Jada Toys Street Fighter II Ryu review

Street Fighter is undoubtedly a badass fighting game, beginning life as the iconic arcade from when the cabinets of the 80s grew bigger and better over time, while the series would eventually grow into the consoles of today with a change in graphic representation as well as a handful of crossovers from different franchises, such as Marvel, SNK, Tekken, Smash Bros, and Power Rangers. Ryu's character is also a famous part of the franchise, though some have found his darker side to be a bit underwhelming. We've had plenty of figures in the past for our hadouken-blasting hero, and most recently, he was covered as a Power Ranger that he took form of in the Legacy Wars crossover game (later in Battle for the Grid); that being said, Jada Toys may make a Ryu figure that does a better job than most retail-friendly 1:12 scale figures, so let's see if it fulfills that.

Here is Ryu in hand. This figure is likely the best we've ever gotten from Ryu in terms of a mainline release. I know there have been Figuarts and Storm Collectibles that tapped into the franchise before, but when it comes to Jada, they did an excellent job. Ryu's design is appropriately recreated in this line, giving him the muscular proportions and the addition of a few paint apps here and there for the fingerless gloves (which were normally brown in SFII but eh) and the kanji for the black belt he wears. The texture for the clothing is done to add an extra bit of layer of realism that proves a sense of dedication from the toy designers. The skin tone is somewhat accurate to the character, as all of it is cast in plastic and has been done to look as natural as possible while the airbrush is added subtlely on the clothes and skin to make it less plasticky. I guess if one were to complain, the white for the gi of his outfit doesn't match the same shade of white for the legs. Otherwise, this is a fairly good job for a more mainline take on the character design.

His head sculpt is mainly good, but be aware that quality control will vary depending on the copies you find in stores. This is one of the knocks against Jada, as the eyes, eyebrows, and lips have paint apps that don't align properly with other reviews. The hair and bandanna appear to be painted separately in addition to being separate pieces. But going to the articulation, the neck is on double ball pegs, the shoulders swivel front and back, hinge in and out, swivel at the biceps, bend at two points for the elbows, swivel at the wrists, and hinge inwards for the hands (outward movement is hindered due to the sculpt of the gloves). There are butterfly joints, two joints for the torso (one for the diaphragm and one connecting the lower torso to the waist). The hips move front and back, in and out (with the waist piece being equally flexible PVC as the gi), thighs swivel, knees bend at two points (which are pinless along with the elbows), there are swivels above the feet while the ankles can hinge and pivot. 

In terms of his accessories, Ryu comes with open hands meant for Hadouken poses with an alternate angry head to boot. While not easily visible, a pair of hands are embedded within the Hadouken piece, a nice touch I didn't expect until reviewing this figure. The black belt and gi are removable, allowing him to have his chest bare. Admittedly, I haven't reviewed Fei Long yet, but I know he's got better anatomy than Ryu does.

Since Fei Long is not a reuse of Ryu despite having a similar body frame, we will cover the repaint exclusive to SDCC earlier in the year: Evil Ryu. Of course, the white of his gi and pants are dark gray, his fingerless gloves are brown, and his eyes are filled with corruption. He comes with two hadouken pieces in orange and purple while the wooden post sign comes in both pristine and damaged forms. An alternate head is included, though it's more in between the expressions of the faces that were already present earlier.

With Wolverine posed fighting against Wolverine in reference to their crossover careers being shared from X-Men vs Street Fighter all the way up to Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3, I feel now is a good time to discuss where I stand with Jada Toys' efforts in the Street Fighter line. Overall, this has been a fairly solid start to a hopefully promising wave. I never had any other experience with Street Fighter action figures made by Tamashii or Storm, and I know Hasbro flopped with the MvC Infinite line just like the game itself sucked, but not only is this a sign of promising things to come, but it's also free of the MCU being shoved down our throats since 2012 after Disney strongarmed licensees. The same goes for the photo with Wolverine fighting Ryu since they basically shaped what makes the iconic side of Marvel vs Capcom into a beloved franchise that began even before Spider-Man was involved (since there was also X-Men: Children of the Atom before X-Men vs Street Fighter was made). I recommend you get this figure, but do keep in mind of the quality control issues on the face.

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