Seagorath is an Ultra Kaiju, meaning he is a Giant Monster featured in the Ultraman Franchise. Specifically, Seagorath comes from episodes 13, 14 and 37 of "The Return of Ultraman" from 1971.

Seagorath is an Ultra Kaiju, meaning he is a Giant Monster featured in the Ultraman Franchise. Specifically, Seagorath comes from episodes 13, 14 and 37 of "The Return of Ultraman" from 1971.

The Kaiju fights with Ultraman Jack until he is defeated and driven back into the ocean.

However, his face mysteriously reappears on the Kaiju Tyrant, who is an amalgam of many previous Ultra Kaiju.

This vinyl toy is a kids toy at heart. Produced in 1992, before Bandai had the collectors market in mind, Seagorath is a solid sturdy vinyl figure. Articulation is limited to the arms and legs.

This figure was bought at a flea market in Tokyo on my 2009 trip for 100 yen. A Bargain.

To celebrate international Soul of Soft Vinyl Week on CDX Leonardo Flores reviews release #36 Tackle from Kamen Rider Stronger. "Although I will say there is some nice Zettai Ryouiki action going on here!"

Tackle

I always admired the costume and character Denpa Ningen Tackle from 1975 Kamen Rider Stronger. One feature I like about 1970’s tokusatsu programs is many of the costumes and art design still had a huge 1960’s influence throughout. For me, Tackle has always been one the most rememberable of those 60’s style costumes due to her cute and colorful Lady Bug motif, Go-Go boots and miniskirt, and vintage European motorcycle style helmet mask and goggles.

When I discovered there was of SOSV version of Tackle I had to track one down for my collection, eventually locating one on Y-Auctions for 100yen! I was not disappointed when I finally received my Tackle in the mail from Japan.

Tackle includes: 1X Tackle figure, 1X white antenna, 1x hanger card. There are no options. Please note that while most SOSV figures do not include extra parts Tackle’s antenna is included loose in a plastic case connected to the hanger card. If the card is missing and there is no antenna I would pass on the item as most likely it has been misplaced. Accordingly the only assembly required is attaching the antenna to the helmet.

I am impressed with the beauty and detail the sculptor took when designing Tackle and all the minor details throughout when looking at closer inspection. For example the helmet is actually a clear piece that is painted to match the figure with floating eyes attached to the body. The result is a simple but very effective look of clear goggle on the helmet. I also like the fine details of the boots, from the zipper down the side, reinforcement leather panel seams and separately painted souls. With all these great small details I have no doubts that the sculptor had access to the original costume for reference.

The dress itself has a nice pitted texture to it with pleats and hemlines represented throughout. Personally I like the detail of the belt being folded behind itself on the back of the figure. Nice touch! The yellow flowing scarf also added a great visual to the figure and really represents an era when many tokusatsu characters wore scarves as part of their uniforms.

What is most important about this figure is the female representation in the figure itself. So easily Bandai could of sexualized this figure by heightening or blowing the proportions up but the sculptor choose to represent a very realistic sculpture of an average stocky Japanese female. This is rarely seen even in expensive dolls much less a $10.00 action figure. The result is you get a nice heartfelt tribute to the actor who played Tackle and kept the figure from becoming the typical generic female action figure.

My only real complaint is the lack of any real articulation, which is limited to turning the helmet, and arms, waist and boot pivot. This is an issue many collectors feel about Soul of Soft Vinyl figures but I feel this is a nice tribute to original soft vinyl toys from the 70’s as frustrating as it might be. But the pose is dynamic and really stands out on the shelf.

What I like about this figure was how the sculptor balanced the realism of Tackles costume of just being a stage prop on an actor during the daily grind of a film set and the fantasy of Tackle’s iconic henshin uniform fighting the evil armies of Black Satan. It all depends how you want to look at it. If you are an admire of 60’s and 70’s art design with a nice 1960’s Go-Go appeal or a fan of vintage tokusatsu programs the price should not keep you from purchasing this inexpensive figure but I am sure you will more than pleasantly surprised at this representation of Tackle as I was.

©2009 Article and photos Leonardo Flores Modcineaste & CollectionDX.

Touch... Touch!!... TOUCH!!!

So, you now have the Decadriver and can transform into the 9 previous riders and use their alternate forms. Too bad you can't transform into their ultimate forms...or can you?

