In my continuing quest to complete the Ultra Brothers lineup in Tamashii Nation's Ultra-Act series of super articulated action figures, I have acquired the most recent release, Ultraman Taro. Taro was released back in late June. I had originally missed out preordering him when he was first announced. I was able to acquire this one for a decent price at Plamoya a week ago.
The figure arrived in mint condition. The box was still factory sealed and nothing looks tampered with. The box is designed in the typical Brothers line-up red and silver color scheme.
Taro is very similar to Ultra Seven in appearance - in the Ultraman universe, Taro and Seven are actually cousins. He is the son of Father of Ultra and Mother of Ultra, and appeared in his own series. The figure stands over 6 inches, just in scale with the other figures in the Ultra-Act line.
One of the things that jumped at me was that Taro had a replaceable protector (the armor on his chest and shoulders). The alternate Protector features a crease in the right shoulder, allowing Taro's arm to reach other to the left. While it is pretty neat, the task of taking one protector off and attaching the other on becomes quite tedious. It requires you to also remove the color timer from his chest, which is pretty loose as it is, and if you're not careful it is very easy to lose!
Taro also comes with signature Taro Bracelet that (in show) can morph into various different items or weapons.
One such weapon the bracelet can transform into (in show) is this lance.
Among various other option hand parts, Taro has one where he seemingly reaches for the sky, recreating his transformation sequence from his show.
Taro also comes with a Storium Beam, and unlike previous Ultras, Taro fires his beam in a different fashion rather than the signature crossed arms technique.
As with any Ultra Brother in the Ultra-Act line, it is compatible with the Brothers' Mantle. Unfortunately I only have one of these mantles, but I do intend to buy more for the rest of the figures I have. The Mantles, in my opinion, give these figures a greater sense of majesty to them.
All in all, I really like this figure. It maintains the same level of detail, sculpt, and articulation that we all expect to see in these figures. There is one downside, and that is that due to the replacing of the Protector, the Color Timer in his chest is never in its socket snuggly and tends to fall out if you fiddle with it the slightest. Other than that, this is a neat figure. Any collector of Ultraman or Ultra-Act should get this one. It's pros outweigh the one con!
With Taro now under my belt, I only need to acquire Ace (which I shall be getting next week), and finally Seven!
Very nice review Arlo! The pictures are rather crisp and solid on color for the figure.
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