It seems like Noisy and I could do a month of Transformers reviews if we combined our purchases, but that would get pretty boring for everyone.  So today I’m taking a break from my growing pile of TFs to take a look at my newest Japanese import, D-Arts Mewtwo.

It seems like forever ago that Pokémon.  Although I never got into the card game, I did play Red on the Gameboy, watched the cartoon and first movie.  But even back in 1998 I wasn’t very satisfied with the brand when it came to the toy department.  Most of the figures were nothing more than little figurines that were usually out of scale with each other.  Articulation may not have mattered much for my personal favorite Pokémon (Koffing shout-out, woot!), but even the few figures of Ash and the other trainers were just plastic statues with poor quality control when it came to paint apps.

It may have taken nearly thirty years, but we are finally starting to see decent and respectable action figures emerge from the various Nintendo brands.  The Good Smile Company is bringing us figures like Samus, Link, and Pitt in their Figma line.  Not to be left behind, Bandai is locking down their Pokemon license with new additions to their video game based D-Arts brand.

I thought Mewtwo was a pretty interesting character to start off with.  Being one of the more difficult Pokemon to fight/capture in the original games, and also the focus of the first movie, he’s definitely not obscure.  It’s also nice to get a break from the Pikachu tidal wave that seems to arrive every time a new bit of Poké-merchandise hits stores.  (Of course that may be due more to his size than his popularity, especially since the next three figures are all larger characters.)

Mewtwo’s sculpt is pretty accurate when it comes to all his defining characteristics.  He’s got that weird elongated cat-like body, large hips, sweeping tail, three fingered hands with those odd bulbous finger tips, and horn-like ears.  But even though this is a video game line, I feel like the figure’s overall look is based more on his appearance in the animated movie than any specific game artist’s interpretation.  I know some of this feeling comes from his mostly smooth body.  But his eyes also give off a very strong animated vibe.

Although Mewtwo’s body has been molded in a light purple, they still painted the entire thing to give it a more realistic and flesh-like appearance.  This is most evident on his head where you can see the difference between his matte skin and glossy eyes.  Various parts of his body have also been highlighted with darker and lighter shades of purple.  This helps add the appearance of texture and muscle that is mostly lacking in the smooth sculpt.  Continue to page 2…