Much like with the Mortal Kombat line and the fixation on every and all ninja characters, it’s taken Storm Collectibles a while to get beyond the Mishima family for the Tekken brand. As an old school Tekken Tag Team Tournament player, I’ve been awaiting more variety in the line as the franchise has some great characters with fantastic designs.
King marks the first non-Mishima addition to the line making him one of my more anticipated Storm Collectibles figures for the year. King’s appeal was instant for me since he’s a wrestler right down to the mask he rocks during his matches. With any luck we’ll see Armor King arrive in the line sooner rather than later, but for now let’s see if King has what it takes to be the champ of the Tekken line.
Packaging: Storm Collectibles does such a stellar job with the packaging. The game logo is prominent as is the large portrait of King. The right side art features King in mid leap while the other is a direct render from the game art.
As usual, the back showcases some of King’s available moves as well as the various accessories. Unfortunately, there’s still no English text on the back, but that’s how the rest of the world feels with US-based lines that don’t have other languages.
Likeness: King has a unique look among the regular Tekken competitors thanks to his jaguar mask. It’s his distinguishing look so naturally Storm Collectibles made sure they nailed it.
The mask appropriately is a… mask and doesn’t show any emotion, which could have looked goofy on the figure.
I was impressed with the level of small details like the buckle on his elbow pad, the grooves of his MMA-style gloves.
It was very cool to see the intricate work on his boots with all the straps, buckles and rivets as well as the sculpted Mexico on the plate.
And of course, I can’t forget about the tail. It’s not overly long and is made of a pliable enough material not to get in the way of posing.
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Scale: King utilizes a wider base body and definitely stands out from the other Tekken figures. He looks the part of a burly, brawler and while that doesn’t always translate properly to height, he should be about the same height as Kazuya.
Paint: Since it’s not like you’re going to find a bunch of King figures sitting at GameStop it’s important for the paint to be as precise as possible.
The major areas like the mask and tights are nice and sharp. And surprisingly the very tiny lining of the elbow pads was solid for this scale.
There’s some overspray of the yellow on the gloves, but nothing too major.
Articulation: King was an appealing character due to his wrestling background and heavy array of wrestling moves.
You’re not going to be able to pull off all of his moves, particularly the suplexes, but the Shining Wizard, DDTs and his Giant Swing.
King has:
- neck
- shoulders
- elbows (double-jointed)
- wrist
- torso
- waist
- shoulders
- knees (double-jointed)
- ankles
- feet
Accessories: King has an OK amount of accessories although nowhere near the extent of the other Tekken figures. Due to the nature of the mask, an alternate portrait isn’t necessary.
The biggest is his cape. You have the option to have King battle in the cape, so I was torn on whether to include that as an accessory or part of his gear.
Regardless it’s a nice fit and hangs over his shoulders well. The inner lining of the cape also has the jaguar print. Storm Collectibles used a very soft material so outside of its basic heft it’s not impending any of his movement. That’s a big plus and after posing him a bit, the cape added a nice bit of flourish and helped make him stand out from the other Tekken figures.
He’s got four sets of swappable hands — fists, raised index finger, grappling and outstretched fingers.
Additionally, he’s got a power surge/energy effect that plugs in easily onto his fist.
Worth It? I got King for around $130. I like King and he’s a great addition to the figure, but he’s lacking in the accessory and size department to truly feel like the value of some deluxe sized figures from Storm Collectibles.
Rating: 9.5 out of 10
King is another home run from Storm Collectibles and only makes me look forward to more Tekken figures.
Where to Get It: You can grab King from Amazon for $121. Entertainment Earth has him for $114 with free shipping. You can also pick King up from Big Bad Toy Store.
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