The retail price on this was more expensive than the Professor Layton despite this having less accessories. I’m assuming it’s a licencing issue but the difference was minimal, maybe $2-$3? It comes with a little name stand, a basic base, an Alien egg, and a facehugger. Admittedly, the Alien egg and the facehugger look incredible for their size. The paint is some of the best I’ve ever seen at this scale.

On to the figure itself! As you’ll see from my pictures, it offers considerable posing opportunities. It’s a little more tricky than Layton though. The joints are a bit tight and you might need to grasp them with pliers to move them into position. If you somehow end up breaking a joint, don’t FLIP OUT. You can apparently buy replacement revolver joints. Since I’m sure everyone is going to pose their Alien figures in crazy battle stances, just wanted to put that out there.

As you can see from the above photo, the mouth opens and the tongue can pop out. He’s really easy to stand up either by himself, or supporting him partially with the stand. The sculpting detail is intense given how small this figure is. SO MANY absolutely tiny details in the sculpt. You can also pop off the dome of the head, allowing you to see the skull interior.

Here he is hiding his shame. Look away! There is one minor issue with the sculpting. The teeth look strange, a little messy I guess is the word. They certainly don’t look bad and I don’t expect perfection at this small of a scale, it’s just something that you might notice. As for the paint, it’s shaded incredibly well. They went all out on the figure and the accessories, it’s amazing how paint apps have improved over the years.

5/5.

Buying Options : Since this is so recent, you’ve got a few options. Ebay, Amazon, and HLJ.

For those who aren’t familiar, Trigun is one of the most entertaining anime shows around, action packed, solid story, fun characters. It’s had surprisingly little merchandise, though there were some excellent McFarlane figures a few years back. I was jacked when I heard Revoltech was bringing out figures, both because of their excellent track record, and because they’re known to continue popular lines. The potential to get the girls, Knives, and some Gung-Ho Guns? Don’t mind if I do!

Both Vash and Wolfwood come with the newer oversized Revoltech boxes because they have an absurd amount of accessories. Vash comes with about 9 alternate hands, 2 heads, 2 energy effects, one rocky accessory, the regular stand, and a little container to stash some of that stuff.

Not only is he fully articulated to a ridiculous degree, as you’ll no doubt see in my pictures, but each section of his cape has 2 joints as well. That’s a hell of a lot of joints! It’s awkward at first, but once you play around with it, you can get some impressive poses you can’t get with other figures. You can use the cape for stylish flair or you can use it to subtly support some of the more goofball poses.

I was really impressed at how good the face looked, especially when you consider how small these are. About 4~ inches total, so that face is damn tiny. Having 3 face options that look good? Inconceivable! The head mechanism is a little tricky, you have to press the head down and slowly pull it out (at the top) without dislodging it to get it into proper display positions. Otherwise, it’ll look really stupid.

The hands are easily removed and there’s rarely any issues with them. At worst, you’ll find that one or two of the hands has the peg area partially filled and you have to jam the joint in there. Or you can clean it up a bit with some sort of small screwdriver. That rock base above? It’s tough as hell to get Vash into a decent position on it. I think my picture looks alright but it’s not nearly as good as the promo photos. The guys that work at Revoltech are masters of manipulating these little dudes, they need to make a posing guide. I’ve never broken a Revoltech figure but when going for EXTREME poses it feels like my Hulk strength has been close to it. However, the revolver joints can separate without damage, so don’t worry about that too much.

The sculpting and paint over the whole thing look great. Sure, you can spot paint problems on my high-res photos but you’ve got to remember those photos are CONSIDERABLY larger than life size. The best thing about Vash is he’s downright fun to play with. I spent more time on this review than usual because I wanted to get Vash into all these crazy poses. If I had some bad guys, I would’ve been making pew pew sounds at them, completing my journey to full manchild.

Time for Wolfwood! If you thought Vash had a ton of accessories, he’s easily beaten by this guy. Come on, he’s got 3 different versions of his gigantic cross alone. They had to double-layer the accessories box to get them in there. 9 different sets of hands, 3 different heads, a separate hairstyle (with shades!) that can go on any of the heads. 3 different energy effects, 2 cigarettes, 1 cross strap. It’s nuts!

The best thing about Wolfwood is the giant cross. It’s a BIG prop, it looks badass, and considering how articulated the figures are, it’s easy to make Wolfwood look great with it. I had a few different cross pictures I took but they didn’t quite come out how I wanted, so you only get one cross action pose.

Wolfwood has an odd head system, it’s not at all similar to Vash. While it’s easy to have it looking where you want without fidgeting, it doesn’t look nearly as good as Vash due to the joint. Downright ugly in some shots. It doesn’t help that Wolfwood’s heads aren’t sculpted as well as Vash. He can come off a bit creepy looking from some angles.

You know what doesn’t help? His stupid legs. It’s very difficult to make him stand straight. Vash takes about 5 seconds. Wolfwood can take a minute or two and even then, he’s wobbly. I have no clue who thought it was a good idea to do his legs this way, but it’s unlike my other Revoltech figures, just disappointing. Even getting him leaning on the cross is tough.

Overall : Vash is a 5/5, Wolfwood is a 3.5/5. I’m being a bit generous with Wolfwood because I don’t really care to have him in standing poses, I wanted him in an action pose, which covers up his flaws very well.

Buying Options : Available at some import sites like HLJ, Ebay if you want it quickly, or if you prefer an American retailer, Entertainment Earth has them coming in September.

Some of the recent Revoltech figures have had a bump in price. That’s because, like Professor Layton here, they’re really loaded. Take a look at the ridiculous amount of accessories available here.

Alternate head, 7 hands, book (that opens!), pen, ground base, chair, a table, and a cup of tea? Plus a little storage box for some of the items? Dammmmn son. Does Revoltech think they’re Hot Toys?

Layton clearly realizes the power of the pen. The figure itself looks amazingly accurate. I guess the face could have been a SLIGHTLY different shape, but that’s nitpicky to the extreme. His expression, his colours, all of it is fantastic. I never thought I’d see a Layton figure as good as this. The joint system isn’t distracting at all to the presentation (I find it is on some of their female figures).

The accessories are incredibly well detailed. When you consider how small they are, it’s quite impressive. The pen looks good, the base looks good, the book opens up and has writing inside, the only critique I can level is one of the tea cups is improperly filled. It looks like the tea is about to pour out.

Between Layton’s two faces and his separate arms, as well as the revolver joint system, Layton is incredibly emotive. He can look like he’s investigating a mystery, solving a puzzle, relaxing with a cup of tea, an action hero, whatever you want. It’s ridiculous how many poses he looks good in and how simple it is to get him into these poses. He’s surprisingly stable even without a base, even in awkward positions, as you’ll see in a few pictures!

If you’re at all a fan of the games, Professor Layton is a MUST BUY. He’s accurate, fun, and easily the definitive Professor Layton. Now they just need to come out with Layton’s sidekick, Luke. Check down a bit further for a few more pictures.

5/5.

Buying Options : Since this is more recent, you’ve got some good options. You can check Ebay, especially if you read this review in a few months. Amazon, HLJ (though he’s out of stock, he might pop back in later), and Ami-Ami.

Professor Layton and the Suspiciously Strong Tea, due out in December 2011 for Nintendo DS.