Character:
Vash the Stampede is the main character from Trigun an awesome Space Western anime. Trigun is about Vash the Stampede and two Bernardelli Insurance Society employees, Meryl and Milly, who follow him around in order to minimize the damages inevitably caused by his appearance. Most of these damages however are caused by bounty hunters who are pursuing the sixty billion double dollars bounty which is on Vash's head for the destruction of the city of July, which he cannot remember too clearly. As the series progresses Vash's mysterious history is uncovered as well as that of the human civilization on the planet Gunsmoke.
Vash the Stampede, who says his real name is Valentinez Alkalinella Xifax Sicidabohertz Gombigobilla Blue Stradivari Talentrent Pierre Andri Charton-Haymoss Ivanovici Baldeus George Doitzel Kaiser III, acts lighthearted and exaggerates foolish characteristic to appear nonthreatening and to hide his true identity. However underneath it all he is deep and serious person who carries a lot of pain. Also because Vash refuses to kill his opponents he often suffers a lot of injury and so his body is patchwork of scars, missing flesh supported by metal mesh and stitches, and his left arm is has been replaced by a cybernetic arm. Vash also frequently coins the catchphrase 'This world is made of love and peace' with a flash of his V-sign after winning a battle, and win he does as he is an excellent marksman and is known as 'The Humanoid Typhoon.'
Packaging:
Vash comes in a standard Revoltech Yamaguchi box.
On the front is a window for viewing the figure, on the side of the box is a picture of the figure, on the other side is information on the Revoltech joint system, all in Japanese, on the back there are pictures of the figure in various poses and of the accessories, also some more information on the figure, and on the bottom is more relevant information, all in Japanese. Also take note that all figures you purchase have the correct authentication printed or stickered on the box.
Inside the box the figure is held between two pieces of molded plastic, with spaces for their accessories. The stand is stored in plastic bags taped to the back of the main plastic packaging. Figures are usually wrapped with plastic in certain areas to protect the paint. Some figures are even held in place with twisty ties and double layers of molded plastic are placed behind the main piece holding long accessories that don't fit in the first piece of packaging.
Revoltech's also come with a little orange box for storing accessories in, a special coin is also included, which can be used towards purchases from Kaiyodo affiliated shops in Japan or directly from their website, however this offer only works for people living in Japan.
Packaging = 8/10
Stand:
Vash comes with the standard Revoltech Yamaguchi stand. Made of clear plastic it has two points of articulation, two Revoltech joints which allow movement forwards and back and turning. The main piece of the stand plugs onto the V-shaped base, a Revoltech joint is then attached to the end, a bent pole is then attached to the other end, and another Revoltech joint to the end of this. The articulation of the stand allows the Revoltech to be posed in a variety of dynamic poses, and to gain some nice hight for jumping poses, it is overall a very well designed stand.
The Revoltech Yamaguchi stand also has another feature, it has one small raised peg on one side of the base so that you can plug one of the figure's feet into the stand's base, this is a nice touch by Kaiyodo as it gives the figure added stability and/or another posing option.
The Revoltech Yamaguchi line also now comes with an extra base piece or effects piece which can plug onto the foot of a figure so the figure can stand without use of the main Yamaguchi stand. A very nice and photo-friendly idea by Kaiyodo.
Vash also comes with a special stand piece which plugs into his main stand base, this is made to look like a bent piece of wall-reinforcing metal with some grey wall still attached, and is crumbling and covered in bullet holes. On one side there is a plug for his foot and he can sit or rest upon the top of the stand. This is a very awesome item and I am glad Kaiyodo went to extra lengths to make a diorama like stand.
Stand = 9/10
Sculpt:
Vash's overall design is awesomeness incarnate. He has a red coat, he has buckles and straps and belts and bits of metal plating here and there and well he just looks mean. He was a must get for me even before I had scene the paint on him. This version of Vash is of him in his outfit that appears in the new Badlands Rumble movie and so has some variation on his original anime costume.
Starting from the top, his hair is sculpted very well spiky and slightly slicked back. The upper part of his jacket is well sculpted with nice folds and ripples, and the front piece is slightly soft PVC so he can lean forward nicely. His left arm has lovely sculpting and is convincing as layers upon layers of straps and belts holding pieces and acting as armor. The lower part of his jacket and jacket tails are nicely shaped and windblown and their points of articulation allow them be dynamic for posing and also so that they do not restrict movement, these pieces are also made of slightly soft PVC, more than anything this is likely to be so that they do not break so easily. His legs like his left arm is just really lovely, nicely sculpted with layers of detail. And lastly his boots are very cool because unlike most figures they even made the bottom of his boots sculpted with grip, unlike the standard plain flat non-grip bottom of figure feet.
