M.Bison (Street Fighter) - Collectible Review

Licence: Street Fighter
Product Type: Mixed Media Statue
Product Size: 19" H (482.6mm)
Product Weight: 20.00 lbs (9.07 kg)
Box Size: 23.00" H (584.2mm) x 19.00" W (482.6mm) x 13.00" L (330.2mm)

Price: $359.99US

Pros:
- Great pose
- Three hands and two heads
- Great detail
- Real cloth cape

Cons:
- So big you might have a problem finding a good place for display
- Detachable heads and hand could mean missing pieces if you have kids in the house

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Most of the collectible and action figures reviews I've done over the last 10 years focus solely on the figure. Sometimes I'll mention the packaging but usually it's in relation to "I took the figure out of the packaging." But with Pop Culture Shock's M. Bison, the packaging is where the figure starts.

Box front (left); box rear (right)

The box is massive, which allows a lot of splashy artwork and information to be showcased. The amount of effort and planning that was put into the box is a great indication of how much due care and attention was put into the figure in the box. It's just unfortunate that after the figure has been removed from this expertly designed packaging there's nothing left to do with it other than store it, or throw it away. (Don't do that!) It can't be left on display for people to look at -- it's just too big.

Actually extricating M. Bison from the box took me a careful 15 minutes. Even then I managed to break the insignia off one of Bison's heads! I was just fortunate that I

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didn't slash his cape as I used a pair of scissors because that would have been a hell of a repair job. The insignia was an easy spot-of-glue fix; my sewing skills aren't as good. The cape comes packed in the side of the Styrofoam sarcophagus and using a blade to cut the tape was probably a bad idea.

Once all of Bison's pieces are freed, assembly is relatively straightforward. His feet

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plug firmly into the heavy base, a hand is inserted (held in part by a magnet), and a head dropped on to the neck. The only tricky bit I encountered was getting one of the shoulder pads in place. There are two prongs in each pad that plug directly into Bison's shoulders. The holes are hidden by Bison's black fabric uniform. There are short slits in the fabric above the holes so the fabric needs to be gently held aside so the prongs can slide in properly. I had problems with the left shoulder pad because a small piece of fabric kept getting pinched between a prong and the fabric. It meant the shoulder pad sat too high.

Once the pads were in place it was a simple matter to secure the satin cape with the "buttons" that plug in to the pads.

Before I could sit Bison on a shelf and start admiring the detail and faithfulness to the source material, I had to spend some time brushing off bits of Styrofoam. The black fabric unitard really makes Styrofoam stand out!

And I should reiterate a point here because my failure to remember it almost ended in disaster.

The base and the figure are not permanently attached.

I suppose one could glue Bison's foot plugs into the base with liquid Nailz or some equivalent, to eliminate the problem, but if you ever want to put Bison back in the box (like if you're moving), you'd have screwed yourself. Otherwise, pick Bison up from the base with both hands! I nearly had the base crash onto hard tile after picking up Bison by his legs to move him to his display spot on my dresser.

M. Bison is about 20" tall -- that's almost two feet! -- and weighs in at 20lbs. He's large and heavy which means where to place the figure is a big consideration.

Once that important aspect is taken care of, enjoy! And if one tires of the hand/head configuration, they can be swapped out to keep the figure "fresh."

There are three hands: a normal hand, a translucent blue hand, and one that is encased in blue flame. (See pictures.) It's a good assortment and it was during a swap that the flame hand slipped from my fingers, hit the floor, and splintered off a big piece of resin. Fortunately for me it was a single piece and it was on the part of the hand where the viewer would have to be behind the figure and looking right at the palm of the hand. With the right glue I managed to make the obvious break much less noticeable. At least for the casual observer -- I know it's there and it bugs the hell out of me!

A problem with any collectible with parts like Bison is that they're small enough to be lost if they're not kept in a safe location or if there are kids in the house.

Though I think I prefer the original red color scheme of M. Bison, the black theme really makes him look like a villain, especially when the Malevolent Smile head is installed. I suppose the truly industrious could manufacture a red unitard, but like I said before my sewing skills aren't so hot.

The sculpting and detail are fantastic. I wouldn't expect Pop Culture Shock to produce anything less than that. My single observation, the one area that could be improved on would have been the paint transition between the neck and head. And I bring that point up only because I tried to find something, anything, wrong with the figure.

m bison street fighter

M. Bison had a limited run of 250 pieces, which means a potential for an increase in value on the secondary market in the coming years, especially among Street Fighter fans, to which such a collectible is squarely aimed. (Provided it can be kept in one piece!) It might not be a dramatic return on a the $359.99 price tag but I'm not sure that's the kind of consideration that enters into the decision making process when it comes to buying something like M. Bison.

It looks damn cool and for any Street Fighter fan there's no other reason needed to justify getting M. Bison while he's still available.

- Aaron Simmer

(May 16, 2011)