Any of you have a Holy Grail?  A toy that you covet so much that it becomes an obsession in your hunting?  That’s what this Samus Aran figure is for me.  After years of searching I was finally able to acquire one for a reasonable trade.  Definitely feels good.

I love Samus Aran.  Anyone who’s read my Most Requested last year knows I’ve been waiting for a decent figure of this character for a long time.  I finally got my wish when The Good Smile Company announced they’d be making a Samus figure in their Figma line.  I am super excited for this figure, and I finally thought I could stop obsessing about the rare and expensive Dimension Diver kit that I’d had my eye on.  But the Toy Gods were being extra kind to me, and I was presented with an opportunity to pick up this model for a very reasonable price.  Even with the new figure coming, I couldn’t say no.

This figure was made by a small independent toy company known as Dimension Diver.  They’re based in Japan and create small runs of garage kit figures to be sold at various conventions like Wonder Fest.  Even with the high retail cost of at least $100+ per figure, they still usually sell through their products quickly due to the excellent sculpts and quality of their products.

Interestingly, this Samus figure is an officially licensed Nintendo product.  Dimension Diver was able to acquire a “single day license” to produce and sell their figures with the blessing of the parent company.

Each figure comes unassembled and requires a fair amount of work to put together.  This usually entails cleaning the pieces to remove any of the chemical release agents that may still be left on the various parts.  Cutting and sanding any extra flash.  Gluing areas like the upper and lower chest or inner and outer thigh pieces together.  Finally you’ll have to drill deeper holes to accommodate the joint system.  This last step is the most precarious since it has the greatest potential of ruining the figure.

The joint system this figure uses are similar in function to Revoltech or Figma figures.  A various sized ball hinges connects two body parts together with pegs, allowing for a swivel/hinge motion from each joint.  This gives Samus swivel/hinge movement in her neck, shoulders, elbows, wrist, torso, hips, knees, and ankles.  The only area that doesn’t have one of these joints is her swivel biceps.  As you can imagine, this gives her a huge range of movement, but you do want to make sure the joints aren’t too tight or they can break.  Continue to page 2…