[ryan]

Ore sanjou!

What better way to kick off a look at the Super Imaginative Chogokin Kamen Rider Den-O figures, than to start with the most well know form and character? SIC Kamen Rider Den-O Sword Form and Momotaros! I love this show, I love these characters, and I love these SIC 2 packs. I really hope I can share my love of the show and characters through these galleries of, frankly, excellent figures.


Main Figure

The SIC line is a bit different from my main collecting line, SH Figuarts, in many ways. They're larger figures, in the 7" tall range, and they're not meant to be show-accurate representations, but re-imaginings of those characters, as it says in the name Imaginative! The designs for the SIC Den-O are definitely different, distinct from their show-counterparts, but they're also not nearly as out-there as other SIC offerings.

I love all the extra details on these figures. Starting with Momotaros, rather than looking like he's got a one piece rubber suit on under his armor, it looks like it's made out of a bunch of leather straps, with steel studs holding it together in the torso area. The armor is translucent red, with lots of fine lines etched into it, aside from the black detailing. His horns are translucent red too! Den-O is similarly detailed, with lines etched into the chest and back pieces, and his armor made to appear to be assembled of many distinct armor plates. The shin-guards are even metal, for that extra armor-feel to it (it also assists with balancing the figure).

Articulation-wise, Den-O and Momotaros are similar to SH Figuarts, meaning they pretty much have all the articulation points you could want (though strictly speaking, they may have slightly fewer articulation points, and may not be quite as pose-able as Figuarts), and they all have pretty great range. They won't be doing any high kicks, but they can comfortably sit in chairs, and get in most interesting poses. The torso joints are the most limited, they can't bend forward or backward too much, Momotaros seems particularly limited, though I get the feeling the joint is stuck on mine, rather than actually being hindered by design.

There are only a couple of problems I can really think of with these figures. The first is rather superficial. The forearm armor on both figures can rotate freely, and sometimes rotated into positions I didn't want. This is more noticeable on Momotaros, because Den-Os are basically bracelets (though the left arm's does extend up his arm a little bit, so if it rotates around on the inside it's in the wrong place), whereas Momo's extend the length of the forearm, so if it swivels around to the inside it will either hinder the elbow joint or look stupid. Also, they will jump off the arm anytime a hand is removed, particularly Den-O's, which are made of metal.

The big problem with these figures, Den-O especially, is that several of the joints are kinda loose. It's not usually too much trouble, but when trying to stand Den-O on one leg, with the other leg propped up and him leaning on it, every one of the leg joints would give out and fold up if he wasn't exactly balanced JUST RIGHT. They do hold him up, but it can take several tries to find the sweet spot. Someday I'll get some floor polish and try to tighten them up (just like I've been saying I would for 3+ years). Den-O also has a particularly loose inner shoulder joint on one side, so I couldn't get him to hold the sword up in certain positions, without his arm dropping down. The elbow, wrist and outer shoulder joints were perfectly snug, it was just one joint that kept dropping the entire arm out of place.

Momotaros' joints are also somewhat looser than I would like, but they weren't nearly as troublesome to deal with as Den-O's are. As you can see, in one picture I got Momotaros to carry Den-O, completely freestanding, and it didn't take nearly as much effort as I feared it would. Between the leg joints and that one shoulder joint, the reverse was simply not possible.


Accessories: Momotaros

The Momotarosword - a big fancy sword with a two hand grip, a big-ass blade and some flame-esque bits on the back and crosspiece. It's very detailed (check the grip, looks like braided leather), nicely painted and he holds it quite well.

Coffee cup and plate - the signature cup of coffee that Naomi made for Momotaros, with matching plate! It looks really good, and I like the deco on the plate, something the Figuarts version lacks. It looks good displayed on a table, or being held in the included hand.

