It's been a long, long road since we first got glimpses of Rotobox's prototype for a figure called Celsius they were working on. Just over a year, in fact. But in that year, we've been able to follow Celsius' growth from start to finish, from the first time the names of Rotobox and Kuso Vinyl, then relatively unknown companies, hit our ears until this moment, when we finally review Celsius' OG version. But just how has the finished product turned out?

Hit the jump and check out our take on this new addition to the vinyl scene!

As with all reviews, the best place to start is the box. And boy, is it a fancy box that Celsius comes in. Mostly plain white on the outside with a slit cut out to let you peek inside, it doesn't seem like a whole lot, until you open it up ...

Yep, two flaps to open, one with a bit of info and a schematic on Celsius. Having learned my lesson from my last review, I decided it'd be best to unbox this vinyl figure inside. That, and well, I didn't want to get the white box dirty.

The back of the box features a pretty colorful design and yet a bit more info on the series Rotobox has created, The World is Not Mine, Nor is it Mine, it is Ours. Yes, that's a mouthful and I'm assuming from Rotobox's Web site that they'll be releasing more figures from this series in the future.

Inside all that packaging is Celsius and the many parts you'll need to put him all together, along with a tiny comic book. The comic is just a humorous little story about the characters/world Rotobox has created and a nice little bonus for collectors. But I bet you're more interested in how this all gets put together, right? Well, Celsius' pieces are built to all slide in and connect rather easily via the old slot-and-tab method, so in theory, it's a quick an easy process.

Sadly, this wasn't without issue. Somewhere in the depths of the Celsius factory, something didn't go quite right when they were forming the peg on one of my wings. The one on the left was actually off-set where the peg was, so it wouldn't fit into the appropriate hole on another piece. The only way I was able to fix this was to actually sand down the peg into its correct shape, at which point it finally fit inside. I'm thinking, and perhaps hoping, that it's just a one-time production issue with my piece, but without being able to talk to other Celsius owners, I'll never know.

With the piece finally assembled, it was time to take Celsius out on a mission and get a better look at some of this vinyl figure's details.

Anyone feeling like they fell into Metal Gear Sold 4? That's the feeling I have looking at the completed Celsius, whose design does evoke that of our old pal Raiden, from the grey and black colors of his suit to the steely determination on his face. Oh, and he's got wings, too, which I guess puts him at a bit of an advantage.

Here's a little bit of detail on Celsius' helmet, featuring the text written on the helmet's visor. I actually didn't notice this until I was trying to get a close-up of Celsius' face. Of course, Celsius doesn't really have radar and sonar, but I'm sure some entrepreneurial customizer might want to add those in for a small fee. Like two or three grand.  

Again, more detail, this time on the front of Celsius' suit. It's the little things like this that really add to the figure's overall feel of being a super-soldier in a powerful suit of armor. They could have skipped out on the little warning logo and text there and no one would have noticed, but it's the little things that do add up to make an average figure a great one. Also take note that there aren't any overpainted lines on Celsius or really any black lines, for that matter. The end result gives Celsius a kind of cel-shaded look, or at least it does to yours truly. And believe me, I like how Celsius looks.

A little close-up on those guns and the poseability of the figure. The guns are pretty well designed, with a nice futuristic touch to their look, and they are interchangeable as they simply slot into each hand. Both arms are articulated at the wrists, as seen above to produce the side-gripped look, as are the shoulders and neck. However, given the design of the figure's head and shoulders, they have limited articulation, which is a bit of a letdown, especially around the head. You really can't move it too much out of its default position.

The one production flaw aside, Celsius is a very beautiful figure, designed in the style of old-school Japanese action show and sci-fi anime heroes. The price is a bit steep at $80, and they are a limited run, but it's a figure I would definitely recommend trying to save up some money for if you're a vinyl fan. And if you can't grab the OG version, there are plenty of other different Celsius colorways either out on the market right now or to be released in the next few months. And if that's not enough, Rotobox is pretty consistently producing custom Celsius figures that are out of this world. I have a feeling we've only begun to see Celsius on the vinyl scene, and we should expect to see him around for quite some time.