[Paladin]

During previous reviews of the OOOs Combo Change series I've talked about the various types of Core Medals needed to obtain ultimate power in this series. But Cores aren't the only type of Medal used in OOOs; the Greeed also require silver constructs with weaker energy signatures known as "Cell Medals" to fully form. Compare to Transformers- Cell Medals are like the liquid-gray structure of a protoform & Cores are the "Spark" that gives it unique characteristics.

Cell Medals are usually gathered by the Kougami Foundation, a somewhat sinister organization (with an excellent boss!) that has developed new technology based around Cell Medal energies. At first Kougami is content to just let OOOs harvest whatever Cells he can but before long they develop a new Rider System to fully tap the power of the Cell Medal:



Kamen Rider Birth, the new frontline combatant sponsored by Kougami Foundation! Birth's primary user is one Date Akira, world traveler and oden connoisseur.

This Birth figure is a pretty good representation of the character; fully capturing all details of the suit while maintaining a decent amount of articulation. Not perfect but still enough to have fun with.

Birth's primary weapon in most fights is a sidearm known as the "Birth Buster" and this gun represents the biggest problem I have with this figure: in the show Birth Buster is a relatively large gun that requires careful practice to aim & fire right but the Combo Change Buster is much smaller; about the size of a simple pistol. The lack of proper scale is a big disappointment but this doesn't detract from the REAL feature of this figure:

Kamen Rider Birth's principal combat system involves energizing Cell Medals to summon specially-magnetized armor via the various "pods" on his suit. In other words, Birth is a human gashapon & his weapons are battle prizes.



*Drill Arm, arguably Birth's favorite weapon, able to strike through opponents' defenses.



*Shovel Arm, gives Birth the ability to lift & throw tremendous objects.



*Crane Arm, lets Birth climb buildings & cross gaps.

Crane & Drill can be combined:

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giving Kamen Rider Birth long-range attack capabilities.



*Catepillar Legs, enable Birth to cross rugged terrains & deliver much tougher Rider Kicks



Cutter Wing, the least-used armor piece. Theoretically should grant limited flight capabilities.



*Breast Cannon, probably the most powerful weapon Birth has for defeating the Greeed- provided its been charged enough.

The armor system parts at this scale are very impressive, the pieces are fully detailed and lock into place well (with the possible exception of the cannon, but maybe that's just mine) and above all manage to function without totally prohibiting Birth's articulation level.

But using the armor on its own isn't enough sometimes, so Kamen Rider Birth has a couple more tricks hidden in his suit.

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Activating all armor pods at once creates a battle configuration referred to as “Kamen Rider Birth-DAY.” I've had a strange fondness for this form ever since it was revealed and I finally think I understand why: this is basically a human-shaped version of my favorite Ultrazord, Ultimate DaiBouken. For the most part Birth retains posability in Birth-DAY form but some of the armor bits (specifically Cannon again) can block movement to a degree.

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Finally, Birth's most powerful-and most expensive- armor ability is the CLAW Sasori, combining all pieces of the armor to create a robotic scorpion that can be remotely operated by Birth. The actual combination of armored parts is quite innovative and the resulting scorpion...looks like it was made by someone with only the vaguest idea of how a scorpion looks. Even though its ugly the combined form is a nice final feature for this set.

Combo Change Kamen Rider Birth is definitely worth your money if you're a fan of the design; its a faithful and affordable representation of the character with all the necessary action features and it manages to be a really fun toy on top of all of that. Gets my highest recommendation!