Action Figure Barbecue: Action Figure Review: E. Honda from Ultra Street Fighter II: The New Challengers by Jada Toys

Some of you might be wondering where I've been for the past couple weeks as it's been about that long since I last published a review. We actually went on a family vacation and took a sleeper train (with a dining car) to New Orleans for a week. It was a lot of fun and I had the chance to ride in an airboat, go on a ghost tour, eat at a vampire cafe, visit some great book stores, visit a filming location from Live and Let Die, roam the French Quarter, and do some Geocaching. I also ate some great food and we visited the National WWII Museum and the Museum of Illusions while staying in the city. I'm back and rested up, though, and I'm excited to check out another new addition to my collection: E. Honda from Jada Toys' Street Fighter. I've never been very good at the videogame Street Fighter II, though I've always liked it, and as a kid I definitely gravitated to playing characters like Chun-Li, Blanka, and E. Honda as they had special moves which could be activated by rapidly pressing a single button. Who doesn't love the Hundred Hand Slap? Ready to check out the character who introduced so many of us to the sport of sumo wrestling? (I'm guessing for many of us, it was either E. Honda or Tattoo from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.) Then join me after the break...

The Facts:

Height: 6 and a 1/2 inches

Articulation: Hinged toes, swivel/ hinge ankles, ankle swivels, double hinged knees, swivel thighs, ball jointed hips, ball jointed waist, balljointed mid-torso, balljointed butterfly joints, swivel/hinge shoulders, bicep swivels, double hinged elbows, swivel/hinge wrists, balljointed neck, and a barbell jointed head.

Accessories: 4 swappable hands, 2 swappable portraits, and Hundred Hand Slap effect.

Non-Scalper Price: $35 dollars

Comparison:

* On the left is the new Jada Toys E. Honda while my original childhood Edmond Honda from Hasbro's Street Fighter II movie line is on the right. While most of the Street Fighter figures reused parts from previous G.I. Joe figures, E. Honda did not. He was slightly repainted with a differently colored yukata for the movie based toyline in 1994 (the original G.I. Joe branded release was blue).

The Positives:

* Honda is a deluxe figure, like Balrog, Sagat, and Blanka. While he's not much taller than your average figure in the line, he is definitely much wider and thicker. E. Honda is a massive guy and this figure captures that well.

* Honda looks fantastic. Is he a huge sumo wrestler? Yeah, sure he is, but he's also muscular. His muscles might not be chiseled but they're still present and noticeable with some level of definition. He's also wearing a yukata wrapped around his waist. The yukata nicely hides his balljointed waist, adds a nice pop of color to the figure, and keeps him from being just a large guy in a sumo wrestler's belt. The mawashi is sculpted underneath and looks like a red thong of sorts, so I think I'm rather glad Honda is sporting the yukata over his waist.

* Apparently the original design for E. Honda was a bit too bland, so the team designers decided to add the kabuki makeup to his face to show off that the character loves to represent multiple facets of his home country of Japan. It's a great portrait with clean work on the face paint and a very serious, intense expression for Honda. He's a very intimidating guy!

* The alternate head is more fitted for the heat of battle as E. Honda's eyes (and eyebrows) look more extreme and his mouth is wide open. He's absolutely ready to sumo slam somebody!

* The hair is really well done. You can see he textures of the strands while the hair tie even gets a paint hit. It's pretty styling.

* Rather than just molding the figures in the plastic of their skin color, Jada Toys also adds some highlights to bring out more detail in the character's build. It's impressive and not something you often see on a figure that's available at mass market retail for under $45 or $50 dollars.

* Like always with this line, the articulation is excellent. We all know that E. Honda is a big dude and isn't going to be as nimble as someone like Cammy or Sagat but Jada has done a fantastic job of ensuring that E. Honda still has an excellent range of motion that's suitable for his frame. The "buttefly" joints are actually balljointed, allowing some fantastic shoulder movement. He's also sporting some excellent waist and mid-torso movement. He's a solid figure and the articulation design is very thoughtful and well conceived.

* Honda comes with two pair of hands that you can swap around: Some standard fists and some open palms for sumo slapping. They swap pretty easily, which is always a plus.

* E. Honda's Hundred Hand Slap is replicated with a really cool effect that fits over his right wrist, giving the illusion that he's slapping his hand back and forth quickly and crazily. The middle hand is the standard hand but the other two are fully sculpted but non-articulated hands. It looks really good and the figure is hefty enough that it doesn't cause him to tip or topple over. There is a spot on the bottom of the effect for a display base but one isn't included, nor is it really needed.

The Negatives:

* Do I have a complaint? Yes, I do. E. Honda's foot hinges are a bit loose, an issue that pops up and is a reason I usually don't like foot hinges. Secondly, his feet are a bit rounded on the bottom. That makes him tough to stand at times. Not impossible, but a bit more frustrating to pose than he should be.

E. Honda is a Great figure and I'm pretty happy with him. I would have liked a Hundred Hand Slap for his left hand, too, as he's now stuck only attacking to the left side of the screen (per the original game) and the feet are a bit frustrating, but everything else is pretty solid. The articulation is overall excellent and the swappable heads are both great choices. I'm very happy with this E. Honda and I'd have to have a deluxe Player 2 version with that crazy bathtub and the weird, moving sign in the background to consider buying one again as this guy is just so good. Only one of the original 8 fighters left, right?