Trigun: The Planet Gunsmoke Highly recommended

Manufacturer
Kaiyodo
Year
2000
Materials
Plastic
Height
20

Nicholas D Wolfwood

By John Huxley
20th Aug 06

I actually got my hands on this toy a long, long time ago.

And I’ve been meaning to review it for a long, long time but I’ve never quite gotten around to it. Maybe this was because I couldn’t be arsed taking the photographs for the review or perhaps I was simply too scared that I couldn’t do such a wonderful figure justice in a simple review. Yeah, more likely the former...lets not give me too much credit here.

Anyway, this little beauty has been sitting around on my shelf for donkeys years and it still looks fantastic. The figure initially caught my eye after I’d watched the anime Trigun for the first time and fell in love with the character of Nicholas D Wolfwood (in a totally non homosexual way, you understand...although, if I was that way inclined...yeah), a travelling priest who carries a around a huge crucifix which conceals an array of weaponry which he uses to deal justice in God’s name. Despite his clergyman status, he is the very antithesis of Vash, a man who believes that violence can solve problems if dished out by the right hand. Yet he’s a super-cool sort, with shades and a cigarette butt hanging from the side of his mouth accompanying his nonchalance attitude. OK, so maybe he’s a little broad, but this is Yahsirow Nightow we’re dealing with here!

The figure captures his character perfectly. Not only is the sculpt spot-on right down to the minute detail, the almost unparalleled level articulation allows you to set up the figure in any pose you can find in the original comic or anime. And yes I mean ANY, even those totally ridiculous ones that don’t look humanly possible. This is a toy that has been so obviously crafted with such love and joy of the original material that you can easily imagine the sculptors slaving over the comics and anime to ensure everything is as accurate as they can possibly make it.

Long gone are the days when an articulated figure meant it would look unnatural in all but one or two poses. Made from a slightly soft plastic, each part of Wolfwood’s body is affixed to the whole by either a screw or ball joint, including a couple that you really wouldn’t expect. The area around the shoulders hides an extra joint which allows him to arch his arms backwards; an action crucial for some of his more famous poses. All of these joints are cleverly concealed either behind another part of the figure, in the folds of his clothes or masked by the simplistic (yet still perfectly suited) paint job. OK, so if you pay close attention they’re actually pretty easy to spot, but still you can tell a lot of care an attention has gone in to making them as innocuous as possible. And considering the benefits, one or two joints here and there really aren’t much to cry about.

The only downside to this level of articulation is, of course, the fact that it can take an age to set up if you’re as anal as I am. You could seriously waste hours getting that pose -just so-. But hey, at least you’ve got the option.

The attention to detail is carried over to the accessories, which include several replacement hands and an alternate head for complete customisation (fag or no fag - the choice is yours! ...fag meaning cigarette). There’s even a teeny little church included complete with stain glass window which he uses as a portable confession box in the anime. I’ve not got the Vash figure to try it out, but apparently it fits!

While these are all great additions, the accessory I really want to talk about is the by far the biggest - his gigantic crucifix/gun. Standing almost as tall as the figure itself, this huge silver cross acted as a mobile arms factory in the comic and anime, concealing a rack of handguns as well as a machine gun and a rocket launcher in both ends of the cross. Think the musicians from Desperado with a religious twist. Again this vital piece of the puzzle is perfectly sculpted, with one of the extra hands modelled specifically for the purpose of tying everything together seamlessly. No more trying to squeeze an ill fitting gun in to a hand that would look ridiculous without it. They’re really thought of everything here. There’s even the cloth and string provided if you want to display his cross in its wrapped-up state. To be honest I’ve not had the patience to try it, but again the option is there if you want it.

Without hesitation I can say this is as close to the perfect toy I’ve ever seen. Sure, there might be static models that look nicer and toys that make better play things, but for a poseable figure this is perfection. And that goes for the whole Planet Gunsmoke Trigun figure line, or at least the ones I’ve been able to get my hands on so far. I’ll try and get some reviews for the others written up, but in the meantime you can rest assured that they’re all well worth picking up if you’re even remotely interested in Trigun. Personally I think Nightow’s fantastic sense of design should have an appeal above and beyond fans of the series, but I realise I’m not going to convince many people of that here. Lets hope he applies his magic touch to other series so a wider audience can enjoy this quality of figure...

-- John Huxley 20th Aug 06