Part I : Review: Saint Myth Cloth Capricorn Shura Surplice-
This will be a triple feature of three of the main Surplice Spectres in the Saint Seiya Hades Chapter Anime. All off you are probably wondering, who is Shura? From Wikipedia- Shura belongs to the fabled rank of Gold Saint hierarchy among the other 12 Gold Saints. His guardian star is of the zodiac sign of Capricorn.Shura is the Gold Saint that underwent some modifications in his ideology when the manga was adapted to animation. While the anime series shows Shura as being the most loyal Saint to Athena, Kurumada depicted in his manga a Capricorn Saint that at first was somewhat reluctant, but short moments before his death, rediscovered his loyalty to Athena, and remained faithful to her even after his death.
Shura as a gold saint before he dies battling shiryu. In the capricorn temple.
The Hades Chapter- Shura, Camus and Saga quickly made their way to the temple of Virgo, where they confronted the single Virgo Shaka. As they battled, Shaka realized that their combined power would soon end in his death. Shaka unleashed his ultimate technique which combined both defense and offense at the same time, the Tenbu Hōrin. Shaka also began taking away their senses, until they had only one left. Shaka told them they would be soon defeated by him if they didn't combine their Cosmos and unleash the deadliest attack deemed forbidden by Athena herself, Athena Exclamation. Although Saga agreed, Shura and Camus begs not unleash this attack, as they will be branded worse than traitor. Eventually, the former Gold Saints unleashed the Athena Exclamation, killing their comrade and lamented on the fact that Shaka had to die like this. However, Shaka's spirit came back to life for a short while only to write down his last message to Athena. Shura agreed to assist Shaka in suicide but wept over the fact Shaka was already dead as his body faded away into stardust.
Athena, hearing their battle from the Hall of the Pope, summoned both groups over. Understanding the message that Shaka sent her, Athena commits suicide so that her spirit could enter Hell. After her death, the trio planned to blackmail Pandora into taking them where Hades was. As they entered Pandora's castle, Shura quickly held her under his sword and demanded to be taken to Hades. However, Pandora revealed to them that their twelve hours of life would soon be over, and the three fell as the sun started to rise, slowly disintegrating to dust. Before Shura's body turned into stardust, he reminded Shiryu of the gift that he had in right arm, and why he was given Excalibur. On with the review-
In December 2004 Bandai the a Myth cloth figure of Capricorn Shura as a gold saint. Which i do have. I picked up when it was released. By demand of fans of the series, Bandai releases the Capricorn figure for the second time. On January 2009 the Surplice Capricorn spectre is released. I got mine at Toys n Joys pre-ordering it. And picking it up when the shipment arrived. Compliments of Art Molina. Thanks Art.
Package- The box is a clam shell bookstyle package. That opens up in the middle to show the contents with out having to open the box and look inside. This is a good idea Bandai came up with to keep the contents in the box still untouched while collectors who are shopping can have a look at the pieces and whats in the set.
The front of the box shows the orginal character in the anime on the left. To the right shows the figure all covered in the armor. Set over a background looking like a black hole.
The back of the box shows the figure at the with a back ground of the zodiac temples in greece. And a few images of the figure showing briefly the features and what it can do.
The figure- The figure is mostly plastic through out the whole body. The only thing that is metal are the feet. A generation three type figure. Having more joint movement than the previous versions. Hinged toes, hinged and swivel ankles, double hinged knees. ball jointed hips, swivel and ball jointed wrists, ball jointed elbows, hinged and swivel body, ball jointed elbows and ball jointed neck.
Basic figure front view
Basic figure back view
One effect that was improved over the years was to make the figure crouch on one knee like a human being. The double joints on the knees make now make this possible for the figure to do.
At one time it was not possible to get the figure to stand on one leg on its own. You would always have to hold it. That too is now possible. And able to not only stand on one leg but to do a kick. Properly balancing itself on one foot. The metal feet help with that part. Takes a lot of patience and time to get this position right. Another plus for Bandai on the design of the figure.
The Capricorn Object. It was never seen in the series the Capricorn Surplice being in its object form. Off Shura's body. Bandai decided to add it to the set. It looks similar to the Capricorn Gold Cloth object. Only difference is the color and the chest plate being designed differently. The manner in putting the statue together is the same. It did take me a few minutes to put together. A lot of it was straight forward. I have to say it looks really good in the purple and black colors. It gets better from here. 
