Today we have a classic, and while it's going out early, I'm going to call it an anniversary review :)
48 years ago on April 3rd 1971, we were introduced to Takeshi Hongo as he began his fight against the infamous Shocker and his quest to empty our wallets!
As you might have guessed by now, either by knowing what you were clicking on, reading the header or hearing just how terrible this was, that this review is about a version of Kamen Rider Ichigo. Specifically, the S H Figuarts Ichigo (Sakurajima version). This is the second version of Ichigo to appear on screen, and honestly it's my favorite version of him. Though I do have a soft spot for the Ichigo that featured in The First and The Next movies, and the SIC design (review coming soon).
So really I can't call it my favorite version... but it's definitely top 3!
Now diving into the action!
With a muted green paint job, you could easily be mistaken for thinking that this is Nigo at first glance, particularly if you didn't know there have been several iterations of Ichigo in his screen run. That's right, he hasn't always had silver gloves and a bright green helmet!
I like to think that this version is his "I've had enough of this, I'm going to beat them all senseless" mood, just because it looks more back alley brawl with this paint job :)
Now here's what's in the set:
Ichigo (obviously)
Two different mufflers for his neck
Sword (yep, a sword! I know! I've never actually seen him use one either! But then I'm one of those unfortunates who only really knows Ichigo from his appearances in crossover and team up movies -biggest sad face ever-)
Punch effect
10x hands
Compared to later Figuarts, he's lacking in the accessories department, but be honest, it's Ichigo, so long as he can do his Rider Punch to the face of the bad guy, he doesn't need any bells or whistles!
On to the flexibility!
This guy is capable of doing all the essential poses, from jumping jacks to nose dives, and most of everything in between. You can either have him doing Yoga, or kicking himself in the back of the head, but be warned, there's a chance he could end up like a pretzel if you attempt both of those at the same time!
This features double jointed hips, which offers a slightly greater range of movement, and are kind of essential if you want a random pose where his leg is stretched out 90 degrees behind him from the hip! (would not recommend trying that in real life, you WILL get funny looks from your dog!)
As to be expected, you can also go a full 90 degrees forward, as well as to the side, so feel free to live through him and have him doing the splits if you can't!
There is also a double joint in the knee (those of you with Arthritis will already have one of these, everyone else will have to wait till their 60's to develop one!) which lets you bring his heel to his belt.
There's no swivel in the thigh, or the shin, however the ankle can be rotated 360 degrees and has a fair bit of tilting available. As you would also expect, the toes bend up for stepping poses or getting a pedicure!
There is a very slight hint of rotation in the hips just above the Belt, I wouldn't recommend trying to twist this way as you'll likely damage something, instead just above with the chest, there is a fair bit more swivel available. As you might expect there is a considerable amount of forward and backward tilt, so he can look up at the stars as he contemplates an oil change or stare down at his feet wondering if he should have skipped the pedicure :)
The shoulders again feature a double joint, one large socket in the main body, and a smaller one to increase the range of movement. Utilizing both of these joints, you get just under 90 degrees of range, meaning he can't put his arm out straight, it's ever so slightly facing downwards, you do thought have full 360 up and over available, so feel free to wind up that pitch for the big Baseball game!
Again the elbow features a double joint, but due to the molding of the glove on the forearm, he can't scratch his left shoulder with his left hand...
The wrists aren't too bad either, with decent tilt up and down and full 360 spins available.
Put all that together and you can come up with some very creative poses! However... it's just missing enough posability that you can't quite pull off his Henshin pose :(
Lastly the neck! You have just enough left right tilt to make it look like he's saying "awwwww" when you show him a cute puppy, minimal forward tilt due to the muffler attachment, but decent tilt back. I'm being quite forgiving on the neck movement because of the muffler attachment, if that wasn't there the entire range would be drastically increased.
Also as you might expect, there is no movement available on his antennae, so be careful of breakages when doing extreme poses!
On to the detail work!
