Toy Review: SHF and C.O.R. Kabuto Hyper Form

 

This is my second VS feature. I'm thinking if I should continue on doing this because two figures in one review plus a  video is quite taxing and difficult to edit. But anyway here it goes. Presenting...two toys but of the same character - Cast Of Riders Kabuto Hyper Form and SH Figuarts Kabuto Hyper Form. I'm walking in the path of.....difficulty :(. Lets start with COR.

CAST OF RIDER KABUTO HYPER FORM

Cast of Rider series from Bandai was made when the Kabuto was still on air and SH Figuarts were still Shoucaku Henshins. Basically SHFs are breakaway from the SHs creating a new toy line -with refined articulation and better sculpt, almost 100% accurate from the tokusatsu show.  Enough with the history, moving on with the review. 

It may seemed like the CORs are the poor man's version of SHFs or even SHs, but looks can be deceiving. C.O.R. Kabuto Hyper Form does have similarities with its SHF counterpart especially the red paint apps on the head, shoulder pads, Kabuto's zecter, the two extra hands and chest armor.  COR KHF is nifty, no need for pegs, holes (except for the additional hands). A simple push of the buttons on the Kabuto Zecter and  its back part transforms the rider to the Hyper Clock Up mode. There are hinges on the sides of the arms and legs to expose the small wings. It is really easy.

Also inclusive are the two kinds of the Perfect Zecter - gun and sword mode. Both armaments are brightly colored and slightly resemble the one you see on the show. A couple of frowns though for the weapons, the Zecters (though brightly colored) in gun mode are just painted in their respective colors, there are no additional painted lines to differentiate parts. The whole gun is petite and not in scale with the Zecters seen in the show. Though the gun is easy to place on the extra holding hands, it doesn't feel right. The Zecters cannot be removed from the gun to place those on the sword. The sword is painted in black, gold and a hint of red. But without the Zecters in place, the sword looks empty and useless. 

The fun slightly ends on the figure's articlutation - it has a coulple of limitations. Hey, this is not SHF. The head does swivel but doesn't have a neck joint. The arms are the same but doesn't go in and out. Elbows have only one joint. The hand however rests in a ball joint so it is easier swing the sword left to right. The legs doesn't have a swivel to raise the leg on its side and when raised the whole leg shifts on a weird angle. Sadly, no waist and torso joints either.

SH FIGUARTS KABUTO HYPER FORM

SHF Kabuto in Hyper Form is like you typical SHF figure and has the same articulation as SHF Kabuto (since basically Hyper form is molded from Kabuto). Buttons and hinges are replaced with pegs. Without the nails to remove from its place, the parts are difficult to manage. Instead of two Perfect Zecters, SHF Kabuto HF, has only one Perfect Zecter. By shifting the handle, it converts to either sword or gun mode. The weapon itself is highly detailed and significantly longer than the COR. Each Zecter can be removed from the sword and can switch with other Zecters from the SHF Kabuto line. Its great, but not that important. 

Other things included are 5 interchangeable hands - two open relaxed hands, two holding hands and a "walking in the path of heaven" hand. There is a hitch, the holding hands don't work well when grabbing the Perfect Zecter. It doesn't stay in place and not as stable as the COR.

Hinges on the foot are replaced by ball joints, which I really dislike because when you put them on a certain stance and doesn't support the whole figure.You'll hear from me about this a lot.

The highlight of SHF Kabuto HF are the plastic jet streams. I call them jet streams because they are not wings, even if they are fashioned like it. Wings are bendable even to an extreme extent - this makes you comfortable and eases your mind of it.

COR Kabuto does stand up against its SHF counterpart when its comes to paint, accessory count and price point. Price point? Well let's say one SHF is equivalent to 5 CORs.  SHF Kabuto HF however wins in articulation and the wings which beautifies the whole look. Ok I said wings, but I'm still sticking to the jet stream analogy. 

More of my review on this video.

PART 1



Part 2

Japan: Two Arrested for Selling Modified Kamen Rider Action Figure

Utopia Dopant from Kamen Rider W

Police recently arrested 35-year-old Shibata resident Keiichi Itō and 36-year-old Sanjō resident Jun Fujita on Tuesday for modifying a S.I.C Utopia Dopant violating Japan's Copyright Act by auctioning a modified Kamen Rider W figure online. Both hope that authorities would overlook the situation since they are not mass producing this particular item online. Japan has stricter laws especially on copyright infringement. Toei owns all Kamen Rider related franchise.

