RAOH 200X Ver. 2
2003
I’ve wanted to do a review of this figure for a long time (any Raoh figure will
do) for a long time. And now with the recently released Raoh repaint figure
(dubbed “Bloody Mantle” version) I finally have my chance to do the review I’ve
always wanted to do (Victory is mine!).

For those who don’t know who he is (lower your head in shame) he is Raoh.
No last name needed. Just Raoh (like Cher, Superman or Lebowski –a
powerful one word name…). He is from the legendary Japanese comic
Hokuto No Ken or as its more commonly known Fist of the North Star. I’d love
to tell you about him and all the things that make him cool but damnit this is a
toy review so let’s get cracking!

You want to talk about first impressions? Want to talk about packaging? Want
to know what this says to me? Love is what it says! He comes in a colorful
windowed box (glad to see he didn’t come on a card) that allows you to see
Raoh in all his plastic glory. The box is mostly one color -blood red (what a
shocker) with images of him all over the box (based on the incredible art by
Tetsuo Hara). On the back you have three color pictures of the figure in
various poses and on the sides and top flap you have famous quotes said by
the man himself –here’s the kicker, the quotes are in kanji but are translated in
English right underneath it! You got to see it to believe it. Like I said earlier –
LOVE!

Now as for the figure itself lets take a look at the sculpt, it’s dead on. The head
sculpt is detailed. Tomohide Enoki did an incredible job truly capturing the
detail on the head from giving Raoh his trademark forehead indentations to of
giving Raoh an expression that truly fits him. Raoh has a fairly unique look. So
much so that you can either nail it or “almost” nail it. Enoki must have looked at
a ton of HNK artwork because he has nailed it.

The body is very detailed. He’s in the eight inch scale but since he’s Raoh he’
s naturally bigger so he clocks in at eight and a half inches (nine and a half if
you add the helmet). The muscles are well sculpted, the cape the shirt the
clothes all have folds. The molded attachments are very detailed (like the shin
pads, gauntlets etc.) really add to the overall presence of the piece. The one
great thing about this piece (and practically all Kaiyodo figures from the past
few years) is that while the figure is sculpted well the joints are not glaringly
obvious. My big gripe with certain figures is that they sacrifice the look of the
toy for extra articulation that usually isn’t needed).

And speaking of articulation we have quite the interesting figure. Raoh has
joints I’ve never seen before. He has that very ingenious “monoshaft drive”
joint system that was first introduced in the first 2X Kenshiro and Raoh figures
back in 2000 (which to put it simply is a series of customized joints that fit the
character and allow them to do trademark poses while at the same time hide
the joints and not make them obvious). And to increase the coolness factor of
the figure a couple of the joints are metal, specifically on the shoulders and
waist area).Some of the joints are very unorthodox but they get the job done.
You can put Raoh in various different punches and kick positions and actually
make the poses look good and natural. With over 20 quality points of
articulation you won’t have a hard time finding a pose to put him in… and yes
Hokuto fans, you can put him in his trademark pose!

The paint job on Raoh is as you can expect is superb. You can tell there is a
lot of airbrush on him due to the smoothness of the skin, the shading on the
arms, shirt and pants; it gives him a sense of depth and weight. The figure has
a surprising amount details with the kneepads gauntlets, shoulder pads and
helmet. Lots of little beads are individually colored yet remain very clean and
sloppy by leaking on to each other. You can tell a much disciplined hand was
at work when it came to this. Even his cape is well painted and shaded. Not
one part of this figure has been overlooked.
ACCESSORIES
What’s that you say, a cape?

Well yeah I’m getting to that.

Raoh isn’t very accessory heavy. He comes with what he needs to come with (That
and Raoh doesn’t use weapons). So what does he come with? He comes with a two
part cape and a helmet. The first part of the cape is attached around the shoulder
area via a small black peg (The cape being a solid piece of plastic so it needs that
peg to keep it on because the thing is heavy!) The second part of the cape fits over
the head very easily and comfortably lays there. The final touch is the horned and
spiked helmet that carries his symbol of the winged Cobra on the forehead. And like I
said already he comes with what he should have, nothing more and nothing less.
SO WHAT’S THE BAD NEWS?
Not a damn thing. Move down to the next paragraph.
The Lowdown
This figure was the return of Kaiyodo’s hiatus for the HNK 200X line. He was
the first version 2 figure to be released and needless to say they came back
with a vengeance. As a Raoh fan all I can say is wow. This figure is a dream
come true for any Hokuto No Ken fan. And well worth the wait!
(c) Lester Romero 2005