[Den-O]

The oldest and most powerful being in the Land of Light has arrived at TokuNation! Today we're taking a look at Ultra-Act Ultraman King! This ancient elder of the Ultra race has origins that predate the modern day by hundreds of thousands of years. A mysterious character who has guided the evolution and survival of his people from his home on Planet King over the years. Ultraman King has mentored the like of Ultraman's Leo & Zero, is the supposed grandfather of Zoffy, and even originally defeated and imprsioned Belial after his betrayal! Let's take a look at how this figure stacks up to this legendary character.

Packaging
In recent years the trend for Ultra-Act releases is to have a window style box with an opening that runs through the middle to give you a good look at the Ultra in question. As with S.H. Figuarts though, Ultra-Acts have begun to ditch the window for their Tamashii Web Exclusive releases, as is the case with Ultraman King. Otherwise this packaging is fairly standard for the line. The only difference being that King's box is about twice the depth of your average Ultra-Act. And of course that's because of all the wonderful accessories he includes!

Main Figure
Ultraman King is an entirely new mold. As with most Ultra's there isn't a ton of parts sharing or reuse, some, but not nearly to them same degree as rider & sentai Figuarts. King is also notable for being a very unique design in general. One of only 2 Ultras with actual facial hair (the other being Father of Ultra), he also has a series of gold adornments on his body to set him apart from other ultras. Add to this the elaborate gold shoulder pads & the classy Ultra Large Medal on his belt and you really do have a king like figure.

Out of the box Ultraman King is in his least often seen configuration, that is without his cape. While the figure looks glorious it really doesn't have the best articulation even without the cape attached. Though the Great Protector shoulder pads don't interfere with the shoulders movement, the joints themselves don't have much upward or outward range. The hips are also quite odd in that they can't really rotate forward and back but instead have to swing around at a curve. The way the crotch area is designed really handicaps the figure, but at least on mine the hips are also ridiculously loose making it difficult to get any of the few dynamic poses you can make to stick.

Looseness issues aside the paint apps are exquisite on King. If nothing else it's an impressive looking figure even with the above issues. My opinion is colored slightly by the fact that I love obscure or rarely seen heroes as well.

Accessories
To get Ultraman King's complete look you really need to dig into his accessories tray. He includes:

1 - alternate Great Protector shoulder pad assembly. This second version of the shoulder armor is a bit wider on the edges but has a small opening at the bottom on the backside and forgoes the rectangular back peg from the standard version. This reveals the port necessary to attach his cape/mantle.

1 - cape/mantle. Usable only once you attach the above alternate Great Protector. Unlike the Brother Mantles released in the line previously there's no shoulder pad accessory attached. You need only plug this into the port revealed from changing out the Great Protector. It features the same type of articulation however. All 3 segments can hinge forward & back as well as out. Surprisingly it sits low enough on his back that the Great Protector doesn't interfere with movement at all.

1 - King Hammer. This small mallet like weapon adds Ultraman King to the short list of toku heroes out there with hammers for weapons. It's a kind of dinky little accessory but it gets the job done.

6 - additional hands to recreate various poses or hold the King hammer.

1 - Tamashii Stage Adapter. There's a small difficult to remove plate on Ultraman King's lower back that once removed allows you to plug this adapter in. Meaning you can plug stage arms directly into his back instead of using the grabbing hands a stage regularly comes with. However as has been my experience with nearly any one of these adapter pieces ever on an Ultra-Act, they don't stay in.

I'm a bit surprised there's no effect part included with Ultraman King, the Baptism Ray or King Flasher would have been very appropriate and welcome inclusions.

Final Thoughts
Ultra-Act Ultraman King was one ultra-act I was incredibly excited for. And while it isn't perfect I'm still quite satisfied with him. King includes pretty much everything we've ever seen him with. Which, since his appearances are quite few, it's easy to do. When characters as obscure and secretive as King make there way to the line I'm always happy. As we quickly approach completing the line in terms of main character Ultras, releases like King should become more regular. Though I do hope the quality is a bit better next time around.