That sucks to hear that it's a structural problem for all of the Build skirt figs. It's weird how, at a glance, it doesn't seem like it'll off-balance him. There're equal halves, they run perpendicular to the body (at least how I've got them), and they aren't that thick and heavy. But, nope, nearly any unassisted pose besides Leaning Forward Slightly With His Legs Straight and that dude crashes to the ground. It seems to defy physics, which, uh, in character I guess!

I bet if you gave it a base coat of blue and some red accents someone is gonna by a small possibility say, "Oh look honey, it must be some rebooted version of Cobra Commander." :lolol

Sure, I can sort-of see it. Black Hole pulls back in some of the Cobra motif (the fangs on the mask) and adds a very regal, imposing lower half. There's also a bit of gold and some stark black/white sections. It's a pretty effective villain costume. The Black Hole design clearly communicates Boss and Theatrical, so, sure, a little more blue could make for some powered-up version of Cobra Commander... probably right before his plan explodes in his face.

Brunchtime SO-DO!

https://challengerscomics.com/images...etalbuild2.jpg

Having recently watched the Grease movie (definitely could've been better!) I was glad to see that I'd already purchased the Metal Build SO-DO. It's nice to see that my poor impulse control and troublesome overspending worked out this time. Hooray for the collector bug!

It seems to be a pretty straight port-over of the Hazard Form for Build, with a couple new stickers and a slightly remolded head. (Metal Build is Tank/Tank, rather than Hazard's default Rabbit/Tank, so his eyes are minorly different.) I haven't put together my Hazard Form yet, but, uh, it seems like I can wait on that 'cause they gave me a Rabbit/Tank head too? Pretty nice of Bandai to make this work as both the new villain and the most regrettable thing Sento ever did.

The figure itself is great. I was shocked how many stickers the main body had, considering my impression of the form is None More Kamen Rider Black. This has got a lot of silver striping on the traditional Build legs. It's not necessarily a lot of stickers, not even close to Black Hole or Genius Form, but I thought there'd be nothing on the main body at all. The #6 parts, the head/shoulders/breastplate, all have a cool metallic speckling on them, creating a neat visual separation from the shiny plastic of the arms and legs. It's a good use of different effects (molded plastic, paint, stickers) of similar colors to create something visually dynamic.

Downsides, there aren't a lot. (I mean, Pretty Much All Black SO-DO could be considered a downside, if you aren't a fan of Hazard Form. I don't... is that even possible, though?) The Metal Build eye stickers really wash out, in a way that I'm not even sure why they bothered printing them. It's almost impossible for the light to catch them enough to pick them out. Also, the shoulder pauldrons pop off if you lift the arms more than 30 degrees, so it's basically Pose Figure, Pick Up Popped Pauldron, Reattach. It's a minor nuisance.

Anyway, yeah, I like this figure. It's a fave suit, so that helps, but I think it's still a pretty cool-looking figure regardless.

https://challengerscomics.com/images...etalbuild3.jpg

Snacktime SO-DO!

https://challengerscomics.com/images...ectkingdom.jpg

Grease Perfect Kingdom! So many stickers on this tiny man! So many. There was an almost-debilitatingly-frustrating mix of Stickers That Need To Bend In The Middle (the dogtags), Stickers That Are Very Thin And Very Long (his arm blades), Stickers That Fold At The Ends (toes, shoulders), and Stickers That Need To Line Up With Other Stickers And You Have To Start Them After The Mold Lines I Mean Are You Serious What Is Wrong With This Designer (shins). Everything ended up going on fine (I'm not happy with the shins, maybe) but this thing was bonkers. Not as frustrating as Build Genius, but definitely asking way too much of the stickers to get Grease looking right.

Otherwise, pretty decent. Ignoring the psychic scarring that I endured getting him done, he looks pretty choice. The torso stickers blend great, giving him a huge variety of primary colors that really pop. I love that he comes with two different dogtags to inspire him. He's got some heft, what with the shoulders and blades. He looks bulky, battle-ready. I like him!

Also, Twix bars taste great.

Actually, this figure is a completely new mold from the waste up. The original still had the side-swapping thing even though only the faceplates changed anything.

Neat! Good to know!

