S.H. Figuarts Dragonball Z Super Piccolo review

Piccolo's role in the DBZ universe harkens back to the days of the series' old run. While many would see him as the bad ass anti-hero we best know today, he was initially seen as one of the first antagonists that Kid Goku took on in the anime's seasons long before Dragon Ball had a Z at the end. Back when he was King Piccolo, he went after Earth and began a rivalry against the protagonist of the series. No doubt, he was a major challenge for the young Saiyan, and it only made sense that his son/final reincarnation would stray away from what his dad/past self once did and slowly become a trustworthy ally. Hell, he helped Gohan step his game up and become even more powerful than his father, with many seeing this as a way to debate over who would be a better inspiration for the son of Goku, more than Goku himself! Sure, Piccolo would eventually be put to the side in later sagas, but there is as much of a dedicated fan base for this Namekian as there is with a lot of the Z Fighters we got before and since then. Let's give this character a review that's been long overdue!

Here we have both figures in hand, equipped with their most vanilla accessories. For simplicity's sake, I will refer to the first as Piccolo and the other as Super Hero. At first, they may seem like the same figure beyond the colors of their skin patches on the arms and belts. If we look closer, however, we have the following differences worth mentioning: the torsos are sculpted differently for their fabric creases, there is a bit of red under Super Hero's clothes, the forearm skin patches are singular and face forwards on Super Hero, and the footwear goes from the original pointy shoes to proper boots. Even the shoulder skin patches are altered to be smaller on Superhero, as well as adding slightly longer sleeves. They do get in the way of the arm articulation (armticulation?), which is an issue that the original didn't have. The proportions match the character well, with this being a younger Piccolo instead of the taller yet aged look that his old self/father had. Whether you prefer the anime pink on Piccolo or the manga yellow on Super Hero, you can't deny that the aesthetics on this figure are already off to a good start.

Their neutral heads are not the same, as Piccolo has a glare while Super Hero has a smirk befitting his personality. I do find the red used on Piccolo's mouth a bit distracting, for how much it resembles lipstick. Meanwhile, the mouth on Super Hero looks more natural, yet the eyes are slightly misaligned. It is annoying for anyone who expects Tamashii Nations to be free of any errors, At least the antennae are rigid and sturdy, but be careful with them.

Their accessories are in differently handled trays, with Piccolo having more than Super Hero due to his turban, arms options, extra heads, and different display stand adaptors meant to work with how the cape is posed.  Super Hero is more like a regular Figuart option meant to be more affordable for new fans and thus only has a smaller accessory count.

The display options for Piccolo are a treat, allowing you to display him with an articulated cape, arms crossed, and with one of two expressions meant for the turban-wearing head. It's annoying to swap them, though. And the clawed hands are always great for gestural poses. Said cape is able to flare at the rivets moving in and out while the base can hinge up and down. It's similar to how Tuxedo Mask's cape works in the Figuarts line, and very different from the way MP or SS86 Starscream's capes with hinges, and a bit of rotation at the base.  Certainly not as streamlined the wired capes more commonly seen with McFarlane Toys, but it was a decent attempt.

In addition, he has an alternate right hand meant for him to use an Instant Transmission while also having his left arm torn off. Even still, he can be displayed with a yelling head as he continues in battle with his veins pulsing. More veins can pop with another alternate head looking off to the right as he has a more splayed open hand (one of two). 

Since Super Hero Piccolo has the same hands, and only has a less gritted teeth expression, the articulation will be covered here since they both function the same. They have two ball joints at the necks,am as well as for front and back motion at the shoulders, hinges for moving in and out and for the butterfly joints. There is rotation at the biceps, double jointed elbows, and the wrists can rotate where they connect to the arms, allowing to hinge either in and out or up and down, and the hands attach onto ball joints. There is a diaphragm joint, a slight bit of rotation at the waist as well as an hinge for straightening him or ab-crunching. The hips move front and back, in and out, swivel at the thighs, bend at two points for the knees; the feet are on ball joints while the toes have hinges. 

If you think that Super Hero can't use the turban accessories, you are wrong. I showed both figures with the back covers on, but you can remove them so that you're able to have the figure wear the cape via the circular peg on top, while the slots with the greens showing are meant for the flight stand adaptors. 

In fact, the lack of mismatching parts means that the swap is seamless, which is something I appreciate with these two. I know some part swaps with other figures from different companies don't always guarantee color matching, such as the Studio Series Apelinq head matching up with the colors of Optimus Primal.

As far as other Piccolo figures out there are concerned, I'm skipping 1.0 since I know it holds up less than the 2.0 we covered. From left to right, we have King Piccolo, the original incarnation/father of the Piccolo we know and love, Super Piccolo, and Daima Piccolo. While I prefer the Gohan-mentoring Namekian more than this older demon, I still want to get the original Piccolo just to have him be part of the collection and showcasing the duality between both characters (even if some would joke that King Piccolo would be seen as the racist uncle at the Thanksgiving dinner to the dismay of his son). Dragon Ball Super introduces Orange Piccolo as a powered up form of the character, giving him a bigger bulk, the symbol representing a Namekian tree, and antennae erect upwards. While I prefer the green overall, this is still a cool addition to the powers of the character. And with Daima Piccolo coming soon, he has a much smoother level of sculptwork to his clothing, no doubt meant to match the art style tweaks of the show. One positive is that he has a wired cape that we saw a version of from Teen Gohan. I'll be happy to get that to go with Daima versions of Goku and Vegeta just to see them in their Z, Super, and Daima counterparts for a bit of evolution. No, not Dragon Ball Evolution, fuck that movie.

Ultimately, this proud Namekian is a great huge improvement to the original Figuart we got a decade ago; while there are issues with the arms, and the reissue still having the plastic cape does show its age, there is a lot to love from the display options and better proportions that this version of Piccolo. The shoulders on Super are a bit worse, but the way these figures turned out overall puts a smile on my face. If you can get the reissue or the Super version, then you will regret nothing. Also, here we have Piccolo with his flight stand adaptor; it helps his cape flow from the back while he meditates in mid-air. 

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