Another ambitious attempt to go the SIC way. Welcome to my review of the S.I.C Hero Saga Kamen Rider Amazon and his bike, Jungler. Ambitious in a way that I clearly jumped on the SIC big toys without thinking. Impulsive I guess is the right word. I don't hate Amazon in general but I haven't found an Amazon figure that I liked. True. When I bought SHF Amazon a couple reviews ago, I believe I was clear that I didn't like it. Joints were messy, action poses are not refined - a missed opportunity.
Am I trying to find the best and the most articulatively (no such word) correct Kamen Rider of the jungle? Is my ambitious search doomed to fail? It is like looking for a delicacy that I actually liked. Lets see if the SIC Hero Saga Amazon and Jungler will fit in the fave toys of all time. Hade ni Ikuze! (Wrong attribution I know).
Stunning. That is what I described the packaging. The package comes in two parts. First is the Hero Saga black cover. A cover for a box, looks promising. Most of the letters placed are in hot foil so ergo shinning shimmering splendid. Once you slide that out you are greeted to a safari/military looking box and it lets you see the figure even more. At the back is your typical montage showing more profile for both the bike and the action figure. I think this is getting more exciting by the minute.
It took me half an hour to remove the twisties (I won't go on a Amazon rage this time) and the miles of scotch tape, but I was in awe on how intricate the figure parts are. Removing these were not as complicated as when I started reviewing SICs. Probably because I'm starting to warm up to these.
Let's start with the bike. To complete the set up there are two dragon lizard-like twin fins that needs to be attached near the seat pad and the rear of the motor. As a whole, the bike is really heavy due to the mix of both die-cast, hard and translucent plastic. As long as you've fastened the wings correctly they are sturdy as you play along.
What's best is how the die cast metal and the hard plastic were mashed up together to form the wheels, engine and stubs on the bike. For an SIC figure, it was a great concoction of engineering and technical know-how in a synergy of ideas from the designer/s (might be Kenji Ando or Takayuki Takeya). Everything functions well from the wheels to its saddle. I tried to have Amazon sit on the bike, and the combination is perfect. Time to criticize the rider. I hope I'm not spoiling too much. Amazon is not as fun as the Jungler. His mold is a typical SIC, a rider on steroids - every detailed has been hyped. For example the fins on this back, head sculpt and teeth. Even the feet are webbed and not a pair of boots. His muscular extremities are molded but the reptile accents are painted over. He also has a moving jaw and a nice touch on the red translucent tongue inside. To add, the teeth are very sharp.
Amazon is armed with a Gigi Armlet, a whip, a pair of holding hands mainly for holding the Jungler's throttles, a pair on nun chucks (which I didn't see in its SHF counter part) and lastly a ceramic extra rider belt. Yes it is ceramic. Just like the bike, the weapons have a die cast base and a translucent red soft plastic at the end. The ceramic belt is a nice touch of class and I think it is rare use of material in most toy figures.
Here is the downside. Amazon's joints are just plain awful. The arms are extremely limited. You cannot even raise the arms sideways because of the hard mold plastic on top of the shoulder. Since the arms are on ball joints you can easily snap these off when I tried to place him on various action poses. Legs are even worse, you can even twist the knees to a bow-legged pose. With this, having him stand up straight is a tedious task to pursue. Most of all, a rag for a scarf? I understand that Amazon lives in a jungle but he ain't a charity case. More bad news, holding the weapons are a mess and utterly useless. Overall, Amazon is meant only to do one thing - ride the bike.
You may find the packaging breathtaking. I was in love with the bike and it is what I expected. Unfortunately, I cannot say the same with the rider. Oh well, I'm on a hunt once again.
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