Nope...you can't. With the way the series was going, however, you knew that there was going to be some gimmic involving the ultimate forms. In episode 20, you finally catch a glimpse of the "Final Kamen Terminal K-Touch" and it's involvement in granting Decade his "Complete Form." One thing led to another (I'm a sucker for DX henshin toys, even if the series wasn't the greatest) and today I would like to share a look at Bandai's "Final Kamen Terminal DX K-Touch."

In the package, you get the "DX K-touch", a belt clip and 2 cards. 2 AAA batteries are required and are not included.

First, the K-touch. From the printed markings, I'm guessing this was supposed to be a touch-screen phone of some sort. The "Decade" influence is obvious with it's resemblance to his helmet and the faux green LED next to the speaker. Except for the power switch on the button and a transparent release button on the top, there are no other visible external buttons or toggles - the clear window in the center commands all the attention.

Power it up and a 3x3 grid of LEDs light up and you are greeted to a tune that resembles the start-up jingle of a Macintosh. It's very relaxing. On the screen are 12 "buttons", that is 12 spots where unique contact is detected. Pressing or holding any of these will result in an audible "click" and one of 13 lightshows. The exception is the button in the lower right hand corner, which will always function the same way, whether either card is inserted and even when there is no card inserted. This is essentially a 2 stage volume switch and holding this button will play the start up tune again, but at a lower volume. From this point on, all sound effects will be played at the lower volume until you use the switch again or you restart the k-touch.

The belt clip lets you attach the Decadriver and use it's functions by pushing on it, rather than rotating it in the buckle. This frees up the buckle for the K-touch. To fit it, you have to pull the handles apart to rotate the link and just snap the K-touch into place. To release the K-touch, press on the large transparent button at the top of it. The belt clip fits the K-touch as well.

Onto the cards. One card has a number pad (rather odd positioning of numbers if you ask me) and the other has the emblems of the 9 previous primary riders, as well as Decade's emblem, an "F" and a "C" key. Unlike other Kamen Ride cards, these are made of rigid, transparent plastic. The details are printed right onto it. These cards do not function with the DX Decadriver (due to the lack of working barcodes) and give an error when inserted. It is also safe to assume that these cards will not function with the Ganbaride arcade game. Instead, the cards have a notch cut into the upper or lower right hand side. This is how the K-touch "reads" the cards - the cards are inserted into the K-touch notch side first and will determine what sound effects the K-touch plays. Inserting either card will give you the familiar start up tune. The sound for a card's removal is recycled from the Decadriver.

We'll get the number-pad card out of the way first, before we move onto the Decade Complete card.

The number-pad card delivers exactly what it promises...it's a number-pad. Next to either side of the "0" is the "enter" and "cancel" key. The K-touch says any number you press on the pad. Punching in the year of a Heisei rider's show makes the K-touch announce that Rider's name with the "Final Attack Ride" stutter. For example, when you punch in 2+0+0+0 and press enter, K-touch says "two-zero-zero-zero...Ku-Ku-Ku-Kuuga." Alternatively, you can hold any digit and it will do the complete sequence ending with that digit. Holding "1" gives the same results as punching in 2+0+0+1 manually. Pressing or holding "enter" when an invalid combination (or no numbers) are entered results in a short ring-tone..and that's all you're getting out of this card.

Onto the Decade Complete card. Press any of the Rider's emblems (other than Decade's) and K-touch will announce their names. The emblem becomes illuminated and will flash continuously. This stops after a couple of seconds and K-touch goes back to idle. You can continue to press and light up all the emblem to start the Decade Complete Form transformation. Once all 9 emblems are lit up, a ring tone plays and all the lights flash. Press Decade's emblem to complete the Complete Form transformation with the light and sound action from the show. Summoning riders is done the same way as in the show. Press any of the Rider emblems and then the "F" key above Decade's emblem. The K-touch will then announce that Rider's Ultimate form and play a sound. So, for Kabuto, it says "Kamen Ride...Hyper."

A couple of tidbits - you can skip pressing any or all emblems and press Decade's Emblem to start the Complete Form transformation. Also, you can press any number emblems and then press the "F" key to summon the Rider whose emblem was pressed last. You can also do this after all emblems are lit up and the ring tone is playing. Pressing the "C" key plays a variation of the start-up sound and returns the K-touch to idle mode. Pressing the "F" key now will give an error sound (same sound as if no emblems were pressed).

So now that you have the details, just how is the toy?

That depends...I really like the touch screen~ish feature and it's connectivity with the Decadriver. It sounds good and feels very playable. Unlike the Decadriver, it seems to have all sounds from the show. The volume switch was a nice addition i didn't expect. The belt clip was nice too and gives you something else to do with your Decadriver.