You may be surprised about this, but Ichigo doesn't have anywhere near as much detailing as his armoured version (I know the hate surrounding that form, since it essentially made Ichigo one of the Heisei Armoured Riders, but hell... I like it! Though I wished they'd gone into a little detail about where the form came from...) but he still has more than enough to make him appealing to the eye and more than suitable for a display shelf.
There are your customary wrinkles in the boots and gloves, but also over the entire body! I was pleasantly surprised by this as at the time I picked this guy up, I wasn't used to that level of detail! He's wearing bike leathers (or spandex... I know..) so of course his body is going to have wrinkles in it!
You also have the seam going down the side of the leg!
Now the essential part... The Driver! This is the original, the one that started them all, the one part of a Riders kit that gets the most attention, the most love, the most criticism (I'm looking at you here Drive!)
Side note, for those paying attention, Hibiki doesn't have a Driver! He has a tuning fork... let that settle in for a moment here...
Decked out with a white belt and silver trim, this thing is gorgeous. I'm all for bells and whistles, extra gimmicks and alternate forms, but come on... this is the original! If you don't at least respect it, you need your head seeing to! Or handing over to Shocker -evil grin-
You've got your switches on the left side, and in the center a very nice representation of the turbine. Simple yet gorgeous :)
Lastly the helmet.
Of course what would any Rider be without his helmet?
In trouble that's what!
In assorted shades of green, from the very dark green main body, with the slightly lighter mouth piece, to the bright green accent on the back, this helmets imposing. Especially when you throw in the dark red compound eyes! Yes, you see the compoundyness through the red lens!
Hell you even have hair sticking out the bottom at the back! I call that attention to detail.
The antennae are fairly solid, standing straight up, but I wouldn't recommend bending them, I don't see them lasting particularly long if you start doing that.
As someone who has lost prongs from the head of a Den-O variant, it's heart breaking to know they'll never look quite right again...
But the comedy potential for the form in question is quite promising ;)
And before I forget, the punching effect! If you pop off a hand, you can slot this effect over the wrist, with the flare towards the elbow, then put the hand back on. I'd recommend the punching hand for this, as the others kinda look a bit daft.
For the famed Rider Punch, this effect really helps set a scene, and frankly I'd love to see more of these parts included in Figuart sets, though I do know that after market effects are available, they're usually scenery pieces, not "interactive" like this one.
Now the verdict!
While a lot simpler than later releases of other Riders, as I said this is to be expected since Ichigo didn't have a whole lot of gadgets to his name, I truly think that Ichigo is a work of art. Showing you exactly what a Rider can be without being all in your face about it (take that Armoured Riders!)
The molding has brilliant detailing, excellent posing ability, though it does irk me that he can't precisely reach his Henshin pose... his lack of shoulder pads or extra panels actually increase his range of motion, so feel free to put him into a high kicking contest with G3-X or the Wizard :D
Overall I say this, or any version of the original Ichigo are a must for any Rider collector. After all, if this guy hadn't come along 48 years ago, where would we be now?
Socializing? Millionaires from not buying all of this stuff?
Bored most likely, because we wouldn't have fallen into the great abyss that keeps us on our toes every week!
Except for Ghosts run... that was a slow year for me... lots of re-runs :P
Tune in next time for another exciting episode of "Grown man plays with toys for other peoples entertainment!"
Jeez I'm a dumbed down version of Robot Chicken...
In case you made it this far (congratulations, commiserations, my apologies), here is a quiz, answers on a postcard and e-mailed to "Imtoolazytolookthisupmyself@riderreviewer.com" (disclaimer, not a real e-mail address, please do not e-mail it), alternatively please submit all answers to Reddit or the Facebook fan group of The Toku Dealer, link on the right of the page.
How many times in Rider history have Riders gone with either partial, or no helmet! For this, Riderman does not count as that was his every day helmet. I'm talking about all those times that Riders have either removed their helmet entirely, or had it so badly damaged in a fight that half of it has been missing!
Nobody wins anything for this, you just have the satisfaction of knowing that you know more than I do right now, cause aside from 3 instances, nothing else is coming to mind right now! But then it's 3am so not much else is either :P
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