Rekka no Ryu

This is the second entry in Bandai’s Armor Plus line. First was Alto Saotome reviewed by Atom. Ryu is from Samurai Troopers which aired in 1988. I watched this show after school when it came to the United States as Ronin Warriors (in 1995). The concept of the show revolved around 5 teenagers with the ability to summon armor to fight evil.

So getting go the toy. The base body is all plastic except for the feet which are die cast metal. Articulation is excellent and I am told that the body is pretty much identical to a modern myth cloth figure.

The armor pieces are almost entirely metal except for the helmet. You can put these onto a dummy figure for display purposes, as is shown in the series. You typically see Japanese samurai armor displayed this way and there is probably a name for what it is called. The armor attaches well and stays on securely.

To put the armor onto Ryu you have to first take some pieces off. The forearm guards, kneecaps, shoulder covers, chest plate and a small piece on the crotch come off. The armor all goes on pretty easily. The only problems are that one of the foot armor parts and one knee like to come off with the slightest touch. I was a bit surprised by the size and weight of the figure, it stands about 7.5″ tall and has surprising heft with the armor attached.

Amazingly the armor doesn’t hinder articulation very much, the toy is still very poseable and you can get it into some pretty good poses. Balance can be finicky to get right sometimes, but enough fiddling and you will get the figure to stand, and it will stay that way.

The figure comes with two swords, a combined sword, an itty bitty connector part to combine the separate swords, an alternate face and helmet with closed faceplate. There is also an assortment of extra hands. The swords do not stow in the sheathes, there are only handles that can be removed from them.

Overall this is an excellent figure and a great value at 6500 yen. Paint, articulation, fit and finish are all very good. Hopefully the line continues and they do more characters.