Big the Budo by Romandoh
Company: RomandohPackaging: same ol' slide the card off the back blister with the exact same card as all the other Romandoh Kinnikuman figures
Where Can I Buy It?: picked up this monster on eBay
Price Range: $5!!! Lucky find on eBay... You might expect to pay close to $50 for this guy through normal avenues unfortunately, but I am not sure.
Sculpt (4.5 out of 5):This figure looks fantastic! He is big and menacing, great muscle definition, cool outfit, and nice scuplts on the heads. It is rotocast, which is a negative, but on the positive side it saves the figure from just weighing 800 pounds. He is taller than the Mountain by Romandoh, but not quite as bulky. The tallest figure I own so far from the Romandoh line
There is a problem in the rotocasting with one of his feet where the bottom of the leg got somewhat dimpled in while the foot was being inserted, so that foot does not rest perfectly on the ground. I doubt this is a problem with every single figure, but I am anal and had to point it out.
The figure is still well-balanced regardless of the foot issue and stands up no problem.
The skin has a cool texture that looks to have been created with cheesecloth or something like that on the wet plastic. Nice to see that it does not simply have smooth skin like 99% of other toys like these.
Paint (4.25 out of 5): Very nice paint job on him... Not as nice as on some of the solid Romandoh figures, but good contrast with matte skin and glossy armor
The gold trim on his pants reminds me of those little cat banks you see in Chinatown sometimes that has one paw raised.... not sure why. Or the Knock offs of these cats made by RealXHead with one big eyeball!
Cool pain scheme on the extra heads included, although they don't seem to match his dark skin as well as the fencing mask he comes with standard. That's too bad because I really like the drowned Neptuneman head that looks like a zombie.
Articulation (1 out of 5): Almost none... his heads turn just slightly because hey all have beards that get in the way. His shoulders rotate but only to a point because his red armor point by the shoulder is in the way. and his wrists rotate. Nothing too exciting here. I think his feet rotate too, but that is a worthless articulation
I really would like to see a solid cast Budo with joints and his kendo sword/stick thing
Accessories (3 out of 5): He comes with 4 different heads which is very cool. 2 are different gold-masked versions of Neptune King, one is the old, zombie-looking unmasked Neptune King, and he comes standard with his fencing mask Big the Budo head.
He also comes with an extra arm that is poised and ready for his huge clothesline move (Bomber or something like that)
And he comes with what looks like a bed of swords. It is all bent out of shape and just looks like crap. I was told that in the Kinnikuman story, Big the Budo and Neptuneman had a match with another team where the ring was surrounded by beds of swords. Cool story I guess..... but I could have done without the half-assed attempt at including that gimmick.
I also have to note that changing the parts out (particularly the head) on this rotocast figure is a real pain in the ass. I have to take the hairdryer and warm up the head and shoulders to make them softer. Then it is a game of wedging my fingers inside to pry the head off. The best way I have found is using the flat arm on a fingernail clipper as the wedge...
The putting on another sucks too... I have to take a small tool and cram the plastic down into the opening hoping that I am not going to ruin the paint or anything. This is definitely not meant to be changed on the fly.
Points off in the accessories category for the junky sword bed and the difficulty in using the extra parts
Coolness (5 out of 5): Despite all of that, this guy is plain COOL thanks to his size. He is a definite eye-catcher like my Stay-Puft Marshmallow man that is even bigger. Once I decide on a head, I am most likely going to leave it on, and let this guy do what he does best... stand there and make other toys jealous
Value (5 out of 5): I can't argue the value of this one. He is worth a lot more than I paid for him I imagine. I got a great deal on eBay. I think I would feel comfortable paying 30 or 40 or so for this figure
Overall (4 out of 5):The drawbacks I mentioned above definitely detract from the overall score
Good points – Looks awesome, good paint, nice extra heads, HUGE, good deal, a complete tag team with my Neptuneman figure
Negative points – Annoying-to-use accessories, crappy sword bed thing, bent foot, lack of articulation
If you have the room and find it for the price I did, then by all means it is worth it. If you don't want an honestly mammoth toy in your space, then this one isnt for you. He takes up a lot of room! Great buy for me!
