[Kamen Rider Die]

HasLab Unicron! (Kingdom Core Megatron for scale and laughs)

Spent an hour on Thursday transforming him. The planet mode is awe-inspiring in person. It's this daunting sphere of menace, and it's ridiculous to be in the presence of. If I had the clearance to put a 30"-tall toy (from bottom of base to top of spire) on top of any of my shelves, that's how I'd keep him. But I don't, so he lives in robot mode.




The transformation is time-consuming, but not arduous. Took me about an hour to transform him, and it's mostly because he's so goddamn massive that little movements take a bunch of work. He's not a toy that you reposition to get at different parts; you need to reposition yourself to manipulate him. Thankfully, you can transform him while he stays attached to his stand (you kind of have to do it that way, or it's like changing a baby while you're carrying it) so it's mostly just a matter of finding a table that you can walk around to get at different sides.

He is 100% a shellformer, in case there was any question about that. His limbs are balled up inside the sphere, and the sphere layers up into different piles that attach to his back and legs. The head is a completely separate piece that attaches after you transform him. The spires of planet mode detach as Step One, and then get reshaped and plugged back in as the final step. It's not a particularly clever or satisfying transformation, but it's also not the frustrating ordeal that recent Masterpieces have been. It's a process, and a long one, but not a difficult one.

In the end, he looks comically massive on top of my display cases. He makes Titan Class figures look anemic and sad by comparison. He's almost stupidly impressive. Not the best toy or anything, but a hell of a piece to add to a collection.