Figure with armor front view
Figure with armor back view 
Even with the armor on the figure's articulation is not hindered. Depending on the pose the weight of the armor will allow it to stand on its own. This can be good and sometimes its not when the figure is put into battle poses. Even his signature move, Excalibur can be replicated.
Seiken-Excalibur!!!
This set is packed with some features. An extra neck sleeve and hair piece. This is for the Capricorn Gold cloth. You can use the head of this current figure on the gold capricorn saint. Put the sleeve over the neck and then shura's head from the current set, on. Then put change out the hair piece and put the gold head piece on. I'm thinking maybe I can get a second Surplice Capricorn figure and use the head from it on my gold capricorn saint. This is just an idea. 
From the front view- lets start with height. The surplice Capricorn is a little taller than the gold Capricorn. The armor on the gold Capricorn is looks heavier. The surplice Capricorn's armor looks sleeker. Face sculpt- the surplice capricorn's face is more anime accurate. The knee covers on the surplice capricorn are higher and sharper than the ones on the gold capricorn. the shoulder pieces are also a bit different. The for the surplice capricorn its more straight. For the gold capricorn its rounded and they go up in a bit of an angle.
From the back view- What I wanted to point out here first are the gauntlets. The elbow covers for the surpice capricorn its longer and sharper than the ones for the gold Capricorn which doesn't extend past the elbow joints. But covering them. Mind you, they both look good. Don't get me wrong on that one. But the Surplice version is more proprtioned and to scale with the character in the anime.
Like every gold saint figure in the myth cloth line, even this one Is able to do the Athena Exclamation. One of the reasons why I got this figure was for that. I thought it was pretty neat that the figure can be put in the Athena Excamation stance. This is actually how i will have this figure displayed on my shelf.
This will be a triple feature of three of the main Surplice Spectres in the Saint Seiya Hades Chapter Anime. All off you are probably wondering, who is Shura? From Wikipedia- Shura belongs to the fabled rank of Gold Saint hierarchy among the other 12 Gold Saints. His guardian star is of the zodiac sign of Capricorn.Shura is the Gold Saint that underwent some modifications in his ideology when the manga was adapted to animation. While the anime series shows Shura as being the most loyal Saint to Athena, Kurumada depicted in his manga a Capricorn Saint that at first was somewhat reluctant, but short moments before his death, rediscovered his loyalty to Athena, and remained faithful to her even after his death.
Shura as a gold saint before he dies battling shiryu. In the capricorn temple.The Hades Chapter- Shura, Camus and Saga quickly made their way to the temple of Virgo, where they confronted the single Virgo Shaka. As they battled, Shaka realized that their combined power would soon end in his death. Shaka unleashed his ultimate technique which combined both defense and offense at the same time, the Tenbu Hōrin. Shaka also began taking away their senses, until they had only one left. Shaka told them they would be soon defeated by him if they didn't combine their Cosmos and unleash the deadliest attack deemed forbidden by Athena herself, Athena Exclamation. Although Saga agreed, Shura and Camus begs not unleash this attack, as they will be branded worse than traitor. Eventually, the former Gold Saints unleashed the Athena Exclamation, killing their comrade and lamented on the fact that Shaka had to die like this. However, Shaka's spirit came back to life for a short while only to write down his last message to Athena. Shura agreed to assist Shaka in suicide but wept over the fact Shaka was already dead as his body faded away into stardust.
Athena, hearing their battle from the Hall of the Pope, summoned both groups over. Understanding the message that Shaka sent her, Athena commits suicide so that her spirit could enter Hell. After her death, the trio planned to blackmail Pandora into taking them where Hades was. As they entered Pandora's castle, Shura quickly held her under his sword and demanded to be taken to Hades. However, Pandora revealed to them that their twelve hours of life would soon be over, and the three fell as the sun started to rise, slowly disintegrating to dust. Before Shura's body turned into stardust, he reminded Shiryu of the gift that he had in right arm, and why he was given Excalibur. On with the review-
In December 2004 Bandai the a Myth cloth figure of Capricorn Shura as a gold saint. Which i do have. I picked up when it was released. By demand of fans of the series, Bandai releases the Capricorn figure for the second time. On January 2009 the Surplice Capricorn spectre is released. I got mine at Toys n Joys pre-ordering it. And picking it up when the shipment arrived. Compliments of Art Molina. Thanks Art.
Package- The box is a clam shell bookstyle package. That opens up in the middle to show the contents with out having to open the box and look inside. This is a good idea Bandai came up with to keep the contents in the box still untouched while collectors who are shopping can have a look at the pieces and whats in the set.
