TMMN Reviews: Bandai D-Arts Vile Figure (Warning: Image-Heavy)
It’s been a while since we’ve reviewed a Mega Man figure here on The Mega Man Network, but I’ve recently managed to rectify that with the acquisition of our very own Vile figure from Bandai’s D-Arts line, courtesy of Bluefin and Tamashii Nations. And in advance, I would just like to apologize for the less-than-stellar photography; if I get another shot at doing this, I hope to employ a good lamp and perhaps even a better camera.
The purple one’s packaging comes with an interesting hybrid of Eastern and Western features; as you can see in the picture at right, he is marked as “VAVA,” his Japanese name, complete with other markings which reveal his place of origin. Open it up, and you get the actual Western box, complete with Mega Man X branding and the villainous tag by which so many of us better know him as.
But don’t be fooled; though the packaging is indeed in English, open it up and pull out the instructions and– surprise! –the instructions are still in Japanese.
Fortunately, you probably aren’t going to need the instructions– save for maybe one part, which we’ll get to later. Unlike the Kotobukiya figures based on the Classic series, or even Bandai’s own “Mega Armor” and “Ironbuster” series from many years ago, these are not model kits; instead, they’re billed as “action figures,” though they may not necessarily deliver everything you would expect from such a term.
However, this does mean that– in a manner of speaking– there is no assembly required. Open the box, remove the top of the plastic tray cover, pop out the figure, and you have one bad Mav, ready to go. That is, if all you want from Vile is some bare-knuckle brawling. Otherwise, you’ll also want to free his vast assortment of accessories.
Vile stands at 130mm/5.1′ (according to Gundam Planet, and is primarily a medium-to-deep grape purple color, which seems to draw from the darker shading of his official Maverick Hunter X artwork. And though this figure takes several cues from his appearance in that game, there is a throwback to his original design by way of the Maverick “Sigma” insignia on his helmet. So much like its packaging, this figure is a bit of a hybrid in itself.
From the front, the main secondary color is black, which cover his upper arms, upper legs, and groin area, as well as the visor of his helmet. These are accented by a gold trim and a sort of pearly-white color on his hands, feet, ribs, and helmet, with a green belt line, silver elbow and knee joints, and some red details taking care of the rest.
In addition, the bottoms of his feet feature some nice molded detail (unlike most previous figures, including the old Bandai sets) and some transparent red sections which catch the light nicely. Even though these details are probably the least-likely to be seen on the figure, they are still a nice touch.
On the back, an extra color comes in to play with Vile’s blue backpack. It’s a medium blue which seems to fall between the two main “Mega Man” blues (though I don’t have a D-Arts X figure here to directly compare), and is further highlighted with more red and gold detailing. His attachable signature shoulder cannon(s) are a gunmetal grey with transparent red lens and detailing in green and gold.
As you will see in the pictures featured throughout this review, the articulation on this figure is quite stunning, especially compared to just about any Mega Man or Rockman series to come before it (with the possible exception of Kotobukiya’s; again, don’t have one handy for a direct comparison). Normally, I would even give a count of how many points of articulation there are here, but there are just so many, I’m afraid I’d miss some.
In addition, the figure uses something you don’t see much– if ever– in figures produced in the West: Double ball-joints. For example, instead of the one you might normally find on a shoulder to allow it to rotate and swing in and out, the entire shoulder itself can move here, providing for a much more realistic range of motion.
To give you an idea, suppose you wanted to have a figure reaching across their torso, clutching at their side. Most figures wouldn’t be able to reach properly, but this one could do it. And these types of joints are all over the place: head and neck, shoulders, legs, waist, wrist, and probably other places more difficult to tell (i.e. ankles, which are up inside the boot). Just about the only thing without articulation would be the fingers, for which there are different hands to achieve different poses.
Even the ammo belt is articulated– all of it:
Every single last bullet features its own hinge.
Moving on, as you can see in the picture above, Vile comes with oodles of accessories and interchangeable parts, the most popular of which has to be his glass of bourbon:
I’m not going to lie to you: I don’t drink, but this has to be the most fun accessory of just about any figure I’ve ever owned, as you’ll soon see.