Kamen Rider Eternal

According to the police's announcement, the two men modified a figure into a Kamen Rider W villain character in November without the permission of Toei. The auction ended with a closing bid of a whopping 269,001 yen (about US$3,300) from a male buyer in Tokyo.

The two own a custom shop named kenosyokutaku models that specializes in Kamen Rider figures. Their handsome modified version of the SIC figures are popular with fans. Aside from Utopia they had they also did some custom figures of other characters found in the Kamen Rider franchise from the Showa era to the current series Kamen Rider OOO. On their site, they also show how they customize the figures.

notes from the blogger: Customizing figures has been around for decades, made especially for those toy collectors who are not satisfied with the figures that came from the box. This is also very imminent in toy festivals and amine exhibitions. I saw the duo's website and most of the figures posted were actually better than what was released. Toei should have contracted them to do prototypes than incarcerating them. Well that's Japan for you.

Some of their works below. I appreciate their exquisite work of art.

Kamen Rider OOO

Luna Trigger on Hardboilder

Source: RRR, Yomiuri Online , ANN, JEFusion, Kotaku

Toy Review: SH Figuarts Masked Rider Kuuga Amazing Mighty Form

 

SH Figuarts Kuuga Amazing Mighty is the one I've been waiting for since this one is hard to catch nowadays. I knew that it has Kuuga Rising Mighty's mold, I knew he had matte finish, I knew that in black he looks stunning. But all changed when I opened the box. But before I go through my very first WTF in SHF history. Let me go through the basics first.

As I've mentioned on top, SHF Amazing Mighty remold of Rising Mighty and Mighty form but in black. Instead of just one golden shin, this has two. Matte finish is pretty consistent with its Dark Kuuga counterparts. Think of it as mix of Rising Mighty, Mighty and Ultimate form...well he is isn't he..Nice sculpt, nice detail. Grongi details on the collar and on the shins do stand out in my opinion. Though the figure alone looks very much like Rising Mighty (but with small alterations) this alone made me feel I'm getting what I wanted, I knew I made the right choice. What else could go wrong? I spoke too soon and started slamming on my table, because I've been cheated.

Box design was decent - very SHF-ish, the toy is a dream and two pairs of extra hands.........what? There are only two pairs of interchangeable hands...WTF! I thought this was a Tamashii Web exclusive? Where did my money go? I tapped the box once again to assure myself that I was wrong, called the seller to check if I got the wrong item. Bandai oh Bandai. Then I fell on my knee raised my hands and shouted WHY?????????

Bandai cheated on me, they could have given extra hands like Ultimate form, a Tamashii stage like  Rising Ultimate, a greeting card from Godai Yuusuke, a signed autograph from the manufacturer but no. Nothing. Bandai justify this!!! For a web exclusive, why am I given just two extra hands, heck this is even worse than Agito. At least SHF Agito had an extra interchangeable mask and yet his is not an exclusive. I paid good money but given so less. This will haunt my wallet for a long time.

Oh ok, you want my verdict? Guess....ranting goes on, see my video below.

Toy Review: SH Figuarts Masked Rider Kuuga Ultimate Rising Form

The epitome of all of Kuuga's evolution - the Ultimate Rising form. Ultimate Rising is badass in every sense of it - like if Kuuga was in Dragon Ball, this is type Kai, the final transformation. For history's sake, Ultimate Rising made its debut on Kamen Rider Decade series, particularly on the last episode (or movie) wherein Yuusuke was possessed by Tsukasa's (Decade) younger sister and eventually able to wield the form on his own.

When I saw this form for the first time, I thought there's another transformation? Then I jumped in excitement like a little school girl.

This SH Figuarts Kuuga Ultimate Rising form at my first glance was a sight to behold. There are more thorns or horns protruding in almost every part of the figure, colored in gold - shining, shimmering, splendid. I got through the details of the golden arms, shoulder pads and horns on the helmet...I thought there is something lacking. Slowly, the gold paint was too much for me. In my opinion the vein-like design over those gold parts should have some sort of variety in color. It was a shame (well shame is a rough word), it didn't stand out and found that it was there until you actually have taken hold of it. Customizing it may be a solution.