Desserttime SO-DO!

https://challengerscomics.com/images.../valkyrie1.jpg

All
I wanna do
Is see you turn into
A tiny woman
A tiny woooommaann

Hey, it’s *checks sticker sheet* Kamen Rider Valkyrie, in her Rushing Cheetah form! I didn’t really plan on putting this tiny woman together yet, since I haven’t watched any of Zero-One, but a) the pictures of her Figuart that just got posted made me remember how cool I thought this suit was, and b) it’s International Women’s Day (that’s right ladies, a whole day, you are welcome), so it felt like a good time to put her together.

I really like the fact that Valkyrie exists. Female Kamen Riders, it’s dumb that there are so few. It’s even dumber that the ones that have been added to the franchise… it’s like, points for representation, and not much else. I want to say Mage, the Mayu Mage, that’s the only female Kamen Rider I don’t think embarasses herself. Kiva-la’s in, like, four minutes of a movie. Nadesico and Poppy, they’re very Kawaii Riders, with goofy butt bumps and clumsy attacks. Marika, it drives me insane that her story is all about supporting powerful men. (ANY powerful man, as it would turn out. She’s got a type!) Ride Player Nico is in a grey area, where it’s established that she’s a force to be reckoned with, but Snipe/the show keeps her in a real Assistant To The Regional Manager role. Overall, when it comes to actually including women in the ass-kicking parts of the franchise, I haven’t seen much to get excited about. I really, really hope Zero-One doesn’t drop the ball with Valkyrie.

(That said! I haven’t seen Ryuki through Decade, so maybe there’s awesome women in those shows exploding monsters from hell to breakfast. I would love to be totally off-base on my dim views of how this franchise tells women’s stories.)

https://challengerscomics.com/images.../valkyrie2.jpg

Anyway, this SO-DO! It’s crazy how the white bits come in one box, with the orange bits in the other box, because it makes for one mostly-empty box (the white one) and one overflowing box (the orange one). The white one has four stickers you add to the belt, and that’s it. All of the stickering is on the orange parts, and… it’s okay? It’s foil stickers, and that makes it pop off of the surface, visually, in a way that I don’t think it’s supposed to. It’s supposed to just be filling in the black spots, but the shine of the sticker means you’re constantly aware of separation between sticker and base. It’s a little distracting up-close. The one sticker on the gunmetal, around the collar, that blends great. I think it’s mostly the shiny orange doesn’t blend with the plastic orange. Those sections, it could look better.

The accessories are a mixed bag. Her gun-Driver thing, the plug-in one looks great, the handheld one looks ridiculously bad. It’s a blue sticker that covers one side of a stark white gun, so it looks for all the world like she’s carrying a miniature replica of a piece of foamcore that has a picture pasted on it. Is… I have n’t watched the show, does she carry a piece of foamcore shaped like a gun? Did the SO-DO people nail this one? It looks like a parody of Kamen Rider weapons to me, but maybe it makes sense in context.

The articulation’s fine. I can’t get much rotation with the orange leg, the way the leg part flares up at the hip keeps it from being able to turn more than slightly. The fists, like, point down more than it seems like they should, so her punching poses look weak. The open hands look good, though, so that’s probably how I’ll leave her. The default pose, the Standing Heroically, that looks great. I love the Build-esque asymmetry of the Valkyrie/Vulcan suits. I love how it’s one color on white, with some grey accents. That’s a great visual.

It’s just a good-looking suit, you know? Even with an imperfect toy (those orange stickers, THAT GUN), I still really like looking at it. I hope she ends up being a cool character!

Happy International Women’s Day!

https://challengerscomics.com/images.../valkyrie3.jpg
https://challengerscomics.com/images.../valkyrie4.jpg

Valkyrie was pretty active in Zero-One for the first major arc, but ever since Thouser entered the picture, her role's been pretty diminished unfortunately

Zero-One wave 6 reveal!
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/ETClaEWU...jpg&name=large

• Metal Cluster Hopper Zero-One
• 001
• Zojis
• Trilobite Magia

I'm surprised they're splitting the Quartzers and the Reiwa First Generation Riders over multiple waves. Seems like they usually do all the movie exclusive suits in their own one wave together.