SIC Ichigo & Nigo - HAPPY BIRTHDAY KAMEN RIDER!

 Hello and welcome to a special edition of random guy bores you to tears :P

Today we have something a little different for you, as well as a review, I'll also be taking a few moments (or more, lets see how I ramble) to give thanks to Ichigo and Nigo for their years of dedication.

Cause I don't know if you're aware of this, but today is their 48th Birthday!

That's right, April 3rd 1971, Kamen Rider aired for the very first time.

Just think, if it wasn't for these guys doing their thing, we wouldn't be sitting here right now, wishing we were somewhere else :P

There would be no Showa or Heisei Riders, no future Reiwa Riders either. It's doubtful there would have been a Super Sentai (Which first aired 1973), which means no Power Rangers, the face of TV would have been completely different!


Thanks to the efforts of Takeshi Hongo and Hayato Ichimoji, we now have a franchise that we love, spend way more time than should be healthy watching, and sacrifice mortgage payments buying merchandise for :D

Over the years they've faced off against Shocker, Gel-Shocker, Neo-Shocker, and god knows how many of their creations, or how many other versions of Shocker!

But it always boiled down to one simple thing, good vs evil.

Now I may be a bit of a sap, but I've always credited my ethical standing to the programming of my youth, admittedly that was things like Power Rangers, Thundercats, Transformers (Go Prime!) etc, but the message was the same, and as I said before, if Kamen Rider didn't exist, it's likely Power Rangers wouldn't either, so thanks for that!

Even with the constantly changing faces of evil, Shocker coming back in many forms, Ichigo and Nigo were always there to stand against them. But what some of you may not realize, is that there might not have been a Nigo! Of course I'm sure that there would have been additional Riders eventually, but who's to say they would have turned out the same way, and given us the power couple?

You see, Hiroshi Fujioka, who played Takeshi, often did his own bike stunts! Unfortunately while filming a bike stunt, things went wrong (I sense a Shocker agent was involved!) and Hiroshi shattered his leg! This left him unable to perform the role, suited or otherwise. So in comes Takeshi Sasaki! Briefly taking the lead in Kamen Rider as Nigo while Hiroshi healed up.

Upon his return, the Duo set off to rid the world of Shocker together, with Ichigo's stupidly high IQ and Nigo's superior strength, I think they made a good team :)


On February 10th 1973 Kamen Rider came to an end, racking up 98 episodes and 7 movies, it's officially the longest series!

The Duo would continue to make series appearances in V3, X, Stronger, Skyrider, Black RX and several team up movies!

Ichigo would also later go on to get himself an Armoured Rider form in the movie "Kamen Rider: Ichigo" featuring Ghost!

While this form is hit and miss among the fans, we're a little stuck with it now!


Looking forward, I'm excited to see what the Reiwa era brings for the Legend who started everything! Will he be armoured? Will he be his regular old self? Will Nigo be backing him up? Will he be a friend or foe?

Let's find out!



And now, on to the main event! Or the part you're skipping because I just rambled way too much and you're heading back to Facebook or Reddit to complain about this guy that just won't shut up :P


Today we have a special appearance by...

Well if I have to spell this part out then you really didn't get that this is the 48th Birthday of Ichigo...

Presenting... Ichigo!

And Nigo!

In SIC form!

Ta Da!


-tumbleweed-


SO!

A little different this time around, as these guys are essentially the same, I'll be reviewing them both at the same time, while pointing out the major differences between them!

If it gets a little muddled, fear not! If you can't make sense of any of it, imagine how I feel writing it! :D

Here's what we have in the box!

Ichigo
Muffler
Stand
Stand Decoration
Alternate Head
8x Hands
2x Attack Effects

Nigo
Muffler
Stand
Stand Decoration
Alternate Head
8x Hands
2x Attack Effects
Alternate Driver

Now I'll start by pointing this out, while these sets include a base, there isn't actually a support rod or clasp... seems like an oversight, BUT the stands fit most other stands, so if you have one kicking around it should almost definitely fit!

Lets crack on with the flexibility!