On the other hand...it quite a bit different from the show's counterpart. Because Tsukasa never uses the K-touch in his civilian form, it is sized for Decade's buckle. This would mean the K-touch is scaled down for the smaller DX Decadriver. When compared to the show's prop, the screen and emblems are much smaller. The screen indents a bit while, on the show, it is flush with the front of the K-touch. Also, the screen uses pressure to detect contact and you cannot slide your finger across the screen to activate emblems, the way Decade did in episode 20.

Other than that, it's not bad. Like many other "upgrade" items from the DX henshin series (for example Hyper Zecter), the features are quite limited, compared to the "signature" DX item (Kabuto Zecter). However, they stand by themselves and do not require the "signature" item for enjoyment, although any enthusiast who purchases an "upgrade" item is likely to have the "signature" item anyway. As far as maintaining Decade's "Theme" goes, this piece feels a little out of place, compared to other items from the series. The only connecting feature is the card, which does not function with the Decadriver or the Ganbaride arcade game.
So, if you like the show, this is a definite buy. If you simply like Kamen Rider toys, but hate the show, it's still a worthwhile item (mainly because of the touch-screen gimmick and the references to older Riders). Otherwise, it's an easy pass.

All it takes, to become Bandai's 10th Heisei Kamen Rider, is this belt...oh and cards...lots of cards.

The tenth Heisei Rider, Kamen Rider Decade, is an anniversary show that revisits previous Kamen Rider continuities. It is also a marketing opportunity for Bandai to revive interest and sell items related to past shows.

So….Happy 10th anniversary, Kamen Rider! As Toei and Bandai’s resident money maker, they didn’t hold back on merchandising their tenth Heisei Rider… Good thing, too, otherwise we wouldn’t have gotten so many awesome toys.

First a bit of background – Kamen Rider is a Japanese superhero show/franchise aired in 1971 (referred to as Showa era), starting with “Kamen Rider.” Since then, a new Kamen Rider show has been released yearly. The show took a break in 1990 and came back in 1999 (starting the Heisei era of shows) with “Kamen Rider Kuuga.” While there have been so many shows, the premise remains relatively unchanged – motorcycle riding costumed superhero (Kamen Riders) fights evil organization of rubber-suit monster. The gimmick of the show is that a particular theme/motif dominates the Rider’s appearance, abilities and items. Almost all Riders transformed from a civilian guise to their hero counterpart using a transformation item, referred to as a henshin device, such as the item on today’s menu: the Henshin Belt DX Decadriver.

Used by the protagonist of the show to transform into Decade, this is the henshin device of the titular character. The plastic belt is small, fitting only 48-68cm waist, which is expected from a toy marketed to children.

Excluding the 3 components that are part of the waist strap, the actual “toy” is the buckle which consists of 2 separate components.

Everything has a nice sturdy feel with decent heft. There is very little in terms of paint apps and most parts are molded in color. There are exceptions such as the faux green LED above the clear window and the 9 Kamen Rider logos around the silver ring. Construction is clean and the flash from where the plastic was cut are in discreet spots. The toy also comes prepackaged with 10 cards, each representing a primary Heisei Rider.

Essentially, the Decadriver is a belt with a movable buckle. Pulling on the grey handles on either side of the belt rotates the white “box,” which is an electronic card reader, revealing the card slot.

Pushing the handles together returns the “box” to its original position.

To avoid redundancy, the original position will be referred to as “closed” and the turned position (giving access to the card slot) as “open”.

Just like in the show, power up the Decadriver with 2 AAA batteries and flip the power switch on the bottom (okay…maybe unlike the show).

To activate the belt’s functions, you “open” the buckle, insert any of the included cards, and “close” the buckle. Every action you do is accompanied by light and sound actions, which mimic the show’s belt. The card you insert also affects the sounds the belt makes. Also, the light effects are minimal compared to other Kamen Rider Henshin toys (2 red LED inside the sealed buckle provide the entire light show), but there are a lot of sound effects. Hearing it all in action - from opening the buckle, inserting a card and letting the card idle a bit/removing acard, and closing the buckle – is very satisfying.