The front of the box shows the orginal character in the anime on the left. To the right shows the figure all covered in the armor. Set over a background looking like a black hole.
The back of the box shows the figure at the with a back ground of the zodiac temples in greece. And a few images of the figure showing briefly the features and what it can do.The figure- The figure is mostly plastic through out the whole body. The only thing that is metal are the feet. A generation three type figure. Having more joint movement than the previous versions. Hinged toes, hinged and swivel ankles, double hinged knees. ball jointed hips, swivel and ball jointed wrists, ball jointed elbows, hinged and swivel body, ball jointed elbows and ball jointed neck.
Basic figure front view
Basic figure back viewJoint movement- A very important thing for every action figure is how much articulation it has. This makes it possible to assume a variety of poses one can think of. I did try putting the figure in many different poses. I was impressed with the degree of movement each joint had.
One effect that was improved over the years was to make the figure crouch on one knee like a human being. The double joints on the knees make now make this possible for the figure to do.
At one time it was not possible to get the figure to stand on one leg on its own. You would always have to hold it. That too is now possible. And able to not only stand on one leg but to do a kick. Properly balancing itself on one foot. The metal feet help with that part. Takes a lot of patience and time to get this position right. Another plus for Bandai on the design of the figure.
The Capricorn Object. It was never seen in the series the Capricorn Surplice being in its object form. Off Shura's body. Bandai decided to add it to the set. It looks similar to the Capricorn Gold Cloth object. Only difference is the color and the chest plate being designed differently. The manner in putting the statue together is the same. It did take me a few minutes to put together. A lot of it was straight forward. I have to say it looks really good in the purple and black colors. It gets better from here. Putting the armor on the figure- I took the whole Capricorn object apart. I never thought there would be a lot of pieces. Maybe its just me. Its the same amount of pieces as the Capricorn gold cloth. Putting the statue frame aside, I had to look at the instruction diagrams carefully. The manner of how the armor goes onto the figure is different from the statue. So i started with the legs. The leg pieces on this figure have multi-components. The top half has to be put on first then the lower half. These peices go on after the thigh pieces are on. The lower body, skirt armor and chest armor are all straight forward when putting them on. Same with the gauntlets, shoulder pieces and head piece. The figure looks really good. It has sort of a menacing feel to it. The steel trim along the shoulders enhance the appearance more.
Figure with armor front view
Figure with armor back view 
Even with the armor on the figure's articulation is not hindered. Depending on the pose the weight of the armor will allow it to stand on its own. This can be good and sometimes its not when the figure is put into battle poses. Even his signature move, Excalibur can be replicated.
Seiken-Excalibur!!! 
This set is packed with some features. An extra neck sleeve and hair piece. This is for the Capricorn Gold cloth. You can use the head of this current figure on the gold capricorn saint. Put the sleeve over the neck and then shura's head from the current set, on. Then put change out the hair piece and put the gold head piece on. I'm thinking maybe I can get a second Surplice Capricorn figure and use the head from it on my gold capricorn saint. This is just an idea. Comparisons- There are differences between the two. Which I will briefly talk about. The surplice Capricorn on the left and the gold Capricorn on the right-
From the front view- lets start with height. The surplice Capricorn is a little taller than the gold Capricorn. The armor on the gold Capricorn is looks heavier. The surplice Capricorn's armor looks sleeker. Face sculpt- the surplice capricorn's face is more anime accurate. The knee covers on the surplice capricorn are higher and sharper than the ones on the gold capricorn. the shoulder pieces are also a bit different. The for the surplice capricorn its more straight. For the gold capricorn its rounded and they go up in a bit of an angle.
From the back view- What I wanted to point out here first are the gauntlets. The elbow covers for the surpice capricorn its longer and sharper than the ones for the gold Capricorn which doesn't extend past the elbow joints. But covering them. Mind you, they both look good. Don't get me wrong on that one. But the Surplice version is more proprtioned and to scale with the character in the anime.
Like every gold saint figure in the myth cloth line, even this one Is able to do the Athena Exclamation. One of the reasons why I got this figure was for that. I thought it was pretty neat that the figure can be put in the Athena Excamation stance. This is actually how i will have this figure displayed on my shelf. Conclusion- I like it. I think the colors of the armor look really good on the figure. Bandai did a good job on the whole thing. Paid real close attention to it and didn't miss out on any minute details. More than the previous gold saint releases. I'm hoping to see more of this surplice style of saints released in the future. I would recommend it highly to a saint seiya fan. Or collectors like myself. Again I would like to thank Art Molina for his accomodations on getting me this figure. As always.
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