Saturday, November 27, 2010

Review: [Bandai] S.I.C. Volume 24 Kamen Rider Knight


Figure Info:
Manufacturer:
Bandai
Series:
Kamen Rider Ryuki
Scale and Height:
Non-scale and approximately 18cm tall


The "Main" Character...
Ren Akiyama was the very first Kamen Rider who appeared in the 3rd Heisei series, Kamen Rider Ryuki. He possesses the contract monster Dark Wing and thus changes into Kamen Rider Knight when he fights inside the mirror world. Though not the title rider, Knight proves to be one of the main characters if not the main character himself due to several reasons when you watch the show. Wouldn't want to spoil them now if you still haven't watched it yet XD Anyway, Knight's my most favorite rider among the entire rider universe and below's a little image of how he looks like, couldn't find a large full image size of him though XD



Anyway, since the blog's been lacking reviews lately, I picked him from the rotating banner.

Box/Packaging:
Pretty much like all SICs, the box is quite the same in terms of appearance but design-wise, it's patterned after the series theme, mirrors. Giving off quite a shade that looks like it's a mirror and also Knight and Ohjya's logos in the sides of the box.

Details:
As far as Knight is concerned, I really like how his armor had the metallic feel to it and in the same time capturing all of the needed details in its imagined state. The use of rubber-like material in his pads helps give out the feel of the leather as seen in the series.



Certainly, it is a nice SIC design and I really liked it, so much more to the newer SIC Kiwami design which looked really off for me. Anyway, one major annoying derail here is the pad in the crotch area, probably every Ryuki frame have the same problem since itb detaches quite easily and really often too, advisable to just super glue it if you won't be needing the frame for another rider. Anyway, here's a little look at Knight's head.



Material:
As old as Knight may seem to be, getting the pack (released in 2003 or 2004 I think) these days would prove much dismay to owners since the joints are ridiculously fragile that sometimes just the fact that you are posing it will damage the joints and lead to really ridiculous loose joints. I dunno though if it was the same case back then but still that is quite a major letdown since older SICs like Vols 7-9 are quite sturdy if you ask me.

Accessories and Bonus Features:
For Knight, we get his Sword Vent, which is the Wing Lancer as his accessory aside from his default Dark Visor. The Dark Wing Cape is also included which really fits him nicely if you ask me, although the cape can't be played with much since it can only be attached in two ways, which you will see later on the Poseability category. Anyway, as a really nice gimmick, as always, SIC provides you the option to attach Dark Visor in the side of his belt similar to when he doesn't use the weapon in the series. Also for additional gimmick, Dark Visor's card slot can be revealed by opening the part where Knight's logo is.



So? Is that all? Nahhh, here's what's up next.



Yes, it's the Dark Visor Zwei, never mind the advent card, it's from the Souchaku Henshin Knight and it ridiculously fits the card slot. Similarly to Dark Visor, its Zwei counterpart can of course also reveal it's card slot. Now to the major part, of course, like usual, it's part swapping to change Knight into his Survive form.



Details are still pretty well done and you get to put on Dark Wing cape here permanently, technically, it's the same cape as Knight's, but on the bright side, the design layered the cape thus still retaining the essence of Knight Survive's split cape similar to Kiva Emperor and Dark Kiva which I think was based in fact from Knight.

Dark Visor Zwei can also be turned into its shooting mode by pull out the side "wings" of the shield. The sword can, of course, be pulled out of the shield and do note that the sword has an edge that can be pulled up so it can extend its blade. Lastly, both Knight and Survive's head visors can be pulled up to reveal their eyes, it's not usually seen in the show but Knight's eyes were shown there for sure.




Paint:
You might've noticed in Survive's detail shots that his armor color's kinda off. Supposedly back when he was released, the color matched the royal blue colors of the gauntlets and greaves but sadly, an overtime resulted in its color to fade. The pack was bought MISB by the way. XD

Poseability:
Well in its time, the poseability is really great since the Ryuki line was the start of the articulation expansions for the entire line and I really actually enjoyed posing around with Knight, he can do his final vent poses too for a plus.



Switching to Survive doesn't restrict any movement either so the poseability retains its pluses.



Overall:
Well, for a Ryukitard like me, getting the pack was indeed good, it can even stand alone if it was just Knight himself since most of the things jumbled inside the box are his anyway. But heck he was packed with Ohjya, probably the two of the most likable characters in the show. Anyway, he's a pretty good deal for his srp price in his time.



Remarks:
Details - 9/10
Material - 5/10
Accessories and Bonus Features - 10/10
Paint - 4/10
Poseability - 10/10
Price - 7/10 (same price rating will be given to Ohjya's coming review)
Average: 7.5/10


Knight Survive at his awesome first appearance XD

Well, seeing as the rating is low. I don't actually recommend getting the Ryuki riders unless you really want to since it has a lot of issues like loose parts, breaking joints, etc. But still not regretting I got Knight though.

2 comments:

  1. Yo, nice review, but are you sure its "contact monster"? First paragraph under The "Main" Character portion. And while I contest that Ryuuki is, by virtue of being the title character, the main rider in the series, Knight cannot be reduced to a secondary character, and definitely worth the title of Main Rider. He's definitely my second favorite, next to Cobra Commander- I mean Ojha.

    ReplyDelete