On the show, Decade uses many different cards and their functions range from transformation to performing signature attacks. This is where the merchandising genius at marketing HQ becomes apparent – your initial purchase yields you 10 transformation (Kamen Ride) cards, which the protagonist uses to transform into Decade and any of the previous 9 Riders. However, there are also special attack and weapon (Attack Ride) cards, cards which allow Decade to assume all but the ultimate form of any rider 9 previous Riders (Form Ride), cards which unlocks forms to past Riders (Final Form Ride), and cards for signature/finishing moves (Final Attack Ride). These other cards are packaged with different toys or bought off of vending machines. To further add to the collecting incentive, all cards function with the “Kamen Rider Ganbaride” arcade game. Conversely, all cards used for “Ganbaride” can be used with the Decadriver as well. The Decadriver cannot read all cards, but will play generic sounds with any “Ganbaride” card it does not recognize. Also, the Decadriver will give an error buzzer when a non-“Ganbaride” card is inserted.

The Decadriver is an awesome toy. As a role-playing item, it represents its on-screen counterpart very well. In terms of scale, the buckle is very close to the prop’s size while the protagonist is in his civilian form. Once transformed into Decade, the show’s buckle becomes noticeably larger and the clear window takes on a red hue.

There are a few details that bother me, though. Unlike the show, the toy does not announce any of the special attacks or form changes. Instead, the belt replaces the name of the attack or form with the name of the rider that uses it. Using Attack Ride – Slash, for example, the belt says “Attack Ride…Decade!” while it says “Attack Ride…Slash!” on the show. Because of that, all Attack Ride cards used by the same rider make the same sound. The same applies to Form Ride cards as well - using Form Ride – Faiz Axel, gives you Form Ride – Faiz. Also, if you intend to collect all the cards, you will be spending a lot of time and money buying additional toys or card.

Melba (or Meruba) is an Ultra Kaiju from Ultraman Tiga. It's the calm before the storm of comicon coverage.

Melba (or Meruba) is an Ultra Kaiju from Ultraman Tiga who appears in episode 1 alongside Golza. This kaiju has a sleek flight-based design for powerful air attacks.

This is actually a pretty tall kaiju, and he takes up a lot of space on the shelf.

Articulation is limited to the wings, arms and legs. But with these toys, articulation is not really a huge concern. Collectors will leave them on the shelves, or kids will beat the crap out of them, bury them in the sandbox, to eventually be eaten by a puppy who really should have had his training by now.

Melba comes with the standard swing tag and Data Cardass card to be used with arcade machines across Japan.

For a simplified version of the Contract Beast, I think a little more effort could have been put forward, and then I would have been full of praise. But, other than a lack of show-accurate features, I can’t really find anything outstandingly-wrong with this set.

Video review included!

This toy appears here courtesy of Bandai America.

. . .

Ventara is an alternate dimension that exists behind all mirrors. For everything that exists on Earth, there is a copy of it on Ventara as well, and more. The alien General Xaviax invaded Ventara and began a war to conquer it. To defend themselves, the Ventarans created twelve armored superheroes, the Kamen Riders, who use individual Advent Deck cards to command powerful Contract Beasts for attack and defense. Xaviax defeated all but one of the Kamen Riders and stole their Advent Decks, eventually conquering Ventara as well. Unfortunately, because the Ventaran Riders had all been defeated & Vented (banished forever into the Advent Void), Xaviax had to find the genetic equivalents on Earth since the Advent Decks were DNA-locked. Finding specific humans on Earth, Xaviax disguises himself as a different person each time, and tricks them into serving him. One Advent Deck, however, fell into the hands of a young man on Earth whom Xaviax did not choose, named Kit Taylor. Working together with Len, the mysterious original Kamen Rider Wing Knight, Kit reluctantly uses his own Advent Deck to become Kamen Rider Dragon Knight in order to find his disappeared father, and stop General Xaviax and the ten other corrupted & selfish Kamen Riders from conquering Earth.

. . .

“Kamen Rider: Dragon Knight” is based on the original TV series, “Kamen Rider Ryuki” (仮面ライダー龍騎, "Masked Rider Dragon-knight"), which aired in 2002 as part of the long running Kamen Rider franchise in Japan. It is produced by newcomer Adness Entertainment, Ltd. in close association with Ishimori Production, Inc. and Toei Company, Ldt. [both of which make the original tokusatsu franchise].

Even though Bandai is making the toys for “…Dragon Knight”, they are all completely new remolds from those that they originally released during “…Ryuki”, and so they will all differ in size, features, and materials from their Japanese counterparts.

