Packaging - ***
I'm much fonder of SOTA's packaging than Michael is. The clamshell affectionately houses and displays the toy and its accessories, and it's decorated with artwork of the character as well as their signature moves from the game. The back of the clamshell has pictures of the other figures as well as their location, similar to the between-fight screens from the original game. Though the backing is a little plain, it draws more attention to the excellent toys inside. 

Sculpting - ****
The original Blanka featured a fantastic sculpt, accurate to all of his video game incarnations as well as looking very fun and playable, and the GitD variant is the same. Blanka's big hulking body is a mass of muscle and hair, sculpted perfectly so as not to allow the uber-articulation to distract from the look. Both facial sculpts capture the ferocity of the character, one roaring in anger and the other gritting teeth, and minor details impress, like those shackles on his lower legs; they're the anklets that his mother gave him before the plane crash that found him lost in the jungle. 

Paint - ****
Technically unpainted aside from the face, Blanka is sculpted entirely out of nifty glow-in-the-dark plastic, meant to simulate his electric thunder attack. It works extremely well, charging up under a bright light and then glowing for a long time in the dark a strong neon green/yellow. It's a great idea for an exclusive and the execution is fantastic.

The only place actually painted is his eyes, mouth, gums and teeth, which all look good - his anger is captured even while conducting electricity. It's good that this small detail is painted; a completely GitD figure would have lost some of the character, but as he is here, he's perfect.

Articulation - ****
Blanka is truly super-articulated, with such an insane variety of poses it's difficult to keep him in just one for too long. His shoulders and legs feature nice big ball-joints, allowing him to get into that hunched pose he was in most of the time during the game, as well as the same pose he was in when he did the electric thunder. 

Everywhere else moves as well, including an excellent ball-jointed neck (a staple for this series) and then joints at the elbows, wrists, midsection, feet, knees, everywhere. The joints are not loose and he'll stay in poses with ease, catering for those who want to keep their figures in one statuesque pose as well as those who want to play with their toys. He's also highly durable and very, very fun.

Accessories - ****
Glow-in-the-Dark Blanka features the best accessories EVER. Forget the working Batsignal, forget the light-up Aliens eggs, forget the Masterpiece Optimus Matrix - no one has EVER had glow in the dark watermelon!

That's right, the Blanka variant features all of his original accessories - the watermelon slice, the pineapple and the human skull - in glow in the dark plastic! Are they electric? Have they been exposed to too much radiation? Who cares! Glow in the dark fruit is awesome, and that skull is sweet.

And, as expected, Blanka features all the same interchangeable body parts as his warrior brethren, including open and closed fists, and his alternate head, which all pop in nicely. Between all the movement and extra parts Blanka has, you can pose him however you want, exactly as you want. In my opinion, this is the way action figures should be made!

Fun Factor - ****
Fun? He freaking glows in the dark!! I can't think of any Street Fighter fans - child or adult - who would not want this figure. With all the playability and all that poseability, he's awesome posed next to the PC, or fighting with other toys on the floor, or staring at you from the desk while you sleep, glowing in the darkness. SOTA cater to everyone with these figures, and they've done a fine job. 

Value - ****
Although he's an exclusive, I've seen him available in numerous places, including Tower Records and Action Figure Express, all for very reasonable prices, the same as you'd buy the normal figures or just pennies more. AFX even has an offer currently to get one free with the purchase of the set of Street Fighter Round 2 figures - you can't go wrong!

Things to Watch Out For - 
Absolutely nothing. Whether you order this toy online or find a store to buy it from, you're guaranteed to be getting one of the coolest toys of the year.

Overall - ****
I'm not normally a fan of variants, but I love this figure - it's a fantastic idea with fantastic execution, and not limited or hurt by any of the problems normally associated with exclusives. SOTA have shown us how to make a great fighting game line, worth every cent, and I hope we'll see more great figures from the company.

Score Recap:
Packaging - ***
Sculpt - ****
Paint - ****
Articulation - ****
Accessories - ****
Fun Factor - ****
Value - ****
Overall - ****