slowly making our way through it (if it were up to her, she'd have binged it in a day or two). I'm really enjoying it so far as it manages to be faithful to the series despite having to condense some aspects of the anime and manga. The showrunners also add some stuff, though, and one addition I really appreciate is showing the character of Dracule Mihawk as a constant presence in Zoro's mine through imagined interactions between the two characters. Mihawk is one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea and the strongest swordsman alive, both a rival to Zoro but also somewhat of a mentor to him later on. I believe Dracule Mihawk (Hawkeye) is some sort of an exclusive to Bandai's online store, though I ordered mine through Nin-Nin Game back in January and he showed up in February. It seems like a good time to check him out! He's a cool character that just oozes coolness and I'm excited to have him on my shelf so Zoro has someone worthy to fight. Ready to check out the S.H. Figuarts Mihawk? Then join me after the break...

The Facts:

Height: 6 1/4ths inches

Articulation: Toe hinges, swivel/hinge ankles, boot swivels, hinged knees, balljointed thighs, swivel/ hinge hips, balljointed waist, balljointed mid-torso, balljointed upper shoulders w/ hinges, balljointed lower shoulders, bicep swivels, hinged elbows, double swivel/hinge wrists, 3 swivel/ hinge jacket panels, balljointed neck, and a barbell jointed head. 

Accessories: 4 swappable Mihawk faceplates, 1 Luffy faceplate, 1 Zoro faceplate, 8 standard swappable hands, 1 dagger hand, 1 double hand, hair, hat piece, necklace, sword, and pommel.    

Non-Scalper Price: $83-130 dollars

The Positives:

* Mihawk is just a cool looking guy. It's tough to not look cool wearing a long coat and Mihawk's is one of the coolest of all. Black and purple are an incredible combo and they blend well with his lilac colored pants. The sculpt is excellent and, once again, Tamashi Nations has done an impressive job of blending a well articulated figure with a solid sculpt. A lot of the articulation is hidden, keeping the figure from looking overly segmented. Mihawk is absolutely shredded with some serious muscles and everything just comes together nicely. If I looked like him, I'd probably wear an open jacket like this all the time, too. 

* Four swappable faceplates are included so you can change things up in your display. His hair is a removable piece, so you just pop it off the top of his head and add the faceplate to the front of the head. The first portrait definitely capture's Mihawk's hawkish appearance well, giving him a look that is intense, sure, but also still a bit serene; he's not showing his hand yet! The work on his eyes is really good with some very clean and neat stamps in multiple colors. 

* This second faceplate makes Mihawk look a bit surprised. Hey, sometimes even Mihawk can be shocked by something! He has seriously cool facial hair and his raised eyebrows look even more raised here than usual. 

* The third portrait is pretty intense, depicting Mihawk shouting while in battle. His mouth is open and his eyes look more piercing than usual. 

* Last up is this grinning portrait. It adds a bit of levity to the figure, or maybe even a bit more menace depending on how you interpret it. There's also an interesting mark on the left side of Mihawk's teeth that is even mentioned in at least one piece of promotional material. I'm not sure if it's a missing tooth or a gold tooth. Overall I like the faceplate, though the tooth did throw me off a bit and I'm going to bring it up again in a few.

* Mihawk is absolutely rocking this large pirate hat, festooned with a feather. This is a separate hat that fits on top of his head; there's no hair attached. You do need to remove his hairpiece, though, and it attaches in the same spot. 

* Additional portraits for two more characters are included as well. Like usual, we do get another Luffy face here. This one's a hoot: Luffy seems to be sweating with anger and has his teeth bared and his tongue stuck out. What's going on here? Who knows. It's pretty funny, though. 

* The second faceplate is for Zoro and shows him crying with rage at having been defeated by Mihawk. It's a really solid, though different, look for Zoro and it really should help make your displays with him and Mihawk stand out.

* Mihawk carries a kogatana inside a cross that he wears on a necklace. The necklace is removable so you can pose Mihawk with his included kogatana for showing up his opponents. 

* Check out these sleeves! Not only are they painted really nicely but the details are sculpted as well. That's some impressive work!

