Series: 1, Street Fighter

Craftsmanship: 9.5 / 10

- Not the most detailed character, but has a unique look

- Captures the likeness of Sodom

- Alternative hand with fan is cool

- Poseability is good

- He can do his opening pose!

Playability: 9.0 / 10

 -Lots of articulation

- Accessories are easy to lose

- Can perform signature moves

- His huge arms and chest may limit his playability a bit

Support AE!  Buy Action Figures Here:

Be notified of site updates. Sign-up for the Newsletter sent out twice weekly.

Enter E-Mail Address Below:

“EEEWOOOOH! BRAVO! LET’S DO IT AGAIN!”

          - Sodom (Street Fighter Alpha movie)

An American with an obsessive desire to be Japanese, he joined Mad Gear to get respect but was beaten by Guy.

Do you remember the game Final Fight? The classic side scrolling beat’em up with characters like Cody, Guy and Mike Haggar? Do you remember fighting the second boss who wielded two katanas in the wrestling ring? That fellow was Sodom. I love Final Fight so you can see why I was filled with joy once the Final Fight cast made their way into the Street Fighter universe.  Sodom however, has never been very popular in the Street Fighter universe. In fact I can’t even recall any memories where I’ve seen anyone be him. Nevertheless, he is still a very fine addition to the Sota Street Fighter lineup. He stands 6 ½” tall and has around 30 points of articulation. You have to remember that just because Sodom isn’t very popular doesn’t mean he’s not a fine addition to the lineup. I love this figure, he’s built strong, has good articulation and best of all, he looks damn good.

Sodom’s sculpt is excellent. He looks exactly like what he does in the game. He might be a bit heavy and has a few balance problems depending on position, but for what he can do is more than exceptional. His mask is most impressive and Sota has really impressed me with the detail. His body in general looks plain and that’s because it’s suppose to be. Sodom is a very big guy and man does he have the hugest forearm guards that I’ve ever seen. Even though Sodom looks sort of plain he still looks very err…unique (that’s the nicest word I can think of using). You can really see the influence of the Japanese culture by the look of his demonic samurai mask, his sandals and kanji symbol located on the chest. He 

Advertisement

has a lot of points of articulation but because of his big chest and bulky arms, he’s a little bit harder to play with unlike some other Street Fighter figurines like Ryu. This doesn’t mean it’s impossible to play with Sodom though. He’s still better than most toys on the market, in fact you can position him in various kinds of kicks and punches.

Like his sculpt, the paint application on Sodom is kind of plain, but again, it’s supposed to look like that. Even though it’s plain, I really like the color tones used. His jeans are a pure bright blue and his shirt is a bright red. These colors seem to match very well and Sota took advantage of this to easily hook the human eye. The bits of gold on his forearm guards and crescent moon on his mask look exceptional.

Accessories included are his trusty sai-like weapons, his crescent moon thing that attaches to his mask and an alternative hand that has a fan in it. Oh and I forgot to mention that the reason why the crescent can be taken off is because he also comes with a bamboo hat that’s attached to a blue striped cloak! That’s right, you can replicate his opening fight sequence from the game using the hat, cloak and fan. This just shows how serious Sota is with the Street Fighter lineup with neat little bonuses like that.

Sodom can replicate plenty of moves from the game. It should be more than obvious that he isn’t able to replicate some moves like tengu walking because he can’t do a handstand using his weapons for balance. 

You can replicate the Shiraha catch pretty well with Sodom. It’s not hard to position him into the move, but of course there’s some degree of imagination needed to perform it well.

The Butsumetsu Buster is easy to perform. It’s like a power bomb but with a jump added onto it. Sodom looks like the type that would use this type of move and even though his hands are closed, he can still make it look good and accurate to the game.

You can also make Sodom imitate Daikyo Burning. You can position his sais in the charging position and even position his arms for the move’s second sequence. The part where he drags his opponent on the ground and strikes his opponent like a match, well that’s better left to your imagination unless you feel like lighting a toy on fire, which I would highly suggest thinking twice about. I still have frightening childhood memories from past experiences… Not only is it dangerous but man did it ever smell bad!

Is Sodom worth the money? Hell yeah! Don’t overlook him because he’s not a popular character. He’s a great addition to your Street Fighter collection. Hopefully SOTA will eventually release the rest of the Final Fight crew. There’s still hope for Guy in series 4.

- J’Tonello

(December 24, 2004)