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08-20-2018, 01:15 PM | #561 |
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Join Date: Dec 2014
Posts: 1,474
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The Bandai Candy Blog's first Zi-O update has gone live:
http://bandaicandy.hateblo.jp/entry/zio01 That... is a lot of stickers. An annoying number of stickers. Quote:
Hey, quick question about the SODO line! What's the quality like, and how do the figures compare to, say, a mainline Gimmick Figure (ie Arms Change / Build Up series). I'm looking into getting a couple of the rarer forms, and I'm interested in what I'd be getting into.
PROS OF SODO: - Drastically less expensive - The rabbit hole is relatively deep in terms of how much you can acquire. - Articulation roughly as good as, and often better than, the retail line. SODO Build's neck can move, and SODO Ex-Aid figures still have good articulation in their level-up forms like Gekitotsu Robots. - Once stickers are applied, usually more detail than the retail line. - They replicate the gimmicks of their respective seasons. Ex-Aid had swappable level-up armor, Build had swappable forms, the OOO figures were separated into three parts, etc. - Often lots of gimmick-related options: level-up forms for Ex-Aid, full swappability for Build, etc. - Recently adopted swappable hands will go into effect when the Zi-O line launches. (Currently, the only option for anything Bandai Candy has released has been splayed hands, IIRC.) - If you're getting into it now, you can skip a lot of the early releases. For both Build and Ex-Aid, they released improved, much-better versions of the main characters in both lines. Build did Build, Cross-Z, Grease, and Rogue with extra accessories and swappable hands. Ex-Aid did better-painted Ex-Aid, Brave, Snipe, and... I think it was Dragon Hunter Z? These figures still involve some stickers, but fewer than their initial releases. - Characters and accessories that will appear nowhere else. In Ex-Aid, Bugster Virus minions and scenery pieces were released. In Build, the Guardian robots, Snap Ride Builder, and additional form options for Hazard Form were released. CONS OF SODO: - Stickers. While these figures involve some paint and appropriate color molding, they all require the application of stickers for fine details. The faces of retail releases often look better than the faces of SODO figures. Stickers can peel or look bad if you're not careful. Some stickers are difficult-to-impossible to apply without unattractive wrinkling or creasing: the face and chest of SODO Kamen Rider Rogue is a good example. It looks like Zi-O may suffer from this. - They don't look great from some angles. The backs of legs, for example, have holes that scream "low-cost candy toy." - Not that many Riders had comparable good lines. I never bought any of the Ghost SODO-equivalent toys, but the gimmick looked as bad as the retail figure. The Gaim figures weren't bad - I remember being surprisingly pleased with them when I received a couple as a gift - but they weren't up to the standard of the last couple of years. I haven't yet delved into the SHODO line. - Despite the small size, you may find yourself running out of space. Buying a set seems like a good idea at the time, but then you suddenly realize you own nearly all of Build's Best Match forms, and finding somewhere to put them is a little bit of a challenge. You have to be careful about storing them if you don't want the stickers to peel or be damaged. - The further back you go, the more challenging it is to find a few pieces. I started collecting Ex-Aid late, and never got my hands on the bike part of Lazer. Quel annoying. - It's sometimes hard to find online stores selling sets instead of boxes. (Each box contains two sets, so if you buy a box, you're paying too much and will be stuck with duplicates.) In terms of direct comparisons: W - The candy toy figures were smaller and floppier than the retail line. Not recommended despite the inclusion of different Hardboilder forms. OOO - Not quite as good as the retail line, but nearly as much fun. Fourze and Wizard - I dunno. Arms Change - I think the actual Arms Change line is better. The fruit form of the arms looked kind of ridiculous in the SODO-equivalent line. However, the candy toys had better interchangeability, and their articulation was less hindered by the armor. Drive and Ghost: No idea; I didn't touch these. LVUR - Although the retail line base forms looked better, SODO has vastly-superior level up forms and terrific accessories. Build (BRC?) - SODO wins. I like SODO and have been buying them since late Ex-Aid. I also stopped buying the Build figures before they got around to Genius form, since I just had too bloody many of them, and I never particularly wanted Rocket/Panda or Wolf/Smartphone to begin with. I resolved that with future lines, I'll skip the first wave or two and wait for the now-seemingly-inevitable deluxe SODO versions to be released toward the end of the line. |
08-20-2018, 03:43 PM | #562 |
Warrior of Delusions!
