If you have eyes, you'll notice how creepy this thing is, I'd hate to run into this alien in a dark alley! Ben 10 characters look great on-screen and the Ben 10 action figures look even better. Also, it helps that a few of them look like Green Lanterns, so you can bolster your greenie ranks!
Name: Upgrade
Line: Ben 10 - DNA: Alien Heroes
Manufacturer: Bandai
Released: 2008
Price: Retail: $9.00-$12.00
Scale: 6.00 in. (Figure in 6.00 in. tall)
Accessories: None
Sponsor Listings: Amazon-$34.99,
The Ben 10 cartoons aren't highly-detailed, so the figures do a great job at capturing the animated style. The pattern all over the body and chest is engraved, but it's not overkill, the fig still feels streamlined. The back half of the toy is all black and carries all of the pattern, so there's a neat effect where the front looks pure white and friendly (relatively friendly, like when compared to a flesh-eating alien, lol) while the back is more menacing, almost techno-organic, if green stripes represented cyber-bits showing through. That may sound stupid, but hey, it works for Samus!
The entire figure is made of hard hollow plastic so the figure is light-weight as a result. It's great for kids because they can play with larger figures without getting tired of lugging them around. You'll also notice all the screw-holes in the back, the black and white sections are halves screwed together. It looks like a mine-field, but given a choice, I would add all the screws anyway because they keep the figure sturdy (so kids don't eat the batteries inside). The holes aren't too noticeable in the back, but stand-out on the white areas.
Kids love bright lights, hell, even adults love bright colorful lights. The light in this figure isn't powerful, but it shines enough that it's visible even in daylight (looks great in the dark). It glows green, because as we all know aliens always carry around green flashlights embedded in ther torsos. The clear plastic on the chest is textured to diffuse the light so it shines evenly. It's not textured on the head-piece though, so the light in there just looks like an LED. The plan was to have the light color the clear pieces in the head with green (to match the body) but it didn't work-out too well.
The button to activate the light-up feature is unobtrusively mounted on the back, you'll never notice it. It's responsive, you won't have to press hard to make it work, the pressure-switch operates with a loud satisfying click. If your kid keeps pressing it though, it's gonna annoy the hell out of you.
Sculpt Score: 8 / 10
The green bits are all paint and are mostly clean and straight. The headpiece is a clear chunk of plastic with the black parts painted-on, they are not so straightly-applied. It's a head-scratcher, I guess the factory-woker's hand slipped when painting so the pattern is off-center. Aside from the thin black outlining on the chest-piece, that's all the paint there is on this figure.
Paint Score: 7 / 10
As you can see, there isn't a lot of poseability on this fig, which is ironic (I don't think it's ironic, it's just fun to say stuff is ironic. Ironic isn't it? ...no, that's not ironic either!) because one of Upgrade's traits is that it can turn into an amorphous liquid-like substance (like Inque from Batman Beyond). Nothing is more poseable than liquids, so it's just funny that this toy can't move much.
Actually, that's not very funny at all, is it! They toy is still fun to play with though, any more articulation would ruin the smooth design of the character. Arms are swivels, the forearms can flop around, and the legs are swivels too. And don't worry about the bands in the arms becoming worn-out, the hands "pop" back into the arms so they stay there securely.
Articulation Score: 4 / 10
There are no accessories included with the figure, but the "smacking-action" of the giant hands almost makes up for it. The hands detach from the arms about half-way up and are connected with some strong thick rubber bands. They stretch a good 2 to 3 inches safely and relax back into place. Be careful not to twist the hands too much or you'll risk snapping the bands. I twisted one as much as I could until I snapped it (in the name of science!), but I honestly can't see any kid having the will or physical strength to go to these lengths. Even though one band snapped, that hand is still attached firmly, this is a well-constucted toy.
Kids also love aliens, especially the rad ones from the Ben 10 cartoon, I haven't seen a single figure from this line that I wouldn't buy had I the money to blow. Even the smaller-scale versions are awesome! Upgrade has the ability to merge with machines and improve them (upgrade them, HAR HAR HAR!), also control them. Argubly, the best ability Upgrade has is to make stuff look badass!
Fun Score: 8 / 10
The easy construction must save Bandai some money, but for some reason these figs are still like $10 (I remember them being like $7 before...). To be fair, maybe it's more expensive to make the figures this way, and Bandai traded a little profit to make more durable toys. I also believe in Unicorns and Leprechauns.
This purchase isn't a spectacular value, but you do get a sweet-looking alien-monster thing that lights-up. All this for about the price you'd pay for a Superman toy that doesn't light up and doesn't have stretchy arms. That's all you gotta know right there, and the packaging looks pretty cool too.
Value Score: 7 / 10
70 / 100 - This is a Good Toy
I love Ben 10's character-designs, the action figures look awesome. And if I could stand the cartoons, I would watch them too!
-DrNightmare
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