REVIEW FORUMS » Non Transformers Toy Reviews » SOTA SDCC Exclusive "Battle-Cry Gouken"
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SOTA SDCC Exclusive "Battle-Cry Gouken"
Post by rohml on Aug 14, 2006, 5:33pm

SOTA Street Fighter: "Battle Cry" Gouken



SOTA release "Battle Cry" Gouken as an SDCC exclusive toy. It features the character Gouken with a screaming head.

Gouken was the master of Ryu and Ken in Capcom's Street Fighter fighting game series. Along with his brother Akuma, he was taught the killing art of Goutetsu-ryu Ansatsuken by its founder, Goutetsu.

However, unlike his brother and master, Gouken abhorred the violence inherent to the system (Gouken excluded the Shun Goku Satsu and some of Ansatsuken's more life-threatening moves).

Its interesting to note that Gouken has yet to be shown in any of the Street Fighter games, though he did appear in Akuma's ending in Street Fighter Alpha. Also in Street Fighter II V and Street Fighter II OVA he is depicted only as a silhoutte while instructing a young Ryu and Ken.

Review

I will review Gouken in three categories:

- Sculpt (Form and Color)
- Articulation (Movable Parts and how can it be moved)
- Fun Factor (How did I enjoy it)

Sculpt



This action figure stands at around 7 inches tall. I intially thought that Gouken's body will be rehashed from the other Ansatsuken users (Ryu, Ken and Akuma) but I was wrong. In fact it was a different sculpt. The body is bigger than Ryu and Ken's. And there are fewer muscle lines in the chest. It is also good to note that unlike the other Ansatsuken users, Gouken does not wear gloves or pads in his hands. Instead he has cloth wraps around his wrists and legs. Also unlike the others, Gouken's belt is made from rope. He also wears prayer beads which compared to Akuma is quite larger.

Gouken's Gi is drab dark green. The plastic used for the GI is quite loose, as I am easily able to pull his Gi to reveal his full chest to his shoulders (Though I am still not able to remove the Gi). Unlike Ryu, Gouken's Gi doesn't have washes on it.

The main feature of this figure is Gouken's head, it has a head that depicts a screaming Gouken. The head is sculpted pretty well, though the screaming head doesn't show Gouken's large nose (this would have been the physical characteristic that would relate Akuma to Gouken).

Gouken is afflicted with Androgenetic alopecia (Male Pattern Baldness) as seen in his smooth head, but to balance things out he did what every martial arts master with MPB does... he grew his beard! The bald head isn't that smooth though, as there is a scar sculpted on it, which is a nice detail. His eyebrows has two edges than points upward giving him a unique and strict look. They are painted black and fortunately they didn't bleed into Gouken's skin, however not all parts of the eyebrows were painted especially on the top part, this was done to ensure that the black paint won't bleed into skin. The beard is white but with gray roots, indicating that Gouken's burned turned white through age. Paint application for the beard is ok, as there were no paints bleeds to Gouken's skin.

One thing with a screaming head is the fact that the mouth will be opened, displaying the character's teeth and tongue. I can safely say that the mouth is well sculpted and the paint is well done too.

Gouken's wraps are painted dull white with a few washes of gray and yellow to make it appear aged and dirty. While his sandals are painted brown and sculpted with a nooks and nudges to create a look that the sandals were woven.

Articulation



He has 28 points of articulation. Neck, Torso, Waist, Shoulders, Arms, Elbows, Wrists, Hips, Knees, Legs, Heels and feet are all articulated, the joints are all standard SOTA Street Fighter joints.

However, there are some loose joints, especially in the hips, which affects the figure's ability to hold a pose. However unlike joint issues found in MLs, Gouken's hip problem is much more manageable.



Balance issues wouldn't be much of problem since like the other SOTA SF males, Gouken has really large feet, but some looseness in the hips and feet may force you to check if Gouken will stand on a particular pose first before leaving him for display.

Fun Factor



Unlike other SOTA SF toys Gouken comes only with one accessory, a flame effect used for his Shoryuken. The flame effect was molded from translucent plastic and what painted with a flame effect... with the farthest tip retaining its translucence. The accessory looked good. However the flame effect fits snugly only with the right hand, you can attach it to the left but it won't be as snug.

Gouken also comes only with only one set of fisted hands.

Honestly, I am not happy with the number of accessories that Gouken has, I wished he was given another set of hands or at least another head. But since the "Normal" head figure would be a ToyRocket exclusive, I really doubt that Battle-Cry Gouken's lack of accessory is a simple oversight.

Overall



From what I heard, Gouken would be released as a "Normal" variant (with Normal head + Translucent Hadoken), "Battle Cry" variant (with Screaming Head + Translucent Shoryuken). It means if I want a Gouken that does the hadoken and shoryuken, I need to get two figures. I, for one, am not happy with this, seeing that is it a blatant money-making scheme to force collectors to get two Goukens.

My rating would be a B-.

Now, knowing what I know... Would I still buy it?

My answer to that would be a confusing "YES and NO."

NO - Because of the lack of accessories the figure has and the simple fact that Gouken has never appeared as a playable character in any of the SF game. And in fact he only appeared on endings of Akuma SFA and in the SFIII Secret Files.

YES - Because this toy may inspire the inclusion of Gouken into the SF games. Even as a non-canon character.

My recommendation, get the item if you're interested in adding a non playable character to your SF collection. Otherwise I suggest you pass the item.

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Re: SOTA SDCC Exclusive "Battle-Cry Gouken"
Post by admin on Aug 23, 2006, 1:00pm

Rommel,

Here's pics of the variant battle cry Gouken...only 300 pcs worldwide...

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Re: SOTA SDCC Exclusive "Battle-Cry Gouken"
Post by thunderbreak on Oct 23, 2006, 9:32am

Great review, Rommel...

... more power to you, bro!

... Did it pass the kick test?

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Re: SOTA SDCC Exclusive "Battle-Cry Gouken"
Post by rohml on Oct 23, 2006, 7:02pm


Quote:

Great review, Rommel... ... more power to you, bro! ... Did it pass the kick test?

Well, here's a secret... he he... if I don't post a kick test in the review it means either:

1.) I did not test it, seeing as it would fail. And I want don't to drag the toy's quality into the mud just because it can't or it wasn't design to stand on only one feet (Looking at you MLs!)

2.) Or if the figure can't do the proper side kick (or axe kick pose), because its designs limits its so.

So I guess Gouken belongs to category #1. ^_^;

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