Street Fighter Round 3
ADON

Adon is a cocky, arrogant Muay Thai fighter. A student of Sagat, he made his debut in the original Street Fighter game. Originally the sub boss for the game, he was supposed to crush his opponent for his master. However, he was defeated by Ryu, who went on to take down Sagat as well. Disgraced, Sagat dismissed Adon from his tutelage.

Adon returned in Street Fighter Alpha, sporting a new updated look. This time he was bent on defeating his old master and ruling the Muay Thai world.

The figure is sculpted to resemble the Alpha version of Adon, with his strange, diamond shaped hair. I think SOTA is finally getting the hang of things with Round 3, as their facial likenesses get better and better. Adon's head sculpt is perfect. It looks exactly like the game, with his devilish Joker styled grin. He really looks like he stepped right out from the game itself.

His body is also perfectly replicated, from his slim physique to the red and blue stripes on his arm bands. The level of detail seems to have gone up a few notches since Round 1. There's more noticeable airbrushing on Adon's musculature that really emphasizes the chiseled look of his body. It's got a good balance of being obvious, yet blended in so well that it doesn't become an eyesore, unlike some of the airbrushing and washes that other companies do. The creases on his pants and the intricate sculpts on his wraps look much better than they did on Sagat. Still, he fits in perfectly with the older figures. It's just very small and subtle things that tell you SOTA's putting in more effort.

Adon doesn't really lend himself well to accessorizing, so he comes with a set of open and closed hands, which are more than sufficient to replicate his various stances and poses from the game. He also has a "thumbs" hand that you can pose in either a "thumbs up" or "thumbs down" position. It's one of the cases where the accessories really fit the character well. Adon's signature stance is an arrogant "thumbs down" pose towards his opponents. All 5 hands serve to match his in-game persona really well. You don't need any more to bring Adon to life on your shelf.

His other accessory came as a complete surprise. It's Adon's head from Street Fighter (1)!! This makes sense, since Adon usually isn't seen with any other expression. And unlike Round 2's Ken, his design hasn't changed that much from his Street Fighter days, so it works! It's an excellent choice and now I'm eager to buy another Adon figure so I can have them both on display.

Sculpt wise, it's not too bad a likeness. It still looks more like Alpha's Adon with SF1 hair, but it's passable. The hair is a little too Bart Simpson, in my opinion. I'm sure SOTA's capable of a better, more complex sculpt.

When it comes to articulation, Adon has highs and lows. His slim body means that you get double jointed elbows in addition to the usual SOTA staple, making for a good amount of poseability. The slimmer Street Fighters are always more dynamic because their thin musculature doesn't get in the way of the articulation.

However, his lower body doesn't fair as well. He's still got all the usual joints, and an added mid-calf cut that's new to Round 3. It really makes a big difference because now, because the lower foot can face in a different direction from the where the leg is pointing, which can make for more natural poses, and better stability in crouches and kneels. However, like some of his previous comrades, Adon does not have a very wide range of hip movement, due to the low cut of his crotch section. It's not as bad as Round 2's T Hawk, but the long and short of it is that he can't bend his leg up very high, and it doesn't go backwards at all. The shin-twist and the foot articulation helps a little, but for an agile, high kicking character like Adon I wish they had given him a little more range. What I mean will become clearer with the Gen review.

For those interested, Adon *can* balance on one leg. His flamingo stance is another signature pose, and with some tweaking, it isn't hard to get him standing on one foot. I managed it multiple times, and he does seem to balance enough that he doesn't keel over. I wouldn't recommend it for permanent display without the help of a figure stand, because it places a lot of weight on the knee joints, which are starting to loosen up on mine. But it is possible! I have this obsession with figures standing on their own on one leg. To me, that's a good test of balanced design, articulation and joint quality!

I find myself liking Adon more the longer I own him. He isn't one of my favourite fighters, but this is one sweet figure. He's got some nifty moves, and I love the surprise head. He feels good in the hands, and looks great on the shelf.

Adon will be available in 5 colours. One regular, and 4 variants based on his palette swaps in the Alpha game.

Blue&Yellow Adon - Regular mass retail version, packed 2 per case.

Blue&Red Adon - ???

Red/Orange Adon - Exclusive to various online retailers.

Black Adon - Exclusive to various online retailers.

Purple Adon - Randomly packed assortments at Gamestop stores

Variant pics courtesy of SOTA toys.

Coming up next: The individual reviews! Click on the links to read em!

Adon
Gen
Guile
Sakura
Balrog

Back to Street Fighter Round 3!

Got a question or feedback? Think I suck at this? Do let me know... -Dare