Much to my surprise, the SIC series actually has a greater range than the Figuarts series.

I can safely say this time... These guys can kick their own butts!


If you've read my other Figuart reviews, you'll know I've been looking for that feature in them all ;)

Posability is the same for both guys, so just take the part for Ichigo and change it to Nigo and you'll get the same result :P

Starting at the very top, you've got... get this... rotating antennae! Yeah that's right! My biggest complaint about most of the Figuart series that feature these things (Have you ever noticed how regular antennae have been phased out? Now it's all crests or pointy bits! Bet you hadn't!). Both antennae can rotate around from the top of the head to over the eyes!

They're also incredibly flexible, so don't worry about putting a hat on these guys!

I wouldn't go bending, poking, prodding these too much though, just to be on the safe side :)

The neck is a little tricky, there's two joints in there, one holding the neck itself to the body, and another holding the head to the neck. In theory this would give you extra range, but due to the design of the suit and the helmet, it actually hinders it a bit. You have minimal left/right tilting, and almost no head back, unless... and I'm not really fond of this, you expose the upper neck joint, you can tilt the head back far enough that it uncovers the joint inside. It's alright when looking from the back, and due to all the black and shadow, it's hardly noticeable from the front, but from the side... boy can you see it, it's like he's been partially decapitated! Not pretty :/ You've also got yourselves about 90 degrees of left/right turning, not bad really, it would be a fair bit more but as I said, the neck/helmet design hinders the movement a bit...

You've got yourselves some very flexible shoulders! With a greater than 90 degree range, full 360 rotation and movable shoulder pads, you can line up some very nice Hero poses :D

Biceps have a spiffy swivel with full 360 spin, double jointed elbows, 360 spin wrists and a little up/down motion.

Unfortunately though, he still can't scratch his own shoulder!

Surprisingly there is also movement in the chest, the breastplate has a fair bit of up/down movement, this is to help with the posing!

The mid-chest also has some backwards movement, the panels on the abs prevent it from moving forwards, these guys can really arch their backs! Cue gymnastics!

Above the belt there's another joint, adding even more arching to the back, again it can't move forward due to the paneling.


On to the hips!

You can get these completely vertical front to back, however attempting it to the sides will likely pop the joints. Not an issue, they pop right back!


The knees are double jointed, and with the range you get out of them, they can kick their own butts!
Did I mention that before? Cause I've been looking for that for ages now :P

Finally there is minimal ankle movement, minimal up/down due to the shin guards, but there's generous left/right rotation. The toes are also bendable, but not to any degree that would greatly impact posing.


On to the looks!

One thing I have to really credit the SIC series for is this: THEY LOOK AWESOME!

They take classic designs and make them a hundred times better!  

Blade looks like a rhino, Hibiki looks even more like an Oni, and Ichigo and Nigo... they kept the general appearance off the Riders, but gave them a more beastly look, like their animal sides were way more obvious.

This is more obvious in the heads than the rest of the body, with a more pronounced mouth area with defined teeth, smaller eyes and generally a scaled look to the armor like an insects carapace.

The hands, forearms, shins and feet have a much more mechanical look to them, kind of fitting since the shins are made of metal!
But my money is this was done to reflect their cybernetic nature!

 The chests have a wonderful shade of metallic green over them, with Nigo's being a lot darker than Ichigo. In fact everything about Nigo is darker, if it's at all possible, the black actually looks darker! Though that's likely due to the darker green on the chest, forearms and shins, coupled with the black helmet.


Both of the Drivers are silver on reddish brown belts, with a translucent red in the center. Nigo's however has a black trim and more definition on the fan blades in there, it also sticks out where Ichigo's is recessed. Nigo's also features a black ring around the red center.

Running down the side of the arms and legs are a very shiny silver, Ichigo's even features the black stripe running down the middle of it.

As an added bonus, you also get a bunch of attack effects with these guys. Each one comes with a kick and a punch effect!

The effects split into two parts, so that they can clip on around the wrist or the ankle. The kick effects add a fair bit of weight, so I'd recommend using a stand.

