Kamen Rider Zolda
Product sample provided by Bluefin Tamashii Nations.
Kamen Rider Ryuki is unique from the other Kamen Rider series, in that there are a total of 13 Kamen Riders who are involved in the Rider War, aound which the story of the series revolves. Each Rider has their own unique reason for participating in the Rider War, which pits all of the Riders in a life or death contest to see who is the strongest Kamen Rider.
Shuichi Kitaoka is a self-proclaimed super-lawyer who has been diagnosed with cancer,that will soon take his life. He accepts an Advent Deck and a place in the Rider War with the hopes of escaping his disease by using the wish that is promised to the winner of the Rider War. His wish is to gain immortality, so that he may indulge in the lavish lifestyle that he has surrounded himself with.
Kitaoka becomes Kamen Rider Zolda after making a contract with Magnugiga. He specializes in ranged fighting, which fits his personality well since he is a sneaky individual who often schemes of indirect ways to eliminate the other Kamen Riders.
During the course of the show, Kitaoka manipulates the good-hearted Shinji (Ryuki) a couple of times,for various reasons. On one occasion Kitaoka faked the death Kamen Rider Zolda, who Shinji believed was Goro (Kitaoka’s butler/secretary), in order to get Shinji to eliminate himself out of the Rider War out of guilt of killing a fellow Rider. Needles to say Kitaoka has a penchant for tricking others.
The box for Kamen Rider Zolda is quite longer than the average S.H. Figuarts box, so you know it is going to come with extra stuff.
The fit and finish on Kamen Rider Zolda superb.
Although the Contract Monster for Zolda is a bull, the design for Zolda’s suit has more of a robotic cop look to it, with his heavy-duty chest gear and the lights on his shoulders.
Kamen Rider Zolda has the usual points of articulation for the line: bicep swivels, double knee joints, all of the other staples of the S.H. Figuarts line.
There are, however, several points of articulation that are unique to this figure. The shoulder pads on Zolda swivel forward and back.
Also, the flap on each shoulder armor move up and down to accommodate moving his arms upward.
Another point of articulation, which one could easily miss, is the bar on his face, which moves up and down.
The other points of articulation we will get into when we discuss Zolda’s weaponry.
As with the previous Kamen Rider Ryuki S.H. Figuarts releases, Zolda has a nicely sculpted belt that houses his Advent Deck, which can be removed from the belt.
That got me thinking: what purpose does this serve? In the show the Riders do not take their Advent Deck out of their belt. In fact the only time we see them holding the deck is when they are in their human form; usually when they are about to henshin (transform).
A Rider will raise their deck up to a mirror surface, causing the belt to materialize on them from the mirror. Then the Rider does their signature Henshin pose.
The four Advent Cards that are included in with Zolda are :
Final Vent: Zolda summons Magnugiga and performs his finishing move, End of the World, which unleashes every bit of firepower that Magnugiga houses.
Shoot Vent: makes the Giga Launcher appear
Shoot Vent: makes the Giga Cannon appear
Advent: Summons Magnugiga
The back of all advent cards are all the same. They have are blue and black, with a galaxy in the center.
Zolda’s gun, Magna Visor, is his default weapon.
The body of the gun around the barrel moves to simulate firing.
Magna Visor also doubles as the input device for his Advent Cards.
The figure comes with a separate silver connection point cover, that attaches to the right hip and has a peg in it to attach to the Magna Visor.
On to the next weapon that Zolda comes with! The Giga Cannons are huge, over-the-shoulder cannons that are formed from the legs of Magnugiga.
These cannons attach to the back of Zolda using the connection points present there.
Since they are Magnugiga’s legs, they are actually jointed and move as legs.
A special clip is included to attach the bottom of the Giga Cannons to a Tamashii stand. At first it seemed like a thoughtful addition.
….Then I realized that this figure does not come with its own stand, unlike Ryuki and Knight… Then I realized that a stand is really unnecessary to help Zolda support the Giga Cannons. The build and balance of Kamen Rider Zolda is solid, allowing him to stay upright with the cannons mounted , even with a wide stance.
I couldn’t even think of what how you would use the stand in combination with the Giga Cannons. So here is the best I could come up with (the stand is the one that came with Ryuki).
The third weapon included with Zolda is the massive Giga Launcher, which is formed from the arms off Magnugiga. It comes packaged in two pieces (each arm) that snap together. It is well crafted weapon, and looks great from every angle.
The back end of the Giga Launcher opens up, revealing the claw of Magnugiga.It is also worth noting that the scope on the Giga Launcher can be pushed back to lay flat agains the weapon.
I was surprised at how easy it was to balance Zolda with the Giga Launcher attached to his hands.
Finally, Kamen Rider Zold comes packaged with slew of hands, including one for holding his Advent Cards and one for holding the Magna Visor (which has a finger specially molded to go over the trigger of the gun).
Looking back at this figure, I am a bit disappointed at the missed opportunity to include the Contract Monster with Kamen Rider Zolda. Furthermore, Kamen Rider Zolda is missing a couple of his weapons: the Giga Horn and the Giga Armor. Had they included the weapons and Magnugiga, this release would have been top-tier, like Ryuki and Knight. For those who want all of Kamen Rider Zolda’s weapons and his Contract Monster, Bandai is releasing them separately as a Tamashii web exclusive.
Putting aside what could have been, I am prety satisfied with the figure. The only thing I still dislike about this and the other Ryuki figures are the silver connection point covers on the forearms. Once one these suckers come come off, the fit will never be the same between the peg and the hole on the forearms, and they will continue to fall off the figure. My advice is don’t take them off unless you have to and be careful when handling the arms, because you can pop them out by mistake.
Overall though, this is another good entry in the S.H Figuarts line!