[ryan]

Ah, Kamen Rider Decade, everyone's favorite Rider show. Or perhaps not. It seems to get pretty mixed reactions from people. I've slowly been going through it over the past few months, and while it won't rank among my favorites, there is certainly stuff to be enjoyed there. Such as merchandise! It's neither my favorite show, nor my favorite Rider design, but that hasn't stopped me from buying all three Figuarts of Decade, both Diend, and Decade's bike. Today we get to look at the original release of SH Figuarts Kamen Rider Decade.

Hailing from 2009, this Decade is starting to show its age. It's by no means a bad figure, it's still quite good, especially compared to the Mattel toys I was collecting in 2009, but compared to more recent Figuarts, such as those from Kamen Rider Blade and Kamen Rider Gaim, Decade is clearly an somewhat lesser figure. I believe he has all the same points of articulation, but there's an unnaturalness about many of them, whereas newer figures look much more human. The shoulder area is where it is most noticeable. There is often some gapping in the shoulder, and that inner part of the joint tends to want to be in a not-quite-human-like position. The lower waist joint seems a bit loose, so his abdomen often worked it's way into odd positions and needed to be adjusted again. Still, the range of the joints is good and Decade can be put into pretty much any position you want him, he just may not look quite right in some of them.

If the articulation isn't quite as good as newer figures, the accessory count is definitely still up to snuff. Tsukasacomes with four pairs of hands (fists, weapon holding, open, and card holding), his Ride Booker in all three forms, and a cardboard sheet of cards, nicely printed but not pre-cut. The only possible improvement that could have been made here was if the Driver was removable and there was an open version, but at the same time it wasn't really necessary.

The cards look very nice, though you'll have to cut them out yourself. I used a ruler and a hobby knife and it was quite painless to do, and you actually get two full sets, in case you make a mistake or lose one. Tuskasa has 11 cards, one each of the primary Riders, Kuuga through Decade, and his Final Attack Ride card. The card holding hands work great for holding the cards in his iconic pose.

The weapon holding hands are alright, the index finger is slightly extends as though for a trigger, though I find they hold the Ride Booker a bit awkwardly in gun mode. They hold the Sword mode great, though, and I tend to prefer swords more, anyway. The regular Ride Booker has a peg to attach it to Decade's belt, and actually opens up, though there's no indentation to store any cards within.

One final short-coming to address: the head sculpt. It's not as good as it should be, and is, in fact, inaccurate to the show. I don't know the particulars of why it turned out that way, but there it is. The later Decade Violent Emotion release includes an extra, now accurate, head that can be used with this body, but it doesn't include the cards that this first release does. Being that I want to display all forms of all Riders, my choice was to either get Decade VE twice, or pick up this original version for use with the new head. I think the cards definitely make this a figure still worth owning, especially if you want to display both forms. So, if you want the cards, or if you don't mind the inaccurate head sculpt, go pick up Decade.

"I'm just a passing-through Kamen Rider. Remember that!"


Related Galleries
SH Figuarts Kamen Rider Decade
SH Figuarts Machine Decader
SH Figuarts Kamen Rider Decade Complete -coming soon
SH Figuarts Kamen Rider Diend
SH Figuarts Kamen Rider Diend Complete -coming soon