Sculpt = 10/10
Paint:
Vash's colour scheme is red, black, with some coper and silver thrown in. He looks very nice from distances and close up, just an overall great dynamics in his paint work. All his red jacket is shaded in the ripples and folds giving it lovely depth, where his right sleeve changes colour they even split the Revoltech joint into two colours. All the black lines, buttons and buckles on his jacket are done nicely, with the buttons being a nice chrome gunmetal colour. The gunmetal, coper and silver chrome highlights that run along his legs and left arm are for the most part spot on with only a few noticeable runs.
Vash's accessories do not have the best paint job, with his hands painted rather sloppily, his faces however are painted excellently with nice attention to detail, his gun blast effect is very well painted and his special stand beautifully painted and weathered. So although there are few paint errors overall its a great job especially due to the number of fine detail.
Paint = 9/10
Articulation:
Vash use’s the standard Revoltech Yamaguchi joint system. Revoltech joints are hinge joints with pegs on either end allowing both forward and back movement and rotation.
At the head a Revoltech joint is used at the bottom of the neck allowing the figure to look up and down and then a smaller Revoltech joint is used at the top of the head to allow their head left and right and look up and down more. To change the faces on Revoltech Yamaguchi figures the head is removed from the neck and the facial expression is pulled apart from the back of the head and new facial expression is plugged on.
A Revoltech joint is used as the shoulder, which allows a full range of motion. Further down a Revoltech joint is used as the elbow and bends in and then out straight and there is some slight rotation for the lower arm to turn in and out. At the wrist the various hands plug onto small Revoltech joints allowing the hand to move up and down and swivel.
A large Revoltech joint is then used under his chest so lean forwards and back and at the another large Revoltech joint is used as the waist which allows the figure to bend forwards and back even more and twist side to side. At the hips each leg is attached via a Revoltech joint allowing it move backwards and forwards and turn in and out.
A double Revoltech joint is then used as the knee allowing the knee to bend backwards and then out to straight, and there is some slight rotation for the lower leg to turn in and out. The ankle also is a Revoltech joint allowing the foot to point and flex turn in and out.
Vash also comes with two Revoltech joints per piece of jacket tail. One joint is located at where the jacket flares out from his torso and then once again near the end, this allows his jacket to look good without compromising articulation and also to give added dynamic to posing.
Pose:
Vash is therefore highly posable and can be posed in a variety of ways. With the use of the accessories supplied, his revolver, small gun, two effects bases, and V-sigh, he can be displayed in a number of poses, ready for battle with fists up, attacking with his integrated small gun, firing his revolver, saying his catchphrase or simply sitting upon his broken down wall. However there are some areas where articulation is restricted, because of the design of the design of his clothing is not able to back, but that is minor and is common for most articulated figures.
Pose = 10/10
Enjoyment:
I will break down enjoyment into two categories: Accessories and Play Value.
Accessories:
Vash comes with three facial expressions; a smiling expression, a concerned expression, and an angry expression. Vash also comes with an assortment of hands; a pair of fists, a pair of hands for holding weapons, a pair of open hands, a pointing hand, a hand doing his V-sign, a hand holding his gun, and a saluting hand.
Vash also comes with his .45 caliber revolver, which is already attached to a hand, and a small gun which is an integrated part of his cybernetic arm. He also has an effects piece which plugs into the revolver to give the action effect of his gun firing, a very nice addition.
As mentioned before he also comes with an effects base which is semi-clear brown plastic, and his special stand piece of a crumbling bullet shot piece of wall. He also comes with an orange box for storing his accessories and a special coin as mentioned before.
Play Value:
I will break down play value into two categories: Compatibility, with other figures and accessories, and general play.
Compatibility:
Revoltech Yamaguchi figures are generally compatible with each other and Vash specifically comes with holding hands so that he can use the weapons of other Yamaguchi figures, and is compatible with the Revoltech Assemble Borgs, also using his holding hands he can hold most Figma and Revoltech Queen's Blade items.
General Play:
In general Vash is an awesome figure, I had only scene the first three or four episodes of the anime before I fell in love with his character, and his character really comes across in this figure representation. He is superbly sculpted and painted and his articulation is great. I can foresee so much fun with this figure. A definite get for a fan of Vash and Trigun or for tall crazy gun wielding men, or perhaps just for someone who likes bad-ass-awesome figures.
Enjoyment = 10/10
Over all Vash the Stampede scores 9.3/10