To give you an idea of the figure’s size, here he is surrounded by figures from numerous other Mega Man and Rockman lines:
Here, we have the 10-inch Axl figure from Jazwares, the six-inch Jazwares Zero figure from Mega Man Zero, the Jazwares “Retro Roto” Proto Man, Mega Man from Toy Biz’s Marvel vs. Capcom line, Mega Man from Bandai’s animated Mega Man toy line, X in a Robot Ride Armor and Zero from Bandai’s Rockman X3 “Mega Armor” series, and Alia from Yamato’s Rockman X8 line of blind-packed figures. Hopefully one or more of these will give you some idea of how big the figure stands alongside whatever you may have.
Hmm, that’s a lot of good guys. It looks like our boy Vile is in trouble; what’s he to do?
Well, lucky for him, he comes with plenty of weaponry! Better still, if it’s not in use, you can plug the holes on his backpack where the shoulder cannons go with additional pegs, as seen here:
Once those are removed and the extra pieces are attached, you can arm Vile to the teeth– a one-Reploid army!
As you can see, one of those pieces includes a strange replacement leg based on his odd leg-based artillery. Unfortunately, the way the leg pegs into the waist is rather difficult to do, as the connection point is further down in the leg:
In fact, I could not get the assembly to come apart right at all to properly attach it. As a result, I just sort of propped him on his weapon leg up there. The rest of it involves disassembling the lower part of Vile’s leg, moving the upper gold frame to the weapon, and plugging the rest back in where the knee would normally connect.
Anyway, with Vile fully loaded up, he’s pretty awesome, and for the most part better than any line to come before it (again, save for maybe Kotobukiya, which I cannot qualify here):
As you can see, you can get some great poses and shots in from this figure. There is, however, a bit of a downside.
I mentioned earlier that this is considered an “action figure,” rather than a model kit. Unfortunately, while this may be true, the fact is that Vile– and presumably the other D-Arts figures, are not meant for the heavier play one might expect from a Transformers figure, a G.I. Joe, or even Jazwares or Mattel’s own Mega Man lines.
As noted, there are a lot of pieces to work with here, and in addition to the articulation of the shoulder cannons and the ammo belt (which only feeds to one of them at a time), there is are extra pentagonal blue pieces which plug into the sides of Vile’s backpack to mount the shoulder cannons on. These don’t stay in place very well as you try to move and pose the figure; once you strike the pose, it looks terrific, but until you get it there, expect a lot of one part or another from that assembly to come off. Thankfully, the rest of the figure holds together pretty well, with tight joints and most of the other pieces holding firm.
In addition, Bandai went the extra mile on this one with weapons detail. If you had the old “Mega Armor” figures, you might remember that some had weapons which could be plugged into holes in X or Zero’s respective Busters. Vile has a similar effect here, which can plug into either shoulder cannon or his knee-blaster. But check this out:
As you can see in the accessory pic near the top of this review, each armament has two interchangeable barrel tips: One which shows the ruby-red “lens” of the weapon, as often seen in the promotional art, and a second tip for holding the burst. It’s actually a shame there is only one burst to share across all three blasters, as having Vile opening up with all three at once would be a very striking visual.
Now that X has been taken care of, you might be wondering the same thing as Vile…
Well, the answer is… not especially well:
That isn’t to say it can’t be done with a little bit of work, but if Vile gets into trouble, he won’t have a leg to stand on:
Suffice to say, you’ll probably want to hope that the D-Arts Ride Armor is greenlit. For the rarity of the original and what it would cost to get it, it will likely be the better, more impressive deal.
It might also help him out a bit when he tries to pick up ladies, too:
So, would I recommend the D-Arts Mega Man X Vile action figure? That mostly depends on what your intentions are.
If you’re someone who likes to actually play with their toys, or were even considering this as a gift for someone who does, you may want to reconsider. It might have only been my figure, but the shoulder cannon assembly just comes apart way too easily, and in the hands of someone younger, the pieces would likely be prone to getting lost. In addition, while other parts– such as the shoulder armor, specifically– hold on much better, they too would no doubt succumb to any sort of play rougher than posing the figure.
