Fei Long

SOTA's Street Fighter 2 line continues to roll merrily along, with Series 4 promptly selling out at stores nationwide. We get the usual mix of popular characters and obscure ones, but there's one figure in the line-up that will appeal to people who've never even heard of Street Fighter. Who is this mighty crowd-pleaser? The comparitively generic Fei Long. As an avid student of Bruce Lee's teachings, Fei Long strives to be like the long-dead Jeet Kune Do master. He is a master in his own right, and also shares a passion for acting; in fact, he's Hong Kong's biggest action star on the silver screen. While filming one day, Fei Long left the set to get pumped for the day's shootings by visiting a local fighting establishment and joining the festivities. There he saw a young Ryu thoroughly demolishing his opponent. Seeing his chance, Fei Long challenged Ryu, and summarily lost. Now knowing that there are greater fighters out on the streets than he, Fei Long joins the contest to improve his abilities. By far the fastest warrior in the tournament, Fei Long can quickly take down many larger, stronger opponents with ease. His flaming dragon kick, while having no range, is deadly in the damage department. His lunging punch combo can take down slower fighters in seconds and is by far Fei Long's best attack. His five-hit dizzy combo is the deadliest ever seen in the tournaments since Guile's four-hit wonder. Fei Long's desire to emulate Bruce Lee goes down to the smallest detail, from the shoes he wears to the way he cuts his hair. You look at this figure and you see Bruce Lee, which is why he's finding his way into the hands of even non-gamers. Really, there's nothing to say that this isn't a Bruce Lee toy - other than the name on the package, and who cares about that? Bruce is 6 1/4" tall, and articulated up the yin yang. He's got toes, mid-foot pivots, ankles, shins, double-knees, balljointed hips, a waist and a torso hinge, palm and wrist joints, double-elbows, biceps, shoulders and a balljointed head - more than enough to get into any wing chun pose you'd like. And because he'd be incomplete without it, he's got an alternate head with that well-known "screaming" face. Wohaaaaaaa! If your mom or your girlfriend or your chartered accountant is always nagging you about your collection of half-naked females, maybe you can confuse her by adding this half-naked man. Wearing the iconic Enter The Dragon garb, this figure is totally shirtless, showing off that finely honed physique (including sculpted nipples). He's got the baggy black pants, white socks and black slippers. Surprisingly, despite the fact that the loose, flowing pants are sculpted, he doesn't lose any articulation - makes you wonder why the InuYasha figures are so immobile. Fei has his choice of five hands: two fists, two open and one (left hand) pointing. What's missing from that list? The hand curled loosely with the thumb extended, so he can thumb his nose; you know what we're talking about. He does have a pair of nunchucks that fit beautifully in the open hands, however. Yeah, you read that right, not the fists, the open hands. There's a small groove in each hand that allows the chucks to rest firmly in the notch between thumb and fingers. It's a more naturalistic way of holding the weapon, and really looks nice. There were complaints that the joints on Street Fighter Series 4 were too loose, but there's no evidence of that on this particular specimen. Small variances in the thickness of the pegs that connect his interchangable hands to his arms may mean that the hand is a bit wobbly right after you put it in, but the plastic will soon contract to where it should be. If you can find Fei Long, he's worth getting. Not only is he a nice addition to your Street Fighter collection, but it's the best Bruce Lee figure that we've ever had - beats the baggy pants off Art Asylum's official one, for instance. Not only that, but Fei Long was also something of an innovator in the world of fighting games - these days every beat-'em-up has a Bruce Lee character, but back in the day of Street Fighter II, that was a new innovation. With this toy, you can honor the man, the legend and the videogame character all at once. Out of the dozens of video game characters who play the Bruce Lee role, who's the best? Tell us on our message board, The Loafing Lounge.

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