The Last Samurai Figures

The Last Samurai is Edward Zwick's 2003 film about Captain Nathan Algren, a former US Army officer hired to train Japan's new army in the 1870s, who ends up fighting beside the samurai he was brought in to defeat. Tom Cruise plays Algren, Ken Watanabe plays the rebel lord Katsumoto (a role that earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor) and Hiroyuki Sanada plays Ujio, the swordsman who teaches Algren the blade. The story draws on the 1877 Satsuma Rebellion, which gives it one foot in real history and a strong pull on anyone who collects Japanese armor.

In sixth scale the film belongs mostly to [Pop Toys](/manufacturer/pop-toys), which has made [Katsumoto](/character/katsumoto), [Ujio](/character/ujio) and [Nathan Algren](/character/nathan-algren). These are sold under the maker's own product names ("Bushidou" for one of its Katsumoto sets) and come in standard and deluxe versions. [Vincentoy Studio](/manufacturer/vincentoy-studio) has added an Algren of its own.

Because the box never says who the figure is, the head sculpt does most of the talking, and collectors judge it first. After that it comes down to the armor: how the plates sit on a twelve-inch body, how neatly the cords are tied, whether the swords sit right in the sash. For samurai from every other era, the wider [Samurai](/character/samurai) page gathers them in one place.