That said, as more of a “collector’s item,” this figure is great. Posing with some of the accessories can take a bit of work, but you can see the results for yourself above. If you’re a fan of Mega Man X and like to display, or even take pictures of your figures, then it’s hard not to recommend Vile to help balance out the two X and Zero figures already available.
Vile is available now at a suggested retail price of $49.99, and less at Amazon. A sample for this review was provided to us by Bluefin.
Tags: Action Figures, Bandai, D-Arts, figure, Japan, Mega Man X, Merchandise, tama, VAVA, Vile
Filed under: Reviews
Nice review.
This particular figure looks like it can even rival the Figma line in terms of articulation and posing.
Too bad about the Ride Armor fitting though, on the other hand it opens speculation for a large-grade D-Arts Accessory…?
@HF: Thanks! And it would not be the first we’ve heard of it.
Must have missed it the first time.
I’m tempted to put it beside my PTX-40A figure (even if their scales are humorously off).
I currently own this figure as well as the Armored X and Zero Type-1 from earlier in the line, and I thought I’d mention a few things about them just to add to the review.
Of the three I own, Vile is definitely the most solidly built. His joints feel more strongly connected and he’s heftier in weight by a little bit. I have trouble with X and Zero dropping their forearms — likely because I swapped for the arm cannon parts on both of them — but Vile’s limbs are much more sturdy. I think that part of the reason Vile is so heavily armed and accessorized has to do with the lack of extra face parts. X and Zero both had interchangeable faces that could be inserted into their helmets and give them a wide range of expressions. To be honest, I was a little sad to not see a “glowing eye” head or a head with the MHX “V” emblem, but the other extras make up for it with this guy.
This is touched on in the review, but the D-Arts line shouldn’t really be considered “toys.” These are display figures in the vein of Figma and S.H. Figuarts, designed for a high level of detail and accuracy. They’re the definite choice for people looking for high-quality Mega Man related figures to display on their shelves or desks. My three are currently re-enacting the final confrontation at the end of MHX’s Vile Mode on my bookshelf. The pearlized white of Vile’s highlights really helps him to stand out from the other groups of figures around him.
Hopefully that extra little bit of info is helpful for people. I’m willing to answer specific questions about the figure(s) as well, if anyone has any.
@Swordoath: Thanks for the extra input! I felt the need to really hammer home the playability, or lack thereof, home after being told that these are indeed “action figures,” given what that usually entails.
And yeah, I figured the face thing probably played into the extra accessories– guess I forgot to mention that. Though honestly, with only the one burst, I think only one “firing” cannon tip was needed.
And, of course, I’m willing to answer anything I can as well. =)
Looks great, although I’m in no position to order one. Still, double-cannon Vile on the ride armor holding X’s head and a glass of bourbon (or is it mud?) FTW.
@LBD “Nytetrayn”: Yeah, it’s kind of a weird gray area that these fit into. They do qualify as action figures, though to be honest I’d be concerned if I ever saw a kid playing with one, mostly because the thing was fifty bucks and the chance for pieces disappearing is really high.
It is a little strange that the figure only came with one firing cannon effect part but multiple empty barrels. I haven’t tried it with this figure specifically, but I know that X and Zero’s shot effects are interchangeable with each other. Maybe that’s what the intention was.
@Swordoath: Hmm, maybe, though Vile’s don’t really have the same shots.
On the other hand, using the X and Zero streams of bullets on both cannons would be pretty awesome.
Actually about the loose forearms, its all about luck. I have D-Arts Regular X, Zero Type 2 and Vile as well. Both X and Vile have solid joints all over whereas Zero can’t seem to hold his right arm very well. The Z-Buster attaches firmly and tightly but when I try to put in the Right arm, it falls off with a slight nudge.
I’m sure others have similar experiences but for different combinations. I know there are others with a proper Zero Type 2 unlike mine as well.
Though, I have yet to see a Vile with any loose joints yet.
