16d Great Muta figures review

Today, we're returning back to a familiar destination with 16d's soft vinyl series. Blog #203
applies the Muta Lock on the 16d Collection Great Muta figures.

On October 13th, 2020 Japanese toymaker 16 Directions announced the upcoming release
of The Great Muta as part of the company's soft vinyl figure collection.
                                     

A video of the 16d Great Muta figure prototype that was uploaded on October 19th, 2020.

Great Muta would be officially released three months later in January of 2021; becoming the
16th Wrestler overall to be featured in the 16d Collection.

I like how both figure variants come in different packages while mentioning the specific
figure variant in Japanese.

The front of the packaging for both variants translates to:

グレート・ムタ                         (Great Muta
90年代赤ペイント Ver.              90's Red Paint Ver.)

グレート・ムタ                        (Great Muta
90年代白ペイント Ver.             90's White Paint Ver.)


        


The left side of each variant's respective packaging. Again featuring different shots
of both figures.

The right side of the packaging contains Muta's stats and a brief dossier.

The text reads:


"PROFILE
.................................
Date of birth: Unknown
Birthplace: Louisiana, United States
Height/Weight: 188cm (6'2") / 110kg (242lbs)
Debut: April 2nd, 1989 (As The Great Muta)
Signature moves: Poison Mist, Muta Lock, Muta Chop"

In actuality, Great Muta's "birthplace" and debut happened a month prior on March 12th 1989
against Cougar Jay in Atlanta, Georgia.

The backs of both packages.

I'm pretty sure the sculpt for the 16d Great Muta figures were heavily inspired by this photo.

The tops of both packages. Unlike the Abdullah The Butcher or Jushin Thunder Liger 16d figures,
there are no coloured stickers placed on the top of the boxes to help differentiate figure variants.

The bottom of both boxes contains the standard safety precautions, 16d's parent company,
the material of the vinyl figures and a copyright licensing from Keiji Mutoh's new merchandising
company and online store MUTO OFFICE.

Now, on to the figures themselves:

The Great Muta 16d figures are based on The Great Muta's early 1990's New Japan Pro-Wrestling
appearance and were created by renown figure sculptor HAO (Keiichi Hao).

The white paint variant is listed as an online exclusive.

I especially love Muta's sculpted pose here. With the green teeth and tongue, Muta is ready to
spray his patented Poison Mist!

The white paint variant contains the following text on the figure's right pant leg:

"愚 Gu
  零 Rei
  闘 Tou
  武 Mu
  多 Ta

Put all the Japanese kanji together and you have "Great Muta".

The Kanji on Muta's right cheek reads "忍" (Shinobi); a reference to Muta's Ninja characteristics.

The white paint variant has a noticeably larger version of the Kanji scrawled across Muta's cheek.

While the red paint version has a ninja star on both wristbands, the white paint variant has the
kanji "Shinobi" repeated once again on Muta's right wristband.

The Kanji on the left side of Muta's cheek reads "炎" (fire, flames).

Along the red variant's pants, the same text (Great Muta) has been written in black.

Both variants contain finger tape. The white variant also contains the kanji "Fire/Flames" on
the figure's right wristband (parallel to the same kanji on the white version's face).

If you look closely, you may notice Muta's bicep scar, too!






The Great Muta 16d figures stand approximately 12.5 cm (4.9 inches) tall.







The sole of both figures contains Keiji Mutoh's MUTO OFFICE stamp.


            
Both figure variants are articulated at the left arm, neck and waist. The right arm (while still
slightly poseable) is pretty much fixed in place.



In Super Fire Pro Wrestling III Final Bout/Easy Type (1993) on the Super Famicom, Blade
Musha (Great Muta)'s white and red attire is featured as the 2nd player costume. The same
costume is also available as Muta's fourth attire in the follow up title Super Fire Pro Wrestling
Special (1994).

Using the Edit mode, it is also possible to recreate Muta's white and red attire in Super Fire Pro
Wrestling X/X Premium (1996).

Other than a few unofficial video game appearances, this is the first time the Great Muta
received a figure in his white and red ring attire colours.

The last time Great Muta's classic facepaint look was sculpted by HAO was in the mid 2000's
as part of HAO's black card series.

Scale-wise, the HAO Great Muta figure stands noticeably taller at about 6 to 7 inches in height
when compared to it's 16d counterparts.

The HAO version (while removing articulation in Muta's neck) offers two extra points of
articulation from the wrists.


Closing thoughts:

When I first began collecting Wrestling figures from Japan, the two brands that I started with
were Character Product's Mini Big Heads and Toukon Shop's action figures. Then I purchased
my first HAO figure (The Great Muta classic facepaint black card series ver.) and was blown
away.

Whereas most Japanese action figures stand about 5 inches tall, I wasn't prepared for the HAO
figures which regularly stand between 6 to 8 inches in height. The attention to detail, figures
available and resealable packaging instantly converted me into a fan of HAO's work.

While the 16d figures aren't as tall as the original HAO ones from nearly 20 years ago, they
still contain the same charm and attitude of their taller counterparts. The same can be said
for the 16d Great Muta figures. A cooler pose, better facial expression and two variants
to collect. What's not to like?

When I reviewed the Genichiro Tenryu retirement figure back in 2017, I praised the overall
design of HAO's work and welcomed the idea of more figures being produced in this style.
Ten days later, Tetsuya Naito was announced as the first official figure in the 16d lineup and
the 16d Collection line has continued to gain momentum ever since.