[Den-O]

Surfin' Wasshoi!

Shuriken Sentai Ninninger's all-star toy line continues with the addition of another Otomonin upgrade mecha! The DX Surfermaru! In the show, following the introduction of Paonmaru & UFOmaru, Surfermaru is the 3rd additional machine for the team. An odd one indeed, Surfermaru is so far the only extra Otomonin compatable with both Shurikenjin & Bison King. Now onto the toy!

Packaging
DX Surfermaru comes in the same type of small cardboard box as Paon & UFOmaru. It's pretty basic stuff for sentai lines honestly. Once one additional mecha comes out they almost all follow the same formula for packaging with each successive release. Some basic stock photography of the figure as well as shots of it's combined forms are present and that's about here.

Main Figure
A bit of an odd one, the main body of Surfermaru is composed of two parts. The base surfboard, and the actual Surfermaru robot. When combined these two parts make up the bulk of the Submarine mode. The included Shuriken parts finish off the look but we'll get to those in a second. Much like UFOmaru before him, Surfermaru is pretty unique looking. Though we have had several submarine's and other aquatic vehicles through out Super Sentai history, this is the first one with a humanoid robot blended into the design.

The basic robot mode for Surfermaru can be achieved without any additional bits. It actually comes pre-packaged this way just as you need him for robot mode. He's roughly the same height as the benchmark that Shinobimaru has set. From a complexity and design stand point Surfermaru has more going on but the 2 still share some basic design elements to help unify them and lend credit to the notion that all Otomonin were built by the same person. All 5 of "pilot marus" look great together. As a set they alone show a lot of diversity for this line. Even without their additional combining bits, each is unique in their own way.

DX Surfermaru is definitely the interesting one of the bunch though. Thanks to the way he needs to transform for his submarine mode he gets some added articulation that none of the others really have. Surfermaru has forward tilting angles. Meant for use while he's plugged onto the actual surfboard, these ankles allow him to lean completely forward on a flat surface in a way that would make the king of pop proud (as you can see below ) . His hips & knees can also arch back allowing him to lean all the way back while on the board. Surfermaru's arms also rotate 360 degrees as a necessity for his sub transformation. But this also allows him to look much more dynamic.

To get into Submarine mode you need to fold the massive surfboard entirely in half upon itself. Then take Surfermaru himself and rotate his head on on the chest joint so it's hidden inside the main body. This rotates up the "sub head" for the sub mode. Now rotate his arms such that the elbow area is parallel to his head. Now plug his back onto the front end of the board and fold his legs backward and uponto the bottom of the board. Then simply fold out the rear wheels on the underside, and plug his shuriken onto the back end. It's a pretty damn weird looking sub, but I love LOVE the crazy looking shark face that winds up on the front end of this thing. The teeth and eyes are bizarre but I love it.

Accessories
It's hard to classify accessories with something like this as it's harder to distinguish between those items which are included for use with the figure optinally, or those things that are integral to it's basic structure.

Nin Shuriken Base & Disc. This electronic item is what forms the head and face of Shurikenjin Surfer or alternatively Bison King Surfer. It's normally stored on Surfermaru's vehicle mode plugged onto the rear of the surfboard. I still find it odd that Paon, UFO, & Surfer as well as the Bison Buggy can all store these items in their vehicle modes, but Shinobimaru and rest of the Shurikenjin team has no such storage for the Shurikenjin Nin Shuriken. A pair of triggers on this piece detect when it's combined to form either of it's 2 combinations and plays out the appropriate phrase & music when done. When not connected pressing the physical button on top will cycle through three sound bytes "Surferger" "Surfermaru" & "Otomonin Shuriken". Much like how UFOmaru had uniquely molded Shuriken blades, those on Surfermaru are made to look like curved surfboards.

Shurikenjin Surfer
To get Shurikenjin ready for this combination you need to remove and rearrange a few things. Start by removing the standard Shurikenjin Shuriken and leaving that to the side, it won't be used. Remove Shinobimaru from the throne all together, and then remove the right arm made from Dumpmaru. People often question why a third shoulder peg exists on the back of the figure and it's for this, to store the arm you just removed! So plug the Dumpmaru arm there and transform Shinobimaru into the new right arm and plug him on. Now take Surfermaru's inner robot and adjust his arms and legs accordingly, plug him into the throne.

Now make sure you lock the Shuriken disc onto the Surfer Shuriken, fold out the faceplate, and plug it on top. This completes the basic robot, but to finish the look you need to grab Surfermaru's actual surf board. When folded out to it's full length you'll see a set of clips built into the board. The one on the front end of the board is the one you need to flip out for Shurikenjin's foot to peg into. And voila! Shurikenjin Surfer is formed!

Bison King Surfer
For Bison King you need only remove the Bison King Shuriken and Rodeomaru. Simplt take Surfermaru and fold him down like Rodeo onto the Bison King shoulders and plug his Shuriken on top as you would the Bison King Shuriken. Then take the surfboard and flipout the foot clip on the Bison King end of the board. With that Bison King Surfer is born! Sadly (and I feel randomly) this is the only one of the additional Otomonin with an actual official combo with Bison King. Of course Surfermaru share's many design cues with Rodeomaru so it's the only one that really works. But still, it's a bit odd.

Of the additional Otomonin combos this one is my least favorite on both Shurikenjin and Bison King. While a fun idea, in practice the surfboard is utterly pointless and serves no purpose at all other than to be a flat board with wheels for one of them to stand on. You can't get any dynamic poses or anything out of it and frankly I feel the purple clashes pretty bad in either combination.

Final Thoughts
As this line continues I continue to be mostly pleased. The Otomonin series of additional mecha has been fun, but a little hit and miss. While we now know these additional machines won't be incorporated into any sort of final combination robot, they each have a unique charm that I love. DX Surfermaru is another cool addition to this line that once again gives it a pretty great variety of design. I do find it a bit more lacking that Paon & UFO but it's still a rather fun toy.