16bit.com Figure of the Day Review: Good Smile Company The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds Link Deluxe Action Figure

Main
Features
FOTD
Toy Fair 2023
SDCC 2023
Toy Fair 2020
NYCC 2019
SDCC 2019
Toy Fair 2019
SDCC 2018
Toy Fair 2018
HasCon 2017
SDCC 2017
Toy Fair 2017
SDCC 2016
Toy Fair 2016
SDCC 2015
Toy Fair 2015
SDCC 2014
C2E2 2014
Toy Fair 2014
SDCC 2013
C2E2 2013
Toy Fair 2013
SDCC 2012
C2E2 2012
Toy Fair 2012
NYCC 2011
SDCC 2011
Toy Fair 2011
Archives
Books
DVD
Music
Statues
Prop Replicas
Toys
Video Games
Credits
Contact

This site is part of Amazon, Walmart, eBay, and Entertainment Earth affiliate programs. We may earn a commission when you click one of their links.

Good Smile Company The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds Link Deluxe Action Figure Good Smile Company, 2016

Day #1,568: November 7, 2016

The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds Link Deluxe Action Figure EX-032 The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds Figma Action Figures Item No.: n/a Manufacturer: Good Smile Company Includes: Master Sword, Hylian Shield, display stand, Mai Mai, Rupee, rupee stand, Hookshot (extended and short), Pot, Tornado Rod, Tornado Rod Effect, Wall Link, Wall Link stand, 6 total sets of hands, hand tree, 2 total faces, bomb Action Feature: n/a Retail: $55.99 Availability: October 2016 Other: From The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds
PREVIOUS	RSS	NEXT

I'm impressed. Figures like this Link make me think that devoting my life to toys-that-are-primarily-toys is a waste, because it's just that good. The Jakks Pacific and other Link figures I've bought are nice - really, they are! But geez, you can't compete with Figma. I'm sure you can find better figures. Nobody else is doing the 3DS version from A Link Between Worlds, though, and the amount of gear for the money is stunning. A regular edition lacks the bomb, hookshot, Mai Mai, pot, rupee, and Tornado Rod for about $10 less. Why you'd skip the deluxe version is beyond my ability to understand. You need to buy this figure, and you need to bite the bullet for the deluxe version. Skip lunch for a few days. Do what you have to do.

Standing about 4 1/2-inches tall, Link is not what you would call particularly tall. Sure, he's bigger than other American figures but it's not like he's necessarily scaled to too many other recent American Nintendo toys, although I assume he's in scale with the other Figmas you now regret not buying. You know the one. Link has two facial expressions - pop off the hair to change them - and four sets of hands. Four! Fists, open hands, open hands with pegs, and normal gripping hands are here for you. It's worth noting the Hookshot, shield, sword, and Tornado Rod require disassembly to fit in the tight hands - each one pops apart around the grip for this purpose. The Tornado Rod's top also pops off to add the tornado effect if you're so inclined. What's more, I should note the "peg hands" are designed with a peg to help Link hold a bomb or a Rupee. The hands were not designed for pot-throwing in mind, but it does make for a nice little accessory.

The sculpted detail is great - he looks as good as if not better than his on-screen counterpart, almost completely molded in color with little paint to offend the eye. The eyes are big and bright, and the boots have the pigment you'd expect where you'd expect it. What you might not expect are things like 3 points of articulation per hand, a jointed hat, or jointed toes on his boots. I'm not even going to bother to count the points of articulation for you - rest assured, it's a lot. A lot. You can even pop off Ravio's bracelet if you like - but why bother? It's nice that the figure manufacturer treated it as an accessory, even though in the game it's basically stuck on you once you get it.

