Sunday, October 27, 2024

Action Figure Review: Violent Ken (Deluxe) from Ultra Street Fighter 2: The New Challengers by Jada Toys

 

   What do you get when you cross Ken Masters with M. Bison's Psycho Power? Violent Ken! This deluxe figure released on Jada Toys' Next Level store over the summer (it's still available, too)  represents Ken surging with Psycho Power energy and intent on taking down everyone in his path. He's brainwashed by Bison, sometimes to be in his service but often just running with his own agenda to be the best and violently destroy anyone who stands in his way. The regular Ken figure shipped as part of the second series of Ultra Street Fighter 2: The New Challengers figures earlier this year and this is an enhanced version of that figure. He's a repaint with three portraits this time around, a new energy effect for his Shoryuken, and some barrels from the background that can be broken during a fight or attached during the bonus stage. Ready for battle? Then join me after the break.... 

Fight!






The Facts:

Height: 6 1/8ths inches

Articulation: Swivel/ hinge ankles, shin swivels, double hinged knees, swivel thighs, ball jointed hips, ball jointed waist, balljointed mid-torso, swivel/hinge shoulders w/lateral pec hinges, bicep swivels, double hinged elbows, swivel/hinge wrists, balljointed neck, and a barbelljointed head.

Accessories: 4 swappable hands, 3 swappable portraits, gi, belt, belt peg, hadouken, and 2-piece effect stand, shoryuken, 1 complete barrel, and 2 broken barrel halves.

Non-Scalper Price: $40 dollars




Comparison:

* Violent Ken is on the left while the standard Ken is on the right. Sculpt-wise they're pretty similar, though Ken's sleeves and the hems of his pants are different; they're ripped like Ryu's. Both have red outfits, but Violent Ken's is darker. His skin is a different color, too, with an almost violet wash to it and lighter hair. It definitely changes his appearance up which is appreciated since they have such similar colors.
The Positives:


* Violent Ken is a pretty sinister looking figure. His red gi with a black belt seems more muted here, making him less bright and vibrant than the standard Ken figure. He's definitely not heroic looking for sure. Jada Toys has gone with a slightly stylized look here that nicely matches the look of the art from the game and with a bit of an anime feel. While Ken usually wears an outfit incredibly similar to Ryu's except with hemmed pants legs and sleeves, Violent Ken has the ripped tattered gi.








 

 * Violent Ken's gi is removable as well. The belt comes off easily as it's quite rubbery and elastic, held in place by a small plastic peg. The gi is also quite pliable and comes off easily. There are some nice highlights, a pinkish purple color, that add some depth and toning to his muscles and give him a somewhat eerie look.







* Violent Ken's smiling head just looks disturbing. Why's he so happy? You don't want to know! His hair is much lighter than Ken's traditional yellow hair and his eyes look malevolent. And that grin? Just plain unsettling.







* Violent Ken, or Sennou Ken, uses Ansatsuken, a type of fighting dubbed an assassination art. He's not just aiming to win; he's aiming to obliterate his opponent! This aggressive headsculpt definitely works for most battle poses. I love the facial features on this one. Aggressive!







* When Violent Ken is using one of his special moves or singing along to Insane Clown Posse, he needs to go all out, channeling his inner ki or whatever. This headsculpt has crazier hair and a wide open mouth. Since this figure comes with special effects for both his Shoryuken and his Hadouken, you can choose what move he's unleashing!







* Violent Ken's articulation is the same as the regular version of Ken's, so it's good. Really, really good. Jada Toys is putting out some durable action figures with a great range of motion. He's a joy to pose and can take most poses you could want him in. Everything moves smoothly and all of the joints are pinless, so he looks very sleek. The joints all feel really good and the extra joints like both a balljointed waist and mid-torso and the pectoral hinges allow for more movement than your average action figure.





* It's hard to be violent with no hands, so Violent Ken comes with two swappable sets. There's a pair of open palms with the fingers curled up, like he's striking his opponent or launching a hadouken and a pair of fists for pummeling and uppercutting. The hands swap easily and nicely complement most poses.


 
*  I love how each figure comes with some sort of an effect showing off their special attacks. This is way ahead of the spring activated attacks or reused missile launchers that the Street Fighter II G.I. Joe figures had when I was a kid. Violent Ken's hadouken is a translucent fireball that is very reminiscent of the in-game design, though it's bright purple and even more violent than ever!

* It also comes with a 2-piece stand with two hinges as well. The inclusion of the stand really makes this a cool accessory. He can launch this fireball at multiple heights using that articulated posing arm!


* Check out the inside of the hadouken: You can actually see Violent Ken's hands! Apparently, the hadouken is the result of Ken gathering his ki, or life energy, into his hands and releasing it towards his opponent like a projectile, though here it's corrupted by Psycho Power. For posing this guy you can even remove his hands and place them right up against the back of the fireball if you want to do a close-up pose of him generating the hadouken.







* His shoryuken is also infused with Psycho Power. Put this energy effect over his fist and Violent Ken can violently unleash a violently violet Dragon Punch that's filled with violence. Wooo!! 









* Want some barrels for Violent Ken to beat up for extra points for for him to knock his opponents into? Jada Toys threw in two. The one on the left is a nice large drum of some sort while the one on the right is broken into two pieces, like it's been battered and bludgeoned or had a World Warrior tossed into it.






   Jada is definitely doing a pretty excellent job with the Street Fighter license and this is a really fun set. Violent Ken, while still wearing red, does feel pretty different from regular Ken thanks to the color scheme changes on his skin and hair and the use of Ryu's ripped gi rather than the regular Ken';s tattered one. He's got cool special move effects, three portraits, and those barrels are really impressive. He's a Great and a 1/2 figure. If you're interested, get him while you can directly from Jada's Next level website as both he and Chun-Li are still available as of this writing.




Looking for more of Ken? You can also check out my reviews of the Jada Toys Ken and the Super7 M.U.S.C.L.E. Street Fighter II Pack B with Ken, Dhalsim, and Balrog.

For more Ultra Street Fighter 2: The New Challengers reviews check out the following:
Chun-Li
Chun-Li (Deluxe Player 2 Exclusive)
Dhalsim
Ken
M. Bisons


1 comment:

  1. It's decent but I'm really not fond of how Jada sculpted Ken's face both on the original and this one. Though the rage face looks decent and the unique hair sculpts for each head is a nice touch.

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