Storm Collectibles Ultra Street Fighter II Balrog review

With the arrival of Balrog, we’re now just one member short of having the four bosses of Shadaloo from Storm Collectibles. I appreciated the game having a black fighter in the midst early on and Balrog’s boxing style made him a sneaky fun combatant.

I’m pretty sure Balrog was a Day 1 pre-order for me so it felt like I’ve been waiting on him to arrive for a while. Let’s climb into the ring and see if this Vegas boxer is ready to climb into the ring for his figure spotlight.

Packaging:  Storm Collectibles’ packaging really pops. The Street Fighter setup makes good use of the logo and provides a large portrait of Balrog sporting his signature sneer.

I dig the color choice as the purple-tinged blue makes for a nice contrast with the gold and orange lettering. The tag that he’s the Destroyer of Rules is pretty cool.

I appreciate the Ultra Street Fighter II packaging having the bio in English compared to some of the other Storm Collectibles lines. They’re very well done as it’s clear some time and effort was put into them.

Likeness:  Balrog is a wide dude — not E. Honda or Zangief size — but he’s no shrimp. Balrog’s outfit is fairly simplistic, but it’s mostly captured faithfully.

Everything is nicely in place from the ripped sleeves, sculpted lines on the trunks and detailed laces. His default head sculpt is solid showing Balrog’s intense “I’m gonna knock you out” stare.

The issue comes with something that shouldn’t have been a problem — his boxing gloves. In the prototype photos, Balrog’s gloves were rounder and were truer to the game with tape wrapped around the middle section.

Now they’re shorter and the taped off section marks the end of the glove. I’m not sure what led to this switch, but it’s disappointing that the more accurate look got replaced by something that doesn’t look as good.

Scale: On the scale chart of the World Warriors, Balrog isn’t the tallest or fattest. He should be around Guile’s height and taller than M. Bison.

Balrog will be looking up at Zangief, Sagat and E. Honda.

Paint:  Typically, I don’t have any issues with Storm Collectibles’ paint job. Balrog is mostly as pristine as other figures with the very minor exception of the lining with his trunks. In fairness, I don’t see the clear break point, which might have made lining it up a question.

All the other details are perfect including the lining of his boxing gloves, which would be an easy candidate for problems with the grey against red and yellow.

Articulation:  Like the rest of the Street Fighter line, Balrog has remarkable engineering.

Storm Collectibles constructs the figures to be able to pull off all their signature moves.

Balrog isn’t as complicated as some of the other fighters since he’s all about battering his opponents with punches.

You can hit all kinds of game accurate boxing poses and he’s got a strong, sturdy base so you won’t have to worry about him toppling over all the time.

Balrog has:

• • neck
  • shoulders (butterfly)
  • elbows (double-jointed)
  • wrist
  • torso
  • waist
  • thighs
  • knees (double-jointed)
  • ankles
  • feet

Accessories:  Compared to most Storm Collectibles figures, Balrog is lacking a little. Some of that is due to SC including a slew of different hand options, which isn’t viable for Balrog since he just needs his boxing gloves.

He does have a nice variety of head sculpt options however with a sneering expression, an intense expression and the Ultra Street Fight II beaten down and bruised sculpt.

My favorite is the sneering version since it shows more personality and the impressive detail work on Balrog’s teeth.

To add a little extra value, there’s a shirtless torso for a super taunt, victorious pose. I doubt I’ll switch this on and off too often, but it’s a nice inclusion.

Finally, he’s got a dust-up translucent grey effect piece to simulate his dashing rush punch attack.

I really don’t know what else Balrog should come with but compared to the others he really needed something else. Maybe a cardboard standup of two Vegas dancing girls?

Worth It?  Balrog probably should have been cheaper considering the lack of accessories. He’s certainly not a higher end figure, but his price tag of $90 does feel slightly excessive. As usual, I’d recommend getting him now before he shoots up in price like a ton of Storm Collectibles do after a few months.

Rating: 9.7 out of 10

Balrog is another tremendous entry to the Street Fighter II lineup. I do wish Storm Collectibles gave him a few more accessories to balance out the cost better, but otherwise he’s a fantastic figure.

Where to Get It: You’re not going to get a bunch of options to get Balrog since Storm Collectibles are now exclusively available in the US through Big Bad Toy Store. They still have him in stock. You can also grab him from Amazon.

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