* Mihawk's boots are also really shiny and the brown and gold belts and buckles at the top are quite neat. He's just such a swanky guy.

* How's the articulation? It's an S.H. Figuarts release, so it's just about as good as you'd hope. Mihawk has a lot of articulation and even with single hinged knees and elbows, he still has an impressive range of motion that preserves the sculpt. His shoulders are more limited than some other figures, but that's largely because of his coat design which impedes things a bit. He feels sturdy. Very sturdy. I think he's one of the sturdiest feeling S.H. Figuarts releases I own. The quality is excellent here. 

* While Mihawk doesn't have a soft goods coat, he does have coat articulation. Yes, articulation on his coat. The lower have of his coat that hangs down is made of three separate "panels" that are on swivel/hinge joints, allowing you to move them along with him when posing him. It's an interesting way to tackle the issue of his long coat impeding leg movement and I think it was executed quite well. 

* Ten  swappable hands are included with the figure, eight of which are pretty standard alternate hand sculpts: Open hands, fists, gripping fists, and some gesturing hands. Everything swapped easily for me and the pegs are much sturdier than I'm accustomed to on most S.H. Figuarts releases. 

* The ninth swappable hand is a right hand with the kogatana hidden inside the cross necklace. The blade is not removable but it looks impressive makes for a nice extra for Mihawk. He uses it during his first fight with Zoro, so it's a pretty memorable accessory.

* The tenth hand might actually be considered the tenth and eleventh hands as it's two hands connected as one piece. This is pretty neat as folded hands just look cool for a variety of poses. While the hands don't move, they do connect at the wrists of each arm like usual, so you can get some rather interesting poses here. 

* Mihawk carries a massive sword. Not just any massive sword, though; this is Yoru, one of the 12 Supreme Grade Blades. It's longer than Mihawk is tall, has a black blade, and the hilt makes it very reminiscent of an ornate cross. This is a huge accessory and Mihawk looks cool wielding it. The pommel is removable so you can easily slide it into his gripping hands and the figure can wield it with one or both hands. 

* Check out the detail on the hilt. There are some very nice and clean paint applications here. A lot of attention went into the sculpt and paintjob for sure.

* How do you carry a sword this large? Mihawk's solution is to have some large straps on the back of his coat (clearly a custom job) so he can wield this massive blade. Impractical? Likely. Cool as heck? Absolutely. Mihawk just hangs around aura farming and it shows.

Just FYI:

* The missing or gold tooth on this faceplate isn't a simple QC error; it's actually on every version produced and is even mentioned in one or two advertisements/ etc. But what's it from? There's a Reddit thread about it and some fans view it as an error while others have pointed out a panel in the manga. Is this an error or an accurate detail for a very specific panel? I'm not overly bothered by it but some folks seem to be. 

   The S.H. Figuarts Dracule Mihawk is apparently a Tamashi Web Shop Exclusive which does seem to drive up the price, as well as most folks having to import him. Yeah, at between $82 to $130 dollars for Mihawk, he's expensive. He's expensive, but he's pretty nice, too. He'd be incredible if you could straight up order him from a domestic store, but at the higher price? He's still a Good and a 1/2 figure, but I do wish he had a bit more, especially for being at a premium price. If you're purchasing a few items from an importer, your cost will be less. If you're ordering just Mihawk on the secondary market, you're going to pay. I really like the figure and he looks amazing, but just calculate the cost and shop around a bit. I'm not enough of an S.H. Figuarts expert to tell you whether you should wait a bit or whether Mihawk will skyrocket in price like some other figures. Heck, maybe he'll get a wider release since he's experiencing a surge in popularity due to the live action One Piece. 



This is the first figure of Dracule Mihawk I've reviewed. For more S.H. Figuarts: One Piece reviews, check out the following:

Monkey D. Luffy (Future Island Egghead)
Monkey D. Luffy (The Raid on Onigashima)
Monkey D. Luffy (Romance Dawn) Gum-Gum Options Parts Set

Portgas D. Ace (Fire Fist)

Roronoa Zoro (Romance Dawn)

Tony Tony Chopper (Future Island Egghead)