The effects are also switchable, so Nigo can use Ichigo's and Ichigo can use Nigo's.

You might think this is witchcraft, but honestly the body sculpts are identical for these two, except Nigo has chunkier shoulder pads (which honestly makes him look a LOT bulkier than Ichigo), slightly different Drivers and different head sculpts.



For large SIC figures, these two are impressive. While they lack the form changing that some others have (Hibiki, Faiz etc) or the collection of weapons/extras, you really can't beat a classic. Even if that classic has been brutally mutilated and turned into something resembling a monster :P


So there you have it folks, Ichigo and Nigo, making their final appearance in a review on their Birthday!

Unless I get around to doing the Souchaku Henshin versions... But I'll be nice and give it some time before doing them :P

Now be nice and say Happy Birthday in your best Kousei Kougami voice!

The Original (Fruit) Basket Case!

PSA:

Folks are you getting your recommended 5 fruits or vegetables a day?

If not you might want to consider watching this TV series to show you the benefits of getting everything you can!

Kamen Rider Gaim, showing you all the great things you can do with fruit!

Did we mention the star of the show is an Orange?

Tune in next week to find out more!


So as you might have guessed, here we have another Figuart review!

Don't worry, I'll be mixing it up for the next one :)

Mixing... fruit pun... there will be many more, so buckle your safety belt!

Side note, can you believe it's nearly 6 years since this aired?

Today s feature is the base form, Orange Arms.

As usual, lets start with what you get in the box:

Gaim - Orange Arms
10x Hands (2x resting, 2x fist, 6x assorted gripping)
2x Orange Lockseeds, 1x Open, 1x Closed
1x Musou Saber
1x Daidaimaru

-sits and admires the paint job for a few minutes-

OK on to his Yoga skills!

To mix things up, we'll start at the top and work down.

The neck is fairly restricted, this is due to the head dress, specifically the neck cover, the chunk of armoured orange, you have 90 degrees left and 90 degrees right, and minimal forward and back, can muster a nod but not much else.

Shoulders are on something close to a double joint, but it's barely noticeable. There's a good 90 degrees of sticking your arm out, can do a very good impression of a tree :P However with the way the armor is done, arms to the front and back is tricky, the armor literally pushes the arm out, the armor is very bendy though, so this shouldn't be too noticeable when posing for display. As an added bonus, the shoulder pads are relatively unobtrusive, and on a hinge.

The arms are pretty well done, with a bicep swivel, double jointed elbow (still cant scratch his own shoulder though :P) and rotation at the wrist, you're open to some very dramatic action poses. Or simply picking his nose, depends how slow the crime fighting day is.

The chest is armoured, those of you expecting a lot of movement here, obviously haven't been paying attention to previous reviews :P

The chest plate itself moves a little, a smidge of up/down movement, this is likely to allow a looking down pose while there is a Lock on the Driver. A simple touch, but one that adds just that little extra range to the movement. There is a fair amount of left/right leaning available, but very little twisting possible. Not sure why this is in this case, as the armor itself doesn't interfere with the waist section.

The hips aren't bad, though you do have restricted range because of the Lock holder and the Musou Saber holder. You've got full range forwards, not quite straight out in front, but not far off it, thinking sitting in a sports car instead of on the floor. And slightly limited movement to the back, nothing outside the range of actual Human movement though.

There is a swivel just below the hip joint, allowing for a full 360 degree twist. Further down your customary double jointed knee giving you more range than I've personally ever been capable of (How sad is it when you're jealous of the knees on a figure?), and just below that you have a full 360 spin on the ankles, with generous tilting along with bending toes.

Upside to the range this guy has, you can pull off around 90% of the iconic poses of Gaim. But you might almost definately need a stand for a fair few of them, just for added balance protection, he's top heavy with that armor and there's no weight in the feet to counter it.

On to the looks!

Now I'm not one to focus on looks too much...

Who am I kidding...

It's gorgeous, just gorgeous...

