16bit.com Figure of the Day Review: Takara-Tomy Beast Saga Swordbill Burst Action Figure

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Takara-Tomy Beast Saga Swordbill Burst Action Figure Takara-Tomy, 2012

Day #3,018: March 25, 2026

Swordbill Burst Absolutely Billsword's Mood Beast Saga Blind-Boxed Action Figures Item No.: BS-03 Manufacturer: Takara-Tomy Includes: Sword, shield, 2 dice, trading card Action Feature: Dice launch out of stomach Retail: 525 yen (or about $7) Availability: September 2012 Other: Also translated as "Billsword" or "Birusoodo"
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Continuing the theme of backlog reviews, I partially photographed Swordbill Burst back in 2012. It was part of Takara-Tomy's then-new Beast Saga line, a more-or-less reboot/continuation of Beastformers or Battle Beasts. These figures were bigger, adding leg joints to their fairly simple frames. Figures included a melee weapon as well as a shield, plus a trading card and dice for a battle game. The rubsigns of the fire/wood/water era were out, and figures - like this guy - stood about 3-inches high.

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This blind-boxed clear figure cost the same as the fully-painted carded Swordbill [FOTD #678], but with far less paint. The clear black and blue parts are molded in color, and the only paint is some gold on his goggles. That's it. There's a sticker on the back of his plunger, and of course some deco on the dice. It's a smart move - the paint jobs on the painted figures are quite good, so recouping costs on mystery figures saves money while giving kids - and a few overseas collectors - a fancy version to chase down. The clear blue looks gorgeous, and the black is barely cola-tinted. His armor has the same vents and ridges of the normal version, with none of the painted stripes or lights. In a darker display space or a basement, it is difficult to make out the sculpted designs. If you collect Transformers, it's a lot like that - arrows, lines, boxes, hints of something high-tech going on.

The figure's arms and legs seem to be entirely cybernetic, hinting that there's a full fish inside complete with tail. We'll never see it, of course, because there's a plunger. You can remove the plunger assembly if you like, but I don't recommend it. Each fist has a hole big enough for the sword or shield, and they fit really well. This is important, because subsequent figures would wind up sharing details as a cost-cutting measure. Original Battle Beasts each had a specific, numbered spear or axe or sword.

I have a few of these left to review, and have been dragging my feet because I was hoping this line would go on and be The Next Big Thing. Instead, it died out in about a year. We got lots of great sealife and fun animals, but no dinosaurs this time. I don't see this guy on eBay as of my writing this, and prices on most of the line are rather cheap. It helps that nobody seems to really care about the line, despite really excellent detailing and a clever, fun gimmick. I assume. I don't understand the game rules, but I do understand "shoot a dice at somebody." The sword matches the swordfish motif, and should get back to showing you more of these guys. For a line that died 13 years ago, the figure feels as fresh as the day I bought it. My only real complaint was that there's no on-board storage for spare dice, which means I'm relying on old notes/photos/proximity/storing it in the chest to alert you to which ones go with which. Swordbill Burst had indeed been stored with the black dice of death, so know that this is what it was packed with. In my case. I don't know if they were random.

--Adam Pawlus

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