Megaman X
I grew up with playing Megaman X, and remember it being one of the biggest video game influences of my young life. X’s adventures on the Super Nintendo, and later the PlayStation, captivated me as a child nerd. I longed to be able to play with Megaman X in the real world in toy form. When Jazzwares came out with their Megaman figures several years back, I thought my Megaman action figure appetite had been satiated. That is, until I saw D-Arts Megaman X.
D-Arts is a branch off of Bandai’s S.H. Figuarts line, much like Ultra Act and MonsterArts. Since this figure was designed using the same standards, it is no surprise that it is one of the best Megaman toys I have ever seen. The colors are spot on, and there isn’t a single detail lost in the translation to an action figure. They even added the red gems on the bottom of X’s feet. That attention to detail is stunning.
His accessory count is really nice, as he comes with two sets of hands (fists and splayed), his X-Buster, three faces (calm, angry, and yelling), and two effect parts. The effect parts are energy blasts that X fires from his Buster gun, and include one charge shot, and a rapid-fire effect part. The rapid-fire part is actually articulated so you can pose X in a variety of poses and the blasts will fit. The fists snap on and off very efficiently, and I have had no trouble popping others on or removing them. The face is rather difficult to change due to the slickness of X’s head, but once you pry it open the first time it is fairly straightforward. There are two different barrels for the X-Buster: one that is open to allow effect parts to snap in, and another that has a red gem inside.
The articulation is one of this figure’s biggest selling points. He has a ball-jointed head, triple-swiveling shoulders, bicep swivels, double elbow joints, chest articulation, a ball-jointed waist, ball-jointed wrists, double-swiveling hips, double-jointed knees, and this odd foot articulation that seems to be a ball attached to three swivels. The articulation feels very unrestrained and the figure is a joy to pose. My only gripe is the fact that it has an armor change gimmick that will allow it to switch body parts with other Megaman X figures to simulate the armor collection system in the games. You can remove the lower legs and forearms completely and switch them around. This makes these parts a bit finicky, and an arm or leg can fall off while posing if you’re not careful. I should note, however, that it is incredibly easy to snap the pieces back together.
D-Arts Megaman X is definitely something to keep an eye out for. It is actually branded as “Megaman X” because it is the English version of the Japanese D-Arts Rockman X. This localization means that you can actually find it very easily at anime conventions and specialty toy stores. It is very affordable, and I highly recommend it to any Megaman X fan.