Ah, I love all the photos here. Especially the one where Vile is holding the glass of bourbon. Good post!
And hey, I actually have that Hari Harry figure that’s in the last picture! I used to have Giant Springer too, but he broke.
I don’t have a picture of it, but I combined some of the shot pieces to make a 5-shot stream and plugged that into one of Vile’s cannons. I think it looks a lot cooler than when X or Zero have it. I also saw a picture online of Vile shooting two of the massive charge shots that Full Armor X comes with.
So if you have the other parts, they definitely work and add to Vile’s coolness.
Ah, that Neon Tiger. I had so much trouble with that line of mini figures. The joints kept snapping, especially on the Toxic Seahorse (read: the neck).
Vile is looking good. I’d love to get one some day.
I own this and three other D-Arts figures — Metallic X, First Armor X, and Zero Type-2 — and this is definitely the most solidly-built, detailed one of the bunch, aside from maybe First Armor X. I’m not even a big Vile fan in particular, but I’m stunned by the quality of this figure every time I look at it. I can’t recommend it (or any of the other D-Arts figures) enough… just be careful with Zero Type-2 who, true to his in-game counterpart, is incredibly delicate and prone to break.
I have him and I absolutely adore him. Quite possibly my favorite from my entire figure collection. The attention to detail is mind-blowing. I strapped every single weapon Vile came with onto him, and placed the glass of bourbon in his hand. He is currently waging a drunken campaign against one of my Toriko PVCs (Coco, to be precise).
I’m still waiting on my type 2 Zero, and oh man I can’t wait for Sigma. I really hope they make Velgaurder too, eventually, because that would make my day.
Hmmm… So i’m not the only one with the issue of the STUPID elbow joints on the other figures!!!!! My regular X elbows seem ok or tight enough, it falls off at times but constantly, but my first Zero type2 sucked, it just SUCKED!!! COMPLETELY SUCKED!!!!!!!! The forearm or buster would not stay on at all once I took it off to switch it with his forearm as Zero is famous for wielding his saber, the forearm or buster would just fall off at the slightest touch. Stupid elbow joint and it had paint errors all over! Waste of $40 bucks! I ended up getting another one which turned out to be way better than the first one!
I haven’t gotten Vile yet due to I skipped him to save up for the Wonder Festival which almost left me completely broke. lol! But worth every penny! But looking at pictures and seeing reviews of him, he seems to be much more better than the previous figures from the line. With that I’ll pick him up, hopefully mine won’t have paint errors or joint problems because these figures
(Darn it! I pressed “Submit Comment) lol!
But these figures are like a gamble, you either get lucky and get a good one with no joint problem and no or little paint errors, or you get one that has joint problems and paints errors! So hopefully my Vile will be a good one.
@ Megafan
So the type 2 Zeros are hit or miss when it comes to joints? I wonder if there is a way to catch the manufacturing errors before you buy one, it sounds to me like there may have been some shoddy factory equipment maintenance that resulted in some unwieldy Zeros that was later corrected. Does anyone know if this is the case?
@ Megafan
Also, it sounds like there may be some bootlegs floating around, alternatively? I’d recommend only purchasing from highly rated sellers, but of course you know that already.
The bourbon glass pic is awesome, too bad both Vile and the glass itself look kinda blurry, I’d add it a “True Story” text in PS and use it as a meme. Hahahaha!!! XD
Nice review, I lol’d so hard with the “To be or not to be” photo XD
To add to the Zero V2 discussion, on the figure that I have, the left arm wouldn’t even move too much when it first came out of the pack. I put enough pressure on it one day and it “popped”. I thought I had broke it, but after that the arm moves around like it was supposed to. Maybe there was a bit of plastic on the joint that hadn’t been shaved off properly or something.
@Halcreix: I’ll see if I can’t make a better version of that pic at some point. =)
Umm, speaking of which..
Where’s my damn Vile?!? I’ve given my info, did the email go through?
I own Vile, Zero, and the limited edition Battle Damaged X. All 3 are AWESOME!!!! I hope Sigma becomes available soon (if it hasn’t already).
