Guile By Hervé St.Louis Mar 11, 2006 - 10:53:00 PM

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An American soldier who partnered with another Street Fighter character, Charlie, Guile is defensive fighter with quick reactions and a perfect soldier. His objective, to kill M.Bison who ambushed both he and
Charlie during a mission in Vietnam. Guile, who first appeared in Street Fighter II: The World Warriors, in 1991, was played by Jean-Claude Van Damme in the Street Fighter live action movie released in 1994

Likeness

This figure has Guile’s famous 1980s high-top hair style. It even captures his cockiness well. Guile has his two American flags on each arms, just like in the video games. This Guile action figure is similar to the animated version seen in films. His hair is more naturally coloured than the usual canary yellow animators colour him with. The figure sports two dog taqs, his and Charlie’s, although many illustrations only show one.

Sculpt

Guile looks massive but doesn’t look as muscular as Ken or Sagat. That’s because his shoulders are very low. While his torso doesn’t have the classic V shape. It makes him look stocky. I don’t like his forearms. They look out of proportion with his smaller build. Bigger hands would have helped him keep the traditional Street Fighter look. Longer biceps would have improved his upper body look.

Paint

The paint application is clean. All of Guile’s muscles have shades highlighting his build. It makes him look real. He has a tan on his chest, the back of his neck and forearms, just like he would in real life. Even Guile’s hairs are very detailed and well rendered by the paint. There are highlights on Guile’s shirt and pants but they are subtle. The top of his boots has a leather feel, but they may be too clean for a man of action.

Scale

Guile really set the stage for the median height of Street Fighter action figures. He is taller than Ken, Ryu and most gals. Yet, he is shorter than massive characters like Bison, T.Hawk or Sodom. Vega, who is a lean and skinny character is also taller than him. All of Sota’s Street Fighter action figures are proportional to each others and will fit with similar six inches action figures like Marvel Legends and DCDirect.

Stability

Guile is stable depending on the surface you put him on. On cloth, he is stable. On smoother surfaces, he will fall. Guile is top-heavy making him easy to fall. Also, his soles are not flat. It’s very difficult to pose Guile in a straight vanilla stance. Because his shoulders are not wide enough, he lacks balance. Unfortunately, Sota does not drill peg holes under its Street Fighter action figures. They should.

Articulation

Guile has 27 articulations at the neck, the shoulders, the biceps, the elbows, the wrists, the palms, the abdomen, the waist, the hips, the thighs, the knees, the ankles and the toes. It looks like he can twists his calves just above his boots. If he can, that would give him 29 articulations. I will not pull on his calves for fear of breaking them. Guile’s shoulders, neck and hips have ball joints. He lacks double elbow articulations.

Plastic

Guile consists of PVC plastic that looks sturdy but will not resist rough play by young kids. If the figure’s articulations feel stuck, put it in a fridge to shrink its articulations. Guile has a second right hand with a comb glued in. He also has two extra left hands. One is in a thumb’s up pose, the second, in a karate shop stance. Guile also has an alternate head where he’s screaming, as he does, when he has won a combat.

Props

Guile comes with some dog tags. The chain is in metal. He also comes with two sonic booms that fit on his fists when he kicks an opponent. These are in translucent blue plastic.

Packaging

Guile comes in a bubble case with a leaflet with a background with Ryu and fake decals of a video game terminal. It also says third round on the front cover. On the back of the leaflet, there pictures of all the figures in the current series. Except for the inserted card board front with Guile’s head, there is nothing specific to Guile. The figure is held with a cast and wires. One must use scissors to open the package.

Cost

This figure costs anywhere from $12 to $25 depending on the retailer. Sota sells alternates of these figures for $12 on its Web site. This figure is a great value for its price.

Availability

This figure is mostly found in Internet stores and retailers that order their products through Diamond Comics. It is not easy to find in regular outlets, such as music stores or large discount stores. Guile is a great figure and probably the most popular of the third series from Sota. I would encourage fans to purchase it quickly.

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