CCS Toys UMA Series: Ultraman Belial

 

I pre-ordered CCS Toys' UMA Series: Ultraman Belial for about 56 USD. Wouldn't you know it, a week  after I pulled the trigger and placed my order, Blokees announced their Legends grade Ultraman Kaiser Belial. Oof.

The short of it is, skip CCS Toys' UMA Series: Ultraman Belial.

I love my original Ultra-Act Belial, but Ultra-Act's dead. He's still compatible with the smaller S.H. Figuarts Ultraman figures but I felt it was about time I got a newer iteration, especially since I've been getting the larger scale ACG, ZD and even Blokees Legends Ultraman lately, so I wanted something on the bigger side as well.

ZD figures usually look great but that's about it. There's been some improvement to their paint durability in their recent offerings but generally, I'm not that big a fan of ZD unless I just want a figure purely for display. Hence why I was on the fence with their at the time, upcoming, Belial. So when I saw CCS Toys was also coming out with an affordable Ultraman Belial, I decided to pre-order him, since from searching around, it seems CCS are pretty good with the quality of their products.

 
Yeah, to reiterate before going further, don't get this Belial figure.

He's pretty big at 7.8" tall to the top of his head and an even 8" to the top of his fin. He's got a very nicely THICC and chunky upper body. Joints are tight. He has a lot of aura.

But his paint chips at the slightest touch. I've already got a chip and scratch on his shoulders from raising them up sideways once. Luckily, his arms seem to be red with the black being the painted on parts, so fixing this chipping should be relatively easy. But it means that effectively, all this guy's posability are for nought. His mouth doesn't even seem to open much. Maybe I just haven't figured it out yet, but it barely opens up a smidgen.

There are some characters where articulation isn't all that important. Like a Darkseid for instance. You can just have him standing with his arms behind his back, doing nothing but farm for aura. Even Kaiser Belial fits that bill. But regular Belial's one of those rare, action-oriented baddies. It's what made his Ultra-Act such a great figure.

If you haven't gotten this guy already, then don't. Just get the Blokees Legends Kaiser Belial, which from the looks of it, can switch between his Kaiser Belial and regular Belial looks.

If you're just going to have Belial on your shelf looking good, UMA Belial is okay, but you might as well just get the ZD version which would look almost as good at nearly half the price. But as a Belial action figure? He's technically good but is nonetheless, a disappointment. I'd put him on D-tier but with all his accessories, light features, size, and the posability he technically has, I guess I'll bump him up to C-tier.

I'm a bit overspent due to the holiday season, but I'll probably pick up Blokees Kaiser Belial some time in the future.