Kendaman holding his head
Kendaman with his head on his shoulders and his MUSCLE counterpart
Kendaman with a new head!
On with the review!
Looks: 5 out of 5
Romandos sometimes "drop the ball" in the Looks department, with expressions that are too serious and/or muscles that are too balloony and cheesy looking. But with this figure, they really caught the look of Kendaman perfectly! His sculpt is very much like the classic MUSCLEs (check out the MUSCLE abs). And his paint job looks fantastic with beautiful reflective paint that lends itself to plenty of awesome color variations. The choice of colors is a bit awkward (dark blue with yellow?) but the quality of the paint aps more than makes up for it.
Articulation: 2.5 out of 5
Kendaman has 6 points of articulation: shoulders (semi-ball-in-socket), forearms (swivel), and hips (semi-ball-in-socket). The articulation is enough for some good displays, but Romandos are famous for great articulation and I expect much more. Waist and knee joints should have been minimum requirements for this guy.
Accessories: N/A
This figure doesn't come with accessories, but I don't think that's much of an issue. He doesn't seem to need any accessories... except a dino-buddy, of course.
Value: 2 out of 5
One of my most frequent complaints about Romandos is their prices. I bought this Kendaman for $37. Although you'll likely not find him for a better price and the price is reflective of the import cost, that's still a crapload of money to pay for a toy of this size. Also, Kendaman seems rotocast, which makes him feel hollow and light-weight (like Sunshine).
Coolness: 4 out of 5
This is definitely a Romando that looks incredible on display! I love matching his pose to those of the classic Kendaman MUSCLEs. The ability to put his head on his shoulders is nifty, although getting it to stay on is somewhat problematic.
Overall: 3.4 out of 5
This is a great-looking Kendaman that really adds some flash to your display. But the lightweight plastic and sub-par articulation limits his use as a toy.
EDIT: 10/27/2003
Staying Power: 0 out of 5
Although it looks cool, I quickly found Kendaman to be quite boring. The lack of articulation and flimsy plastic made this guy a candidate for the AKIA pawn shop.
Adjusted Overall: 2.7 out of 5
I wouldn't recommend this Romando unless you have a sizable Romando collection. It would probably be a cool display piece, but it ultimately fails as a toy.
-Nathan
Edited by Tortle, 27 October 2003 - 07:57 AM.
