S.H. Figuarts Great Ape Ohzaru Vegeta
As seen in the final big battle of the Saiyan saga in Dragon Ball Z, Vegeta’s “Great Ape form” is his trump card in the battle against Earth’s defenders. This transformation boosts his power levels drastically and increases his size to that of a 50-foot giant ape.
Great Ape Vegeta stands roughly 12 inches and weighs a whooping 1189 grams. Bandai used a lot of internal diecast parts particularly in the internal joints to support the figure. I think there’s also diecast used in the lower leg joints as well.
It goes without saying, this giant figure is an all new mold.
Ohzaru Vegeta’s shoulder plates are on a ball joint in the back of his armor so they can move upwards.
The arms are also on a butterfly joint system, so you can move the arms closer together.
The figure sports lots of soft ratchet joints below the waist. They help hold up this heavy figure really well.
But be warned though, even with all the ratchets, the design team missed a beat and forgot to put a ratchet in the mid torso area. This results in the upper half of his body being a bit wobbly. A shift in weight for the upper part of the torso will result in Vegeta toppling over (happened to me twice). So watch out!!!
In Dragon Ball lore, any Saiyan is able to transform into this giant ape of destruction. The only requirements are that they still have their tails and that they can absorb Blutz Waves through the eyes. Blutz Waves are radiation waves generated when sunlight is reflected off of a heavenly body, such as the moon, or from a “Power Ball”, such as the one Vegeta uses in the show.
The transformation increases the power levels of any Saiyan by tenfold. However, this form generally removes all ability to reason and the Great Ape Saiyan fights purely on instinct as a berserker, with only very limited recognizance of friend or foe. Only Super Elite Saiyans such as Vegeta, his father, King Vegeta and presumably even Nappa can be trained to maintain their reasoning and even talk while in Great Ape form. lower-level warrior Saiyans such as Goku’s Father, Bardock, do not do not have this talent.
A Saiyan remains in this form until the source of the Blutz Waves are destroyed, or passes out of sight, or the Saiyan’s tail (where the supposed glands responsible for this transformation are located) is cut off. Once cut off, the tail can eventually grow back. It is mentioned that tails fail to grow back if the Saiyan has surpassed the power levels of their Great Ape form in their base form. This explains why Goku and the others never regrew their tails back again.
The set comes with a tiny Goku for Vegeta to crush.
While the figure is incredibly huge, it isn’t in scale with S.H. Figuarts figures.
“I will name him George and I will hug him, and pet him, and squeeze him.”
…. OK, if you’re old enough to remember that Looney Tunes reference, you have my respect.
A spare set of eyes for Ohzaru Vegeta is included. This is to replicate the scene where Goku, despite being badly beaten, still manages to fire off a Ki blast which hits Vegeta in the right eye, ticking off the Saiyan prince even more.
Display base
I STRONGLY RECOMMEND using the display base if you plan to display this figure on a shelf. As I previously mentioned, the problem with the wobbly mid-torso joint is a downer. Any slight shift in the figure’s center of gravity will cause it to tumble.
Lastly, the whole thing comes with the real hero of the Saiyan saga, a chubby little samurai named Yajirobe, who was hiding out in a cave during the whole ordeal, jumping in only at the very end.
Too bad he can’t stand without support. C’mon, Bandai…
The display base has an attachment for Yajirobe, so you can recreate the scene where he slices off Vegeta’s tail and saves the planet. Yay!
A “cut” tail piece is included.
Overall, a very, very impressive set. Not perfect, due to the shifting torso issue, but it’s not really a huge deal breaker. While it’s not in scale with the other S.H. Figuarts, it still looks incredible next to any of them and there’re a lot of good things about this set to make you really enjoy it. I sure did.
Gold
