Bandai Spitits’ Hobby Next Phase 2021 Autumn has started and they’re set to reveal new and upcoming kits in their various lines and licensed properties. Kicking things off are Figure-rise Standard kits and we have one that I’m personally looking forward to, despite not getting any of the previous releases… yet.
Following Ultraman Suit Zoffy and still ahead of its appearance in the second season of ULTRAMAN, we have Figure-rise Standard Ultraman Suit Taro -Action-. I really appreciate how Bandai now releases all these Ultraman Suit kits as the -Action- versions since it’s expected for these characters to do all sorts of dynamic poses while, still able to accommodate light up gimmicks if you prefer.
Like the original Ultraman Taro design, its robotic suit version is also mostly red, but still carries the same nuances. Chief of these are the side horns which are a trademark of the original design. You might notice a lot more areas of vents in this armor when compared to others and this is due to its interpretation of the ‘fiery’ capabilities of Ultraman Taro. And like Ultraman Suit v.7.2, this one also has a visor for the primary optics, but you can still see the twin eyes inside.
You can expect to put this Ultraman Suit Taro kit in great poses, especially with the option to not put a torso LED unit. As with previous ULTRAMAN kits, this guy also includes an model kit exclusive weapon designed by manga author Eiichi Shimizu, the Specium Lancer.
While I’m not the most familiar with Kotaro Higashi, the character using the Taro suit, he does have capabilities to control and manipulate flames, which is another callback to Ultraman Taro. So it makes perfect sense for the kit to include effect parts to represent the energy coming from the Specium Core, and those for attacks like the ones on the arm gauntlets. If you you choose to get the LED unit, you can even get better effects with the aforementioned Specium Core, at the expense of slightly limited torso mobility.
Figure-rise Standard 1/12 Ultraman Suit Taro -Action-
April 2022 / ¥3,200
Speaking of ULTRAMAN Season 2, they’ve recently released a teaser trailer showing all six suited warriors akin to the Showa-era Ultra Brothers. And yes, we’re certainly waiting for the eventual Figure-rise Standard Ultraman Suit Jack model kit which would be huge. In the meantime, you can check out the clip below and get hyped!
