DC’s Cinematic Universe and Voltron Make a Stand for Tamashii Nations [SDCC 2016]

If you thought the SH Figuarts Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated figure set was ending with all four turtles, you couldn't have been more wrong. The evil Shredder made his full color debut at San Diego Comic-Con, and he looks just as perfect as the sewer-shredding do-gooders. It's amazing how well the animated show has translated to the SH Figuarts line from Tamashii Nations, and if these five figures are as successful as they're likely to be, there's a chance we could see the likes of Casey Jones, April and even a Krang (in the Robot body obviously). A guy can dream, right?

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles weren't the only incredible Figuarts toys on display at SDCC, however, and there are plenty of other reasons to look forward to Tamashii's presence in 2017. Namely, all the fantastic DC and WWE Figuarts that debuted last weekend.

We knew The Rock and Stone Cold were kicking off the WWE Figuarts wave, but they'll soon be joined by the "King of Kings," Triple H. The version Tamashii is going with will call back to the Attitude Era just like the other figures, which is more than fine by me. That's where Triple H became the man he is today, and it looks like the figure is thankfully straying from the DX times. No offense to teenage me, but DX does not hold up. "The Game" was always better in his role as the "Cerebral Assassin" (how many nicknames does one dude get?), and I can already hear the Motorhead blaring through the Titantron speakers.

On the comic side, the Suicide Squad will debut with Figuarts for Harley Quinn and the Joker (surprise, surprise). The Harley fares well enough --- regardless of your opinion her costuming, the figure recreates it almost perfectly at this scale. The articulation is hidden well too, and the portrait is both on brand for Harley and expressive. You just have to take a brief look around the rest of the Figuarts brand to see that not every figure gets so lucky. The Joker gets an okay figure. Characters in suits are mostly boring, and don't make the best figures. The head sculpt isn't helped by the digital paint job either. Joker looks sickly, and not in a traditional Joker way. Hopefully that gets fixed by the time it releases.

Tamashii is also turning its DCCU eye backwards to The Dark Knight, and putting its touch on Batman and the Joker from the acclaimed film. Both look really nice and well articulated, but we're well past the saturation point for figures from The Dark Knight at this point. You may have missed out on some earlier import releases, and these could do well to fill out your collection. If you already have a few Batman and Jokers from the Nolan film in your collection, I'm not quite sure what will convince you to dip back into this well yet again.

Lest you think we forgot to mention it, there's also an absolutely bonkers Voltron Soul of Chogokin figure set coming. It's a spectacular piece that actually transforms and combines all the lions and weapons. Pictures do not do the actual figure justice. It's a sight to behold and will make Voltron fans incredibly happy. Also incredibly poor because it won't be cheap. But hey, at least you'll be happy.