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Thread
:
S.H. Figuarts Mole Amazon Gallery
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12-06-2017, 05:16 PM
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Den-O
Admin
AKA Zordon
Content Director
@DenO_TokuNation
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Lexington, Ky
Posts: 16,328
"We're teammates now."
Before Haruka Mizusawa became Amazon Omega, another Amazon friendly to humans helped hunt his own kind.
Mamoru,
the
Mole Amazon,
was a member of the
Nozoma Peston Service.
A rag tag group of mercenaries working any job they could to get paid. Destroying Amazons any and everywhere, the heavy hitter of this group was Mamoru as the only Amazon controlled by Nozoma before the arrival of Haruka/Omega. While powerful, Mamoru had a gentle soul and would have done anything to protect his friends. Often seen eating a
hamburger
in lieu of his kinds' preferred protein intake, Mamoru lived a simple life. As we all know he would change dramatically 5 years after the first season. Still, there's something to love about Mamoru's character in season 1 of
Kamen Rider Amazons.
If you weren't aware, Mole Amazon is actually based on the Showa character
Mole Beastman
from the original
Kamen Rider Amazon
TV series. Mole Beastman was actually the very first Kaijin to befriend an Kamen Rider, and became a strong ally to Amazon. So it's no wonder that a similar bond was forged between
Mamoru & Haruka
for a time. As the first of the proper non-rider Amazons to receive a figure, let's dive in and take a look at
S.H. Figuarts Mole Amazon!
Packaging
Unlike a majority of the Amazons releases in my collection, Mole Amazon was not released in any sort of Amazon JP Edition. So he has more standardized packaging in line with the regular releases of Alpha, Omega, New Omega, & Neo.
Mole Amazon's
box actually matches up really well with
Sigma's.
Which is just perfect given the character's interactions. The shot used on the front of the box is particularly nice, and really all of the stock photography on the back is spot on, showcasing the best things about this figure.
Main Figures
I was really really excited when this figure got announced. Not only because of the burger (but duh also because he comes with a damn
hamburger
accessory) but really just because it showed a willingness to branch out more from just the proper Kamen Riders of the Amazons show.
Mamoru
was certainly an integral member of the team. but he wasn't a character I'd ever really assumed would get a figuart. After
Amazon Sigma
was announced I'd just assumed we were probably done with season 1 characters. I'm really happy I was wrong about that. Don't get me wrong I have some qualms with the Mole Amazon as you'll see below, but on the whole I really do like this figure.
As always I want to start my review off from the bottom up. You'll see that essentially every surface on Mole's body is lavishly painted in metallic ice blue, silver, and on the upper body a sort of metallic mustard/bronze. Normally I'd be a bit afraid of quite this much paint but Mole actually doesn't have any serious or notable paint flaws that I can find. Now to the legs. After reviewing Amazon Neo, I find him to be sort of the bellweather of this line. A surprisingly well designed figure that I wasn't prepared to love with some great articulation. With that in mind I'm just a bit disappointed that Mole Amazon has some stunted leg articulation. Particularly in the ankles. Thanks to the shin armor/ankle cuffs you lose a bit of side and forward motion out of each foot. The feet themselves feel difficult to balance as is without this though. The knees suffer almost the same fate as Amazon Alpha, the protruding sections on the calves impact the back of the hips immediately limiting how far the leg can bend back. It's not as bad as Alpha but it's there. The hips are thankfully the "new style" and therefore not drop down which is always nice. They do feel a bit tight and don't angle out quite as much as I like but they get the job done.
As you'll see below, the Mole Amazon's
torso/upper body
is just fantastically intricately detailed. The sculpted lines in the chest, abs, and back make this figure feel much more like a suit come to life than most. And the protruding spikes on the front and back side are done very well. They aren't soft or rubbery at all, but actually rather pointy and a little uncomfortable, but great. My big gripe here however is that the waist joint does feel a bit too tight, and a bit limited. While tightness can change sample to sample I don't feel this waist joint is as good as it could or should be. You'll need to be careful as you move the torso around to keep the spikes on it and those on the waist in mind as it can be easier than you think to knock the two together.
