Toys / Toy Collecting

Vega Sota Street Fighter

By Hervé St-Louis
May 16, 2005 - 07:06

Vega is a Spaniard of noble origin excelling in bullfighting that arrived in Street Fighter II. He studied ninjutsu in Japan where he took part in underground cage fighting. Avenging his mother’s murder at the hands of his step father, Vega later became M. Bison’s personal assassin. Vega believes he is handsome, gracious and a fine specimen. Because of his ego, he fights with a mask to protect his face from potential injuries.

Likeness

The action figure captures Vega’s likeness well. His tattooed purple snake circles his entire torso and ends on his left pectoral. His unmasked face does look effeminate, like in the cartoon animation. His sash lies in his back instead of his right hip. However, there are far more details in Vega’s shoes. Vega’s maskless face has a light smirk. The variant figure has him licking his lips.

Sculpt

Vega’s legs are longer proportionally than his torso. This makes Vega seems more refined and fragile than stocky characters like Ryu or huge fighters like Sagat. Although more polished, he is still in a very good shape. They tone down the colours of his suit compared with some illustrations and game in which they have appeared. For example, Vega’s pants are purple instead of blue. His sash is crimson instead of red.

Paint

The paint application is good. The paint of the yellow stripes on Vega’s thighs is not thick enough to cover the purple colour. Unlike the previous Street Fighter wave, there are no hues on Vega’s skin. Figures like Ryu, had cool toning on his hands and chest. The application is quick and not very precise. However, Vega’s shoes have a dirty leather feel. There are many dirty spots in the paint application.

Scale

Vega is taller than Ryu or Ken, a little shorter than M. Bison, although he is much thinner. He fits very well with all figures in this line. I pictured Vega as shorter but I still enjoy Sota’s rendition.

Stability

Vega is not very stable because of the shape of his soles. There are toes articulation that makes the figure unstable. Vega being very tall without heavy weight to cement him on the ground. As there are no peg holes in Sota Street Fighter action figures, there are few solutions to stabilize Vega. One solution is too put Vega on a piece of cloth. He will be more stable than if put on a wooden or polished surface.

Articulation

Vega has 29 articulations with ball-joints in places like the head, the shoulders and the hips. There are double articulations at the elbows and the knees. Double articulations at the elbows are not common for male Sota Street Fighter action figures. One could count the claws that insert in his left hand as an extra articulation. Other articulations are in the biceps, the wrists, the ads, the waist, the thighs, the ankles and the toes.

Plastic

Most of Vega’s body consists of his PVC plastic. Joints such as the wrists are fragile. Be careful when exchanging limbs. Vega’s hair and sash, the rose in one of his alternate right hand are in rubber.

Props

Besides the ninja claw, no real props come with Vega. However, he has three alternate right hands. One is a fist, the other opened, and the last one holds a rose.

Packaging

All Sota Street Fighter come in a bubble pack that can only be opened with scissors. The bubble packs are not environment-friendly. Each pack contains a small catalogue of Sota products. Also, inside the package is a flyer reused as the standard art pack for each of this wave’s figures. The artwork in the packs is improved compared with the previous wave.

Cost

Sota action figures cost anywhere from $12 in the United States. In Canada, they often retail for 16.99 and up. Prices vary from retailers as there is no unified suggested price. Also, figures’ costs differ depending on which distributors retailers get their figures from.

Availability

These figures were available earlier in stores that ordered outside Diamond Comics. They appeared in February. Most comic book shops that ordered through Diamond Comics received the figures in late March early April. Now that potential collectors know these figures, there could be more interest in Vega.

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12