Cyborg Soldier Lv.3

Greeting my brothers and sisters in toys collecting or to whoever it is that is reading this. Ghost_XIII here, reporting in to bring you guys yet another review. For this time around we gonna look at something out of the Showa era, the SIC Cyborg Soldier Lv.3(lets just call him CS3).

Some random rant before we start. Honestly, I have no idea who this guy is as a character. I’m not into the Showa riders and if you realized, I have never review anything Showa-related as of writing. I just don’t have much attachment to them. What I do know, this character named Goro is a villain in Kamen Rider Shin. I don’t even know who Cyborg Soldier Lv.2 is but whatever.

The mystic brown box which signifies the exclusivity of this release.

The actual box is a standard deal for exclusive stuff. The puke green and yellow gave me a very nauseating effect.

Inside the box, everything is laid out on a single tray of plastic. You will be getting:

-the main figure
-an extra head with a removable mouth
-a wider open mouth
-2 extra arms
-2 pairs of ‘rage’ hands

and of course, instructions manual.

Out of the box, the figure is ready to go.

Upon seeing the figure promo image and having in him hand, I’m not so impress with the figure. He doesn’t have much flair to his design like other Kamen Rider with armor and whatnot. But upon closer look, this figure won me over. He may be ‘clean’ in his design but there is that texture-ish details sculpted all over his body which really makes him looks like a real life bug and I dig that. The paint apps are something worth praising too. His colour scheme just transit in a gradient-like manner with no clear line of colour separation and I think that is very cool.

I don’t really bother with it as Bandai is not even trying anymore but the metal on CS3 is his tiny grasshopper leg under his armpit and his knee pad. That’s it.

In the articulation department, CS3 kinda disappoints. His outward arm raise is fine but his leg split is very lacking. I’ve seen how people complained about Kamen Rider Shin leg articulation and I thought they are just fuzzy :p. CS3 having the same body as Shin also have the same flaw and I can see why they complain. Given the design, CS3 do not have any armor restricting him and given he is supposed to be an organic character, wanting a better range of leg split is a totally valid demand. How are we supposed to go all feral with this guy with that far of a leg split? If its any other armored rider, I can let it slide but not this time.

Forward arm and leg raise is of no issue. They also bend nicely. The toe joint is almost useless.

More articulation debacle. That’s the maximum range of waist twist I can do on CS3 before the ball joint pop off. No armor or anything but restricted by the very sculpt and design. What the hell Bandai?

Now it’s the head. Looking down is doable but up, as you can see, ain’t happening. There is a joint of sort for the flap behind his head(probably to aid the head looking up) but its USELESS. Sideways motion is also limited by the flap.

As for accessories, CS3 came with an extra head with an opened mouth. The mouth is on a peg and can be removed if you want to use the predator-styled wider opened mouth.

The main gimmick of this set and why I bought this is his four arms mode. You need to remove the diecast grasshopper leg under his armpit to access a peg hole for the arm.

If that did not scream imaginative to you, I don’t know what will. That is so beautiful but this mode also revealed a new flaw for this set. The only sets of hands that you will also gonna get in 2 pairs are the rage hand. There is not enough fist and relaxed open hand for all the arms. Its minor really but come on Bandai. Just two more pairs of hand. You already have the mold and I don’t think its gonna cost a lot to include those in.

The new arms function just like the old arms. They don’t get in the way at all except when you want to bring down the old arms.

I’m not really sure what to include in this review at this point so enjoy these pics of random poses.

He can somewhat twerk. Good news for those who are into Kamen Rider booty(you know who you are :p).

THE END

So, should you buy this?

Handling this release is like a roller coaster ride of something great and something sucks. First, the price. I bought mine for USD 80 and I think that is BARELY worth it. The figure itself is great in the aesthetic department but with the accessories and articulation engineering, I cant helped but felt Bandai made this quite half-assed-ly. Seriously, I’m paying for an exclusive and its 2014. Don’t tell me they still can’t figure out how to make a better articulated SIC and the design doesn’t even have any fancy armor or plating for crying out loud. I think its valid if I demand more for what I’m paying. At the end of the day, the figure did grow on me but I just cant silence the negative thought about it in my head. If you are looking for this guy, do so fast as I heard he’s getting harder and harder to find. I wouldn’t want to pay over 80 for this.

With that, it’s the end of this review. I hope you enjoy reading it. As always, any comments or critics(positive or negative) are always welcomed. This is Ghost_XIII, reporting out :).