Saturday, March 12, 2011
Review: [Bandai] S.I.C. Volume 54 Kamen Rider Dark Kiva
| Figure Information | |
| Manufacturer: | Bandai |
| Origin Series: | Kamen Rider Kiva |
| Scale: | Non-Scale |
| Height: | Approximately 18cm tall |
| Original Price: | 5,775 Yen (2-pack release) |
| Figure Box: |
So, Dark Kiva's volume is another 2-pack as mentioned in the figure info above. Anyway, going to the box designs, the box design is actually patterned after IXA here with Dark Kiva being packed along with him, kinda like an Otoya pack, in a sense. :p Completely the box design is all about IXA's suit design, the colors and even the logo on his chest on the name tag of box's front; and like all regular releases, it's the typical S.I.C. boxes.
| Figure Details: |
I don't know if most people already noticed but Dark Kiva's design is identical to Kiva Emperor's with the only exception of the head, the left arm and the color; and of course, you could expect the same in the S.I.C. rendition of the figure. The body's a complete reuse and repaint of the exclusive Kiva Emperor release, and is of course, a more absolutely detailed version of his suit. And as usual, S.I.C.'s tend to use a more dark and goth color which, in this case, is metallic dark red in the majority. The head is a really nice interpretation giving him a more visual fang and realistic bat wings above his eyes, and as opposed to Kiva's eyes, his doesn't stretch out to the edge which looks really great in side angles. Other differences would be that his fuestles are gold instead of transparent. Everything else such as the cape and the body (except the left arm since Tatsulot isn't present) are completely the same as that of Emperor's.
Additionally, Dark Kiva's gokin parts are that of his knee pads and his feet; although, I'm not too sure if the belt is also made of die-cast parts.
| Accessories: |
The big difference about him and Emperor would be the accessories included. Amazingly, bandai provided Dark Kiva with items related to all 3 of Dark Kiva's users namely: King, Otoya and Taiga. With the given users, he comes with the original Zanvat Sword (the non-pump version), another Bloody Rose and Saga's Jacorder, which Dark Kiva used eventually in the end of the series.
As you can see above, Kivat Bat is an accessory, since he can, of course, be detached and an option of a flatter version for the belt is also provided by Bandai as a choice. Additionally, like all the Kiva release, the Fuestles can be detahced and in Kiva and Dark Kiva's cases, they can be inserted into the Kivat Bats's mouths.
| Articulation: |
Now going to articulation points: ball joints on his neck (top and bottom), shoulders, pelvic area ankles and torso, double jointed hinges on his elbows and knees, a hinge at the shoulder pads and a swivel at the cape pegs.
Since Dark Kiva is one of the later releases, his articulation is, of course, really well. Though it will depend on the owner actually, but like usual S.I.C.s, only the shoulder pads actually limit the joints from it's full potential since they aren't attached directly to the shoulder pads. You can actually make him kick and make him stand in one leg which is pretty great in terms of balance of the figure and definitely a plus for me. Anyway, first wave of poses would be his wake up sequence.
Anyway, additionally, his accessories does give him really good poses and definitely compliments his design. Really nice S.I.C. piece here. Below are the usual fun shots:
| Final Thoughts: |
Ridiculously, for a really badass Rider (yes, he's my fave in the series) and the fact that the Emperor mold was released as an exclusive and this, using the same frame, is a regular release and packed up with another great rider is definitely a steal already. The articulation is nice and you also get all of his possible accessories as well. Just Dark Kiva alone is reason enough to get the Volume 54 pack, at least for me that is. XD But anyway, I highly recommend the pack and is definitely one of the greatest S.I.C. packs released to date!
| Rating (Out of 10) | |
| Details | 10 |
| Accessories | 10 |
| Articulation | 10 |
| Price | 10 |
| Overall: | 10 |
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great review! its about time though..hehe just kiddin..
ReplyDeleteWow! Perfect 10! Thanks for reviewing this. I was the one who commented on the Pending Figure Review. lmao
ReplyDeleteKinda deciding if whether I should buy the Ixa and Dark Kiva pack or the Kiva Emperor right now.
^ if you can buy emperor at a decent price, then go for him first, IXA and Dark Kiva can wait since the pack's price doesn't appreciate yet compared to Emperor's ^^
ReplyDeleteFound one for 8K and I'm still struggling to at least haggle it down to 6K. lmao! Well, I guess if Kiva Emperor is a no go, then Dark Kiva it is. Both figures look really cool and it's really hard to decide which one to get first. lol
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