Moto Bisar Griffon

I know virtually nothing of Konami’s Get Ride! AM Driver. Wikipedia tells me that the story involved a reality show which rewarded characters with power-up armor. And this intro sure looks underwhelming.

So the show was, and is, a dud. The toys looked compelling, though, at least on paper. The 1:18-ish scale, clear parts, modular armor sets, and fresh design aesthetic press all the appropriate buttons. And when I learned of a motorcycle-based, cyclone-esque armor set, I couldn’t resist. The Moto-Bisar “Griffon” is packaged in a bloodless non-entity of a box.

Inside is an oversized plastic clamshell. Oh, look – no figure. I guess I’ll have to buy another toy for this to work. Ooh, a gun and two armor plates for accessories.

So the Bisar armors come without figures, fine. So I buy one of the dozens of slightly different AM Driver pilots. The pilot figure is fine. It’s pretty lightweight, the plastic feels insubstantial, but it poses fine and wears a clear helmet.

The motorcycle, too, is fine. It looks good, if a little cluttered, and rolls on rubber wheels. The balance of colors and clear blue plastic is appealing. I’m still a little put-off, but warming to the Griffon. The ABS, and it’s all ABS excepting the wheels, is sturdy. I could use some decals, but the AM Driver look is more stripped down, which I can appreciate.

The driver fits on the bike nicely, which is unfortunately a rarity with toy motorcycles.

Let’s get this mother into armor mode. The Griffon is a parts former. I’m not obsessed with perfect transformation, so I’m okay with that. The bike separates into a torso pod, super boots, and assorted tack-on gewgaws.

The legs and torso go together without incident. The rest is a joke. All of the arm and shoulder armor falls off constantly. The shoulder armor doesn’t even have the proper clearance to function. It conflicts with the chest, and you have to bend the arms back and force it on, whereupon it immediately clatters to the ground.

But it certainly photographs well, for what it’s worth. The design looks great. It’s too bad it doesn’t actually work.

I have a couple other Bisars, and they are generally more successful than the Griffon, if similarly unexciting.