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Thread
:
God Speed Love: S.H. Figuarts Kamen Riders Hercus, Ketaros, & Caucasus Gallery
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05-17-2017, 11:21 AM
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1
Den-O
Admin
AKA Zordon
Content Director
@DenO_TokuNation
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Lexington, Ky
Posts: 16,328
"Cast off."
With
Shinkochou Seihou
releases in full swing, particularly for
Kamen Rider Kabuto,
I thought it was time we went back to take an extensive look at the trio of new riders that were introduced in Kabuto's film. Exclusive to
God Speed Love,
each of the 3 riders,
Hercus Ketaros & Caucasus,
has their own allegiance to one of the various future factions of
ZECT.
And even though ultimately each of them were sacrificial lambs for Tendou's path to the past, they all had particularly strong designs.
We'll focus on each briefly below, be forewarned that the mold each of these figures uses as a base is the
original Kabuto/Dark Kabuto mold,
NOT the Seihou release. These are the original releases, they are quite dated, they do still have many faults of that original mold. Faults that most of the releases in the original Kabuto line suffered from. I won't focus on their functionality for too long as that mold doesn't really have much to offer in discussion anymore.
Post #1 will focus on Hercus & Ketaros while Post #3 will primarily focus on Caucasus. If you'd like to hear my thoughts on this older body mold please feel fee to thumb through my
original release Gattack
& Dark Kabuto
galleries for an idea.
Packaging
Each of these figures hails from an era of S.H. figuarts when gray scale plain boxes were the norm. So it's no shock that the packaging is incredibly boring for each of these figures.
Main Figures
Hercus:
We'll start here with the silver Hercules Beetle themed
Kamen Rider Hercus.
A pretty basic repaint of the original Kabuto mold, Hercus does feature a new head and right shoulder. The new shoulder reminds me more of a Rhinoceros beetle than his actual head does, but I do like the double pronged nature of the heads' design. One large horn striking forward from the forehead, and a small upward pointing blade from the chin. While not the most exciting of the 3 new riders, it has a uniqueness all it's own. Aside from these changes Hercus also has a remolded right wrist which now has a brace and port for the included
Hercus Kabutech Zecter
to attach.
Accessories:
2 sets of additional hands, 1 Hercus Zecter, and 1 ZECT Kunai Gun (gun mode). That's pretty lite, but also quite standard for the time of his release. I can't recall any of the original Kabuto riders actually including both the Kunai Gun and it's actual kunai mode. Technically he can wield it as the axe form too, but it's not quite the right shape or size for that.
Ketaros:
Next up we have the rust brown Centaurus Beetle themed
Kamen Rider Ketaros.
Another basic repaint of the original Kabuto mold, Ketaros does feature a more elaborately molded new head than Hercus. The new shoulder is identical to the one on Hercus, just with different paint apps. The new head however is a vast departure, I get the impression of dragonfly & scorpion combined in his visor design. It really is something else. The way that unique part splits the compound eyes is pretty striking, it's much less safe than most of the Kabuto rider form helmets were. Not exactly my favorite of the 3 movie riders, Ketaros is still a nice departure from Hercus' blandness. Aside from these changes Ketaros also the remolded right wrist which now has a brace and port for the included
Ketaros Kabutech Zecter
to attach.
Accessories:
2 sets of additional hands, 1 Ketaros Zecter (a repaint of the Hercus Zecter), and 1 ZECT Kunai Gun (Kunai mode). That's pretty lite, but still standard for the time of his release. My guess is that he includes the Kunai mode of the kunai gun simply to differentiate Ketaros a bit more from Hercus. And that actually does help some.
Caucasus:
Now we arrive at easily my favorite of the 3 movie riders, the golden Caucasus Beetle themed
Kamen Rider Caucasus!
While still not a huge departure from the original Kabuto mold, or in fact the other 2 movie riders, Caucasus somehow winds up as my favorite of the 3. He features the same remolded shoulder as the other 2, with different paint apps again. And he also features another fantastic elaborate head. Ketaros was really interesting looking, but Caucasus almost appears to have a giant mustache. Which is somehow way more awesome? I also really like how the blue compound eyes offset the gold armor. Each of these molds carries about the same weight personality wise, but this one some how squeaks out as my favorite. Like the others his right wrist has been remolded with a new brace to accommodate the included
Caucasus Kabutech Zecter.
Accessories:
2 sets of additional hands, 1 Caucasus Zecter, 1 Hyper Zecter, and 1 blue rose. Even though Caucauss doesn't even include a simple repack of a weapon like the others do, he really comes with all he needs. The signature blue rose he's seen with in the film is a fantastic touch, and the Hyper Zecter is a must.
Final Thoughts
I have to say that even though these are all based on a pretty inferior mold, these figures still hold up decently. Obviously they're a bit undersized to scale correctly with today's line of Shinkocchou Seihou riders from Kabuto, but they can get the job done on a budget until the real deal comes out. If you see the trio cheaply I'd recommend picking them up to fill out a display at least.
Kamen Riders Hercus, Ketaros, & Caucasus
are worth that at least.
But I'm also a huge Kabuto fan, the movie especially really worked for me. Often times people site Den-O as the first time that a Kamen Rider theatrical movie directly impacted the plot of the TV series, but really, it's Kabuto. If future Tendou hadn't managed to defeat Caucasus & steal the Hyper Zecter, as well as travel to the past, the original TV series would have never happened. Without this alternate future that's actually a prequel, the show wouldn't exist. And I love that. That's probably where a huge chunk of my attachment for these 3 designs comes from as well. But enough of me pontificating. Check out the full gallery below and let that be the deciding factor for you.
Attached Thumbnails
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Last edited by Den-O; 05-17-2017 at
11:57 AM
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