Drew Lansing first appeared in Episode 4- “A Rider's Challenge”, but is formally introduced in Epsiode 5- "The Power of Two". He is a con-artist on Earth who was recruited by Xaviax to convert other Riders for him. Because he was under threat for his crimes on Earth, Xaviax held that against him to insure his loyalty. If Drew served faithfully, he would become a general in Xaviax’s army after he had conquered Earth. One of his first assignments was to trick newcomer Kit Taylor into thinking that the last surviving Ventaran, Kamen Rider Wing Knight, was actually the enemy of Earth, and that Xaviax was in fact trying to help them all.

As the green & silver-colored Kamen Rider Torque, Drew draws on the power of his Contract Monster- a slow but heavily armed minotaur called Magnugiga. Some of his Advent Card attacks include Launch Vent and Shoot Vent, which use pieces of Magnugiga to form larger-sized projectile weapons for Kamen Rider Torque. To activate his Advent Deck cards, he slides them into his hand-held Magnuvisor blaster gun.

Drew Lansing is played by actor Christopher Foley.

Magnugiga is 5” tall, and is composed of green & silver ABS plastic, with PVC plastic only in the head. As a Contract Beast, it is expected that it should be bigger than a human. Its bulky and sharp-edged armor mirrors that of Kamen Rider Torque’s, again giving it an industrial, heavily-reinforced look like a military machine would have. Though it has the golden horns, bulky [re: muscular] chest, and black angular hooves of a minotaur, the similarities end there. While both shoulders and upper arms are the same, the left arm has a giant pair of silver claws with a gold-painted multi-barrel cannon in between, while the right arm ends in a long single silver & gold cannon barrel. Paint apps are rather sparse, with only silver, black, and gold represented.

. . .

For a 5” figure that serves only as an accessory to another set rather than as a stand-alone, I suppose the restriction on posing is to be expected. The neck, both shoulders & elbows, and the claws are all free-turning single-axis joints.

While a plain-clothes version of Drew Lansing is also provided (see below), this set’s primary function is to augment the 4” Kamen Rider Torque action figure. Like all Contract Beasts, Magnugiga separates parts of itself when commanded to by Torque’s Advent Decks cards in order to provide its master with additional weaponry. For example, the Shoot Vent card turns Magnugiga’s legs into large over-the-shoulder cannons; the Launch Vent separates both of its arms to form a long under-the-arm artillery cannon. All Contract Beasts do this for the Kamen Riders- detaching parts of themselves to augment their masters’ abilities- though this is done in different ways. Sounds cool, right?

Well, the problem is, this set does none of those things! The only augmentation you can accomplish is to separate Magnugiga’s head from its body, fold down a little green cover, and then attach the green peg to Kamen Rider Torque’s right vambrace armor on his lower arm. This, supposedly, gives Torque a crossbow-like shooting weapon… which he does not have in the series [nor in the Japanese version of the series]!

. . .

While separating pieces of itself is a downplayed gimmick in the series (and with the toys), all Contract Beasts can be summoned for a powerful and unique finishing attack, called the Final Vent- where they help their Kamen Rider master destroy a specific target in an overwhelming combined-effort assault.

For Kamen Rider Torque’s Final Vent, Magnugiga appears in front of him, and deploys all of its available weapons. Then Torque plugs his Magnuvisor laser gun into the Contract Beast’s back and pulls the trigger- unleashing an alpha strike of missiles, lasers, and cannon shots.

While all of the other Vent weapons cannot be recreated, the Final Vent can be because it requires nothing to be separated from Magnugiga’s body. Both lower arms are pointed forward, and the claws are opened. Next, a pair of cannons folds out from inside its lower legs. Then, Magnugiga’s silver torso armor opens up to reveal an array of 56 micro-missiles! And finally, you can take the Kamen Rider Torque figure and have him plug his Magnuvisor into Magnugiga’s, well… backside. This is Kamen Rider Torque’s Final Vent, and it is the only arrangement from the show that can be successfully implemented with these two sets.

(FYI: in Japan, there were larger 6” versions of Kamen Rider Zolda and Magnugiga which could swap parts like in “Kamen Rider Ryuki” to resemble the various Advent Card attacks.)

The 3” plain-clothes version of Drew Lansing has him in a dark green t-shirt which shows off his muscular build, and he’s wearing black pants & shoes. Though all Kamen Riders carry their Advent Deck holders on their person at all times, the Advent Belt is not visible. However, here Drew’s blank Advent Belt is visible, with two holes on the side for- um… whatever you want to plug in there.

