S.H.Figuarts Dragon Ball Z Scouter & Awakening Blood Vegeta review

Vegeta's classic form has been very interesting when it comes to how much it represents the sort of role he had when he was more of an antagonist rather than an anti-hero. The shoulder pads, the scouter monocle, and the skirt panels add to the whole concept that I think of every time I see this version of the character. In addition, I always find it unusual that a classic Vegeta isn't always made available in Figuart form, with the first one being pretty dated in terms of proportions and articulation. There is a third one that is going to be a whole lot more faithful to the character's stretchier facial expressions to contrast the more stoic ones of this figure, but is this still worth getting? Let's find out.

Here we have Scouter Vegeta in hand, and my copy has been custom-painted by its previous owner to match the shade of blue associated with this design specifically.  It's not too noticeable in these photos, but there may be a bit of paint wear in some areas, and some joints may not have been painted entirely. Anyway, this figure generally matches the design well, though I have seen some fans complain that the armor isn't wide enough at the torso. On one hand, I could be fine with the way it looks given how 2D designs aren't always going to be quite easy to translate in 3D (unless we have a character drawn with multiple angles as is the case with a series like DBZ vs a show like Fairly Oddparents). On the other hand, the somewhat smaller torso does make the arms feel somewhat out of place, and that is attributed to the V-shape not being as dynamic as it normally would be. I do like that the tan parts of the armor plates are painted on so the lines would be more visible, and the inclusion of the tail wrapped around the waist is a reminder that the Saiyans have monkey elements to them. Honestly, I forget about that sometimes since they normally aren't drawn with their monkey tails. It's like how Wallace in A Grand Day Out had a smaller mouth than he is normally depicted in later movies, or how the first season of Spongebob had a somewhat different color palette and design traits for each character compared to later seasons.

The head sculpt has more hair than noggin, fitting for the prince of the Saiyans such as himself. I love that the slight linework around the cheekbones and tips of the eyebrows add a sense of depth to his face from the animation. Even the mouth has a bit of paintwork implemented to make it stand out while matching the animation. As far as accessories are concerned, his tray includes an alternate head with his scouter, three alternate faceplates, an uncoiled tail, a left hand with the broken scouter, and two pairs of hands with their fingers either splayed out or clawed somewhat. He also has his arms detached, but why is that you may ask?

We'll first cover the articulation, which consists of neck joints that feature a ball at the tip, a hinge underneath it, and rotation at its peg, a ball joint at the base of the neck, ball joints at the shoulders, bicep rotation, double-jointed elbows, double-wrist joints for rotation at the neck and hand as well as a hinge for any direction, a diaphragm joint, a slight waist swivel, ball-jointed hips, thigh rotation, double-jointed knees, double ball ankles, and toe-ticulation. The shoulder and skirt plates can move out for extra space, though the waist rotation probably should have a better range.

Perhaps most noteworthy is the monocle-like scouter device that clips over his left ear, and it's even intricately painted to represent the schematics of any power level he's scanning. He also has a pair of alternate arms that look more naturalistic given they were made to be crossed. This was a feature previously shown on another Figuart from another Toei anime I reviewed long ago, that being Sailor Uranus (and Neptune, by extension). As for the alternate left hand, you know what that means...IT'S OVER 9000!!!!!!!! The joke may be old but it's still got a bit of charm in some ways like "pingas" or "Mama Luigi" do.

Neither tail really likes pegging in that well on the butt. The one wrapped around the waist at least is not a loose fit given it has a respectable length to it, but this option required me to use a bit of extra force or shave any plastic or paint that the previous owner might not have shaved off. You could leave him displayed without the tail, but doing so will leave his ass hole present. On a side note, my copy's left leg has a tendency to pop off (in fact, both legs are removable but the left one is moreso), so I came up with this next pic for shits and giggles.

For a comparison with other Vegeta figures with similar attire, on the left is the 1.0 released early on in the Dragonball Z franchise's Figuart resume, with the one on the right being the 24000 Power Level version made recently. The original version of the character was made when they just developing their experience making Figuarts of characters who'd normally have stylized proportions versus the more armored Kamen Rider characters (they also did some Super Sentai characters but they were much skinnier than the figures we saw from their relaunch as well as the Power Rangers Lightning Collection). 24000 Power Level is much more accurate to Vegeta's proportions, and though he lacks the skirt plates, that figure does capture the earlier episodes he appeared in at the time. Mostly the ones where the facial expressions would be more exaggerated than in later seasons. I may get 24000 Power Level someday, though I know he has limited articulation. Though 2.0 does have some issues with how he was designed, he at least manages to make for a good second stab at the character. He may fit in better with the style of some of the recent Figuarts fine enough, though I think 24000 Power Level may be easier to get if you want that version. One thing is certain, however: He is a short king. 

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

As for Super Saiyan Vegeta: Blood Awakening, this figure better captures his training clothes without those shoulder or skirt plates, and it manages to clean his silhouette up while still retaining his iconic silhouette. It's definitely the hair. The figure's hair is painted with a metallic wash to simulate the Super Saiyan hair glow typical of the series, and the torso articulation is thankfully much better. He has one less alternate face plate, but they still retain most of the same expressions we saw earlier apart from the lack of a gritted teeth expression.

And for anyone wondering, yes, you can use this for a more vanilla Vegeta if you want. (Vaneta? Vanilleta? Vegilla? I don't have a good pun). The heads are easy to swap, thankfully. Makes you wonder why we don't get both normal and Super Saiyan heads in the same set. Oh well, you can't have it all at once...anyways, I don't mind that his hair looks somewhat different from Goku's since it gives them some form of distinction between how their Super Saiyan appearances look compared to one another. Plue, at least it's nothing to lose sleep over like, say, the inconsistencies between some Lightning Collection Rangers.

Let's quickly showcase some repaints (or prepaints depending on your POV). From left to right are SSGSS Vegeta, SSGSS Unwavering Saiyan Pride, and Older Style Battle Clothes. The former two represent the new blue hair signature of DB Super while OSBC represents his attire in the Frieza Saga. The latter one I have on the way, but I need to wait for Premium Bandai to ship him ASAP.

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