[Den-O]

Eagle, Shark, Panther, Eagle, Shark, Panther!

TokuNation has caught the sun once more with this gallery from Taiyou Sentai Sun Vulcan! In this installment we're taking a look at the final two members of the team, S.H. Figuarts Vul Shark & Vul Panther! This pair follow up from the release of S.H. Figuarts Vul Eagle this past December.

** Post #1: contains the boxed set and Vul Shark, post #2 contains Vul Panther and a variety of group shots!

Packaging
Vul Eagle, as the first release in the Sun Vulcan line of S.H. Figuarts, gave us a brand new basic figure and packaging. However the two pack of Vul Shark & Panther as a web exclusive is a little bit different. Rather than have a window this box opts for the more usual closed type of packaging with art adorning the front. Which is fine since the two characters are posed very appropriately in front of a blazing sun. Otherwise the packaging is pretty standard with two insert trays. One for the figures, one for all the accessories. Much like any other web exclusive sentai 2-pack.

Main Figure
These two figures have near identical bodies to Vul Eagle save for their helmets and belts so much of my review will be the absolute praise I had to bestow on Vul Eagle.

S.H. Figuarts Vul Eagle is by far one of my favorite sentai Figuarts ever. So it's absolutley no surprise that I hold the exact same high opinion of Vul Shark & Vul Panther. These figures are solid on every level. For a suit that really looked baggy in the show, they've carried some of that over here but streamlined it so it doesn't look cheesy at all. As I said with Vul Eagle, these suits look like they belong in a modern series thanks to the toys. They don't look outdated one bit. Featuring some fantastically sculpted in fabric details these suits come to life. Where these figures completely knocked it out of the park is the head sculpts. Beautiful profiles, a gorgeously done crest on Panther, the attention to detail on Shark. It's perfection. And the emblems on their belts, again they just absolutely nailed it. They look like actual metallic parts rather than plastic thanks to a fantastic paint wash.

These figures also happen to feature wonderful articulation! It's pretty standard stuff for non-armored/non-rider or Metal Hero figuarts but Vul Shark & Vul Panther can move in all the right ways to get the job done. I've yet to discover any real flaws with my set, as with Vul Eagle I've really yet to discover any QC issues. The paint is crisp, the parts are formed properly, and the joints are tight. Though I have to say Vul Sharks left hip is scary tight. I'm afraid of it snapping like my older Gokaigers have done on occasion.

And since these two share the exact same mold as Vul Eagle, Vul Shark & Vul Panther are about the same height as S.H. Figuarts Akaranger. It would seem at first glance that these Showa sentai figures are a bit taller than their Heisei counterparts. But honestly when I've got them all lined up together the differences aren't as apparent. Where Akaranger felt large bulky and towering because of his sculpt, the Sun Vulcan figures feel much less so. Though they clearly stand above their sentai brothers and sisters a little bit, they aren't the sore thumb in the crowd that Akaranger is.

Accessories
Vul Shark & Panther are near perfect figuarts in my opinion, and the accessories help contribute to that as well. But be forewarned, as with most exclusives, they include less than their retail teammate. EACH figure includes the same accessories as follows:

4 - Additional hand sets. That's a full 1.5 sets of hands less for both Vul Shark & Panther compared to Vul Eagle. They lose some of the expressive hands like the thumbs up and get stuck with a few sets of very similar open palm hands. It's still a good selection but it sucks to lose those more unique hands that Vul Eagle had.

1 - Vulcan Stick (retracted mode). The Vulcan Stick is the signature sidearm of all 3 members of Sun Vulcan. It's packaged in the standard "retracted" mode which is how it always looks while in the hip holster. Though it separates above the handle to use another included part.

1 - Vulcan Stick Blade. The Vulcan Stick itself separates just above the handle for 2 reasons. One, to let you swap out the default end for the Blade. The second is that it let's you slide the handle up through the bottom of a holding weapon fist and then reattach it. Ensuring you don't have to bend the fingers out to try and cram the handle in their.

And while this is a somewhat decent collection of accessories I can't help but feel disappointed. With Vul Eagle you got so much more. Granted the included Katana was meant to allow you to display either version of the character, but there's no reason something else couldn't have been included with this pair. At least one effect part would have been nice. But perhaps the most obvious and thus disappointing omission is that no form of the Vulcan Ball is included. The iconic finisher of this trio the Vulcan Ball ( or even the New Vulcan Ball) would have been incredibly easy to manufacture for this set. It's a huge missed opportunity.

Final Thoughts
As sentai figuarts go I still have to say I'm fantastically impressed. Vul Eagle set the bar high though. S.H. Figuarts Vul Shark & Vul Panther fall short of him only in the accessory category. The sculpts are still gorgeous, the QC top tier, and each figure still manages to convey a unique personality. It's a shame there are so few members of Sun Vulcan as I would love to see the top notch engineering of this mold used again. These two knock it out of the park once again. My only holdout of hope right now is that eventually Sun Vulcan's top tier enemies could be made. Like Fuhrer Hell Saturn or Inazuma Ginga. here's to hoping!