The figure has only three points of articulation- free-turning single-axis joints at his shoulders and neck. None of the figure is meant to pop-off, so if something comes off, it’s stayin’ off!

(You can tell that the head is the only customized part on this whole figure- the body is generic for use by other characters in other sets. How do I know this? Simple- Drew is not that muscular in the show! He also… doesn’t look much like… Captain Kirk?)

All “Kamen Rider: Dragon Knight” toys carry a unique Advent Deck card related to the character they are packaged with. Then, when you purchase the electronic Kamen Rider Dragon Knight Dragvisor role-playing set (#33971, sold separately), you can take the Advent Cards and insert them into it to create one of 15 unique sound effects!

For this set, you get Kamen Rider Torque’s Guard Vent Advent Card, which provides an additional 3000 defense points against any attack. To use the Shield Vent card, Torque removes it from his Advent Belt and places it into his Magnuvisor gun. This commands his Contract Beast, Magnugiga, to separate the front of its torso to become a giant shield for Torque.

(Regretfully though understandably, they did not make a full-sized version of Torque’s Magnuvisor gun, only Dragon Knight’s Dragvisor. So, when I get the Dragvisor, I will demonstrate the Guard Vent card then.)

The only reason you want to buy this set is because the Contract Beast can interact with the equivalent 4” Kamen Rider action figure. The human figure is only a small bonus, but is too generic-looking to be of any significance beyond simply having the plain-clothes version of a Kamen Rider. If it would have allowed the Contract Beast figure to be more versatile, I would gladly have sacrificed the second figure to get those extra Vent accessories! Why else would you have those Kamen Rider figures with all the extra unused holes if not to attach stuff to them!?

The biggest disappointment for me, by far, in getting this set was that Magnugiga couldn’t separate parts of himself to attach to Torque! I was concerned less about posing since it doesn’t move about much in the series to begin with. While it’s good that you can recreate the Final Vent pose, not being able to recreate the Shoot Vent or Launch Vent really irked me to no end. With a little ingenuity, I’m sure it could have easily been pulled off for the same price! I mean- what in the hell is that head-weapon supposed to be anyways??? If Bandai ever gets around to making a larger version of Kamen Rider Torque and Magnugiga someday in the future (most-unlikely since this is a villain character), I hope they read this review before they start designing it. Despite bashing the Drew figure, I thought the Advent Belt and pants were well-sculpted. (I’m not gonna say anything at all about how that soooo doesn’t look like Drew’s head. Clearly casting for the character had not been completed when they started working on that head…) For a simplified version of the Contract Beast, I think a little more effort could have been put forward, and then I would have been full of praise. But, other than a lack of show-accurate features, I can’t really find anything outstandingly-wrong with the Magnugiga and Drew set.

Whereas the toy representing the original Japanese character, Kamen Rider Zolda (Russian for “soldier” or “mercenary”), may have been better articulated, for a redesign this one isn’t too bad.

This toy appears here courtesy of Bandai America.

. . .

Ventara is an alternate dimension that exists behind all mirrors. For everything that exists on Earth, there is a copy of it on Ventara as well, and more. The alien General Xaviax invaded Ventara and began a war to conquer it. To defend themselves, the Ventarans created twelve armored superheroes, the Kamen Riders, who use individual Advent Deck cards to command powerful Contract Beasts for attack and defense. Xaviax defeated all but one of the Kamen Riders and stole their Advent Decks, eventually conquering Ventara as well. Unfortunately, because the Ventaran Riders had all been defeated & Vented (banished forever into the Advent Void), Xaviax had to find the genetic equivalents on Earth since the Advent Decks were DNA-locked. Finding specific humans on Earth, Xaviax disguises himself as a different person each time, and tricks them into serving him. One Advent Deck, however, fell into the hands of a young man on Earth whom Xaviax did not choose, named Kit Taylor. Working together with Len, the mysterious original Kamen Rider Wing Knight, Kit reluctantly uses his own Advent Deck to become Kamen Rider Dragon Knight in order to find his disappeared father, and stop General Xaviax and the ten other corrupted & selfish Kamen Riders from conquering Earth.

. . .

“Kamen Rider: Dragon Knight” is based on the original TV series, “Kamen Rider Ryuki” (仮面ライダー龍騎, literally "Masked Rider Dragon-knight"), which aired in 2002 as part of the long running Kamen Rider franchise in Japan. It is produced by newcomer Adness Entertainment, Ltd. in close association with Ishimori Production, Inc. and Toei Company, Ldt. [both of which make the original tokusatsu franchise].

