Figma Samus Aran

First Figma for me was my long-time favorite video game heroine, Samus Aran. As an avid fan of the Metroid series itself, the announcement of a long-awaited action figure for the intergalactic bounty hunter was both spectacular and shocking. Up until now I had to dish out an arm and a leg for the First 4 Figures statues, but the Nintendo gods have answered my prayers with the Figma release.

This rendition features Sammy in her redesigned Other M power suit. Honestly it seems pretty interesting that Max Factory would use this version of her given the mixed reactions from the fanbase about Other M in general. I do admit I would’ve liked to see a Prime 2/3 version of the suit in figure form more, but beggars can’t be choosers.

The painting is generally pretty accurate and nice, given it’s a mass produced figurine. The primary orange and red is actually sort of candy-coated, though it does come off as looking metallic.

For some reason Max Factory dislikes panel-lining any of their figmas for you, so I had to go back and fill in all the black lines you see on Samus now.

Morph ball form is included, but it’s kinda useless and honestly? Lame… I mean hey I don’t mind it; glad that it’s there and all, but not much you can do with it other than like use it as a fuze-ball. Maybe if it glowed…

Some nice beam effects are included, though they aren’t much in variety; both are pink, and one is a single blast while the other is a double-pellet shot. Would’ve been more worthwhile if included was a missile, super missile, different beam types, etc. Max Factory even gives you a swappable missile open option for the arm cannon for cryin’ out loud!

Funny thing, I can’t actually tell with any certainty which beam this is supposed to be. It’s shaped like the normal power beam that Samus starts with in Other M (which is yellow/orange) but the beam effect is pink. That would make some sense if it were the wave, but the wave beam is wavy and…*brain implodes*

Articulation is also pretty standard and I suppose good; nothing really worthwhile or noteworthy.

Included are a few extra hands that are more or less pointless; you get a holding hand but nothing to hold, so I stuck an old 1/144 toothpick beam saber in there. Looks totally out of place but it’s pretty much the only thing that would go in there…

Compared to other figmas (at least the ones I have) Samus is proportionally large…no surprise given her armor and all, but I never noticed how heavy she is too.

All in all the figma rendition for our beloved Samus Aran does certainly do her character justice. It’s easy to see how some die-hard fans would have a hard time getting over the fact that it’s the Other M suit though. (I personally loved the game…so what if she had character?)

At this point, however, even if you did want to grab your own Sammy, she runs a good $80-$100 on conventional sites like eBay. I had pre-ordered mine from AmiAmi the moment she was announced, and they were fairly cheap, though I doubt she’s available at the $50~ price tag anywhere else.