Sota Sagat Street Fighter - Mobile Edition

Street Fighter
Sota Sagat Street Fighter
By Hervé St-Louis
January 30, 2005 - 15:23

Studios: Sota, Capcom

Sagat was one of the two combatants to reach the last levels of the first World Warrior's tournament. The last boss of the first Street Fighter game, where he first appeared, Ryu defeated him in battle. Swearing revenge, Sagat is the current holder of the title God of Muay Thai, which he won from Nuah Kahn. Sota's Street Fighter waves always have a big guy. In the 15th Anniversary release, it's Sagat.

Likeness

Sagat's features are softer than in some artwork created over the years. Like other characters from Sota's line, he's closer to the cartoon series than the action film. Hallmarks of Sagat are his huge fists, his small head and hunched back. He sports sparring boxing gloves and blue shorts. As well as having a scar on his chest, Sagat also has one on the left side of his forehead. The figure is a good adaptation.

Sculpt

Sagat's sculpt is imposing and great. Taller than all of the other Street Fighter action figures from this series, he looks downright evil. Sota has well-covered most of his articulations. The laces that construct his gloves are very detailed. Sota's sculptor even adjusted the direction of the bandages on his thumbs. Even Sagat's alternate head where he screams has a full set of teeth.

Paint

The paint job is all right, although it often bleeds. The paint on some articulations such as the shoulders and the thighs chips easily. Sagat's skin has tones all over his body. This is nicer than usi9ng on shade for his skin as other toy vendors do. Most of the details are in the gloves and the bandaged feet of the figure. Sagat's chest scar has a cool effect mirroring how a real scar looks. It's easy to have paint chips off the figure.

Scale

Sagat is taller than all of the first wave of Street Fighter action figures. M.Bison is slightly above his shoulders while Ryu reaches the middle of his pectorals. Sagat is more in line with an eight-inch figure, although he looks great with other Street Fighter figures.

Stability

Sagat is stable, thanks to his wide feet. His legs are thick and strong and more than capable of holding his top heavy torso. This is quite an accomplishment as figures with such odd shapes often flip easily. You may want to adjust the ankle's articulations to achieve maximum stability. The one thing missing from Sagat and other Street Fighter figures are peg holes. He will not fit on an action figure stand.

Articulation

Sagat has 27 points of articulations. His neck, shoulders and hips are ball joints. His knees have double articulations. Other articulations are found in the abs, the waist, the biceps, the elbows, the wrists, the palms, the thighs, the ankles, the feet and the toes. They allow the figure to take a bland vanilla or any action pose. The hands and the head are exchangeable.

Plastic

Sota uses PVC to manufacture its figures. Sagat is tough and strong. The figure is heavy. Although the PVC is not the hollow type, it's soft enough to bend and break if one manipulates the figures too harshly. Be extremely careful with the articulations not to break the figure, especially those covered with paint, like the feet, the ankles and the wrists.

Props

Sagat comes with a shouting face and a regular one. He also has two sets of hands. One set is a fist, the other one, grappling hands.

Packaging

Sota uses a complete bubble packaging which can only be opened with scissors. It's not environmentally friendly, but it seems to be much cheaper than cardboard boxes. There's a small pic of Sagat on the top of the package, although the leaflet with back cover art is the same one used on all 15th Anniversary figures.

Cost

Sagat costs anywhere from $12 to $25. Variants and trade show exclusives often cost more, but not always. One of the cheaper place to buy Sagat is at Quicksand Collectibles, when they have them in stock.

Availability

Sagat and other Street Fighter figures are available mostly through online stores and a few specialized record stores in the United States. In Canada, and Europe, only a few online stores, listed at Sota's Web site carry the figure. If you like Sagat, don't wait too long before ordering this figure. At this time, it's unclear if Sota will release this wave of figures in the future. Sagat is a great figure, that's worth it money.