The under suit is a very dark matte blue, with a considerable amount of gold "webbing" over the forearms and legs. It looks painted on, but it's actually painted raised molded detail! Continuing with the under suit, you also have padded areas on the biceps and over the top of the thighs, along with the padded look on the lower back.

The gold on the shins, hands, wrists, webbing and flare around the shoulders is all wonderfully consistent. I've known a fair few figures that have shade differences between different parts of the body and armor, but this is brilliant.

And ever so slightly metallic too!

On the armor itself, you have muted metallic silver, it's just enough to make it look like metal, but it's still plastic, always a nice touch. Same with the chest plate and shoulder pads, except in orange :D

The molded detail is pretty great too, along with the webbing on the arms and legs, you've got a LOT of rivets on the armor plates, along with the "interior" detailing from when the orange was closed up, these include hinges on the shoulders where they double over (non functioning) and the support that keeps the helmet in place. I call that pretty great detailing, they could just have easily glossed over it and left them smooth, or blanked them out for ease of casting.

For the helmet, you've got a great little translucent orange lens showing off the segments underneath it, again with the rivets on the back of the orange section, and the crest... for such a simple piece, I can't help but be impressed by it, all the panel lines are there.

You even have the little green stalk on the top of the helmet, I call it the on/off switch :P

And now... the Driver...

I'd say I'd saved the best till last, but I still have the weapons to do :P

This thing is spot on to the DX and screen versions. With a movable (and removable, so watch out) cutting blade, you can make it look like a lock is being cut, again for dramatic poses. The Lock itself is also removable, but word of warning, it is tiny! But still so well detailed! With the Orange innards on the top, and the Daidaimaru on the bottom, they may be stickers, but still such very nice touches.

Especially when you consider that gimmicks of later Riders (Ex-Aid, Zi-O etc) are just painted a solid colour, no detailing unless you go aftermarket for printed stickers for them... Way to drop the ball there Bandai...

The open Lock also fits onto the Musou Saber for those classic final attacks :)

As an added bonus, the Rider Indicator is also detailed, again a sticker, but with its size I really wouldn't have blamed them for leaving it blank.

There is a closed lock supplied too, but it doesn't fit on either the Driver or the Sword, it fits nicely on to the Lock holder on the hip, and while none of the hands (that i've been able to work out) are specifically for holding the lock, the relaxed one can hold it nicely in it's palm, so long as the hand is flat :P

Lastly we have the Musou Saber and the Daidaimaru!

Both look great, and even connect together at the base of the hilt! Wasn't really expecting that.

For the Musou Saber, you have one solid piece, there is almost no flex in this, so it's perfect for scratching that awkward spot between your shoulder blades :P

All the detail on here is very well defined, from the notches on the grip, the pistol barrel, right up to the blade edge. Again you have sticker detailing, it's hard to make it out, but it's nice to know the detail is there :)

The holder for the open Lock is snug as hell, there's actually less chance of the Lock falling out of the Saber than the Driver, seems a little backwards, but whatever works!

The Daidaimaru has quite a bit more work in it, metallic orange paint work on the blade with metallic emerald green on the hilt. Over the blade is a section of clear plastic, you can clearly see the sections underneath.

Now for the final thoughts...

This guy is insane, really, the paintwork alone makes it a must have the collection. Throw in the dynamic poses and you have yourself a first class Figuart!

But as to be expected, there are some downsides...

The reduced range in the arms from the flare at the shoulder niggles a little, you can work around it, but still...

Also, the Lock holder, the Locks are push fit on there, so I'd imagine after a while the Lock would start to wear down, and possibly snap, making it unusable and likely to get lost... 

And why weren't other locks included? I get they need to sell the rest of the range, but still, if you include a holder, and the same Lock the Rider in question uses, it just looks daft if he's standing there with the Lock on the Driver, and then the very same lock hanging from his belt... even just throwing in a Pine or Ichigo Lock would have been a bonus.

And then there is the fact that the small parts are so easily misplaced... during the photo session, the lock and blade fell off more than a few times.


Still, this gets a solid 8/10 :)

I wonder what Obachan would say about all this...


