303 Toys Guan Yu 2.0 ... ...

After a long deliberation, I have in my possession, Guan Yu, 關羽, also known as 關雲長. 

This is version 2.0 which I was sold by the armor that came with this revision and I had mentioned earlier in 2014 when I reviewed Zhao Yun that I am not going to buy Guan Yu as I viewed him as a deity. However, 4 years on and I decided that Guan Yu makes a great companion for Zhao Yun.

For those who followed the literature of Romance of the Three Kingdom, Zhao Yun, 趙雲, like Guan Yu served under Liu Bei and had saved Guan Yu's son in an epic fight scene.

Anyway, back to Guan Yu.

The packaging of Guan Yu isn't exactly fantastic but it is good enough for me. The carton box that holds the actual packaging even has a drawing of Guan Yu.

The packaging is a shoebox type housing and the back of it has a short summary of the life of Guan Yu which can be found in Wiki https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guan_Yu.

Once opened, another elaborate drawing of Guan Yu in a ready to battle stance.

Figure out of the box and he is already clad in full body armor.

I removed the armor and stopped at the robe as it is quite a chore to remove and clothe him as the clothes and armor is worn in traditional methods; lots of tying of knots.

He comes equipped with a battle sword which is made of diecast and has elaborate carvings on the blade and the sheath. Some parts of it have threads that goes round for added friction.

The bun on the top of the head is held by magnet which is a common feature for 1/6 scale toys.

Here Guan Yu is wearing his scholar hat which symbolises Guan Yu's intellect along with his martial art skills.

All right, let's go to war.

Putting on the armor requires lots of patience and some skills as things at this scale are still small and difficult to handle. The amount of details on traditional figures like these make the figure an art work to admire.

I have one grouse for this amazing figure is the belt to hold the waist piece together. Firstly, it is so authentic (which is a good thing) that it is very tough to piece together. There is a total of 5 parts to be put together. The quality of the faux leather is very bad and started to tear once it was rubbed against the buckle.

This is the half-armored version with a dragon robe. See picture below. The details again is very intricate and the dragon is printed which the actual clothing would have it embroidered.

And here, Guan Yu carries his famous Guan Dao, 關刀, which is known as the Green Dragon Crescent Blade, 青龍偃月刀.

Put on the helmet and he is fully armored and ready for battle.

Isn't the molding of the dragon that held the blade amazing and a work of art?

Next, Guan Yu removes the dragon robe and is clad in full armor for serious battle in the battle field.

The signature pose of Guan Yu which has him holding his Guan Dao in one hand and beard in another.

The aftermath of the belt and I think the rest of belt will end up with the same fate in due time.