Even though Bandai is making the toys for “…Dragon Knight”, they are all completely new remolds from those that they originally released during “…Ryuki”, and so they will all differ in size, features, and materials from their Japanese counterparts.

Drew Lansing first appeared in Episode 4- “A Rider's Challenge”, but is formally introduced in Epsiode 5- "The Power of Two". He is a con-artist on Earth who was recruited by Xaviax to convert other Riders for him. Because he was under threat for his crimes on Earth, Xaviax held that against him to insure his loyalty. If Drew served faithfully, he would become a general in Xaviax’s army after he had conquered Earth. One of his first assignments was to trick newcomer Kit Taylor into thinking that the last surviving Ventaran, Kamen Rider Wing Knight, was actually the enemy of Earth, and that Xaviax was in fact trying to help them all.

As the green & silver-colored Kamen Rider Torque, Drew draws on the power of his Contract Monster- a slow but heavily armed minotaur called Magnugiga. Some of his Advent Card attacks include Launch Vent and Shoot Vent, which use pieces of Magnugiga to form larger-sized projectile weapons for Kamen Rider Torque. To activate his Advent Deck cards, he slides them into his hand-held Magnuvisor blaster gun.

Drew Lansing is played by actor Christopher Foley.

This figure is 4” tall, and is composed of green, silver, & black ABS plastic with minor amounts of PVC plastic. The key to all of the Kamen Riders’ powers, the Advent Deck, is located faithfully on the front of his silver belt, with Torque’s uniquely-identifying golden minotaur head on it. As with all Ventaran-built Kamen Riders, Torque has several circular mounting points across his armor at his shoulders, elbows, back, hips, and knees. What is nice, though, is that the paint apps do not end half-way around the figure- he has silver and black appearing on the back of his torso, lower legs & arms, and remains as faithful as possible to the appearance of Torque on-screen. While his green suit is form-fitting, there are lines of wrinkles & light armored straps, which add to the texture of the surface details as much as his silver armor does. Like all Kamen Riders, his eyes are hidden behind a narrow grille visor. Torque’s helmet specifically has more mechanical features like a chin guard, gears & bolts, and four small & narrow antennae, giving him a more utilitarian- almost militaristic- look than most of the other Kamen Riders. Surprisingly, the figure’s proportions are reasonably accurate, with perhaps only the front of his chest and his shoulder guards being a bit off, but those are very minor complaints.

Kamen Rider Torque’s personalized Advent Card reader is his tiny PVC Magnuvisor blaster gun. Though it obviously cannot open up because of its small size, it is sufficiently detailed. He can attach it only to his right hip, but can hold it in both hands easily.

. . .

For a 4” figure, Kamen Rider Torque is sufficiently poseable. Free-turning single-axis joints are in his shoulders, wrists, and knees, and there are dual-axis joints in the hips only. Despite being on a ball-and-socket joint, his head can only look side-to-side, with no up-and-down motion. The shoulder armor pads are designed to detach if too much pressure is applied to them and will easily snap back in place. I was surprised that there were no waist and elbow joints (the elbows are slightly bent forward), or dual-axis shoulders, but this is fair enough for a figure this size.

All “Kamen Rider: Dragon Knight” toys carry a unique Advent Card related to the character they are packaged with. Then, when you purchase the electronic Kamen Rider Dragon Knight Dragvisor role-playing set (#33971, sold separately), you can take the Advent Cards and insert them into it to create one of 15 unique sound effects!

For this set, you get Kamen Rider Torque’s Shoot Vent Advent Card, which deals out 3000 points of damage to any Kamen Rider or Mirror Monster in its path. To use the Shoot Vent card, Torque removes it from his Advent Belt and places it into his Magnuvisor gun. This commands his Contract Beast, Magnugiga, to separate his lower legs to become giant shoulder cannons for Torque which fire huge energy blasts.

(Regretfully though understandably, they did not make a full-sized version of Torque’s Magnuvisor gun, only Dragon Knight’s Dragvisor. So, when I get the Dragvisor, I will demonstrate the Shoot Vent card then.)

The biggest hindrances to posing are in the arms for their lack of outward shoulder movement & poseable elbow, and a swiveling hip joint to turn the legs/feet for more dynamic posing. And yet, they gave him twisting wrists… But, for its size, this is still a good action figure, and can be easily placed along with other collectible 4” characters shown on the packaging- Kamen Rider Dragon Knight, Kamen Rider Wing Knight, Kamen Rider Incisor, and Kamen Rider Camo.

