[ShiShiLeo]

Just some more SODO pictures




I'm really happy for the SODO line as I really love the Saber suit designs and there's no way I would have been able to collect them all in SHF.



Here are all the main SODO chronicle figures. To date there have been 6 and even from the first one (W) to the most recent (Ryuki) there have been a bunch of improvements. It feels like as the line continues they'll keep revisiting older releases, which is already being done with W. Each subsequent release has added some subtle innovation. With Ryuki we now have soft-plastic holding hands, which helps alleviate that awkward short hilt syndrome that plagues the Saber swordsmen.

Here are some musings on my experience with the SODO line:

General thoughts: First of all, SODO is undisputed in suit completionism. It really strives to cover every suit that comes out in the show regardless of screen time. I'm particularly thankful for the female rider suits which are almost always PBandai in the SHF line or entirely non-existent in other lines.

My figures have definitely gotten weaker over time. I store my SODO in plastic bags and then sorted into a plastic bin out of any sunlight. While the stickers are holding strong, I have noticed that the joints have become very lose. Den-O is among the loosest, despite not being the oldest.

SODO takes paint very well. Candy toys have every reason to be lackluster in detail but these figures almost always have amazing details which get covered in stickers. People online do full repaints and remolds of SODO which is a testament to their quality.

The weakest point for SODO are probably the shoulder pads and lack of closed fists. The open hole holding hand is the most glaring toy-like aspect in an otherwise expressive 4 inch figure. The Chronicle series has shown a lot of good improvements in this area.

A divisive point for which I am in favor is the durability of the designs. Parts like helmet antennae and spiky armor parts are reinforced with extra plastic for child safety reasons but that also makes them very durable.

Best figure: Gaim. Gaim is a hard suit to make look good but they've succeeded here. There's so much detail in this one from the shoulder armor mold, to the bumps on the chest plate. Angled sword hands and different holster options make this a top notch figure. I've not messed with it, but the arms change gimmick looks to work much better than the Build or Den-O gimmicks. The general SODO design of removable chest pieces just fit Gaim really well.

Most expensive figure: OOOs. He takes 3 boxes and is pretty sought after due to popularity. It ends up being just an ok figure. It's strange to see prepainted parts that don't cover neighboring areas that would be the same color.

Best value: Blades King Lion Daisenki. In terms of raw plastic, this figure is up there, but it also has decent paint and details. To my total surprise, it has paint that goes past the halfway point of the figure and onto the back! Feels like a SODO first!

Worst figure: Slash? Okay there are some truly horrifying figures that are sticker hell like Build Genius and Another Zero-One, but I never built those. Slash feels like the worst because it takes a truly amazing suit and just can't do it justice. There are a ton of stickers on curved parts and it just looks off. It was always gonna be a hard suit to do, just look at the Slash RKF.

Best engineering: This is easy. The Rider Machines and Mecha. SODO is one of the few places we get the Kamen Rider bikes and they just sorta work without breaking the bank. The mecha on the other hand really showcase just how much love the designers have for the toy line. There's no reason to increase your box size that much just to fit multiple robot parts. King of Arthur was an absolute feat.



SODO has been fun. I cannot wait for Kabuto. It's my favorite series and I love that we're getting all 5 of the riders. I was afraid that the SODO line would discontinue before they finished all 20 Heisei riders but now I don't even care. It's been good and I hope we see even more improvements.

[Deepsea]

Thank you for reminding me I should paint my slash soon... also my other sodos tbh.

Edit: also your paint jobs look fantastic, I should probably have mentioned that earlier.

[ShiShiLeo]

The spear came in.



It's a lot longer than I expected and indeed longer than it should be.



I might try to cut it down some. Due to the sticker and the tightness of the grasping hand, he's unable to hold the shaft. I may try to drill out the hand a little more to make it possible.

[ShiShiLeo]

I've really been enjoying Avataro Sentai DonBrothers. I picked up the Change Hero Momotaro Alter and the Don Momotaro Vinyl figure.



I just did a little painting here. White on the top knot, black on the thigh joint parts, and some black and gold on the sword. I have to wait for some yellow spray paint to do the sword, as its a relatively large part and its black. I also clipped off the little parts on the shoulder pads that hold them together for the peach mode. They get in the way and you only need the one on top at most.




