Bandai Spirits had its first collaboration with Chinese game publisher Tencent Games with Figure-rise Standard kits based on characters from the Overwatch-esque mobile first person shooter Ace Force. The collaboration continues but this time, they’re going with Tamashii Nations (or the collector division) for a different title.
Full disclaimer, I have absolutely zero idea of what the game is outside of stuff I can get from Wikipedia. Honor of Kings is Tencent’s mobile multiplayer online battle arena (or MOBA) like DOTA 2, League of Legends, and more specifically, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang. To those unfamiliar, MOBAs basically involve players competing on a predefined battlefield and controlling characters with unique abilities. For Honor of Kings, one of these characters is Sun Wu Kong and we are getting a mecha version (I guess?) as a figure under The Robot Spirits line.
Sun Wu Kong is a popular character from the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West and was the basis of Son Goku of the Dragonball franchise. That said, this version is actually named Sun Wu Kong Ling Hao-Chi Yan and while I’m not entirely sure how he’s supposed to look in-game, this version is very impressive. It gives off the same vibes as those real type SD Gundam Metal Robot Spirits releases with the ornamented aesthetic. That said, it also looks like an Astray variant thanks to the crazy Astray designs we’ve been getting recently.
Sun Wu Kong has three different forms as seen here. Its form changes as its power progresses from the ‘normal’ form, to the ‘full power’ form and finally, to the ‘overload’ form. And while you are only getting one base figure, the set will also come with replacement parts necessary for each conversion. Those who wanted to have separate figures of each form will have to get three sets.
These solicitation images also show that despite the very busy design, you are still able to put Sun Wu Kong into various dynamic poses. Though you have to of course consider parts crashing into each other so that might be something to need to take note when posing this guy.
I personally like the design and wouldn’t mind getting one (or three) if I could. China-specific releases like this aren’t exactly the easiest to get outside the country though I was able to get the Ace Force Figure-rise Standard kits from a seller in Singapore. So there is a chance of getting this guy, but let’s see.
The Robot Spirits Sun Wu Kong Ling Hao-Chi Yan
June 2021 / CN¥ 699
