Weekly So-Do blog post is up!

New OOO P-Bandai set, Birth and Birth Prototype.
https://cdn-ak.f.st-hatena.com/image...0226134704.jpg https://cdn-ak.f.st-hatena.com/image...0226134744.jpg

Includes all the Birth Day parts as well!
https://cdn-ak.f.st-hatena.com/image...0226170346.jpg

How could you leave out the best part?!

https://cdn-ak.f.st-hatena.com/image...0226172218.jpg

Because I'm a horrible person who's never watched OOO despite developing a crush on Eiji from the crossovers I've seen him in and as a result have no idea what that is

Eiji is -super- good taste

That's a can that the first Birth lugs around to collect his cell medals in; and the book on top is an actual instruction manual for Birth!

Akira Date is the best Kamen Rider Birth in my opinion :D

Befittingly the Proto Birth. :lolol

Look, I don't want to derail this SO-DO thread, because those Births are fantastic and ordered on sight (they included the Birth operator's manual!!!), but if we're ranking the men of OOO, it's got to be:

1. Ankh
2. Akira
3. Shintaro
4. Nobunaga
5. Ankh when he's just a hand
6. then Eiji

Anything else is heresy, and the only wrong opinion you can have in the Kamen Rider fandom.

I'll have to get back to you on that someday. Current plan for OOO is to watch it after Kabuto after I finally watch the second half of Faiz after I finally get caught up on the last 19 episodes of Zero-One

Lunchtime SO-DO!

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

Put this tiny man together after lunch today, and, uh, I love him.

I always thought the various Evol(t) suits were cool, but Black Hole wasn't really a favorite. (Rabbit, then Dragon, then Black Hole, then Cobra.) This figure, though, man. The stickers make it pop. The skirt stickers go on easy and have a great metallic sheen to them, providing a nice gradient up from the dark red to black. Plus, there's paint all over this guy, meaning it doesn't take a whole lot of stickering over his arms and legs. It's mostly just some black stickers to break up the white, and they don't really shout STICKERS like some other figures might. (That SharkBike one I did last night, your eye can really get pulled to the stickers of the Shark pauldron.)

He's about zero percent stable without his stand, but I kind-of always want my Evol(t) Black Hole to be hovering so it's not a big deal to me. Still, a bit of a bummer that he's so dependent on his stand. For a theatrical dude like Evol(t), it's a shame his final form only really has one or two poses to it.

Minor quibbles to me, though. I love how this tiny man looks. I've not put together a ton of SO-DO yet, maybe seven or so tiny mans, but this guy is easily the best-looking one I've handled so far. Gorgeous, and at an insanely low price.

Yeah, So-Do didn't really have the hang of big cloaks skirts and capes at that point. They're getting better, the cloak on Zonjis looks pretty good. You're gonna have to deal with the same thing on Cross-ZBuild and Cross-ZEvol. Blood's cloak is even worse in a way, his plug on his back is completely blocked by it, you can only use the plug on his foot for the peg on the base of the stand

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.

Yo if anyone in the UK is ordering a set / doing a big mandarake order and doesn't want Zonjis for whatever reason, send my a PM pls.

The Magia is a very pleasant surprise... though at the same time since they're mooks I kinda find myself wishing they done a set similar to Build's special Guardian sets. Still, nice to see it and Zero-One's best suit so far!

Depending on the other figures in the set that might be me.

Sure thing, I’m only getting Thouser from 5 so getting rid of Zonjis will stop me feeling collector’s guilt.

We just saw em last page, you might have missed it -- the full set is Metal Cluster, 001, a Magia mook (Trilobyte), and Zonjis.

I sort of agree. With Build there were a bunch of varieties of mooks. A full case of just one figure might be hard to sell. Something like Ex-Aid's Bugster six pack might work better for this

Yeah, something like that would be great!

Yay, the last three (and I do mean last three) OOO Combos are finally out!

What else was in Wave 5? I might take one or two off your hands, assuming you still have them around.

The rest of 5 was Zi-O Oma form, Geiz Majesty and the kashin guy. Also I’m only getting Thouser from TokuToyStore because I didn’t think getting the set of four for one guy was worth it, but when the time comes I could happily sell you Zonjis.

Hope you like Kuuga because we got so much Kuuga today (and other fun things).

SO-DO Chronicle Kuuga wave 2 revealed:
http://bandaicandy.hateblo.jp/entry/01-26

Growing
http://www.tokunation.com/attachment...1&d=1584238316

Amazing Mighty
http://www.tokunation.com/attachment...1&d=1584238316

Ultimate
http://www.tokunation.com/attachment...1&d=1584238316


Shodo-O wave 3 revealed:
http://bandaicandy.hateblo.jp/entry/20200315_rider

Go-Gadoru-Ba (with form changing gimmick!)
http://www.tokunation.com/attachment...1&d=1584238410

Delta
http://www.tokunation.com/attachment...1&d=1584238410

Punch Hopper and Kick Hopper
http://www.tokunation.com/attachment...1&d=1584238410

General Jark
http://www.tokunation.com/attachment...1&d=1584238410

Accessory pack featuring the the mighty barrel!
http://www.tokunation.com/attachment...1&d=1584238410

Me after seeing Hell Brothers in Shodo-O Wave 3:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_xqb416S7o

Sucks they do not include their respective ramen noodles, but hey, better than nothing.

Oh, man, I do like Kuuga! (I do! Not, like, love it, but I do like it. Shut up!) Those new figs look great!

You have it all wrong. Kuuga's larva state is not what deserves our utmost attention. THE FACT THAT THEY GOT THE HELL BROTHERS, THE PRIME EDGELORDS OF ALL KAMEN RIDERS ARE GRACING US WITH THEIR PRESENCE IN SHODO FORM, IS WHAT NEEDS ATTENTION. LOOK AT THEM. LOOK. THEY DRIP SWAGOO IN ALL THEIR EMO GLORY. :rock:
NOW SING WITH ME THE BOYS ARE BACK IN TOWN! ALL OF YOU!

I don't know them yet, but I love their names, and they look pretty sweet. I guess I'd get them if they were SO-DO. SHODO, just too small!

Going into last night's update I was thinking "alright, we know what we're getting from AI06, but let's just get it out the way", and then they just blew me away with surprise after surprise!

The biggest one for me though is Go-Baduru-Ba, and then just how much was put into him. Like, damn, that was so out of nowhere yet awesome! I like this attention to monsters in the Shodo-O line; it's very promising :D

As for the So-Do Kuuga stuff itself, great! I like that they also included a black-eyed Ultimate head as an option. I'm guessing we'll get the Rising forms and maybe Ultimate Rising in a P-Bandai set...

I really like the idea of Shodo-O, it's such a random assortment of figures but they're some pretty good choices. I mean, no other line is going to give us a monster from a 20 year old show.

Ah, that's chill, don't worry about it! But yeah, if you're getting AI06 anyway, I'll take Zonjis off your hands!

But best of all, HELL BROTHERS. :rock:

If someone ends up with an extra Go-Gadoru-Ba, I'd gladly take it off your hands.