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Saint Cloth Myth - Virgo Shaka |
| Series | Saint Cloth Myth |
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| Title | Virgo Shaka | |
| Release Date | August 2004 | |
| Manufacturer | Bandai | |
| Suggested Price (JPY) | 4,000 | |
| Scale | 1/11 | |
| Height (cm) | 16.5 cm (approx) | |
| No. of Parts | 1 figure + 40 extra parts + 1 instruction manual | |
| My Rating | Excellent |
Related Items:
Story
Virgo
Shaka, believed to be a Gold Saint whose cosmos is being nearest to God, has an indifference
towards justice. He knew that the Master of the Sanctuary is evil and yet swear his
allegiance to him as he believe that good and evil has no absolution and just a mere matter
of perception that changes over time. His believe changed as the fighting spirit of Phoenix
Ikki touches him during his duel at the Palace of Virgo.
His special attacks 'Tenbu Hourin' is believe to possess the strongest offence and defense, an attack, which trapped his opponent in the 'Wheel of Truth' upon execution. Shaka then will have absolute control over his entrapped opponent where he can casually destroy his opponent’s six senses one after another. This deadly attack is only seen twice on anime; during the duel with Phoenix Ikki at Palace of Virgo in ‘Retaking of Sanctuary’ and against the three revived Gold Saints, Saga, Shura, Camus in ‘Hades: Chapter Sanctuary’. Shaka's 'Tenbu Hourin' is almost invincible and by far only seen bested by the forbidden attack, 'Athena Exclamation', executed by combining the power of three Gold Saints. This proves Shaka's reputation as 'One Whom Nearest to God'.
Interesting Fact on ‘Shaka’:
“When Buddhism arrived in Japan in the 6th and 7th centuries AD, Prince Siddhartha became
known in Japan as the "Shaka" or as "Sakyamuni," which means "Sage of the Shaka Clan" (his
actual birth clan).”
Packaging
Virgo Shaka is the third rendition of Gold Saint in the Saint Cloth Myth Series, comes
packaged in a yellow ‘book box’. It opens to reveal two window boxes; in one window box is a
really well articulated figure of Shaka, along with some of his cloth parts while the other
half contains the rest of his Gold Cloth and Virgo Object parts. There is no noticeable
difference in packaging as oppose to prior releases except for its colored instruction
manual comes in 6 pages instead of the usual 4 and in a different layout.
The following are the parts count and items in bold are made of metal:
Left Tray:
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Right Tray:
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Additional Item:
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| The 'book-box' opens to reveal that it consists of two window boxes. | Box Packaging |
Figure
Shaka’s PVC figure is of the usual design, fully articulated with extendable ankle and
shoulder, and can be differentiates from the prior releases in two places. Firstly, each
release comes with a different body color and Shaka’s is in reddish brown. Secondly, Shaka’s
head sculpt is something new in design.
One of the challenges in designing Shaka’s figure is in the head itself. Shaka had his eyes close half of the time in anime and only opened his eyes during his execution of ‘Tenbu Hourin’. Moreover, Virgo armor is the first cloth in the series to have a helmet instead of a circlet. Stuffing Shaka’s long hair into that cramp helmet poses quite a challenge. Lastly, Andromeda Shun should be able to don the Virgo armor as seen in ‘Chapter Hades’.
Bandai cleverly meets all these challenges by implementing some never before seen design. This is where I will take an entire paragraph to talk about the head itself. Shaka’s hair come with a single articulation allowing his fanned out hair to move up and down. The top portion of his hair is removable resulting in a thinner hair so that his helmet can fit in. Instead of providing an extra head, the package includes an extra face piece to swap between a close and open eyes complexion. This requires the removable of Shaka’s hair and the face swapped with the mention extra piece. Additionally, Andromeda Shun can be seen donning the Virgo armor by swapping Shaka’s head with the extra Shun’s head provided in the package.
The Gold Cloth in armor is solid, hefty in weight and immediately increment Shaka’s height by a centimeter or two. The paint job is beautifully done with the entire armor plated in bright yellow gold decorated with intricate patterns. I notice a subtle difference in coloring among the three Gold Saints releases. Virgo Shaka’s armor is more towards yellow gold in overall tone comparing to Aquarius Camus, which is looks orangey while Leo falls somewhere in between. The subtle color variation definitely demonstrated Bandai attention to details where it would be a lot less boring displaying all three Gold Saints together.
The Gold armor’s reproduction stays true to the anime; distinguish from the rest of the Gold Cloth with stylish triangle shoulder armor, formed from the wing of Virgo secured to the back of the armor by 4 pins and an armor piece to cover it up.
I notice another improvement on the mantle design. Previous releases of Gold Saints come with 2 plastic plugs sewn onto the mantle where those plastic plugs durability to repeatable use is questionable. In response to that problem, Virgo’s comes with a thin and flat metal plate sewn on it. Putting on the mantle require to slot the metal plate to the back in between of the mentioned pins and then nicely close up with an armor piece.
Virgo Object
The construction of Virgo object, presented as a lady praying in a kneeling position, is
quite straightforward. Putting on the armor to the Object is the same as putting on the
armor to the PVC figure. The object consists of a main piece with body and head. The four
limbs are attached to main body via non-plated pins and sockets. Plastic-layered non-plated
joins is a feature first utilize in Aioria’s Leo Object (somehow missing in Aquarius Camus)
and its re-appearance here is a great welcome resulting in a much solid Virgo Object. The
wings, which suppose to the shoulder armor, are attached to the back of the armor and look a
bit odd since the size and span of the wings are a tad too small.
Conclusion
This release comes with a wide range of accessories, hands and a much-improved armor
design. Moreover, considering Virgo Shaka as one of the memorable character in Saint Seiya
TV series, I will say that this is a ‘must have’ for all fans of Saint Seiya.
This item is pre-ordered and purchased from HLJ.
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| Shaka's with his helmet on ... that is before being hit by Ikki's Phoenix Genma Ken | Uh, Oh! Shaka's eyes is open! Ultimate Attack! ... Tenbu Hourin! | Shun donning the Virgo Armor? Don't expect to see it on TV. You gotta read the manga on Chapter Hades to know why. |
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| Virgo Object view 3 angles - Front, Side and Rear | ||
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Document Date : 2004-10-24 Last Modified : 2004-12-24 |
Responses to this page:
Blank! I would want to ask, if possible to order the Myth Cloth Virgo ?Chip ax payments PayPal? I write from Italy, I can send it to me in Italy? How much me costs shipment expenses? Thanks, I hope to receive your news! Good bye
hi paolo, the owner of this page doesnt sell myth cloth.
Instead, you can buy it in HLJ.com, a very good page where I buy my myth cloths.