Tag Archives: tunshi studio

Sep 23 2024

Metal Slug 3: Fiolina Germi by Tunshi Studio

Holy crap, it was a little more than a year ago when I checked out Marco Rossi from Tunshi Studio’s line of Metal Slug 3 figure series. I’ve been meaning to dip back in and check out the Rebel Soldier, but it’s easy to get sidetracked when toy blogging. In the meantime, a couple new Slug figures arrived a short while back and my, my… what have we here? It’s a couple of ladies! And we all know it’s ladies first, so I’ll stick the Rebel Soldier on the back burner and check out Fio! I gassed on for a while last time about what the Metal Slug series meant to me over the years. Once an unattainable luxury, the first one of these games I ever owned at home was Metal Slug X on the PlayStation and it was good enough for me. Of course, now I can play the series on various consoles and formats, some legit and others not so much. But I never let that rob me of my appreciation, as rarely a week goes by where I don’t fire up one of the Slugs hear MISSION START! and put a huge smile on my face, thinking about what wonderful times we live in. Plus… Metal Slug ACTION FIGURES!!! Who could have ever imagined that!

As we saw last time, the packaging and presentation for these figures is absolutely off the charts. The roughly 6-inch scale figure comes in a heavy-duty cardboard box that resembles the character compartments on the Soldier Select screen of the game. Fio peers through the window and there’s a folded front flap, secured with magnets, that opens to show the figure and gear through a full sized window. Inside, Fio comes in clear plastic tray with a little compartment up top for an instruction booklet that includes a walkthrough of the articulation. And there’s a second nested tray to hold the insane amount of stuff this little lady comes with.

The line makes use of a super articulated body with actual softgoods clothing, which is so unusual for this scale. And yet Tunshi pulled it off quite admirably. The tailored outfit consists of an abbreviated white tank top, a yellow tactical vest, orange shorts with khaki trim, khaki sleeves under her knee guards, and brown socks feeding into her sculpted boots. For the most part the stitching is immaculate, although there is a stray thread here and there, mostly on the shorts. She’s got a brown pleather belt with a fanny pouch, pleather wrist bracers, and the plastic kneepads are held on with elastic straps. I think the costume looks great, although it feels like Tunshi took a few liberties with the coloring. Perhaps, they sourced some art I’m unfamiliar with, but I recall her outfit being mostly khaki. Still, the colors make for some nice variety and I don’t mind.

You get two head sculpts to choose from, although the second one is pretty specific and we’ll check it out later. The stock head is adorable with some really impressive paint work on the eyes, especially for this scale. The glasses come packaged off the figure and you get a pair for each head. Getting them on was a bit scary, but once they’re on they remain in place with no worries. The hair is sculpted separately from the head, giving it a nice depth as it frames her face, and the ball cap is plastic, but has such impressive texturing it actually looks like it could be cloth. Her sculpted hair spills out the back of the cap in a short ponytail.

Tunshi’s system of articulation is excellent, with double-hinges giving tight bends in the elbows and knees, swivels in the biceps and upper thighs, and a ball joint under the chest. The joints are smooth and easy to work with, but the shorts do inhibit the range quite a bit in the hips. The costume does strategically cover a lot of the figure’s jointing, with only the elbows and upper arm joints exposed. On a side note, I believe Tunshi is selling the bodies alone now, which is pretty cool if you’re into customizing. As for Fio, you get four pairs of hands, but these are mostly intended to interact with different accessories, rather than being gestural. I would have liked some relaxed hands and fists, but you’re already getting a lot in this box so I’m not going to complain.

I mean, just look at it all! It’s a mix of useful accessories and window dressing, but there are just so many great little plastic references to the game in here! And as near as I can tell, only the grenades are recycled from Marco’s stuff, and there you only got one, here you get four! Let’s run through the other goodies and we’ll start with the weapons!

First up, Fio has a revolver and this is such an amazing little sculpt, giving off a bit a Wembley Service Revolver vibe to me. It has a black finish with brown checkered grips and there’s even a loop in the handle for a lanyard to be tied to. Fio’s gun hands have a straight, but bendable trigger finger, so she can practice proper trigger discipline! I love that, because these hands can also double as pointing hands.

But, there are truck loads of Rebel Soldiers in Fio’s path, so she needs more firepower than a wheelgun. Thankfully, she comes with a submachine gun! This is cast in black plastic, feature some very nice detail right down to the cocking handle on the receiver. The magazine is removable and if you look close you can see the tiny exposed rounds at that top of the magazine are even painted gold.

