Today we're doing a Myth Cloth doubleheader! First up is Cygnus Hyoga in the 3rd form of his Bronze Cloth, commonly known as Version 3 or V3. The ice cold saint trained for many years in Siberia to be worthy to wear the Cygnus Cloth. After many battles, his cloth was repaired and evolved to its 3rd form. So how does it stack up? Hit the jump and find out.
Bandai's book style publishing is the norm for the Saint Cloth Myth Series and as usual it has a picture of the toy itself and a glamour shot of Hyoga from the anime.
On the back is several different poses that can be recreated if you are so inclined. I noticed the central picture looks quite different in color from the other pictures and it differs from the actual toy. It could just be a trick of the lighting and the all white background.
The body type is I believe the 2nd generation that Bandai produced. The hips and shoulders have superior articulation when compared to the 1st gen body types. They aren't perfect though, as with any mass produced item, sometimes small flaws crop up. My Cygnus Hyoga toy, for example, is really loose in the midsection. It's not really a problem since Saint Cloth Myths are generally display items, but it is something I have to take into consideration every time I want to pose Hyoga.
2nd gen bodies can usually be differentiated by the exposed screws on the back of the figure. I may be wrong, but I think the 3rd gen body type has no exposed screws. The hips are a little different on the 3rd gen as well.
Hyoga without his tiara (yes, a tiara, there's no way I can call that thing a helmet) has excellent detailing for his hair. He really looks anime accurate.
A sweet extra is there is another head with a bandaged eye. This is from the Poseidon arc where Hyoga meets his long lost friend, Isaac. Unfortunately for Hyoga, his old buddy has sworn loyalty to Poseidon and now fights as one of Poseidon's Sea Generals. Because Isaac lost an eye trying to save Hyoga in their youth, Hyoga willingly lets Isaac blind him to make them even. Ridiculous I know, but not as bad as Dragon Shiryu who goes blind at least 3-4 times in the course of the show.
Side view of the bandaged head.
Hyoga comes with the usual assortment of variant hands. Open hands, closed hands, finger pointing hands, and these clasped hands to recreate his two most powerful attacks, the Aurora Thunder Attack and the Aurora Execution. There is a smaller chestplate to allow his arms to get into the right position.
Utilizing a stand to pull off a more dynamic pose.
Cygnus Hyoga vs. Aquarius Camus, both attempting to attack each other with the Diamond Dust attack. Technically, Hyoga fought Camus while he wore the first version of the Cygnus Cloth. Still, it was a pivotal scene in the show and since I have Camus hanging around, I felt like throwing this up there.
Anyways, my closing thoughts on the V3 Cygnus Hyoga. I personally like Hyoga as a character but I do have a couple problems with this figure. I'm not so worried about the loose joints in the midsection, but rather I'm concerned with the diecast content in the toy. The Saint Cloth Myth line is a premium niche toy line made for adult collectors and as such I think it is fair for people like me to expect more metal for the money. I've seen this go on eBay for anywhere from $35.00 + shipping to $90.00. The shoulder armor, chestplate, tiara, hip armor, and the lower leg armor are all vacuum metalized chrome-colored plastic. The base chest armor is metal that the chestplate and shoulder armor snap on to. Now, I think the toy looks excellent, but I worry about the plastic parts losing their coating from handling like many toys of my youth. Even as a display piece I worry about the oxidation which is a pain in the ass to remove when the pieces are this small. I know this is probably tl;dr, but at the end of the day I would recommend this to the completionist collectors of the Saint Cloth Myth line or big Hyoga fans.
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