Masked Rider Nega Den-O

Before reading this review, it is highly recommended that you read the review of SIC Vol.42 first (which you can read here) as there are some similarities of this figure with the figure from that pack so I’m not gonna talk much about the same thing but I will highlight what the differences are :).

Greetings to my brothers and sisters in toys collecting or to whoever it is that is reading this. Ghost_XIII here, reporting in to bring you another review. Today we will be looking at what you could say as an expansion pack to the SIC Vol.42. I present you, the Tamashii Web Shouten Limited Super Imaginative Chogokin Kamen Rider Nega Den-O (lets call him Nega for short).

A release most of us saw coming after Kamen Rider Den-O: Climax Deka, this movie exclusive Rider, like most, if not all movie exclusive Rider is a limited release. At first, I thought I would never pick this guy up as he looks like a repaint of Den-O Sword Form from the SIC Vol.42 (limited to boot). But as usual, I keep poisoning myself with the item’s picture and stuff and can’t find any review (that I can understand that is :p) of the item so yeah… Hell with it. So here we are.

As usual, the box is that of uninspiring, and windowless as usual from Bandai exclusive stuff.

Inside the box, all the goodies are laid out on a single plastic tray. You will be getting:

-the figure itself
-Den-Gasher in sword configuration
-the Rider pass
-a small ‘blade’ for disassembled Den-Gasher
-left and right splayed open hand
-left and right holding things hand

and of course, instruction manual.

Just like Sword Form, out of the package, you need to disassemble the Den-Gasher to complete the figure. This is where I would like to show you how awesome SIC are. Honestly, I don’t really fancy the suit used in the show for all Riders in the Den-O series. They are practically the same (save for the colour, head, and torso) but there is something about this SIC redesign that really charms me. Maybe its the more defined tribal tattoo all over him or his clear purple chest. The paint apps on my copy of the figure are almost flawless except at two glaring spot. See if you can spot them.

The paint on his head is a bit lacking. It is intentional by Bandai as I’ve seen other copy of the figure and they are the same like mine. Just need a little more gold and silver. Why Bandai??

The diecast content is exactly like that of Sword Form.

Well, is this figure really a repaint?

If you can’t tell, the differences are at the shoulder, chest, mouth and the railway track on his head. If you consider the nature of Den-O Riders’ design, NO. This guy is NOT a repaint. I repeat, NOT A REPAINT.

Articulation wise, he is 95% identical to Vol.42 Sword Form. The 5% difference is that his Den-Gasher holster can swing forward and backward.

“Ironman Mark SF-N: After having a dispute with Tony Stark about wanting his own personal armor, Tony Stark’s Imagin stole the Mark SF and went rouge. The suit is upgraded to SF-N.”

In the accessories department, Nega comes with a rider pass. It is identical to the one for Sword Form.

Next is the Den-Gasher.

The difference with the normal one is the tribal marking on the blade which is sculpted by the way. All the gimmicks are the same like the one for Sword Form.

Oddly, I don’t have the same problem putting the sword in Nega’s grip like I encountered with Sword form. But the sword stays in snuggly nevertheless.

Lets bring in some guests…

“You call that a slash??”

“This is the REAL slash!”

“DIE!”

“Still standing huh?”

“*kick*”

“This is MY review!”

Should you buy this?

Before deciding on anything, lets talk about the good and bad of this figure. This figure is a beauty. It will catch a lot of attention in your display. The tribal tattoo adds a very unique visual queue. At first like I mentioned, I was on the fence about this figure because I thought it was a repaint and frankly, I don’t blame you if you think so too as the design is very similar with the one for Sword Form. But after seeing it with my own eye and found out it is 100% not a repaint, the value of this thing rose a little more in my book.

If there is anything I want to complain about this release is the lack of accessories. Sure, Nega doesn’t have much in the movie but in the movie, he did use other configuration of the Den-Gasher. I would really like those to be included in as well. My bet Bandai just wants us to cannibalize those weapon from other Den-O SIC release and yeah, they DO match because apparently only the sword configuration has that tribal tattoo marking.

And the usual point of contention, the price. Being a limited release, you can bet it is pricey. I bought mine for MYR250 (about USD75 or so). With that kind of money, you could bought the SIC Vol.42 or some other two-pack which seems to offer a lot more bang out of your buck. Plus, this is quite rare and I usually see it goes for more. Even after saying that, I don’t feel any regret in buying this. The visual aesthetic is great, the articulation is superb and the sword does a very good job for what it is.

With all things considered, I really need to apologize because I can’t decide for you to buy it or not. For show-accurate people, I’m quite sure you won’t pay any heed to this. But to those who are interested, a part of me felt you are missing out on something for not having this in your collection but another part felt otherwise. This guy is not a repaint and that is a good thing but he shares a design very similar to Sword Form and that can be a demerit because for what I’m paying, I expect a little bit more in the variety factor (example: SIC Tajadoru and SIC Tajadoru Lost Blaze). Even after saying that, I still like it for what it is. Everything just starting to conflict against one another and I can’t stop writing if I don’t stop thinking about it. So bottom line, your mileage will vary here. If you are buying this, you will most probably be happy with what you gonna get and if you are not buying it, you are not missing out much I believe. End of story(Sorry :)).

“I may have lost that fight scene but at least my set gets a full recommendation.”
“SHUT UP!!”

And after all that, this review finally reaches its end. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy it. As usual, any comments or critics (positive or negative) are always welcomed. This is Ghost_XIII, reporting out :).