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Wait, you dont know either?
Posts: 5,826
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Quote:
The Bandai Candy Blog's first Zi-O update has gone live:
http://bandaicandy.hateblo.jp/entry/zio01 That... is a lot of stickers. An annoying number of stickers. I like them a lot, and they're very different beasts. PROS OF SODO: - Drastically less expensive - The rabbit hole is relatively deep in terms of how much you can acquire. - Articulation roughly as good as, and often better than, the retail line. SODO Build's neck can move, and SODO Ex-Aid figures still have good articulation in their level-up forms like Gekitotsu Robots. - Once stickers are applied, usually more detail than the retail line. - They replicate the gimmicks of their respective seasons. Ex-Aid had swappable level-up armor, Build had swappable forms, the OOO figures were separated into three parts, etc. - Often lots of gimmick-related options: level-up forms for Ex-Aid, full swappability for Build, etc. - Recently adopted swappable hands will go into effect when the Zi-O line launches. (Currently, the only option for anything Bandai Candy has released has been splayed hands, IIRC.) - If you're getting into it now, you can skip a lot of the early releases. For both Build and Ex-Aid, they released improved, much-better versions of the main characters in both lines. Build did Build, Cross-Z, Grease, and Rogue with extra accessories and swappable hands. Ex-Aid did better-painted Ex-Aid, Brave, Snipe, and... I think it was Dragon Hunter Z? These figures still involve some stickers, but fewer than their initial releases. - Characters and accessories that will appear nowhere else. In Ex-Aid, Bugster Virus minions and scenery pieces were released. In Build, the Guardian robots, Snap Ride Builder, and additional form options for Hazard Form were released. CONS OF SODO: - Stickers. While these figures involve some paint and appropriate color molding, they all require the application of stickers for fine details. The faces of retail releases often look better than the faces of SODO figures. Stickers can peel or look bad if you're not careful. Some stickers are difficult-to-impossible to apply without unattractive wrinkling or creasing: the face and chest of SODO Kamen Rider Rogue is a good example. It looks like Zi-O may suffer from this. - They don't look great from some angles. The backs of legs, for example, have holes that scream "low-cost candy toy." - Not that many Riders had comparable good lines. I never bought any of the Ghost SODO-equivalent toys, but the gimmick looked as bad as the retail figure. The Gaim figures weren't bad - I remember being surprisingly pleased with them when I received a couple as a gift - but they weren't up to the standard of the last couple of years. I haven't yet delved into the SHODO line. - Despite the small size, you may find yourself running out of space. Buying a set seems like a good idea at the time, but then you suddenly realize you own nearly all of Build's Best Match forms, and finding somewhere to put them is a little bit of a challenge. You have to be careful about storing them if you don't want the stickers to peel or be damaged. - The further back you go, the more challenging it is to find a few pieces. I started collecting Ex-Aid late, and never got my hands on the bike part of Lazer. Quel annoying. - It's sometimes hard to find online stores selling sets instead of boxes. (Each box contains two sets, so if you buy a box, you're paying too much and will be stuck with duplicates.) In terms of direct comparisons: W - The candy toy figures were smaller and floppier than the retail line. Not recommended despite the inclusion of different Hardboilder forms. OOO - Not quite as good as the retail line, but nearly as much fun. Fourze and Wizard - I dunno. Arms Change - I think the actual Arms Change line is better. The fruit form of the arms looked kind of ridiculous in the SODO-equivalent line. However, the candy toys had better interchangeability, and their articulation was less hindered by the armor. Drive and Ghost: No idea; I didn't touch these. LVUR - Although the retail line base forms looked better, SODO has vastly-superior level up forms and terrific accessories. Build (BRC?) - SODO wins. I like SODO and have been buying them since late Ex-Aid. I also stopped buying the Build figures before they got around to Genius form, since I just had too bloody many of them, and I never particularly wanted Rocket/Panda or Wolf/Smartphone to begin with. I resolved that with future lines, I'll skip the first wave or two and wait for the now-seemingly-inevitable deluxe SODO versions to be released toward the end of the line.
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