Once you plug the stand into his back, this goes from action figure to the best statue you've ever bought. There are so many places to pose him and so many accessories that you might be crippled with indecision. The jointed arm means you can have him jumping, flying, or flinging himself over a chasm. You've got options - and it's almost infuriating. Most of the time I buy a figure and once you find the sweet spot, that's it. That's how he's going to stand on your shelf. Link's stand and gear means you can pose him differently each day of the week without fear of bumping a desk or a shelf and having to find it again.

It's expensive. The idea that an action figure costs more than the game which inspired it is, to my aged brain, ridiculous - but here we are, and it was worth it. This is probably going to be one of very few toys ever made from this game, and I bet it'll be the best one we see for a while. Unless someone comes up with some next-level way to do action figures with invisible points of articulation that cost nothing, I'm not sure what else you can do. The fact that the waist swivels and has a hidden ab crunch (more or less) is amazing. The fact you can change the direction of the hat to indicate movement is crazy. And the cartoon-style bomb? Magnificent. If you can find a better Link figure, you need to buy it. Sure you can lament that this one doesn't have a companion Ravio or Hilda... or anything. The package brings you a lot of stuff, though, so as the best one-off and the closest thing I assume we're going to get to a proper A Link to the Past version of the character you should just grab it. I'll probably never need to buy another Zelda toy but I know and you know that if they start up with Adventure of Link stuff, I'll cave immediately.

--Adam Pawlus

Additional Images

See more Good Smile Company figures in Figure of the Day:
Day 1,568: Good Smile Company The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds Link Deluxe Action Figure
Day 1,896: Good Smile Company Metroid Prime 3: Corruption Samus Aran Action Figure

Click Here for 2015

Figure of the
Day 2016

January 2016

1 2

3 4 5 6 7 8 9

10 11 12 13 14 15 16

17 18 19 20 21 22 23

24 25 26 27 28 29 30

31

February 2016

1 2 3 4 5 6

7 8 9 10 11 12 13

14 15 16 17 18 19 20

21 22 23 24 25 26 27

28 29

March 2016

1 2 3 4 5

6 7 8 9 10 11 12

13 14 15 16 17 18 19

20 21 22 23 24 25 26

27 28 29 30 31

April 2016

1 2

3 4 5 6 7 8 9

10 11 12 13 14 15 16

17 18 19 20 21 22 23

24 25 26 27 28 29 30

May 2016

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

8 9 10 11 12 13 14

15 16 17 18 19 20 21

22 23 24 25 26 27 28

29 30 31

June 2016

1 2 3 4

5 6 7 8 9 10 11

12 13 14 15 16 17 18

19 20 21 22 23 24 25

26 27 28 29 30

July 2016

1 2

3 4 5 6 7 8 9

10 11 12 13 14 15 16

17 18 19 20 21 22 23

24 25 26 27 28 29 30

31

August 2016

1 2 3 4 5 6

7 8 9 10 11 12 13

14 15 16 17 18 19 20

21 22 23 24 25 26 27

28 29 30 31

September 2016

1 2 3

4 5 6 7 8 9 10

11 12 13 14 15 16 17

18 19 20 21 22 23 24

25 26 27 28 29 30

October 2016

1

2 3 4 5 6 7 8

9 10 11 12 13 14 15

16 17 18 19 20 21 22

23 24 25 26 27 28 29

30 31

November 2016

1 2 3 4 5

6 7 8 9 10 11 12

13 14 15 16 17 18 19

20 21 22 23 24 25 26

27 28 29 30

December 2016

1 2 3

4 5 6 7 8 9 10

11 12 13 14 15 16 17

18 19 20 21 22 23 24

25 26 27 28 29 30 31

Click Here for 2017

16bit.com is best not viewed in Apple's Safari browser, we don't know why. All material on this site copyright their respective copyright holders. All materials appear hear for informative and entertainment purposes. 16bit.com is not to be held responsible for anything, ever. Photos taken by the 16bit.com staff. Site design, graphics, writing, and whatnot credited on the credits page. Be cool-- don't steal.
We know where you live and we'll break your friggin' legs.