Ultra Seven by Medicom

Medicom released Ultra Seven recently and while it isn't a model kit like Marmit's Ultra Seven, the costume seems a tad small and bulges at the crotch, not very ultra gentleman-like.

Medicom Real Action Heroes (RAH) Ultra Seven

Is that a Beta capsule in your pants or are you just happy to see me - ha! ha!

Always felt that Ultra Seven's back (area just below the mask) seems rather unfinished, like something's missing

Ultra Seven is actually a soldier from the Land of Light in the Nebula M-78 system and a humanoid but I don't remember seeing ribs on his back. Not sure what Medicom is trying to do here because Ultraman Ace had similar strange anatomy.

Ultra Seven's mask is done very well, along with his chest and shoulder armor

Ultra Seven's most distinctive feature - his Eye Slugger: The crest on Ultra Seven's head can be detached and used as a throwing weapon. This is Ultra Seven's most well-known weapon, and possibly the most famous of all Ultra attacks. 

Ultra Seven by Marmit

Before Ultraman Ace, there was Ultra Seven. Ultra Seven is the third Ultra Being after Ultraman and Ultraman Zoffy. Ultra Seven went on to become one of Japan's greatest fantasy TV series. Ultra Seven (or simply 'Seven') has appeared or at least made cameos in nearly every Ultra Series following his own and has had far more exposure than even the original Ultraman (though the original Ultraman is without a doubt the face of the Ultras).

This was Marmit's Ultra Seven version 1. It came with a nude figure, rubber suit and hard vinyl gloved hands and boots. The chest piece and shoulder armor were made of rubber and had to be painted and trimmed. Same went for the mask which was a two-piece D.I.Y. 'assembly required' clear plastic which also required painting after glueing the parts together. This was basically a vinyl model kit that required quite a bit of work and not a toy that was ready to be played with once out of the box. But the end result wasn't too bad.

The molded rubber suit gave it a sense of authenticity, much like the real thing.

Problem with Marmit's rubber suit and figure: it doesn't offer much articulation, unlike Hot Toys' Appleseed pair of Deunan and Briareos or Batman

Ultra Seven was visually different from Ultraman, being mostly red with a removable crest (which doubled up as a weapon) and more 'boxy'-looking eyes.

The mask, neck area, chest and shoulder armor had to be put together and painted.

Unlike most other Ultramen, Ultra Seven does not demonstrate any of the time constraints that plague most of the other heroes of the Ultra Series. On occasion however, the Beam Lamp on his forehead would begin blinking in a similar fashion to the Color Timer that the other Ultras had. This tended to occur when Ultra Seven was in mortal danger, suggesting it warned him how badly weakened he was rather than how much time he had left to fight.

Eye Slugger - The crest on Ultra Seven's head can be detached and used as a throwing weapon. This is Ultra Seven's most well-known weapon, and possibly the most famous of all Ultra attacks.

Next up: Ultra Seven by Medicom

Ultraman Ace Henshin Cyborg

This is Takara's Henshin Cyborg Ultraman Ace released in 1972. The Henshin Cyborg figure was based on the popular 12" (1/6 scale) Combat Joe body (also known as Japanese GI Joe). The toy featured clear Combat Joe figure with visible "cyborg" and "atomic engine" innards. Costumes from tokusatsu series such as the Ultraman and Kamen Rider were released and the Henshin Cyborg could be outfitted with said costumes. The concept is similar to Captain Action.

Henshin Cyborg Ultraman Ace






Comparison of old and new

There's also the Henshin Cyborg V3 Kamen Rider.

Ultraman Ace by Medicom

Ultraman Ace is the 5th show in the Ultra Series, after Ultraman, Zoffy, Ultra Seven and Ultraman Jack. For me, the Ultra series was one of two of the greatest tokusatsu(live action films with special effects), the other being the Kamen Rider series. I am only familiar with the Ultra brothers of the Showa era (describing the reign of Emperor Hirohito from 25 December 1926 to 7 January 1989). There hasn't been that many 12" costumed figures of Ultraman Ace released so I was pretty pleased when Medicom announced their release of Ultraman Ace.


Ultraman Ace by Medicom


Ultraman Ace's head fin has a great big hole in it and a Beam Lamp up front. Other than Ultraseven's detachable fin, Ace's is probably the most useful fin. The Beam Lamp can fire his Punch Laser and the hole is a place where energy can be gathered, stored or released (it is the nexus for his most powerful weapon, the Space Q). It is also where he emits Ultra Signs into the sky to communicate with other Ultramen.




Not too sure why Ultraman Ace has "ribs" on his back - a little strange even though the Ultramen were aliens from The Land of Light, Nebula M78

A view from the ground up as Ultraman Ace was supposed to be 40 meters high

Ultra Seven by Marmit

Ultra Seven by Medicom

USAF U-2 Pilot

The U-2 was originally designed as a high altitude reconnaissance platform to penetrate the airspace of the Soviet Union in the mid-1950s. Most of the U-2 fleet today was made in the mid-late 1980s. The U-2 was built to operate at altitudes above 70,000 feet. This caused the aircraft to be made with long wings (today's U-2 has about a 104' wingspan) and configured with a bicycle (tandem) type landing gear.

The U-2 pilot is integrated into a full pressure suit, similar to what an astronaut wears because of the hazardous physiological regime of the high altitude flight. The pilot must prebreathe 100% oxygen for 60 minutes prior to takeoff to avoid getting the bends. The pressure suit would be needed if the pilot were exposed to the atmosphere from a rapid decompression or having to eject from the aircraft. If the pilot were exposed to the environment at 70,000 feet, the gases in his body would rapidly expand causing a disastrous burst.

This Elite Force U-2 Pilot "Bob Chapman" was released by BBI in 2003 and is one of the finest pilots/fly boys ever released, perhaps second only to the ultimate astronaut ever by Dragon.


One of the amazing things of this set is the GNS-1031 helmet with movable protective and sun visors, and snoopy cap with comlink

Sun visor

Protective visor

Note the helmet locking ring as well

U-2 pilot "Bob Chapman"

Full pressure suit with inflatable life vest

Flight boots with boot support

Clipboard

Also comes with patch and two pens

The rebreather unit with vent hose

Bob reporting for duty!

Water bottle and food assortment

How feeding is done in the high altitude environment