Hey guys and welcome to another installment of Figure Friday! This week we take a look at the brand new WWE Defining Moments Shinsuke Nakamura action figure! He is currently only available on RingsideCollectibles.com, where I purchased mine. I should say he was a belated birthday gift from my buddy, but I was very happy to have the figure in my collection finally and ahead of mass retail!
Before I dive into his review I just want to address that some people may question why he is in the Defining Moments series when that series is geared towards classic guys, like Legends from the 80s and 90s, etc. I believe they put Nakamura into this series, as it was probably an open slot they could get him into early on to release him faster plus they could budget more detail into the figure because the budget for Defining Moments figures is higher due to the price point of this series. I, personally, feel it’s way too early for him to be in this series in terms of its significance but at the end of the day I’m happy to finally have an Elite-style figure of him and to have one now versus later.
That being said, let’s take a look at Nakamura in the packaging. You can see he has the typical Defining Moments box, which is designed like a championship belt with the graphic elements it portrays. It has a nice, large window so you can see the figure from front and behind with ease. The inside of the box has an embroidered look to match his look, which every box is unique on the inside to the character if you didn’t know. On the back of the box it has a bio about him at WWE NXT Dallas in his match against Sami Zayn, which was pretty nice if you missed it. Check it out on the Network! Besides that you can see him standing there in the box, kind of a weird pose, with his extra shirt he comes with. He originally was supposed to have his Michael Jackson-esque jacket as well but that was canned.
Once you remove Nakamura from the box you can see he’s wearing of his entrance vests, which is made out of a thin rubber so that way they can make it detailed as a cloth version would be very costly unfortunately. This vest unfastens at the seam in the front, as there’s a little latch that holds it together. Removing this vest is honestly a pain in the butt as the rubber is pretty stiff, so just be careful when trying to remove it. The other shirt he comes with is more of a pain honestly. That’s probably my biggest complaint with this figure. They fit him well but getting them off is aggravating, so be very patient. The red shirt has fasteners on the right side once you slide it over him.
After you remove his entrance attire you can see it’s a pretty simple figure. There’s not a whole lot to it. His head scan looks pretty decent, much better than older photos from what I recall. He has his mouth guard showing, his funky haircut with the buzz cut side and even his facial hair. Some people say this figure is too ripped for Nakamura, which I can see a bit, but at the end of the day that doesn’t bother me too much. On his left arm he has his armband/bandana he wears, which is made out of rubber as well. You can easily remove this if you just gently pull it down his arm. Looking at his wrists and belt you can see the perforated details they added to make it look more authentic. Then lastly his red, wrinkly pants, his red boots and that’s about it.
This figure has the typical Elite-style articulation if you’re unfamiliar with the Defining Moments line. You can pose him pretty well. Mine has really stiff knees, which is a first for my Mattel figures, but it makes posing him a lot easier as you can see by my photos above in this article. Overall, it’s not a bad figure. It’s not a super exciting figure but his attire, outside of his entrance gear, is pretty plain so it doesn’t make for the most exciting looking figure. It’s still nice and will be great for anyone eager to get his or her hands on a Nakamura figure. I’m sure we’ll see him in his black pants very soon. Remember you can get him now on RingsideCollectibles.com if you don’t want to hunt for him at the store as I’m sure it’ll be popular being his first figure!
Look for a brand new episode of Figure 2 Photo on Monday showing how I made the Kinshasa photo above!
In the meantime give me a follow on my social media (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube) to keep up with the latest wrestling figure news and my wrestling figure photography! I appreciate everyone who voted for Nakamura this week on my Twitter poll, it had an amazing turnout! Look for a new one this weekend to vote for next week’s review!
Thanks for checking out this week’s Figure Friday and I’ll see you next week!
Figure Friday Defining Moments Shinsuke Nakamura
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