Skyrider is one of the rare showa riders without the title "Kamen Rider" in their belt. Part of the legendary 7 and in some collectors, Skyrider is one of the anticipated SHF Showa riders released in 2012. As I was going through the shelves of my fave local hobby stores, they are all stacked up. This was already 2 weeks old. Don't get me wrong, the Lion City is one of the crazed SHF gang collectors in South East Asia. To the point every time you utter the initials SHF they (including me) crave like rabid animals waiting for shops to open on release day. This time, it seems not to be the case with Skyrider and just wondered why. So I tried to check it myself. Let us see which category this flying masked rider falls into.
The green box contains almost the same art and design as Kamen Rider Amazon. Only that the green is slightly lighter. Nothing much that would excite me, so I went ahead of unboxing.
In a nutshell Skyrider has two mufflers - one is for normal poses and the other is when he is in flight mode. The flight mode muffler is longer with a neck joint attached and reaches up to the knee. With it, this accessory hinders most on the head articulation so it moves as you yank the head sideways. Take it as Skyrider's effect part. Both scarves have the king grasshopper dotted design, they're neatly crafted to say the least.
Included is a Tamashii Stage Act 4 with an extra holding platform for Skyrider. This has a gap in between so that the body will stay flattened on a flying pose. The base has a green silhouette of Skyrider and the words underneath says Sailing Jump - whatever that means. Clamps are there as well in case you don't want to use the bed. Oh yeah SKyrider only has two sets of hands - open and chopping. The chopping hands are used for the flying pose.
As you take a look at Skyrider as a whole, he is very plain when it comes to its offerings. The only thing I like about Skyrider is his belt with swiveling booster parts on the sides. What annoys me are the gaps between the shoulders that are too exposed, showing the joints inside. Skyrider's shoulder pads do move inwards to help in raising the arms during flight and other action poses that requires him to raise the arms. The rest again presents a plain representation of the character.
I feel that Skyrider missed a lot of what SH Figuarts is today. Bandai could have at least modified its design, especially the fact that the line's engineering has developed over the years. This showa rider's design overall feels like it is a step back to Bandai's experience in design and ingenuity instead of moving forward.
It is an ok figure, but it won't tickle your fancy even if you are loyal SHF collector. Better let the pricing go down first before grabbing this on your favorite toy stores. Comparing this to its S.I.C. counterpart, I'd pick the SIC over this SHF.
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