Tacit Ronin is the first Jaegers that was solely featured in the prologue portion of Pacific Rim (2013) to be released. This Jaeger was stationed in Japan to fight Kaiju who have emerged from the Breach. Other than material covered in the Pacific Rim art book, not much is known story-wise about this particular Jaeger.
However it is nice to see Tacit Ronin released with Romeo Blue and Horizon Brave not so far behind. Is Tacit Ronin another worthy addition into NECA's ever-expanding Pacific Rim 7" Figure Series? Let us find out!
Tacit Ronin has a very unique design. It's very slim and light-weight. The design reminds me a lot of mecha I've seen in manga and anime. For those unaware, Tacit is one of the smaller Jaegers. The figure stands roughly six inches tall, (we'll cover scaling more later.) The sculpt is a perfect representation of Tacit as seen in its few seconds of screen time and in the film's concept art.
The figure is mostly white with blackish-gray points in the joints and blades. The rising sun symbol of the Japanese flag is featured predominately on this figure. The white paint is coated with a darker wash to give it a weathered look. Fitting since this early Jaeger has seen much battle in its days.
While I do enjoy the detailing and sculpt of this figure, the articulation is a different story. Due to this figure's thin build as well as stiff joints due to paint or glue seeping into them, Tacit is prone to breakages if handled too roughly. I choose not to force any joints. This has created a very limited choice of poses I can display this figure in. For the most part, the most stable pose you can display Tacit is a neutral one as seen in many of the pictures I've taken. The leg articulation is pretty lackluster. The joint(s) that connect the leg and thigh are baffling and completely useless. There are two ball joints in each leg connecting it to the main body. This unusual joint design heavily limits movement in the leg. The arms and shoulders, by far, are the most dynamic points of articulation on this figure.
One of Tacit's little gimmicks is that it has retractable blades on each arm. As a word of caution, these blades are very light and thin and can easily break if handled pretty rough. They are also very sharp too, so keep this figure away from small children.
As mentioned earlier, Tacit is a bit on the smaller side when compared to the rest of the Jaegers. It is more or less a couple inches shorter than the Hong Kong Brawl Gipsy Danger. It also stands shorter than the Deluxe Axehead figure too.
To conclude, NECA's Tacit Ronin is not entirely a bad figure, but it could have been a lot better! The sculpt and detailing are pretty great. Articulation, however, was pretty lacking and could have been better as well. Its overall fragility makes this figure a gamble. If you're a completist, then go right ahead and get this figure! It'll add diversity to your Jaeger display. If you are not a completist, then this is an easy pass for you.
You can still buy NECA's Tacit Ronin action figure at BigBadToyStore (along with Hong Kong Brawl Gipsy Danger), and Amazon.
No comments:
Post a Comment