@Everbound Venvel: I don’t think I’ve seen or heard bootlegs of the D-Arts Megaman series yet so that shouldn’t be a problem for now.
As for the elbow joint issues, it depends on luck. Its more common on Type 2 Zeros but it occurs on X as well. Vile is solid however and I dont hear many complaints about him. Probably because he was planned as a Tamashii Web Exclusive in Japan and thus more care was taken in the manufacturing process. Its just a guess. However, I wish they keep Vile’s standard of quality up for any future D-Arts Megaman releases.
@Everbound Venel
Theres no bootlegs of the D-Arts like Figmas and Nendroids. But every D-Arts from the X line is a hit or miss. I’ve seen reviews of Zero type1 (ver.1) and the forearm just keeps falling off, as well for the Full Armor X.
My regular X’s right forearm pops off sometimes, but not constently like my first Zero type2!!! Theres no way to tell which one has problems by looking at them. Its a gamble when ordering them from online, you’ll either get a good one with no joint problem and less or no paint errors, or you get a bad one with joint problems and paint errors.
Though you can prevent the paint errors by getting it in person in store by comapring each one and just get the one with the fewest paint errors, but you’ll still be gambling on weither the joints will be good or not. It doesn’t matter where you get it, high rated sellers or not, like AmiAmi, HLJ or BBTS, your still gambling. I got my regular X from HLJ and it has 2 paint errors, And I can’t exchange it because HLJ doesn’t consider it as damaged.
Its not due to factory equipment maintenance, well, maybe, but its all due to its mass produced and the fact they don’t check or correct these problems. And very stupid design of the elbow joint!
I really hope the Vile I pick out will be good as I’ve seen good reviews of it and heard good about it.
I know to some its not a big issue, like who cares, but how would you feel when you buy a brand new car and drive it from the dealer to your house, and then you spot a golf ball dent or a deep scratch by the front bumper, you paid full price and its brand new. Yet someone else who purchased the same car like yours, new and same price, but his has no dent or deep scratch. To some it still doesn’t matter, but you know its there, everywhere on the car its nice, smooth, and even but except for that spot, everytime you drive or see the car, it bugs you because you know its there.
But when I get my Vile, I hope he’ll be a good one.
I own Vile as well full armored X and the two Zero versions, still missing regular X though =/.
i must say this figure looks really awesome in person, that purple color they gave him is really lovely and the joints are really tight. but what i like the most of the figure is that is a hybrid and his representing Vile from the games to the manga version.
I hope Bandai decides to make the EX armor sets from those mega mission cards thing. those armor looked pretty cool.
Has anyone gotten ahold of Jesse “mainfinger” yet? I was wondering about those three Vile D-Arts figures for sometime now and I have sent info.
@Megafan
I understand your pain. The D-Arts line is a gamble, one I lost two of three times already.
I have the Full Armor X and both Zeros. My Zero Type 2 is EXACTLY like you described: the forearms fall with the slightest touch, and it’s a pain to pose that thing. Full Armor X’s left arm resected and broke within a month after buying it.
I was thinking about getting Vile, but after all this suffering, I just hope they rerelease the Normal X already, so I’ll have a pair for the Zero Type 2.
I don’t care anymore if they release the whole cast of Classic characters, I will just be happy with the Kotobukiya kits.
These images are BOSS! Vile with shot glass is WIN!
…my god what has the internet done with me?
I keep thinking of the shiny armor X figure I saw in the Japan Pavillion at EPCOT (Disneyworld) and wondering why I didn’t buy it…
Cause it was pretty awesome and I’d love to get this one too.
@LBD “Nytetrayn” : That’d be cool!!! And it’ll be even more if you can give a more “truestory-esque” pose to Vile. Hahahaha!!! XD
I love Vile Bandai d Arts!!!
look at the picture http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KwKrc_OBpIY/T_4cMgtXZ6I/AAAAAAAAIY0/mknNVuRaTLU/s1600/AxkD5-1CIAAG2Ng.jpg
But I can buy a Ride Armor like yours if they do not sell the new one. Thanks for the pictures.
mistranslation?, google’s fault.