 

But I was told on my Youtube channel that customizing the figure may ruin the figure. I agreed, because first, this is an exclusive figure so getting a new one just in case is cumbersome and expensive. Second customizing it doesn't guarantee that the finished product may not be what you wanted (well it depends). To each his own. Still, too much gold on this figure bothers me.

He has 7 interchangeable hands and a Tamashii Stage. The stage looks very plain in black. Bandai could have added some phrases (like SHF Ixa) from the show or a design that would signify that this is definitely exclusive for Kuuga UR. The dark compound eyes are very well done, dark enough to let you see the design underneath without ruining the whole concept of a devilish Kuuga.

Articulation on Kuuga UR are limited, because of those huge shoulder pads and thorny arms. It was difficult for me to maximize the potential of figure when I was taking photos and posing it to my liking. Only the head satisfied my appetite (this sounds wrong). Worst part is that when standing the figure straight, it is on a limp, he is tilting on his right side. I tried moving its legs to get it upright, but no senor.

Bandai is tricking us by producing the same figure, number of hands and other exclusive stuff with another Ultimate Rising - but with Red Eyes. They could have done the same with Ultimate form wherein aficionados are given an additional interchangeable mask all in one box. As a Kuuga fan, I'm in this dilemma whether I need to get the Red Eyes or not. But the concept of it is absolutely ridiculous. Again, to each his own. I already a little under satisfied how UR panned out. I won't fall for it twice. One is enough. Can I not reiterate it more?

In the end, you might get too excited on a figure that maybe be awesome. I'd rather hold back that feeling first until you've gotten it. Just don't get expectations so high.

Toy Review: SH Figuarts Kamen Rider Kuuga Ultimate Form

I had to say that Bandai was hitting the right spot when they released SH Figuarts Masked Rider Kuuga Ultimate form. This figure sets the tone on how generous Bandai could be for a specific toy line especially for a non-exclusive one. Ultimate form has 9 extra hands to compensate our lust for the figure - the fact that in the show, Kuuga in this form wields no weapons or special abilities but only a heightened strength. The toy also has an interchangeable green-eyed mask when, in proper lighting, the eyes look as dark as night. The mechanics of the mask is seemingly familiar with SHF Agito Ground Form. The slots and pegs, however are thin and susceptible to snapping it.

The toy is not really for kids because of the pointy thorn-like armor and small pose able hands that can easily be swallowed (not that i wanna chew on it). SHF Kuuga belongs to the first wave of SHFs that Bandai has released and I think that because of the success of selling Kuuga in the market paved the way for other successful SHF series such as IXA, D. Kiva, Double and alike. But not with Kabuto, until now I can still read reports that it continues to produce "bow-leggedness", despite that this SHF Kabuto series has been released and re-released (from my recall) thrice.

I still like hinges on the foot as it gives more balance in a certain stance. The problem is that over time hinges become loose thus making the figure more wobbly (heck if I am paying more than 3000 yen for a figure I would definitely take care of it). Grongi characters on the gloves change for every rising or ultimate form (well except for Rising Ultimate).

I've said it before that i like the dark version of Kuuga and I believe it suits him well. If I know someone who customizes figures for (ahem) reasonable price (when I say reasonable, it should cost me just a dime and a nickle) I'd rather have this figure in shinny black than matte black finish, but that is just me. I have a different concept of what Ultimate form should be but not would be as creative as Ishimori. The main attraction for me are the gold lines that highlight some of its parts. The paint job is clean well crafted. The jewel on the belt is now opaque as it would be on the show. Arms have a limited reach since they are hindered by those horny (take this literally ok?) shoulder pads that are tightly close to the torso. You can still lift those shoulder pads but it would look cumbersome when setting those on a 90 degree angle.

Some of the small nuisances are the loose ball joints/hinges on the arm. But it might be my figure only as some are satisfied on what they got.

In conclusion, not all SHF collectors would easily jump on this figure and would rather start first with other forms. But believe me, once you have your own Ultmate Kuuga, you'll slowly start to appreciate the beauty behind the beast.