3 face plates. Not full faces, just the upper half with different eyes: wide open, fully closed, and lazy half-closed eyes. I've had this set for a number of years now, and I've always thought the different eyes were rather pointless. That is, until this photo-shoot, when I finally took the time to try to find a use for the half-closed and fully closed eyes. I won't ever display Momotaros asleep in a throne, or enjoying a good cup of coffee, but I think they made for good pictures.

3.5 pairs of hands. A pair for punching, a pair for holding the sword, a calm pair, and a hand specifically to hold the coffee cup. The hands are pegs that just slide into the forearms, with a single hinge joint where the peg meets the hand. These peg in reasonably snugly, such that they don't fall out during regular use. I prefer Figuarts style wrist/hand joints, which allow for greater posing, however, these are reasonably successful, and I didn't ever have a hard time positioning them the way I wanted them.


Accessories: Den-O

DenGasher and belt holder pieces. Let's start off with the coolest accessories, the semi-functional DenGasher! This this is super detailed, all four pieces are surprising show accurate, despite their tiny size, with red, white, blue, and silver paint in all the right places, down to the numeric designating patterns on them (ie, each has a symbol painted on it, 1-4). The individual pieces can plug on to the belt holders, and can combine in the Sword Mode. Piece One features a swap-out piece for the red sword blade. Peaking ahead to future SIC Den-O reviews, the DenGasher included with this set can only form Sword Mode. Each set includes their own unique, resized pieces of the DenGasher for their preferred modes. The pieces combine securely, and the don't feel fragile, or like the pegs will easily break off. The sword blades don't plug in as tightly as I would like, and the red blade, in particular, does fall off with great ease. Toward the end of shooting this gallery, I finally put clear tape around the base of the blade, to help snug it in place better.

Rider Pass. A small, simple piece of black plastic, with intricate white paint details on both sides. It doesn't open, but it looks great. If only there was a place to store it when it's not being held, but then again, on the show it was always just pulled out of hammer-space.

3.5 pairs of hands. Similar to Momotaros, Den-O has fists for punching, calm open hands, sword holding hands, and a unique had for pointing his thumb at himself, cuz he's awesome, obviously. Again, just like the Momotaros hands, they are single hinge joints that peg into the forearms, and they too are pleasantly snug. The holding-things hands are a bit snug, it takes a lot of effort to get the grip of the DenGasher into place, but once there, it's not coming out without a similar amount of force. Den-O will not be dropping his sword in the middle of a fight.

Sword Form and Plat Form change bits. The SIC Den-O body has a form change gimmick, and this set includes the extra pieces to revert Den-O to his basic Plat Form (the gimmick is left functional for all SIC Den-O bodies, in any set, though only the Sword Form set includes the Plat Form pieces). For Plat Form there's a face plate, the belt plate , two thigh pieces, the chest piece and back piece. Sword Form has it's own version of those same pieces, with the addition of shoulder pads. Everything pegs into place securely, except for the flip open thigh covers, there's nothing to secure them in the closed position, so sometimes while posing the figure they'll get moved a bit. They don't flop open, but they occasionally start opening. It's not exactly frustrating, but it can be vaguely annoying.

Conclusion
This set is really awesome. You get the primary form of Kamen Rider Den-O, plus the show's main Imagin, Momotaros. The designs are clearly recognizable, yet feature intense detail. Add to that great articulation (albeit somewhat floppy joints), and top it off with excellent paint and all the accessories the characters could have, and it's pretty much a home run set, in my book.

Of all the sets featuring an Imagin or Kamen Rider Den-O, this is the set that has maintained the highest aftermarket price, usually between 6000 and 7000 JPY. And it's totally worth that price. Two great figures (and a form change gimmick), for the same price as two retail Figuarts, only bigger with a more detailed, and more interesting sculpt, it's perfect. These figures have so much character to them, more I played with them for this gallery, the more I came to feel I prefer the SIC Den-O figures to the Figuarts. They just exude the personalities of the characters from the show, far more than I've ever felt the Figuarts do. I highly recommend these figures to all fans of Kamen Rider Den-O