Kikaida
Review by JoshB
Kikaida is one of 3 figures from the SIC line that Bandai America incorporated into their short-lived "Studioworks" series.
SIC Stands for Super Imaginative Chogokin. It is a line of modernized Tokusatsu character toys, enhanced with small amounts of metal (chogokin). Early toys in the series were basically fixed-pose statues, with little to no play value aside from some interchangeable accessories.
The Kikaida story follows Dr. Komyoji, a brilliant robotics professor who is kidnapped by Professor Gill, the evil ruler of the Dark Demolition Corps. Professor Gill forces Dr. Komyoji to build an army of androids that would assist Professor Gill in his fight for world domination. Secretly, Dr. Komyoji builds Kikaida, a mechanical man capable of defeating the androids from the Dark Demolition Corps. The fight to save Dr. Komyoji and the world from the Dark Demolition Corps. lies in the hands of Kikaida.
Kikaida stands about 7" tall, and is made of hard plastic. The brass-colored accents are metal, and it gives the toy a solid feel. He comes with a good amount of accessories, including:
- Guitar
- Arm blades
- Removable heart
- Alien mantis head
- Stand
Kikaida is articulated at the neck, shoulders, wrists, waist, hips and feet. The joints don't actually do much, leaving Kikaida pretty much a fixed-pose figure. You can open up Kikaida's chest to reveal a removable blue and red heart. Arm blade weapons attach to the forearms, and his guitar straps across his back. The figure attaches to the base via pegs that fit into the feet.
While the sculpt is fantastic, it doesn't do much but look pretty. Since I have no knowledge of the Kikaida character, I don't have the emotional attachment that I would need to justify keeping a fixed pose character.
Bandai's Studioworks line was canceled after only three entries. They really put a lot of effort into the packaging and presentation, but the high price point and obscurity of the character didn't drive enough sales. I wonder how the line would have fared if they had started with the later, more poseable SIC toys.
Kikaida was released as #1 in the Super Imaginative Chogokin line in 1998, for ¥3360. It was imported to the USA and released as part of the Studioworks line in 2002 for about $19.99.