This figure is so massive that when I took it out of the box I thought it was some sort of magic-trick because there's no way this thing could have fit in there! Zangief is 8 inches tall, and just as wide with his arms stretched-out. He's a bit too tall, but small mountains still look like mountains, so the small size discrepancy isn't much of an issue.
      Zangief doesn't suffer from the Unfinished Sculpt Syndrome Dhalsim is afflicted with, the whole figure is sculpted cleanly (the pair of fists look good, but the open hands look like they're suffering a little USS). Every vein and scar is distinct and the hair sticking out from the top of the boots still makes me laugh. The exaggerated muscles have oddly reasonable proportions, though you'd think a guy who bench-presses bears would have bigger pecs. The way the upper-body is sculpted makes the chest seem under-developed because the shoulders rest slightly forward, taking-up some chest space. This is done to let the arms swing fully forward so Zangief can crush skulls and boulders with his bare hands (skulls and boulders sold separately). It's a similar build to the DCSH Parasite figure, it makes him look like a tick, or like he has a shell. This effect is made mainly by the thick traps at the neck, but it's ignorable. The small chest, however, can get annoying if you focus too much on it. Thankfully, the tuft of hair helps hide it.
      The boots and wrist-bandS have clean lines, the small round pieces around the belt are surprisingly uniform. The underwear has wrinkles and a suitably large bulge to intimidate his opponents, and the ladies, with.
      Aside from the fists, you only get an extra set of open hands in the package, but that's okay, because it's all you need to powerbomb all your other figures. There's no extra head, which I'd like to complain about, but just look at the size of this thing! We're lucky he even has the head he has now! I've seen BOATS made with less plastic than this figure! Still, an extra less-insane head would have been greatly appreciated. It seems like it was planned though because the head pops-off too easily to be just a factory error.
      Another thing that bugs me is that there's a noticeable gap at the waist. Anyone else have this problem? At least it doesn't seem to have loosened the joint.

Sculpt Score: 8 / 10

Paint Score: 9 / 10

      All joints were working smoothly right out of the package, always puts a smile on your face after having paid so much for a toy. The thing is that being such a large figure, it's only a matter of time before the hip/knee/ankle joints become loose. They got loose on my figure in like half an hour. I thought for sure SOTA would put click-joints in at least the hips and shoulders, but there are none, apparently. All swivel-joints are standard, no clicks. Not even the massive upper-body has a click-joint in the midsection, and so, it was the first thing to get loose! Boooo! And the worst part is that I'm not sure how to fix it, I don't see any good spots to add a little glue in there. I'm hoping the mid-section comes apart like Dhalsim's, but this thing is so thick I don't know if it would even budge. The neck was super-loose, but sticking a little gum in there fixed it. Elbows and knees are single-hinges because of how thick the limbs are, so the most they can bend is roughly 90 degrees.

List of POA:
-Neck: Ball-socket
-Shoulders: Swivel-hinge (no pivoting shoulder-sockets)
-Arms: Upper-arm swivel, hinged elbow, wrists are a swivel-hinged
-Torso: Mid-section hinge (can't bend backwards, doesn't bend all the way forward due to sculpt), waist swivels
-Hips: Swivel-hinges
-Legs: Swivels again near the hips, hinged knees, ankles are hinged and have that nifty angled-swivel that replaces the rocking ankles

Articulation Score: 7 / 10

      Zangief is a big burly hairy bruiser with thick scars and veins and thighs big enough to choke a polar bear with. He's basically what every one of us wanted to be when we were growing-up, minus the whole Communism thing because no one wants to play with the Commie Kid. There is always an inherent element of fun with giant figures, I blame it on decades of "HULK SMASH!" jokes. And you know he's got nothing better to do than smash stuff because when you're this big, you can't really do much else for fun. What are you gonna do, hop on your skateboard? Go on a Ferris wheel? Be a productive member of society? Help little old ladies cross the street! NO! You're gonna run out buck naked into the world and smash the hell out of everything and anything that gets in your way! Because you're 8 feet and 600 pounds of rampaging man-meat and you go where ever you want and do whatever you want! And if a moose or a bear or a helicopter is stupid enough to cross your path then you're gonna pile-driver it! And eat it raw! And spit out its bones and make a basket with them because you're Zangief! Master of the Siberian wilderness! Undisputed Champion of Street Fighter Tournaments! A venerable God amongst men! No one dares challenge you for fear of what foreign objects you may shove up their arses! RAAWWRRRR!
      I want to give this figure a 10/10, but the loose joints stink.

Fun Score: 7 / 10

Oh crap, he's giving me the crazy-eye again! Eight! 8 out of 10! Whew...

Fun Score: 8 / 10

     There is no questioning this figure's worth. It's beefy, hairy, and enormous, and for $17 retail, this figure is a steal! Plus, There are no stuck or broken joints, no messy paint-job, no hassles other than a few loose joints you can easily tighten with some glue. Except for the ones you can't. Hah. Plus you get extra hands and a Holographic Cammy card! (assuming they all have the same card) Hell yeah! Also, don't forget that sexy packaging! It's a little hard to take the figure out of the box without damaging the box itself, which is a problem if you want to keep the box to display. Luckily, you can use your craftiness to realize you can use the top flap, from the inner paper-packaging, as a handle to neatly pull the contents out! (See picture below)

 

Value Score: 8 / 10  

Summary

8 - A few nitpicks, but figure looks good enough to have come from the original SOTA Street Fighter line.

9 - Almost flawless, that wacky left eye needs to be fixed.

7 - All joints work and expected limitations in the elbows and knees are there, the limited mid-section doesn't allow arching suplexes (yeah, it bothers me!).

8 - Loose joints are never fun, but big wacky characters that can snap your neck are!

8 - Huge, solid figure at a fair price, and if you've got a Cammy fetish like me, even better!

Overall Score: 83 / 100 - This is a Great Toy

If you remember Love Sausage from "The Boys", this figure becomes that much more desireable. If you don't, then there's something wrong with you! [I don't. - TAO]

-Dr. Nightmare (drnightmare@articulateddiscussion.com)

Dr. Nightmare pops his head up anywhere and everywhere you can find toys, and frankly, it's getting annoying. From his own imagination-filled blog, The Underground Junk Hole, to the customized halls of Figure Realm, he regularly contributes to the online action figure community. He's one heck of a customizer and thought-spiller to boot.