Monday, April 18, 2011
Review: [Bandai] S.I.C. Volume 55 Kamen Rider Stronger
| Figure Information | |
| Manufacturer: | Bandai |
| Origin Series: | Kamen Rider Stronger |
| Scale: | Non-Scale |
| Height: | Approximately 18cm tall |
| Original Price: | 6,825 Yen (2-pack release) |
| Figure Box: |
As usual, the SIC box shape and type is still the same from back in the early volumes, the design this time is quite weird, it's multi-colored (probably patterned after Stronger's torso) just really weird ans a little too bright IMO XD But yeah, the box shows Stronger's special gimmick to your upper right corner when viewed from the front. Also, a common occurrence is that Stronger's face plate tend to fall off from his head even when MISB XD
| Figure Detail: |
Well, certainly Stronger gets a major plus in the imaginative part as versus the original Stronger suit design, obvious changes were made to the SIC design especially with his armor and the head. He doesn't look like a football player anymore in the SIC rendition, his head has obviously minimized and his armor isn't as bulky as it was in the show. Since he is an electro magnet powered rider, a lot of details actually pop out that shows some traces of machinery on Stronger. And versus the original colors, the red's now metallic red which really looks neat in many many ways.
Oh wait up, SICs usually have parts swap and Stronger isn't actually an exception, and for the first Rider to actually have a power up form, Bandai decided to give us the Charge Up parts.
"Charge Up!"
Charge Up form only requires a face plate, chest plate and shoulder pads switch, and like most of Kuuga's forms, it's basically the same, with his beetle horn this time being silver and his armor receiving additional silver trims.
Now, going to more details and also to the special gimmick of Stronger. when you switch parts you'd actually reveal it on the head and see additional wicked details on his chest frame. The head actually contains a bulb inside and as for the chest, his S logo is also powered by the same light used for the head, which would be LED.
A switch at the back of Stronger (near the scarf connection point) can be found and pressing it would light up the LED eyes and S logo, bandai was also kind enough to bundle a battery along with it, you can unscrew his back to remove the battery or change it when it's drained. I don't actually know what battery is used since I didn't open his back but based from the instruction manual, it's a big round one (like a big version of those used in wristwatches).
Firing the LED up certainly makes Stronger look awesome and also allows his logo to pop out since it's not very visible unlike the eyes which still give a good glow when hit with proper lighting.
Firing the LED up certainly makes Stronger look awesome and also allows his logo to pop out since it's not very visible unlike the eyes which still give a good glow when hit with proper lighting.
Additional, the glow of the LED is as you expect, it's pretty strong and when shot in pitch darkness, something like this pops out 8D
| Articulation : |
Strongers joints are of the following:
-Double hinge on the elbows and knees
-Ball joint on his shoulders, ankles, hips and torso
-Hinge on the toes
-A mix of swivel and hinge for the scarf, and the shoulder pad that's connected to his armor
Wait! wait! wait! Where's the neck joint!? Well, despite the great gimmick they added for Stronger, it came with a big price, the neck joint is non-existent because of it, and yes, Stronger's head will remain that way unless you decide to mod his neck. The only actually way to make Stronger's head look like it's moving is to play around with his torso joint.
As a bonus I've provided shots this time to show some extent I checked with the important points of articulation.
-Double hinge on the elbows and knees
-Ball joint on his shoulders, ankles, hips and torso
-Hinge on the toes
-A mix of swivel and hinge for the scarf, and the shoulder pad that's connected to his armor
Wait! wait! wait! Where's the neck joint!? Well, despite the great gimmick they added for Stronger, it came with a big price, the neck joint is non-existent because of it, and yes, Stronger's head will remain that way unless you decide to mod his neck. The only actually way to make Stronger's head look like it's moving is to play around with his torso joint.
As a bonus I've provided shots this time to show some extent I checked with the important points of articulation.
Charge Up uses the same body so, what ever Stronger can and can't do, it passes on to Charge up, but yeah, despite the ridiculously missing neck joint, he can pull out decent poses at the very least, just really weird that you can't turn the head, but yeah, up to you how you'll pose him anyway, those joint used on the scarf makes good plus as it makes the poses look even more dynamic with already dynamic poses. Fun shots are as follows~
| Final Thoughts: |
Well, I have to say I really loved Stronger's LED gimmick but at the same time was displeased at the fact that he has no neck joint. But yeah, the design's still pretty neat, especially for me since I didn't like the original suit at all. Well, if you're not really the one who appreciates Showa riders, definitely pass on Stronger and focus on other Heisei releases, but for some who just loves riders regardless of the era, well, he's pretty cool and even better if you have all the previous 6 riders, they make a really good line up you know. And as for the pack's price, well, yeah it's kinda disappointing if you're after the articulation part for SICs but meh, since it's a 2-pack, Tackle is the reverse as her articulation is good (and her review will be up in a day or two).
| Rating (Out of 10) | |
| Details | 10 |
| Articulation | 8 |
| Price | 8.5 |
| Overall: | 8.83 |
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Hmm...Pretty low score, huh? Still, I understand what you didn't like bout it.
ReplyDeleteActually, there's a neck mod for this SIC that would actually give it some neck articulation. Just search in google for it.
ReplyDeleteYeah, saw that XD which is why I mentioned the neck modding in the articulation part. XD
ReplyDelete