Tune in next time for more Rider greatness!

Ultimate Armoured Hero - G3-X!

Back in 1987, the world was given the future of law enforcement... his name...

Robocop!

Wait wrong franchise.

Today we have G3-X! Who really can't help but remind me of Robocop... the good version at least ;)


Well what can I say about our armored friend here... He's your typical Figuart quality figure, incredible detailing and more than a little posability, and he comes with an absolute arsenal of extras!

In the box you get the following:

G3-X
2x Guard Acceler (Extended and Retracted)
GM-01 Scorpion Pistol
GX-05 Cerberus Rifle
2x GK-06 Unicorn (Extended and Retracted)
GX Bullet
8x Hands (2x Fist, 2x Grabby, 2x relaxed and 2x trigger fingers)

OK, lets start with his range of motion, always a good start right?



Starting with the legs, you have somewhat limited motion in the hips, this is due in large part to the hip guards attached to the belt. Just below there you have a very handy thigh swivel, this goes some way to making up for the hip motion, as you can rotate the thigh to spread out the pose, it's not ideal, but definitely helps. Of course you have to remember this guys wearing a LOT of armor, he's not going to be doing back flips any time soon :P

You also have your customary double jointed knees, meaning the feet can almost slightly maybe just about touch his back! From the ankles, they're a little different from others, just above the ankle joint you have a forward/back left/right swivel, along with a full 360 degree rotation, then for the ankle itself you have maybe 30 degrees of up/down range, and lastly you also have bendable toes!

Compared to non-armored Riders this range of motion in the legs is far from ideal, but still, you can really come up with some creative poses, especially when you throw in the weaponry!

Now moving up the body, you have a solid 90 degrees of left/right motion just above the belt, nothing in the chest, which is understandable given the molded armor plating there.


The shoulders are a little different. they're double ball joints, but they're set much lower than normal, or at least that's how it seems with the molding on the body and the shoulder pads. The main body joint faces upwards, when its like this the shoulder pads are flush with the body, if you level them out, the arms are quite a ways from the body, but this does increase the range of motion drastically, again this is probably to make up for the molded detailing and the oversized shoulder pads. You have full 360 degrees up and over at the shoulder, and utilizing the double joint the arm can be extended horizontally.

You also have here a bicep swivel, on both arms it is capable of full 360 rotation, however with the shoulder pads down, the let arm is only capable of a small amount, this is due to the holder for the GK-06.

There is a double joint in the elbow as well, but due to molded detailing he can't touch his own shoulder pad, really at best you can bring it up far enough to drink a cup of tea, but not pick your nose :P

The wrists as to be expected can do a full 360 spin, with a fair range of up/down motion.

Lastly we have the neck, you've got your full 360 spin (I picture the Exorcist every time I type that :P) and a rather poorly limited forward/back left/right tilting, but once again this is down to the molding.


Now what some declare to be the most important part... appearance!

The paint job here is just incredible, beautiful, absolutely stunning, there is no shortage of detailing on this guy. The armor is decked out in a very nicely done metallic blue and silver over a black under suit. It isn't your typical Bandai silver either, there's quite a nice shine to it, you would be forgiven for thinking it was metal instead of plastic. You've got matte gold detailing on the neck and police badge, which is backed by a very very nice shade of metallic green. There's some darkish red on the back, and clear red lenses on the eyes, which are just clear enough to show off the lining behind them.

For molded detailing, you have many... many many many armor plates here, with rivets and latches everywhere. On the thighs you have holding points for the Guard Acceler and GM-01, which clip in quite snugly, meaning they won't fall off at the slightest movement. The belt buckle has minimal detailing, just a green dot and red line indicating the power status of the suit, but all detail on it has been molded, so plenty there, just could do with being picked out in a slightly darker shade.

The chest and back are where things get really pretty. On the back you have additional ammo packs for the Cerberus, these are fixed and not removable. For the chest, you have the body armor, complete with silver "straps" holding it all in place. The pecks are very nicely lined with gold, with paneling running up the inside of each of them, and the neck area showing off a fair bit of ridge and mechanical detailing.

