Shoken is based on the initial Deluxe White Ninja action figure from Fwoosh and the Shōken Heroic Martial Artist action figure. Both action figures are now sold out and are discontinued from Fwoosh. Thus the new Shoken Ninja action figure was a smart way for Fwoosh to reintroduced two very popular action figures as one. While this Shoken does not have a removable gi, he does sport the classic white ninja look that appeals to so many collectors.

To turn your Shoken into a G.I. Joe Classified matching action figure, all you have to do is to buy the extra arms and hands wrap pack that feature bare arms, wrist wraps and bands. Articulated Icons action figures have arms that one can easily pop out and replace with the bare arms. Once the hands are removed, you can insert the pair of wrist wraps of the bands on the forearms. The sword sheathes, the band across his chest and even the black belt are reminiscent of the original 1984 Storm Shadow action figure. Once this is done, applying a Cobra logo on the chest is the last step to have a compatible Storm Shadow.

Sculpt

The sculpt is almost the same as the different coloured ninjas from Articulated Icons such as the Crimson Ninja. The different parts are the ankle wraps and bands. The modern ninja head (zukin) is too small. This makes Shoken look out of scale with other 1:12/6 inches action figures. The balaclava (veiled) head is a better fit size wise. The bald head to which one can attach a devil’s mask and a hair piece is absolutely too tiny and out of proportion with the body. The hair piece makes the bald head look wider but then, it is much larger than the head.

My initial impression of the hood was mistaken as I had not understood how the hood was added to the character’s head. The hood is added and by adjusting the peg hole of the head with the smaller opening of the hood. Once adjusted, the hood and the head are pegged on the neck’s base. They look good this way. The corrected image is below.

Shoken’s paint is applied as handwashes on the base plastic making the white matte seem dirty. His hair has a varied shade of brown, again using the wash effect. The swords are painted silver, and their base has a gold hue. This kind of detail is very good.

Like all Articulated Icons, Shoken is small. He is exactly six-inches and thus will look much smaller next to your Marvel Legends and G.I. Joe Classified action figures. Of course, he looks great with other coloured ninjas such as the Crimson Ninjas who share part of his mould. If you are turning Shoken as a Storm Shadow action figure, he will be smaller than Snake Eyes but still fit. His head as I mentioned above is too small for the body. He is just a bit taller than Scarlett.

Stability

Shoken’s ankles are weak so overtime expect standing him put to be a problem. You’ll need to fiddle with him to find a stable way to stand him up. He can take on many poses though. The figure has a tendency to lean forward and with weak ankles, this is worsens.

The knees have double articulations while the upper thighs have curls. The calves/shin area also have curls. The ankles are the most problematic part of the action figure. While the feet are wide enough to support the weight of the toy, the up and down articulations at the ankles are weak, increasing stability issues with the figure. The ankles can also rock side to side.

Other parts such as the demon’s mask, the hair piece, the hood, the belt and the harness are of soft rubber-like plastic. The swords and their sheathes are of good grade plastic and do not feel as cheap.

The harness could fit other action figures from Hasbro but only narrowly. Hence, we get a lot of extra props but they are not compatible with other toylines. As written above, we can’t use the extra hands as the pegging system is the opposite of Hasbro’s. The hood looks ridiculous although there is another one, the “down” hood which rests on the character’s back. This one looks good and can be reused for another action figure.

Shoken comes in a standard white box with some background information and not metal pins holding the toy. Fwoosh as rightly chosen to dump the props in a resealable plastic bag. This is the best way to store all of these props and probably was much cheaper than shaping the plastic mould that holds the figure in the box for the props. There are images of recent Articulated Icons toys in the back as well as a short bio of Shoken. The extra arms pack is packaged in a similar box.

Shoken as a Ninja is a new released on March 20, 2021. Thus, while Fwoosh has many sales on its action figures and props, Shoken is still $40 USD with shipping. If you are outside of the United States, like me (Canada), the shipping will cost very much. Shoken costs twice as much as a standard Marvel Legends or a G.I. Joe Classified. Very few stores outside of Fwoosh have him for sale. The arms pack is $20 USD. That is the price of a full action figure. This can become prohibitive. That’s why I bought the arms pack, Shoken, and three Crimson ninjas in one transaction to optimize the shipping costs over several items. There are no Canadian distributors yet.

Fwoosh is a smaller retailer with less experience than larger entities. The product is good even though I find it overpriced and the plastic used sucks. But what matters to me is that they are taking risks and creating an original toyline that people can relate to. If you want this action figure, do not wait too long as small producers like Fwoosh may not be able to reoffer it easily.