Blanka (Street Fighter (SOTA)) Review

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Blanka (Street Fighter (SOTA)) Review

Blanka
Street Fighter (SOTA) (SOTA)While we've gotten plenty of great Street Fighter figures in recent years, ranging from the many characters and variants by Storm overseas, to the more recent, cheaper but just as enjoyable line by Jada. Before they came along, a now-defunct company known as SOTA Toys (who's president Jerry Macaluso is returning to the figure world with Syndicate Collectibles) presented the world with a truly great Street Fighter line. I've heard a lot of good things about it, but it took me until three days ago to finally get something from the line.

The figure comes packaged in a plastic clamshell, something you'd see more often in the 2000s than today, and it also means you'll need an exacto knife or scissors to get it open. The graphics are pretty good, with a blue background and cross-sell for other figures on the back, along with crew credits. The background also has a globe shape with each character's country of origin, reminding me of SFII. They even included a little movelist for the character in the front, which fits with the fighting game theme.

The character in question is Blanka, one of many characters to debut in SFII. Compared to everyone else from the game, he has a slightly less human appearance, owing to his green skin, sharp teeth, and long, pointed nails. The sculpt, which could've been done by any of the people listed on back - Will Harbottle, Alexi Bustamante, Jon Stevens, and Aaron McNaught - captures the character very well. The hair on his chest, forearms and legs are depicted as thick orange strands, and they look nice with the bold color and wash. Blanka needs to have some clothing, so he wears cut-off jeans with good wash all over, along with shackles around his feet,

Blanka comes sporting a fierce, growling expression, with surprisingly clean paint for the eyes and teeth. You can swap this head out for an shouting expression, which looks just as good. He also has long, thick hair, and it looks very nice. It's the kind of design that can be difficult to convert to three dimensions, but it's perfect here. Blanka comes in at around 7 3/4" standing straight up, but the way the hair is sculpted makes clear he's supposed to be hunched over. That said, I think he'll look great no matter how he's posed. His green skin, a result of being electrocuted, is a much bolder color than the lighter, yellowish green he's depicted with in the games, but I still love how it looks.

Since Street Fighter is a fighting game, figures from it have to be super articulated; ReSaurus didn't have that in mind when they did the license, but SOTA knew what they were doing. Blanka gets a barbell head that turns and tilts up very well, but any other tilt is rather limited. The arms get swivel/hinge shoulders and wrists, swivel biceps, and hinged elbows, allowing for some good poses. The ab crunch leans forward and back great, and there's also a swivel waist and thighs, swivel/hinge hips, and double-hinged knees. The feet are unusual as they have not just hinged ankles and toes, but also a (very well-hidden) mid-foot swivel. Aside from a few joints being stuck slightly at first, the ab crunch being too tight, and some looseness at the hips, Blanka moves great, and you'll have plenty of ways to pose him.

Getting into accessories, I already mentioned Blanka has an extra head, and it swaps with the default portrait well provided you heat up the socket. In the box, he has a splayed right hand and a clawing left, but they can be replaced with a pair of fists. The swap is a little tight, but at least no heat is needed unlike the head. To round things out, Blanka also gets a pineapple, a watermelon slice with a bite taken out of it, and a little skull. Although he can't really hold them, they're still nice little extras that add a bit more fun to the figure.

Back in the day, action figure variants were pretty common, and SOTA's Street Fighter line is no exception. In addition to the usual green and orange, Blanka also came with blue skin and yellow hair, or yellow skin and blue hair. He got some exclusive redecos as well, such as one where almost everything but his eyes and mouth are glow-in-the-dark plastic, a nod to his electric powers. There's also a version of the guy cast in translucent plastic, but it's nowhere near as cool as the glow variant.

Once I got Blanka opened, I was blown away by how good he was, and aside from some joint tolerance issues, he's a solid figure. I also feel he'll fit well with the newer stuff by Storm and Jada. Granted, Storm announced a Blanka last year we haven't seen go up yet, and Jada will probably do their own version at some point, but for now, this guy will do perfectly.

- 11/26/23