For the vinyl figure I repainted the belt in a metallic red, added silver to the wrists and ankles, white trim on the shoulder pads, and repainted the peach on the helmet to metallic pink. In keeping with the spirit of sofubi, I only painted the font half of the figure for all the paintwork.

I'm skipping most of the Minipla for this series but I did preorder Minipla Don ZenkaiOh and I'm interested in the Don OnitaiJin, but will have to see in action.

I think the next kit I'll be building and painting here will be the Ryusoulger Minipla!

[ShiShiLeo]

One of my favorite hobby experiences is painting Gashapon toys. A little paint really brings out their fantastic details.

This year the DonBrothers gashapon were really ugly. They have completely flat faces that you put a sticker over. I was definitely disappointed but when you consider that these toys sell for 200 yen, suddenly they are kinda cool. Anyway, I painted some of them up.




Only took me an hour.

I'm still waiting on my FRS Ghost kit as I pre-ordered it alongside another kit that got delayed. The SO-DO hiatus continues until probably the next Kamen Rider. But I did pre-order the Onitaijin Minipla kit which is due out in a few months so that and Ghost will be next!

[ShiShiLeo]

Some new additions to the SO-DO collection.

Kamen Rider Zi-O and Ridestriker


It's always a little charming to revisit these older SO-DO kits. While Zi-O isn't necessarily bad, the improvements over the year really make this feel like a true candy toy. The head being fully composed of stickers is probably the worst part, but so also is the chest sticker being a giant silver sticker covering the lovely watch band details.

Silver paint really makes the suit pop. As for the Ridestriker, it's another neat rider machine that works surprisingly well in SO-DO form.

Kamen Rider Zero Two


To add to my women of Reiwa collection, we have Zero Two ver Izu. It's the dynamic posability of SO-DO that really allows the suit to look like Izu. Flat hands would be ideal, but these open hands work in a pinch. The only thing I painted on this one were metallic red on the hands and some black paint to cover the tops of the thigh armor. Those two small touches really make all the difference.

Thanks to Kamen Rider Die for the hookup on these figures. I will be doing one of my all-time favorite suits next, Kamen Rider Birth.

[ShiShiLeo]

"Now then, let's start earning!"

Kamen Rider Birth






What a great suit! I love Gachapon toys and a Kamen Rider with a Gachapon motif is truly awesome. That it is one of the closest things we have to a Metal Hero suit is even better.

With all the clear parts on the suit, this is clearly a premium Bandai product. Though I'm surprised the hands are still the old peg type. But we do get closed fists hands, which are just the best.

As for paint, the Birth suit was painted with gun metal on the belt, gold on the wrist, ankles, and belt, and just a little panel lining on the helmet. Surprisingly little paint needed for this one.

The Birth CLAWs on the other hand I used metallic paint in each of the colors and gunmetal on the Caterpillar Leg threads. I actually fully painted the guns but they didn't look so great, so I used stickers on top of them. It's a great effect that I've used on previous SO-DO weapons so it matches fine. Also while taking these pictures I realized the Breast Cannon handles could be safely drilled out so I drilled out the handle section and you can just barely fit his thumb in there. Also also the cannon barrel was drilled out. There's definitely a peg there, so I had to use a little glue to keep it together.

Such a great suit. Now if Bandai could hurry up and make a Birth suit in the Converge line. Oh and a Seihou. I would buy those.

[Kurona]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ShiShiLeo

What a great suit! I love Gachapon toys and a Kamen Rider with a Gachapon motif is truly awesome. That it is one of the closest things we have to a Metal Hero suit is even better.

I never thought about it like this before, but now you've said this and now I've been watching a lot of Gavan I can really see it! All it needs is a lot of 90s tech detailing on the chest lol.

Great job as always! It's always cool to see when they don't need much paint, it certainly helps justify its Premium Bandai pricepoint.

Good news for you, by the way -- you apparently weren't the only one who wanted Converge Birth, as popular request is getting us this in November's retail wave!



No Proto Birth, but this line still does chase figures, right? So I assume that'd be this wave's one

[ShiShiLeo]

Haha oh wow of course Bandai announces this the same day I ask for it! It's as simple as that!

It's a truly great looking figure and I can't wait. Proto Birth is definitely gonna be the chase. Which is kind of a bummer because they did the same with Meteor and Meteor Storm and that just made it hard for me to find just Meteor. With the CSM Birth Driver coming out this year, it looks like its a... Birth Year.

[ShiShiLeo]

Nothing new to show just happy with how this photo turned out.