S.H.Figuarts Dragon Ball Daima Piccolo review

Looking back on my review for Goku and Vegeta, I understood they had this approach towards being standard entry releases for anyone who had never gotten Figuarts before, given how basic they came across. To be fair, not much you can do with some characters who wear their most iconic outfits 98% of the time, in addition to avoiding adding Super Saiyan heads, so we can sell variants later down the line. Thankfully, Piccolo doesn't really have that issue, given we're likely to see him either with or without his badass turban and cape. Given my problems with Goku coming across as petite and Vegeta being smaller than normal for a Figuart (even if it may be scale accurate), let's see if the GOAT himself is able to beat his Saiyan friends.

Here we have Piccolo in-hand, who is a new sculpt as we previously covered with Goku and Vegeta. This is done to not only match the animation style Daima introduced, but it also experiments with fewer wrinkles in his gi. His colors are closer to how they appeared in Super, and by extension, the manga, though the hues are altered to match the art style. As for his build, while the physique isn't as muscular as prior versions, it is possible to shift the arms out so his torso could appear broader without leaving any gaps around the shoulders. He also doesn't come across as petite as Goku, though it could be from the bulk of his legs and the shape of his torso. His arms look somewhat thinner than the 2.0 mold, and while the aforementioned shoulder pull can fix that, I still think he could benefit from extra bulk. One positive I do like is that the figure's elbow joints are consistently molded with the skin padding. You even see a bit of it beneath his pecs, which makes me wonder if anyone's looking into making shirtless mods for any battle-damaged customs. So still not exactly ideal for any fans more accustomed to the styles of Z, GT, and Super, but still better than what we got with his fellow Z-Fighters.

His head sculpt is decently made, though, as always, the eyes are all tampographs, and the lips are slightly detailed with a line to separate them and give the impression of a mouth. Thankfully, the antennae are firm and not likely to pop off. His accessories include two alternate heads without the turban, a turban-wearing head with two alternate face plates, crossed arms, 4 pairs of hands, and his signature cape.

His articulation consists of a very crazy double ball neck joint with additional hinges on top of a ball joint buried at the base of the neck, which allows you to display him either with a ridiculous elongated neck or display him better with the cape, so his head won't be swallowed by it. Shoulders are on ball-jointed stems in addition to complex butterfly joints that contribute to making the shoulders broader, bicep rotation, elbows bend at double joints, yet can only reach around 90 degrees for some reason, wrists are on a double ball & hinge joints, the torso is on two joints, yet the belt is being sculpted at the top of the gi and as a result leaves gaps in his articulation. He has swivel hips front and back, the leg hinges look awkward when moving in and out much further, thighs can rotate, the knees can bend at single joints with some slight aesthetic oddities when bent, and the feet can swivel, hinge, and pivot before we get to the toe-ticulation.

The cape is the shining star of the set, as it is not only made of cloth goods but is also wired at the edges, much like what we got with Son Gohan from the version of the character that surpassed his own dad. We already know about the alternate faceplates, heads, and hands, but I should mention that the turban on his head is made of a more flexible material than the 2.0 version of Piccolo.

For a comparison, here we have him with the 2.0 version of Piccolo. While many would like to get a new figure and say it's the best version of a specific character, I still think 2.0 is the better version of the character overall. The darker color scheme and girth in his arms make him more appealing all around, not to mention the wrinkles in his clothes give him that baggy yet badass look to him and ant Z-Fighter. I kind of like the smirking face on the Daima Piccolo more, and it is commendable that reused parts are used minimally between characters, but I still like the Z version of the character, even with his own flaws.

For anyone wondering, you can switch the capes between both releases, and having it wired means you can adjust it on the older figure to better match his proportions. However, the alternate turban head that comes with Daima Piccolo will not be compatible with the different shades of green on their skin and their respective headgear. It's also possible that head swaps won't work. Overall, I don't know if I would get more Daima figures, as while it was cool to see another stab at a continuation to DBZ in parallel timelines a la GT and Super, I don't really feel invested in having to get another incomplete cast of characters given we have only a select few legacy characters as adults and kids (Goku, Vegeta, and Piccolo) while merch for everyone else is out of the question. I'm already annoyed that we mostly focus on Z-Fighters more than we do any other characters, like new versions of Bulma and Chi-Chi. At the same time, Videl has yet to get a Figuart, but somehow Pan receives two, and even specific characters like Androids 17 and 18 are downright impossible to get. That being said, if you want to get a character from Daima, get Piccolo. He's still got issues, but I find him to be more satisfying to own than the Saiyan duo I covered earlier. Sure, they're half the price of what he costs, but what's stopping them from feeling less basic and been-there-done-that? Also, Piccolo is still the best character in all of Dragon Ball, even if he does less in later installments. 

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