So here we are - a new day and a new review. Now while I collect many toy lines in abundance, this line here, the Street Fighter series from SOTA Toys, was not on my list of must haves…till recently. I knew they were coming out, I had seen the pictures from conventions over the summer, but I thought to myself "Why get into another toy line I may or may not like?" Enter: Fwooshnet.com. So there I am, visiting the forums there, and see a section dedicated to SOTA Toys and Street Fighter figures. I start to poke around, looking at pics and such, and before I know it, I get swept away in the craze that is Street Fighter! Well, after placing an order with Krypton Collectibles, and watching everyday for the box - the order came in…woo hoo! So now, what are my exact thoughts on this first wave of Street Fighter figures….you guessed it - read on to find out…

Ryu	Ryu Figure Profile

Talk about nailing down the perfect look for a figure, Ryu here hands down is one of the best adaptations of any Street Fighter character to figure form - period. SOTA Toys, while great at making some figures (Lara Croft), and not so great at other figures (Riddick), they hit a home run here. Ryu is perfectly proportioned like his video-game counterpart, from the sculpting on his muscles to his two different heads - one screaming and one stoic, ready for action. I like the interchangeable parts for these figures, such as the heads and hands for Ryu. The hands given are open and closed fisted, which allow for some dynamic poses. Posing is no issue too for Ryu as he sports multiple joints, such as double jointed knees, nearly full range of movement arms, ball socket neck, and even a very unique foot joint that twists at just the right cut to act as a twist on your foot at the ankle. The poses - because of they all the joints are all cut - look very realistic doing just about anything, including these guys beating each other up :)

My only real complaint is that the piece that is supposed to stay in his neck so I can put on a different head doesn't - it comes out inside the head I currently have on the body. This makes for a difficult transferring of the heads, and can be frustrating. Still, this is the only figure in the lot I have this kind of trouble with, so I can let it slide…

Also of note is that in this same series was a grey suit version of Ryu, along with an Evil Ryu as well. Soon to be shown on this site will be pictures of the white and grey versions of Ryu. Hopefully soon I will be adding Evil Ryu to the collection as well.

Chun Li

Chun Li Figure Profile

Now here is one fine looking figure - Miss Chun Li. SOTA has done a superb job here of representing one of the original ladies of Street Fighter. Sporting a set of changeable heads (and I just have to say I love the little anime styled smile on her laughing face), and a set of straight hands and closed fist hands, this girl needs no more accessories. Miss Li here has all she needs to kick the butt of any other figure who looks at her the wrong way or gives her one too many cat whistles. This figure sports multiple points of articulation as well, including the funky ankle joint everyone else has. She also has the distinction of being the only one in the Series 1 line-up to have double jointed elbows. At first, I thought the elbows were to cover up the fact that due to the 'poofiness' of her shoulder costume design, the arms would be stuck only going up and down…I was wrong! There is, hidden beneath a slightly softer plastic of the shoulder design, a ball and socket joint, providing for a nearly full range of movement still. Talk about attention to detail!

The other pleasant surprise is the leg joints. While other companies have become better with the female hip area in terms of the meshing of sculpting and poseability, SOTA (and please pardon the expression), nailed it here too. Her hips look aesthetically pleasing, and provide more movement that most other female figures in this scale. Of course, this makes all the other guys in this series very happy…

There are also a couple of variants of Chun Li out there, including a Teal colored version, and a pink outfit version. I will soon have pics of the Teal one for you to check out, and if I ever get the pink version, I will add her profile to the pics as well.

Sodom

Sodom Figure Profile

Who the hell is this guy anyways? I honestly don't remember him from any of the time I played Street Fighter II as a teenager. I must admit though, I did not play many of the subsequent rehashes and re-releases of the SF game, so he could have been somebody integral in future versions. Still, that won't stop me from getting a very intriguing figure.

This figure sports a large body, some unusually shaped shoulders, and the strangest hat I have ever seen. Still, with poseability like Ryu still intact, I can look past the strange factor of this figure and still think he is cool. Sodom here comes with a straw hat with a cloth attached to it, which sits securely on his head. That is of course, after you remove the crescent moon design from the head's helmet. He also comes with 2 blade weapons (forgive me if I don't know what they are called), and only one extra hand with a pre-posed, non-removable white fan in it. Is it just me, or doesn't it seem like this fan would be a better accessory for Chun Li instead? Probably the weakest of the series in my opinion, but Sodom is still a cool figure to have none the less.

Sagat

Sagat Figure Profile

Here is the biggest figure in Series 1, Sagat. Towering over the rest of the Street Fighter figures is the powerhouse of a character. Sporting the articulation that the rest of the guys have, he is fully poseable and looks menacing in just about any position. He comes with 2 interchangeable heads and two sets of hands, one open handed and one closed fisted. One uppercut from this guy (would that be downer cut due to height?) and you can bet its going to hurt, if not take you down. The sculpting on this guy is top notch too, showing muscles on top of muscles, and even a wide spaced big toe, suggesting how balanced this large guy can be. Also with the rather large feet (step back ladies), he can balance on one foot very well. That feature alone makes this guy one of the coolest figures in the lot.

But of course, I can't close out this part of the review without mentioning the scar across his chest. Taken directly from the game itself, this scar looks perfect, no matter how you bend the torso joint either, it follows the curve of the joint just right. Never looking broken, it cannot hide the memory of a painful day, a day Sagat will seek his retribution for….a very nice touch indeed.

M. Bison

M. Bison Figure Profile

Look out, because the Red Square is back, baby! Well, not really, but when ever I see the M. Bison character, I think of Mother Russia for some reason. Sporting the usual articulation as the other male figures, this hulk of figure is ready to take on all challengers to his call for battle. Bison comes with two heads, two sets of hands, and a purplish-blue ball of energy, perfectly replicating the look of a power punch used in the original incarnations of Street Fighter. With a sadistic grin on his face, this is a guy you wouldn't want to meet up with on a dark alley, or a blood sport fighting stage. Even with the non-removable cape on him, this figure looks imposing, maybe even more so than Sagat, simply because of his sculpt, uniform, and smile. Or maybe its funny little hat?

In any event, M. Bison, being one of main bad guys of Street Fighter, looks magnificent, and has a style all his own - a style of pure, unadulterated, evil.


Bottom Line

This series of figures, based on the Street Fighter video game, is a truly an outstanding line of figures. With only one gripe out of the entire run of Series 1 (Ryu's head swap debacle), the line stands out as a great set for any figure collector to own. Even if you are not a huge Street Fighter fan, like me (except for the occasional game of course), I would still HIGHLY recommend you pick up one or two of these figures. It doesn't matter which ones, any will do. They are just that cool. Some video game stores, and stores like Hot Topic have seen them come and go, and online retailers carry them too. I purchased my set at Krypton Collectibles, and hopefully soon, Krypton will have Series 2, with Ken, Cammy, and more. So after buying them based solely on pictures alone, I am truly happy and pleasantly surprised how much I like this set - and also upset with SOTA Toys. Why? Because they are going to make me spend more money with future waves ;)