The shoulder pads aren't without detailing either! On the left you have G3-X in a muted yellow, sort of like the yellow you see on hazard signs, a few spots of panel work on the trim, and what looks like vents on the top of the shoulders (I know they aren't vents, but it's the best way to describe them :P)

The head gets really interesting too. On either side there's molded detailing showing off where the camera would be, and where the comms should be, both neatly attached to the silver band that runs around the helmet. As you'd expect from a Rider, the crest is the stand out point here. Three solid prongs of Justice! The center prong is solid, with the outer prongs having a little, and I mean LITTLE flex in them, please don't drop this guy on his head, again there is molded venting and ridges on here showing off their technical origins. You've also got some red and black detailing in the center just over the forehead.


Now onto the weapons!

Starting with the Guard Acceler Baton, both version share the same paint job, black and silver with blue accents, even with their relatively small size there's a fair bit of molded detail, from a track pattern on the hilt to the buttons just above the grip. These aren't picked out in fancy paint jobs, but you definitely know they're there!
The retracted version, as said, also clips nicely onto the left thigh.

GM-01 Scorpion Pistol! Keeping it simple, this is molded black plastic with a silver slide rear, but again lots of molded detailing. The sides of the pistol have several "plates", and the scope has visible mount rings and even a little recess where the lens would be.
The Scorpion also pegs in nicely to the right thigh, however it doesn't attach to the GX-05 Cerberus as the scope is molded on.

And now the Cerberus! This beauty of a rifle is 90% of why G3-X looks so good when posed, put this in his hands and you're laughing at the awesomeness you can create, even in the Attache mode where it's carried like a briefcase! Molded in black with silver body work and metallic blue detailing, and featuring 3 points of articulation, this looks the part in either mode. A simple pin hinge connects the barrels to the main body, which rotates and clicks nicely into place whether you're extending the barrels or closing it for carrying. The main body has a slide lock in there to switch between forms, again locking into place with a click, and the third point is the "cover" for when the barrels are locked back, just to cover up the end of them.

One side note I should make about this, when fully extended, it's a little difficult to find a suitable arm position for it to be held, still possible, but I've found for best results, keep the main body just before the lock point, you won't see the difference when being carried.

Again with the molded detailing... I'm starting to see a pattern here ;)... from a tiny police crest on the back of the "stock", several armor panels and the ammo crate, you'd be mistaken for that being all! But if you break the barrels down (don't actually break them, just fold them around :P) you can actually see the barrel ends molded into the split halves... I'm impressed :D

You've also got the GX-Bullet to go with the Cerberus, not too much to say about this, it's a red grenade with gold trim on the head, this pegs in quite nicely in the center of the barrels.

Lastly, the GK-06 Unicorn. It's a nasty looking blade, that's all!

Ha gotcha :P

Molded in black with a silver blade, you've got a raised grip, button detailing and piping along the side of the blade. Not pointy enough to do any major damage, but I still wouldn't recommend standing on it ;)

Right now, I'd call this time for the round up wouldn't you?

I give this an Awesome out of Awesome, two power ups and a movie form out of 10!

That's about the same as a 9/10 :P

For everything this does right, from the double joints, metal feet (did i mention that part) for added balance and incredible detailing, it nags that the posability suffers for said detailing and molded detail...


Not a deal breaker, as I said you can still get some brilliant poses out of it, but I personally would have preferred just a bit more range in the legs, maybe make the hip guards more flexible, or have them on a small ball/socket joint too so they can be moved out of the way when needed. I know it wouldn't be as easy as it is on something with larger guards, but it'd definitely something that should have been looked at a bit more.

Another upside is, actually part of a downside. When scratched, the blue paint reveals silver paint underneath! With this you can pass of damages from dropping as battle scars, but I wouldn't recommend putting this to the test, keep it as pristine as you can, and you'll always have a centerpiece for your display shelf :)

Tune in next time for another questionable review!

Thanks for reading!

Insert Super Hero pose!