For this figure specifically, the head always seems to be looking slightly up… which is annoying because it’s on a ball-and-socket joint! I suppose that Bandai chose the 4”-format because it allowed them to put greater surface detail into them than a 6” figure could. (Oh, BTW, there are already 6”-versions of only Dragon Knight and Wing Knight with spring-action transformations.) A larger figure would be more to my taste as a collector, but the details on this one makes its rather [proportionately] high price understandable. That alone, in my opinion, makes this figure superior in some ways to Bandai’s more-frequently-seen and older Power Rangers franchise, which is often cluttered with low-grade figures that aren’t seen on-screen or have unappealing features. However, since “Kamen Rider: Dragon Knight” is appealing to a slightly older audience than the 4-6yrs range that Power Rangers regularly aims for, the craftsmanship and attention to detail becomes more important in the long-run than action features. (Notice that even the Magnuvisor and Advent Belt are painted rather than being left the blank silver of the plastic, yay!) Whereas the toy representing the original Japanese character, Kamen Rider Zolda (Russian for “soldier” or “mercenary”), may have been better articulated, for a redesign this one isn’t too bad. Therefore, I am giving the 4” Kamen Rider Torque action figure a good recommendation.

Neronga is the next in our ongoing reviews of Ultra Kaiju Sofubi

Neronga appears in the classic Ultraman series from 1965. He has since reappeared in the series "Ultra Galaxy Daikaijyu Battle" and a playable character in the Data Cardass game "Mega Monster Battle: ULTRA MONSTERS"

This kaiju is unremarkable in appearance, looking something like a poor man's Baragon mixed with Anguillas.

Articulation is limited to arms and legs, paint detail is effective. This is definitely a kids toy, not a collectors item.

The toy features a swing tag and bonus playing card for the "Data Cardass" system. The card is bar-coded and can be swiped in any of the multitude of arcade machines in Japan featuring compatible games.

At only about $9 US, you can't go wrong with these toys. The value gets even greater if you have access to an arcade machine that uses the cards, but odds of seeing one in the US is slim.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!

This monster is SCARY. Like one of those monsters that you dream about thats sitting on your chest stealing the air out of your lungs while you sleep. It hits all the right phobias, scary legs, upside down head, and the classic snail shell phobia.

My kids just can't seem to wrap their head around this one.

"What is it?"

I don't know.

"Why is its face upside-down?"

I don't know.

"Is it a snail?"

I don't know.

"What does it do?"

I don't know.

"They why did you buy it?"

I don't know.

So of course, I had to do research on it, and this is what I found. Gatanozoa appears in two episodes of Ultraman Tiga entitled "Ultraman Tiga: Ruler of Darkness" and "Ultraman Tiga: To Those Who Can Shine". Gatanozoa is an old god who once plagued the earth and ushered in an age of darkness, only to be awakened in modern times to do battle with Tiga.

Check out the final battle!

The vinyl figure of Gatanozoa is just so outlandish that I had to have him. I got him purely as a conversation piece, and that he was just so odd looking.

The only points of articulation are the two giant claws up front and the two front legs.

Paint and detail are spectacular. For those who feel all Bandai ultra vinyl are "cheap" and the paint lacks attention to detail, take a gander at this. It's awesome.

The figure comes on a swing tag with a DataCardass card for use in arcade machines across Japan.

A warning to you all. Don't play with Gatanozoa before you go to bed, he will haunt your dreams!

Scylla (or Sukyura) is an Ultra Kaiju from the movie "Ultraman Tiga & Ultraman Dyna & Ultraman Gaia: Battle in Hyperspace"

Scylla (or Sukyura) is an Ultra Kaiju from the movie "Ultraman Tiga & Ultraman Dyna & Ultraman Gaia: Battle in Hyperspace". Wikipedia describes him as:

"An amphibious sea monster that splits off from King of Monsters' stomach. Can run fast & upper body hides really big mouth. Was defeated underwater by Ultraman Tiga's Zepellion Ray."

Having never seen this guy before, he caught my eye on the shelf at Newbury Comics. Once I saw that the entire top part of him was a mounth, I was sold.

Basically, you just pull up on the front of the mouth to open him. The back is anchored by two plugs that can easily pop back into place should they become disconnected.

The toy features a swing tag and bonus playing card for the "Data Cardass" system. The card is bar-coded and can be swiped in any of the multitude of arcade machines in Japan featuring compatible games.