DAM TOYS Gangsters Kingdom 1/6th scale Diamond 5 "Ralap" 12-inch action figure review

This was part of my August 2016 haul (see the toy blog post HERE)

This is DAM TOYS Gangsters Kingdom series 1/6th scale Diamond 5 "Ralap" 12-inch action figure. Diamond 5 Ralap's backstory is that his parents were killed when he was 6 years old and he was raised by wolves. He was finally brought back to civilisation after 15 years and by then, he was just a wild beast clothed in human skin. And the gangs gladly took him in.

I don't know about you but I only saw one character when I look at this picture, and that is none other than Wolverine, a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, commonly associated with the X-Men. The character first appeared in the last panel of The Incredible Hulk #180, with his first full appearance in #181 (cover-dated Nov. 1974). Wolverine's catchphrase pretty much sums up his character, "I'm the best there is at what I do, but what I do best isn't very nice." Wolverine is typical of the many tough antiheroes that emerged in American popular culture after the Vietnam War; his willingness to use deadly force and his brooding nature became standard characteristics for comic book antiheroes by the end of the 1980s. As a result, the character became a fan favorite of the increasingly popular X-Men franchise, and has been featured in his own solo comic since 1988.

Wolverine has appeared in most X-Men adaptations, including animated television series, video games, and the live-action 20th Century Fox X-Men film series, in which he is portrayed by Hugh Jackman in eight of the nine films. And Hot Toys has chosen to only release 1:6 scale Hugh Jackman Wolverine from the many X-Men films and none of the other X-Men characters because Wolverine seems to be the most demanded character, hence more profitable to produce and release than any other X-Men. Check out my toy blog post HERE to see pictures of the various Wolverine 12-inch figures. Back to DAM TOYS Gangsters Kingdom 1/6th scale Diamond 5 "Ralap" 12-inch action figure review.

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The box cover has a strong reference / resemblance to the artwork of Mike Mignola, the American comic book artist and writer who created the comic book series Hellboy for Dark Horse Comics. Before Hellboy, he had worked on titles such as The Incredible Hulk, Alpha Flight and the Rocket Raccoon limited series at Marvel Comics. He also drew the Phantom Stranger and World of Krypton limited series, produced the Cosmic Odyssey miniseries in 1988 with writer Jim Starlin, and crafted the Gotham by Gaslight one-shot in 1989. Check out the Batman Black & White Mike Mignola statue posted on my toy blog HERE - it is still one of my all-time favorite purchase

The 1/6th scale wolf "Ghost" and Diamond 5 "Ralap" 12-inch figure are packed side-by-side. The wolf has two interchangeable lower jaws.

Diamond 5 Ralap's accessories are packed in a foam tray below the main figure.

This DAM TOYS Gangsters Kingdom 1/6th scale Diamond 5 "Ralap" 12-inch figure and Wolf "Ghost" boxed set also comes with a comic with the same Mike Mignola inspired art on the cover.

The art continues inside in black-and-white. The artist certainly likes to copy Mignola's distinctive and unique art style.

This is DAM TOYS Gangsters Kingdom 1/6th scale Diamond 5 "Ralap" 12-inch action figure without his jacket. Even the outfit is a homage to what Hugh Jackman wore as Wolverine in the "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" movie. You can check out the action figure review of Hot Toys MMS103 "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" movie 1/6th scale Wolverine Limited Edition Collectible Figurine posted HERE, HERE and HERE.

Ralap comes dressed in white T-shirt worn over a white padded vest, black belt with buckle, black jeans pants and Cowboy boots. He also has a necklace with what I can only assume are wolf's teeth (there are three of them).

DAM TOYS Gangsters Kingdom Diamond 5 "Ralap" 1/6th scale accessories: Brown leather jacket, steel talons holster x 2, shoulder holster, cigar, steel talons x 2, revolver, rapid speed loader x 2, flask with carrier pouch

Also comes with additional 3 interchangeable hands, and steel talon with blood effect.

Here's Diamond 5 "Ralap" with 1/6th scale shoulder holster and revolver

And this is Wolverine (I meant "Ralap") with his steel talons. Talons usually mean claws, especially those belonging to a bird of prey. I think the description is wrong seeing as Ralap was brought up by wolves and not eagles. In the backstory, it is mentioned that Ralap is wielding a pair of scissor katar in each hand but a check on google doesn't seem to match the description either. The closest thing Ralap's claws resemble are the Tekagi-shuko or Tiger Hook Hands which were one of the many kakushi buki or hidden weapon deployed by Ninjas. It does mention in the story that Ralap's weapons were custom-made for him so steel claws sound about right.

DAM TOYS Gangsters Kingdom 1/6th scale Diamond 5 Ralap's facial expression is as Wolverine as one can get, from the snarling face and teeth to the unique hair-style and beard. There's just no mistaking this head sculpt for anyone else other than Logan (James Howlett) aka Wolverine even if he is supposedly "Ralap".

Here's a closer look at the claws with blood effect

And lastly, Ralap (Wolverine) smoking a cigar. Problem is, the angry expression doesn't go well with cigar smoking. Usually people are relaxed when they are smoking so an angry smoking man doesn't make a good advertisement for cigars.

NEXT: An introduction to and review of "Ghost", Ralap's pet wolf