As PC Gamer’s Tekken 8 review confirms, it is a great versus fighter that ‘is a beautiful blend of nostalgia for longtime fans and a pair of welcoming arms for newbies’. And, indeed, it has proven to be so, with a fantastic number of gamers enjoying it on PC as well as on console. Many new Tekken fans have been created thanks to this landmark release.

One of Tekken 8’s fans, though, doesn’t appear to be having such a great time. After ordering the game’s tie-in ‘Fist Meets Fate’ figurine, when the dramatic diorama actually arrived they went on to post online about their perceived disparity in quality between how the figure looks on the official Bandai Namco store, and how it looks in real life.

The post, entitled ‘Is this false advertising? (Fist of Fate Statue)’, sees the Tekken 8 fan, who goes by the online handle Chaolan_Enjoyer, showing off the diorama with photos and comparing them to the promotional images from the Bandai Namco website, juxtaposing them side-by-side in a gallery. The post is tagged ‘Help’, with the statue’s buyer writing, ‘something does not feel right’.

tekken from r/Tekken/comments/1h85xgr/is_this_false_advertising_fist_of_fate_statue

Commenters who replied to Chaolan_Enjoyer’s post seemed to agree with their concerns, too. One going by the handle distortionisgod states that, ‘those look horrid and not at all like advertised’, while another going by the handle HeihachiMishima55 says, ‘ you got scammed brother, complain and get your money back’. While one poster called Comfort Return simply writes, ‘this is hysterical lmfao’.

Unfortunately, after another purchaser of the ‘Fist Meets Fate’ figurine named rebootcomputa also replied in this post’s comments, it appears that this is not a one-off manufacturer error but how this product is being shipped. After stating ‘Mine is on its way, will take pictures and post them here’, rebootcomputa then proceeds to post up a pic showing the exact same finish, matching that of the original poster’s figurine.

Reading the ‘Features’ description of the ‘Fist Meets Fate’ statue, which is limited in number to 888 units and retails for $219.99/£179.99, on the official Bandai Namco website reveals, on the bottom line, the phrase ‘3D render — Non-contractual images’. Unfortunately, it appears that in this case the disparity between the vision for the statue as shown in these 3D renders and what is actually shipping is marked, and not in a good way.

Throwing my hat in the ring here, I think while the legally key phrase ‘3D render — Non-contractual images’ is listed, the renders used to sell this product here do look incredibly good and, most important for me, incredibly real. In fact, before I read ”3D render — Non-contractual images” I would not have known that the product shown in the pictures wasn’t real. As such, I do have sympathy here for buyers of this statue, as it looks like the finished, real product does not live up to how it was advertised by a large margin. Clearly something all of us should keep in mind, and look out for, when considering ordering tie-in figures like this for any game in the future.