Storm Collectibles Mortal Kombat Kung Lao figure review

Over the course of the last two Mortal Kombat films — both live action and animated — Kung Lao hasn’t had a lot of good luck. At the very least he made the cut in Storm Collectibles’ Mortal Kombat line to be one of the first non-ninja, regular humans to enter the arena.

Anytime you can add a dude that chucks a razor hat at his opponents is a must-have for my MK display, which so far has been dominated by color swapped ninjas, monsters and beasts. Hopefully Kung Lao is the start of a greater focus on more regular characters like Liu Kang, Sonya Blade, Johnny Cage, Jax and Kano.

Packaging:  I’m a big fan of the Mortal Kombat package setup. The main portrait stretches from the front to the left side setting up a 3D style presentation. We get a clean picture of the figure on the side and the back features the various accessories and pose options.

Unlike some of the other series, the Mortal Kombat bios have English text on them, which I naturally appreciate. It’s written in dramatic fashion setting the stage for Kung Lao’s rematch with Goro. I love this and wish more companies took this approach with the bios.

Likeness:  Kung Lao doesn’t give the sculptors the opportunity to go as nuts with detail as they have with guys like Baraka or Reptile, but it’s still a striking looking figure.

Like every character in the mythos, Kung Lao has various attires to choose from. Storm Collectibles started off with his Mortal Kombat 2 appearance. That feels like the right call since it’s his most simplistic attire and going to a more advance outfit and then visiting this look would be a step back.

It doesn’t hurt that this is a very clean attire and the design still holds up well. Kung Lao is basically wearing a blue gi with a chest protector. Storm Collectibles did a great job conveying the loose fit of the outfit with folds and creases throughout the pants. His high boots come up just below the knee.

Kung Lao isn’t a superman, but he’s got well developed muscles with veins sculpted from his shoulders to his forearms. You’ve gotta be plenty strong to throw a razor hat capable of decapitating dudes. The design on the protector piece is sculpted to show the attention SC puts into these figures.

For most of the series, we don’t get a great look at Kung Lao’s head. It’s typically shrouded by his hat, which he wears covering his eyes. I say that basically to explain my dislike of the head sculpt. It doesn’t look like Kung Lao in my head — he seems a little older.

The sculpt isn’t helped by the high hair, which isn’t done particularly great. Check out Liu Kang by comparison for a good hair sculpt. With Kung Lao, this also pads out his height making his hat rest higher on his head.

The hat is sculpted weird as it’s lopsided. Kung Lao’s brim should be a lot wider and the top portion smaller. Storm Collectibles typically does this better, but Kung Lao’s head sculpt and hat aren’t up to their normal standards.

Scale:  Scale is a tricky thing with this wave since there’s no set figure to use as the measuring stick. I suppose Raiden is the best one at this point and Kung Lao should be shorter than him. He’s a tad taller, but not to some egregious level.

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Paint:  I haven’t received a Storm Collectibles figure so far that’s had a remotely troublesome paint job. The detail work is typically very precise so even with something that can be trickier for other lines like teeth is no problem. Kung Lao’s skin tone is a more intense, vibrant hue compared to the much more realistic shade used for Liu Kang.

The character on his chest protector is well done although maybe some of the edges could use another dash of red paint.

His silver bracelets have a metallic sheen to them and the hat’s brim is (ahem) flawless.

Articulation:  The Storm Collectibles articulation model allows for the smoothest flow for fighting game figures. If you can’t pull off all the big game moves it’s likely more a matter of needing to move the joints to a more cooperative manner.

There’s always an immense satisfaction in pulling off a fighting stance of signature move from the game with the figures and that’s no different with Kung Lao. With his flying lunges and projectile throwing fighting style, he makes for a nicely dynamic figure.

Kung Lao has:

• neck
• shoulders
• elbows
• wrist
• torso
• waist
• shoulders
• knees
• ankles
• feet

The only real headache in posing Kung Lao is his harness rides up creating a noticeable gap between his shoulders. You can pull it down, but it does get annoying.

Accessories:  Kung Lao has a solid number of accessories.

As usual, there’s another portrait. This is a more intense, gritted teeth expression for when the fight has gotten serious, and Kung Lao is feeling victory is imminent. I didn’t like the default head, but this one is worse. The gritted teeth are painted almost like a dark silver.

Storm Collectibles probably should have made at least one of the head sculpts without accommodating the hair to allow the hat to rest on his head lower.

There’s also a blue energy trail to simulate the video game visual of the hat flying through the air. This is an excellent accessory thanks to the excellent shade of blue and how the hat is part of the sculpt.

Even better, the flat palm has a slot so you can insert the trail in between his fingers. No need for a stand here.

And there’s a bunch of swappable hands — fists, gripping, palm strikes, clutching and partially open — for all your display options.

Maybe my favorite accessory so far of any of the MK figures is Kung Lao’s bunny from his Friendship finisher. The bunny looks ridiculously cute and captures the irony of its inclusion in this very violent series perfectly.

He also has a blood trail to attach to the hat if you prefer the carving opponents up after a brutal fight.

Worth It?  I got Kung Lao for $80. That’s more than the normal sized figures from earlier. I don’t love the idea of even high-end figures seeing a price increase since they can’t find a way to add more for the value. There’s only so many extra heads and hands that make up for it.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Better head sculpts and a more natural skin tone would have pushed Kung Lao to the normal high level of my other Storm Collectibles figures.

Where to Get It:  As always with Storm Collectibles figures, I recommend getting it sooner to avoid the inevitable massive price hike. Amazon still has Kung Lao in stock for $89.