Firestarter's Blog: Toy Review: DX Beat Chaser and Gouram

My first real epic Kamen Rider - related toy and a bike as well. It was selling on the local Ebay website a few weeks ago for a reasonable price. How reasonable? Well its like the price of a Toravendor (as of this post). I quickly bid on a nice bargain and waited the day of its arrival.

That epic day came.

The box of the DX Beat Chaser is very well colored, very detailed and huge! From front to back, it has all the goodies and gimmicks that toy could do. But my overwhelming surprise didn't end to its exterior box. The Beat Chaser to every bit a masterpiece and shouts KUUGA!!!. The wheels, spokes, spoilers, mufflers, engine front and back end of the single track motorbike are painted in shinny gold. The paint used is similar to the old Silver Hawks toys from the 90s - the kind that slowly chips off through the years (sigh).

Kuuga's emblem are found at the side of the gas tank and on top of the spoiler. The rest of the bike are in black with red lines near the silver or grey seat pad. You need three coin-type batteries to operate, the panel is on the seat cover. You need a Philips screwdriver to open it. After opening the switch underneath the front end, the joy come next in the form of a button behind the engine and when pressed, swifts you back in time when Godai was handed his steed for the first time.

Next is the Gouram, a mythical beast from who knows when. Arms do swivel and the horns go in and out. Wings do spread out more epically than an eagle. Grongi characters on his head do not pop out but it add to the whole look and feel of the life-size counterpart. Wait there's more. Gouram has its own stand that is sturdier than any Tamashii Stage. This stand has a very apparent shape like Kuuga's mark seen on his gloves.

What I like is that this toy came with a phone which has phrases recognizable from the show. With this, it puts you on the back seat of the action and remembering how the birth of Hsieh riders came to be - thanks to Kuuga.

Though I might say so many wonderful things about this toy, its not all perfect. To summarize these are the things I found out:

Cons: You need five batteries to operate this toy. The kick stand has no use to balance the bike and it tends to fold on its own especially in Beat Gouram mode. The latches that holds the Gouram in its form is flimsy so better be care full playing with it. Key pads on the phone don't work. Signal strength between the phone and the bike is laggy.

Pros. Design is very detailed. Recognizable phrases from the show. Gouram has its own stand. The stand design is amazing and very Kuuga-ish. The bike in Beat Gouram mode is astonishing. Paint apps are almost perfect. Even without the phone the bike can stand on its own as a toy. Perfect if you have SHF or Shocauku Henshin Kuuga figures. No need for extra hands for Kuuga.