My first Figure Friday column of 2024 features one of the best lines to debut in 2023. Jada’s Ultra Street Fighter II The Final Challengers has been a tremendous hit with fans, offering an affordable alternative to Storm Collectibles World Fighters. Wave 1 just wrapped up with Ryu, Fei Long and Chun Li, and now the first fighter from Wave 2 has arrived in Ken. I talked about Ryu in a previous Figure Friday column, but haven’t had a chance to review the other three. It’s time for Round 2. Fight!
Fei Long was always a tribute to Bruce Lee. I imagine there’s going to be a lot of folks grabbing this to fill that void in their collection with the addition of a custom head portrait. It’s a great body to do it with as Fei Long is a spitting image of The Dragon. Fei Long comes packed with a jumping flame kick effect to show off his Shienkyaku, an extra set of hands and an alternate head. I really like the butterfly joints on the shoulders. They get lost in certain angles and hide themselves really well. Fei Long was one of my favorites of the New Challengers, so picking this one up was a no-brainer. Really happy I did!
I don’t think there’s a guy my age that has a bad word to say about the Queen of Street Fighter. Chun-Li was an insta-buy. She comes packaged with her blue Lightning kick effect, a screaming alternate head, an extra set of hands and of course… those thighs. It’s hard to find a bad thing to say about these figures. Jada has done an outstanding job capturing the likeness of these characters and Chun-Li is the shining example of the detail we can hope to get from future releases. She’s perfect from her Ox Horns to her toes.
Not surprisingly, this is the same figure we received in Ryu with a red gi and shock of blond hair that would make He-Man envious. If you’re going to have that much reuse, you’ve gotta punch up the character details to really set it apart from Ryu. Jada has captured the cocky persona in Ken really well. The alternate head has you covered for your angry, gritting teeth needs. The fireball effect gets the red treatment for just the right amount of Kenergy, and as is standard an additional set of hands. It’s almost blasphemous to have a Street Fighter collection and not get Ken to go with your Ryu.
Overall, the Jada Street Fighter II line has been the most rewarding thing to happen to my figure collection over the past year. Each figure has been strong. They feel good in-hand. They can get all the poses you need. Don’t believe me? Check out those pictures in the product listings. When you make a good quality figure you can have full-on photo shoots. That’s not something a lot of mainstream figure companies could pull off. Jada should be proud of that. The neck and head articulation is what really helps out with the posing game. There’s a lot of superhero figures out there that would benefit from a similar set up.
I can’t wait to see what Jada does in the future with this line. Dhalsim and M. Bison are rounding out Wave 2. Jada has also recently shown prototypes for Wave 3’s Cammy, Dee Jay and Guile as well as Wave 4’s Blanka, Vega and Sagat. Everything appears to be in scale and some of the bigger body types are looking really good. I have a sneaking suspicion I’m going to be all-in on this line. As long as the quality continues, I’ve got no problem with that. These figures are PERFECT!
