D-Arts Rockman X Review

Image from Happinet Online

History lesson:
As stated in my review for Kotobukiya’s 1/10 scale Rockman kit, I was introduced into the Mega Man game franchise with the first Mega Man X, which I got in 1993 when it came out. I never actually beat it until 14 years later, when I got the Mega Man X Collection on the PlayStation 2. Sigma always mowed over me.
However, Mega Man X4 was what truly hooked me. My first game on the PSOne in 1997 (I played it before I played my Final Fantasy VII), the game’s story depth (for an at-the-time Mega Man game) and graphics blew me away! The anime-like cut scenes alone were enough to hook me.
Flash forward to 2008. Long after Bandai’s Mega Armor Series died off, I managed to get some of the 2003 re-issues at a very reasonable price. I loved these little things. Even with all of their flaws, they represented the little bit of MMX that I loved… And then came 2010.

The news hit like a tidal wave against a buoy. Bandai, under their Tamashii Nations branch, was launching the high-end D-Arts figure line, starting with a few Digimon creatures (never got into it). But also teased was a brand new figure for Mega Man X’s namesake: X! I couldn’t believe it! And it looked gorgeous! And it comes with a Metall!? SOLD!

Several months, new promos and one less Metall later, the thing released.

...

And then the wait.

The US was getting a domestic release via Bluefin Distributors, which seemed to slow down a lot of hobby stores stateside from receiving them. I happened to order mine from the last one to get it by mere days: GundamPlanet.com …
I can’t really blame them personally, but they could have updated those who pre-ordered it better.
Lesson: Importing may actually be faster. HLJ from here on!
Lesson over.

As I stated before, due to the delay of their D-Arts shipments, they sent me a bonus figure from Yamato's GNU-Dou Super Robot line. It's far from topic, but as I only took this picture for X still boxed, I thought I'd mention that again.

Now, the largest reason this review has been so belated is due to camera issues. I've only been able to use about half of the photo sets I've taken because of uncontrollable light exposure and horribly grainy darkened images. I don't like to do touch-ups on photos that are supposed to convey the real-life presence of a figure, but I've had to for a few of these or else I'd have almost none at all!
So, apologies if this isn't quite the quality you were hoping for. But I've put it off for far too long.

Front View

Rear View

Let me say that, no photo - mine or anyone else's - can do justice to how awesomely metallic the blue of his armor is! The greenish black rubber parts covering the joints on the elbows and knees really hide those joints and help in keeping X's seamless-ness intact. Also worth noting is how accurate the coloring is to the original designs drafted in the first MMX game:

Art by Keiji Inafune (I think?). Taken from R20: Rockman & Rocman X Official Complete Works.

I suppose that comment is more aimed at the red panels on the back of the helmet. Although, there is another point I will make toward this later.

It can't be stated enough how amazing the sculpt for this figure is! The Helmet-to-face ratio is easily the best I've seen on any Mega Man figure (save for the Kotobukiya Rockman kit), and fits the face perfectly.
Note: the line of paint along the helmet was the only fault I saw, and scraped away easily without damaging the metallic blue finish.

The jewels on the forehead and the sides of the ears (?) are vibrant clear red plastic with a solid coat of silver on the inside, giving it a very good faux-luminescence.

I think this one point made me more excited than ever about this figure:
The detail on the sole of the feet are amazing! A perfect jewel centered between a couple subtle panellined areas surrounded by 4 bolts. It's simple, yet nicely added for the otherwise seamless design of X. It seemed so well placed, that maybe it was supposed to be there...

Lineart taken from R20: Rockman & Rockman X Official Complete Works.

Turns out, this was an official design point of X. Due to visual limitations of the SNES (or any sprite-based games), this detail went unused in the games themselves! This eye-for-detail is enough to garner the respect of any figure enthusiast. This alone was a selling point for me.

As stated above, the version I received was the domestic release, which was given the "Mega Man X" logos over "Rockman X" ones. But what I noticed was that the logos were simply stickers placed over the "Rockman" ones. They all came off easily, and now mine's indistinguishable from the Japanese release. But such clean logos couldn't just be thrown away...

So I attached the large one to my Tamashii Stage! Now I have one specifically for X!