As for melee weapons, Fio has a PR-24 style police baton, which can be converted into a combat axe and that is freaking badass! The axe head simply slots and tabs in for quick and easy conversion.

Fio also comes with the special weapon, Iron Lizard and the Power Up that can be collected in the game to grant you the weapon. The Power Up Box is a recolor of the one we saw with Marco with to letter I’s that stick to the box with magnets. The Iron Lizard itself is a fantastic representation of the goofy remote control bomb seen in the game and includes a blue thrust effect part that can plug into its tail pipe.

The rest of the weapons are window dressing for your display. You get a couple of large howitzer rounds, a cannon ball, and a crate with a top to store all those grenades in. But, how about a picnic?

…Fio’s got you covered. She comes with a yellow picnic blanket and a little ziploc baggie containing her lunch: a sandwich and a bunch of bananas. There’s also a red ruby in there! And here’s where that second head comes into play, as it’s intended to depict her eating her lunch. Yes, we got a sandwich-eating head! This one is mostly the same in terms of the hat and hair, bur her eyes are closed and her mouth is open and about to take a bite. Yup, it’s very specific, but I’m sure people will think up other uses for it. Like yawning because she’s tired from the fight… what were you thinking?

And our last stop is the stand. This is identical to the one we saw with Marco and includes a flexible support with a spring-loaded waist-grabber that supports the figure really well for action poses. The base has a sculpted wood paneled surface, which can actually slide out, maybe in case Tunshi decides to offer options on future releases.

You also get a clip so you can secure two display stands together and they look really good connected. There’s plenty of room between each figure and when I find the proper space, I’ll likely be connecting all the displays like this. I think it would have been cool to get an optional Metal Slug name plate, but you do get licensed branding on the bottom of the base.

What could possibly be the downside to such an awesome figure? Well, the price is steep! At $140, it’s probably not unfair to say that these are priced at more than double the high range for this scale. Indeed, these are without a doubt the most expensive figures I ever purchased in the 6-inch range. Granted, you’re getting a really nicely designed body, fully tailored clothing, and a crazy amount of accessories, so I can definitely see where the money is going. Toss in the fact that these are imports based on a videogame property that is still somewhat niche here in the States and I can’t complain. I couldn’t have even hoped to ever own premium figures like this based on Metal Slug back in the day, so I’m more than happy to invest in the line. I promise not to go so long before revisiting with this line, and next time I’ll jump back to look at the Rebel Soldier and after that it’ll be Eri’s turn!

Aug 2 2023

Metal Slug 3: Marco Rossi by Tunshi Studio

Much of the last half of the 90’s for me was being teased by pictures of the Metal Slug series in gaming magazines and knowing that I’d never be able to play it. Scratch that, I actually did get to play the first Metal Slug in an electronics store that had a NEO GEO AES demo unit on display. I played that and Cyber-Lip and then found how much they cost and that ended that pipe dream. About five years later my dreams came true, and by that I mean I got Metal Slug X for the PlayStation. It was a stripped down, tweaked and modded version of Metal Slug 2, but I didn’t give two shits because I was finally playing a Metal Slug game at home. Yeah, you kids with your emulators and digital downloads have no idea what it was like in the Gaming Dark Ages. Fast forward to now and I have close to a dozen legit ways to play the entire Metal Slug series in my Game Room. What could possibly be more incredible than that? How about Metal Slug action figures! Enter Tunshi Studio, a company I never heard of. They revealed a series of 1:12 scale figures based on Metal Slug 3 and despite them being pricey releases from an untested company, I pre-ordered the first two: Marco Rossi and a Rebel Soldier. I was originally going to look at both figures today, but by the time I got through all the stuff included with Marco, I decided to spit them up.

Here’s the packaging and it is one inspired presentation! The box is made to look like the compartment on the Soldier Select screen with Marco looking through the window. It’s made of very heavy cardboard stock and has a magnet that secures the tri-fold front flap. Inside, the figure comes in a nested clear plastic tray with a little compartment up top for an instruction booklet that includes a rundown on the articulation under the softgoods outfit. YES SOFTGOODS! I actually swapped the heads before taking this packaged shot, so let me swap them back and we’ll take a look at Marco as he comes out of the box!

