S.H. Figuarts Cowboy Bebop Spike Spiegel
Released as a 26 episode saga back in 1998, Cowboy Bebop is set in the far future of 2071, where mankind has ventured into space and has colonized most of the solar system, resulting in a wild, wild west frontier scenario with rising crime rates. To counter this, the Inter Solar System Police (ISSP) set up bounties and rewards to capture lawless elements. Bounty Hunters are called “Cowboys”. Spike Spiegel, a former syndicate hitman, now works as one of them, operating from his group’s ship, the Bebop.
Officially listed as 27 years old, 6’1″ in height. Spike is an exiled hitman for the Red Dragon Syndicate. He now works with his new partner and captain of the Bebop, Jet Black, to collect bounties on wanted criminals. They are later on joined by new crew members Faye Valentine, Edward and Ein.
Spike’s usual weapon of choice is his sidearm, a Jericho 941 semi-automatic pistol.
With the Tamashii Option Act Brick Wall (Brown).
Spike is a devout follower of the teachings of Bruce Lee, adopting a calmer demeanor compared to his earlier days as a hitman. He also practices Bruce Lee’s Jeet Kune Do style martial arts.
Spike’s also depicted as a heavy smoker in the Anime, heh, smoking even in front of no smoking signs.
The set comes with a “tch” expression face for Spike. Though it really doesn’t seem that well executed IMHO.
Please do note that his hair is ridiculously spikey, I almost punctured my thumb while changing his facial expressions, so be careful.
To be honest, I wasn’t really a huge fan of the Cowboy Bebop series, especially since it ended on an ambiguous note. I did love the jazz parts of the soundtrack, the visuals and the action scenes of the show. I only picked up Spike to compliment the reissued Soul of Popynica Swordfish II and since he and the crew of the Bebop appeared in the Super Robot Wars T game, which I use as my guide to collecting mecha figures.
Having Spike in hand now, I can’t say I’m all that impressed with the way the figure came out. It’s decent, but not really “wow” for me, lacking any real accessories doesn’t help either. The figure is also a bit hard to stand up properly sometimes for some reason. I think I will skip the rest of the Bebop crew if they decide to make them (I already passed on Spike’s rival, Vicious).
Addendum: after re-opening this figure for the Swordfish II photoshoot a few weeks after this figure review was written, for some reason, my figure started to smell really, really, REALLY bad. Like pungent gasoline bad. I’m not sure if it’s the paint reacting to something? The figure was put back in its box and stored along with other SHF figures. There was no strong smell back when I first opened it. Strange….
Cowboy Bebop was picked up by Netflix for a live action series this year. With John Cho playing the part of Spike Spiegel. I hope it will be good.
Gold