X on his Tamashii Stage Act 4.

All separable components. This will be necessary for armor swapping with future releases.

Effect Parts and Action Poses

Posing this figure is truly what was in mind when it was being designed, and it does not disappoint! The articulation is masterful at worst, and wonderfully shows how far joint technology has come in the last decade! But if there's another place this figure shines, it's the galore of extra parts it comes with...
Which is also where this review's going to suffer, as almost none of the shots of the individual parts turned out. But they are used among the action pose shots that did, so these shall be showcased together! Sorry :(

X-Buster
The main utility of X, and key component to the two main effect parts in this set.

To add the effect parts, the barrel of the X-Buster must be removed and replaced with a similar part with no red jewel (not pictured), which allows the effect parts' pegs to be supported within the buster itself.

Tri-Shot Buster Effect Part
The first buster effect, and an interesting effect it is! The center shot acts as a pivot to make X look as if he's shooting in a varying formation. You can also pull it apart at said pivot and switch the top pellet with the middle to have the center bee the furthest shot. But with the way they attach, that makes no sense unless the second shot is faster than the first? *shrug* Anyway, neat option, none the less.
I will warn not to push the effect onto the buster too far in, as it can prove VERY difficult to remove.

Charge Shot Buster Effect Part
The most awesome; and heavy; part of this figure. The charge shot definitely requires X to be in a very grounded stance, least you have a display base to hold him, otherwise.
There is some controversy over the color of his charge shot, though, as both in illustrations AND in-game the fully charged shot is blue - not green. His mid-level shot, however, is. Although, in terms of presence, the green looks better to me, and more powerful against the blue of X himself. A blue shot would just kinda blend with him and be boring, in my opinion.
(You won't get no "IMO" from me!)

Teeth Grit Face Part
The face parts are swapped by removing the front of the helmet, pulling out the face and swapping it with another one.
The teeth grit face is probably mi-level anger, I'd say. Best with some stern poses and the tri-shot effect. The molding, as with everything, is top notch.

My biggest beef with swapping the faces is that (At least for mine) the helmet won't connect together all the way. The jewel exposed on the inside of the helmet digs into the face part a bit, leaving an indent in the forehead. This won't be seen when attached, so it's not a big deal, but getting that indent there enough to close the gap between the helmet parts is rather tasking.

Yelling Face Part
Perfect for those intense poses or the charge shot effect. Z's review called this the "kiai" face, and I think that's very suiting.

Normal Arm and Option Hands
When boxed, the X-Buster comes on X's right hand, which is normal since X is primarily right-handed until he turns to the left side of the screen. XP The swapping is a simple rectangular peg-into-socket that actually holds very well, when pressed in far enough.

Great for poses where having one less hand may not be so beneficial, the option of having the buster switch out with a normal arm was a no-brainer which was included even with the Mega Armor Series figures.
Did a shot of X doing his wall slide/kick jump which is pertinent for climbing buildings and avoiding fall traps!

The open hands (Only pictured a couple times, but directly above for scroll-less convenience) are great additions for buster holding or dramatic effect. Unlike the Mega Armor Series' hands where the fingers were molded straight down, the D-Arts X's are fanned out, allowing for very natural looking griping on the buster or other posing opportunities.
I used another shot of the tri-shot effect because this was probably my favorite shot (photo), and I'm glad it turned out!

And, finally, for everyone who's curious:
This is the height among the three main contenders: The Mega Armor Series Rockman X, the D-Arts X and Kotobukiya's 1/10 scale Rockman kit. As you can see, the D-Arts X is BARELY taller than the Koto Rockman, but towers over the MAS X. Doing some math, the D-Arts figure scales in at roughly 1/12.3 scale. Hopefully Zero will be within the same scale and be taller than X. We'll find out in September (or later).

Closing up on this figure, I'd like to say that Bandai and Tamashii Nations has truly outdone themselves with this release. It's my hope that they continue with this line for a long time, and I will pick up every one along it! I haven't pre-ordered Zero (1st Ver.) or Full Armor X yet, but will as soon as I am able!

RATING: 5 OUT OF 5!

Thank you, everyone, for you patience with me getting this review out, and I apologize for the lack of pictorials for may of the important artifacts of this figure.