[ShiShiLeo]

Just some more SODO pictures




I'm really happy for the SODO line as I really love the Saber suit designs and there's no way I would have been able to collect them all in SHF.



Here are all the main SODO chronicle figures. To date there have been 6 and even from the first one (W) to the most recent (Ryuki) there have been a bunch of improvements. It feels like as the line continues they'll keep revisiting older releases, which is already being done with W. Each subsequent release has added some subtle innovation. With Ryuki we now have soft-plastic holding hands, which helps alleviate that awkward short hilt syndrome that plagues the Saber swordsmen.

Here are some musings on my experience with the SODO line:

General thoughts: First of all, SODO is undisputed in suit completionism. It really strives to cover every suit that comes out in the show regardless of screen time. I'm particularly thankful for the female rider suits which are almost always PBandai in the SHF line or entirely non-existent in other lines.

My figures have definitely gotten weaker over time. I store my SODO in plastic bags and then sorted into a plastic bin out of any sunlight. While the stickers are holding strong, I have noticed that the joints have become very lose. Den-O is among the loosest, despite not being the oldest.

SODO takes paint very well. Candy toys have every reason to be lackluster in detail but these figures almost always have amazing details which get covered in stickers. People online do full repaints and remolds of SODO which is a testament to their quality.

The weakest point for SODO are probably the shoulder pads and lack of closed fists. The open hole holding hand is the most glaring toy-like aspect in an otherwise expressive 4 inch figure. The Chronicle series has shown a lot of good improvements in this area.

A divisive point for which I am in favor is the durability of the designs. Parts like helmet antennae and spiky armor parts are reinforced with extra plastic for child safety reasons but that also makes them very durable.

Best figure: Gaim. Gaim is a hard suit to make look good but they've succeeded here. There's so much detail in this one from the shoulder armor mold, to the bumps on the chest plate. Angled sword hands and different holster options make this a top notch figure. I've not messed with it, but the arms change gimmick looks to work much better than the Build or Den-O gimmicks. The general SODO design of removable chest pieces just fit Gaim really well.

Most expensive figure: OOOs. He takes 3 boxes and is pretty sought after due to popularity. It ends up being just an ok figure. It's strange to see prepainted parts that don't cover neighboring areas that would be the same color.

Best value: Blades King Lion Daisenki. In terms of raw plastic, this figure is up there, but it also has decent paint and details. To my total surprise, it has paint that goes past the halfway point of the figure and onto the back! Feels like a SODO first!

Worst figure: Slash? Okay there are some truly horrifying figures that are sticker hell like Build Genius and Another Zero-One, but I never built those. Slash feels like the worst because it takes a truly amazing suit and just can't do it justice. There are a ton of stickers on curved parts and it just looks off. It was always gonna be a hard suit to do, just look at the Slash RKF.

Best engineering: This is easy. The Rider Machines and Mecha. SODO is one of the few places we get the Kamen Rider bikes and they just sorta work without breaking the bank. The mecha on the other hand really showcase just how much love the designers have for the toy line. There's no reason to increase your box size that much just to fit multiple robot parts. King of Arthur was an absolute feat.



SODO has been fun. I cannot wait for Kabuto. It's my favorite series and I love that we're getting all 5 of the riders. I was afraid that the SODO line would discontinue before they finished all 20 Heisei riders but now I don't even care. It's been good and I hope we see even more improvements.

[Deepsea]

Thank you for reminding me I should paint my slash soon... also my other sodos tbh.

Edit: also your paint jobs look fantastic, I should probably have mentioned that earlier.

[ShiShiLeo]

The spear came in.



It's a lot longer than I expected and indeed longer than it should be.



I might try to cut it down some. Due to the sticker and the tightness of the grasping hand, he's unable to hold the shaft. I may try to drill out the hand a little more to make it possible.

[ShiShiLeo]

I've really been enjoying Avataro Sentai DonBrothers. I picked up the Change Hero Momotaro Alter and the Don Momotaro Vinyl figure.



I just did a little painting here. White on the top knot, black on the thigh joint parts, and some black and gold on the sword. I have to wait for some yellow spray paint to do the sword, as its a relatively large part and its black. I also clipped off the little parts on the shoulder pads that hold them together for the peach mode. They get in the way and you only need the one on top at most.




For the vinyl figure I repainted the belt in a metallic red, added silver to the wrists and ankles, white trim on the shoulder pads, and repainted the peach on the helmet to metallic pink. In keeping with the spirit of sofubi, I only painted the font half of the figure for all the paintwork.

I'm skipping most of the Minipla for this series but I did preorder Minipla Don ZenkaiOh and I'm interested in the Don OnitaiJin, but will have to see in action.

I think the next kit I'll be building and painting here will be the Ryusoulger Minipla!

[ShiShiLeo]

One of my favorite hobby experiences is painting Gashapon toys. A little paint really brings out their fantastic details.

This year the DonBrothers gashapon were really ugly. They have completely flat faces that you put a sticker over. I was definitely disappointed but when you consider that these toys sell for 200 yen, suddenly they are kinda cool. Anyway, I painted some of them up.




Only took me an hour.

I'm still waiting on my FRS Ghost kit as I pre-ordered it alongside another kit that got delayed. The SO-DO hiatus continues until probably the next Kamen Rider. But I did pre-order the Onitaijin Minipla kit which is due out in a few months so that and Ghost will be next!