Mole's
arms
are quite good, though not perfect. The elbows work at just about a 90 degree angle and the wrists have plenty of clearance for either pair of his large clawed hands. Finger tips and spikes here are likewise nice and pointy so be careful with them. Shoulder pads can move up a decent amount out of the way. Don't forget there's an
Amazons Register
on the left bicep as well. The silver paint has a way of making it easy to miss but it's really nicely detailed. This all brings us up to the
head,
which is the most striking and interesting thing about the figure. From a design standpoint it's really unique. Mole almost looks as though he's trapped within a cage. I'm really pleased again with how the paint details worked out on him. I am a bit disappointed with how the head impact the collar around the neck though. There's definitely room for improvement there. The contrast between the bronze and silver really allows his green eyes to pop even more. And while this character of course homages the
Mole Beastman
form the original
Kamen Rider Amazon
series, that can be hard to tell if you don't know. So of course the best link between the two is the mouth/drill they share. In it's standard form you can't quite see it in the Mole Amazon, but if you use the
open mouth accessory
below, the homage finally becomes more apparent.
Accessories
Because the Mole Amazon didn't really use weapons in the same manner as the Amazons riders, he winds up coming with the best and most appropriate accessories possible:
1 - sets of extra hands.
These are just some slightly more open, sort of menacing claw hands. They aren't terribly different from the standard ones really. I wish they'd included some closed fists just for variety but that's no great loss.
1 - Hamburger.
Yes, possibly the best official accessory with an S.H. Figuart ever. Since Amazons subsist on protein, for a very long time Mamoru's hunger was kept at bay thanks to these plentiful treats. This figure coming with one is absolute perfection. It can only be held in his standard hands though. I wish he came with more so you could share!
1 - Open Mouth.
To use this you can unplug Mole's drill from his face quite easily and plug this on. It's a great extra accessory to include and bridges the gap back to the old Mole Beastman design. it limits how much the head can move since it impacts the chest, but it really looks great.
1 - set of effect parts.
There's no proper official name for these. Even on the Tamashii page they are listed as
"effect parts".
We of course now these are used to recreate the
killing blow
Mole struck against
Amazon Sigma.
To use them you remove Mole's forearm and attack the half of the parts directly to his his elbow joint. Then insert a small clear tube that connects between the two "blood" effects. This tube doesn't plug in very well, the holes are too shallow. Once you connect the two halves make sure to plug Mole's hand onto the half you want coming out of Sigma's body. Then just stand Sigma in the gap in between the two. There's nothing that locks all this together so it's a bit of a balancing act. But it does produce great results. It's the most specific accessory any of the Amazons come with and I really appreciate that they went the distance to include it.
Mole Amazon comes with pretty much everything you could need. I wish there was a set of the flame effects in white to compliment him. The same way the other Amazons are engulfed in flames to transform, Mamoru would spew steam/smoke from his body. So it would be cool to have that. Obviously though he really comes with everything he needs.
Final Thoughts
Kamen Rider Amazons
was one of the shows that I expected to enjoy before at aired, and once it did, I was totally in love. I know people have their qualms about the shows violence, filter, etc but it's just enjoyable as hell to me.
Mamoru/Mole
really began to shine near the end of season 1, and in particular he gained a huge personality in season 2 set 5 years later. He even gained an
Evolved Form
that I'd really like to see S.H. Figuarts tackle at some point. Given the success of both seasons, the tease of a 3rd one, and Tamashii Nations even going so far as to produce Blind Alpha, Evolved Mole may happen yet. For now though, should you could upon it for a decent price I'd recommend picking up
S.H. Figuarts Mole Amazon.
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