And, hot damn! This guy looks amazing! The super articulated body reminds me of the bodies that Storm Collectibles are putting out, and that is very much intended as a compliment. These joints are easy to work with, move fluidly, and include double hinges in the elbows and knees. The figure is dressed in a pair of baggy green trouser fatigues, a white sleeveless t-shirt and an orange vest with double pockets on each side. He’s got a belt, wrist bracers, and some absolutely phenomenal sculpted boots. Normally I would not have believed softgoods were a smart move for figures in this scale and license, but boy does it work beautifully here. The tailoring is pretty clean, but there are a few loose threads I may trim. I like that the pants are baggy so as not to inhibit his articulation.

You get two head sculpts, with the first being a somewhat neutral expression. I think the sculptors did a great job translating the rather unique 2D art stylings of the game to 3D plastic. Marco has a determined, downturned mouth, a pointy nose and eyes that look like they have seen some serious shit. And believe me… they have! The sideburns look great, he’s got a dirty white headband, and that ridiculous lock of hair that zig-zags its way over his forehead. There’s some nice shading on the skin and the yellow hair is bright and snappy.

With that having been said, this second head is the one I’ll be going with most of the time. The mouth is wide open showing off his teeth in an exclamation of joy at the sight of everything exploding around him. Marco looks like he enjoys his work and revels taking on this new threat in the game’s third installment.. Spoilers… it’s aliens… again.

In addition to the two heads, you get a passel of hands. These include fists, a pair of accessory holding hands, a left thumbs up hand, and a right trigger finger hand. All of these are super easy to swap out.

Marco also comes with a softgoods backpack as part of his outfit. This attaches using legit shoulder straps and looks great on him. It’s a fantastic bonus that really adds a lot of value to the figure.

If you guessed this figure comes with guns, you’d be right! You actually get two, which may seem light considering the number of weapons in the game, but most of the weapon upgrades you pick up just convert your rifle into firing something new. Also, I think Tunshi spread them out a bit as incentive to buy more figures. First off, Marco comes with his semi-automatic pistol, which is his default weapon in the game offering unlimited ammo. It’s cast in black plastic and has some excellent detail in the sculpt. There is no articulation or removable magazine.

Next up is HEAVY MACHINE GUN with the multi-purpose under-the-barrel tube. This is another great sculpt with some sharp detail. The pump actually slides and the stock and pump are both cast in brown plastic and you get a little more brown on the grip. Marco comes with a wide grip left hand so he can cradle the pump in it.

You also get a HEAVY MACHINE GUN effect piece that plugs into the barrel and looks really damn cool! I should note that the HEAVY MACHINE GUN is a power-up in the game, activated when you pick up the container marked H, and as you can see you get the power up icon as well. This is actually a blank with a magnetic H included for each side. It definitely gives it a more premium feel than just printing or a sticker.

Marco’s secondary attack in the game is his stock of grenades and you get a lovely potato-masher style stick grenade to toss at those enemy bosses. Luckily he gets more than just one in the game.

The final weapon in Marco’s arsenal is a combat knife, which is his default attack when he gets close enough to an enemy to shed blood. Or white sweat if you’re playing the US version. Once again, this is a beautifully detailed piece with a painted silver blade and a serrated back edge.

Moving into some basic equipment, Marco comes with a walkie-talkie and a field canteen. Both of these work well with the left open grip hand.

You also get a whole pile of other extras and a box to keep them in. The biggest item here is the rocket for the RAWKET LAWNCHAIR upgrade. I think Tunshi missed an opportunity here because the blast effect part isn’t compatible with the tube under the gun and it isn’t removable, so it’s hard to really incoporate this piece into the display. Other bits include a magazine, an ammo belt, a medal, a lump of shit (no really!), and eleven metal cartridges.

And finally, you get a really nice display stand with a bendy support post and a waist clip. The base has a sculpted wood planking cover that can be slid in and out and there are clips so it can be attached to the bases of other figures for one continuous display.

At $145, Marco was certainly not cheap, but I can definitely see where the money went. The body is excellent, the softgoods look great, and there are just a ton of goodies in this box for play and display. Plus, when considering price, I think you probably have to factor in the limited appeal of this niche market. Metal Slug has definitely reached a wider audience in the last ten years or so, but it’s way past its heyday, so I have to imagine that the production on these figures isn’t huge. The first assortment included Tarma Roving, who’s outfit is mostly a palate swap, a Rebel Soldier and a Rebel Soldier two-pack with some exclusive accessories. I’ll be checking out the Rebel Soldier in a week or so. I haven’t picked up Tarma yet, but I probably will. I might even go for the Soldier two-pack, since it has some exclusive extras. I do have the two ladies, Fio and Eri, on pre-order.