It's always nice when I have a different toy line to review rather than the same five ones over and over again, and this latest candy toy line from Bandai is something I've been looking forward to for a long time now. Dubbed 66 Action due to their average height of 66mm, this line is dedicated to bringing fans tiny yet poseable figures of their favourite Riders from the Kamen Rider franchise. After a brief delay the first wave finally hit at the end of February, consisting of our first four mini heroes - Kamen Rider Gaim (Orange Arms), Kamen Rider OOO (TaToBa combo), Kamen Rider Decade and Kamen Rider 1.
Each box features its own unique art, showing off all the figures in their tiny glory. Meanwhile the back has its own Figuarts-style breakdown of each figure, measuring them up to their 66mm height while at the same time showing off what the little guys are capable of. Inside you'll find the figures wrapped in a plastic bag, with separate components for the head, body, weapon (where applicable) and hands. The hands are also on runners to begin with, which quite possibly have almost as much excess plastic as the actual figures themselves. Of course these are also candy toys, so they wouldn't be complete without a piece of that soda-flavoured candy we all know and love.
For those buying the figures by the case (i.e. from online retailers such as Amiami, HLJ or Hobbysearch), you will receive a total of 12 figures - two complete sets and then a third Gaim and OOO. I'd kinda figured Gaim was going to be one of the ones packed in triplicate, but OOO came as a bit of a surprise. I guess its because he's the next most recent one after Gaim, however I had my bets on it being Rider 1 simply for being Rider 1.
Side by side the team look rather impressive, despite their incredibly short stature (keep reading just to see how small these guys seem next to their Figuart and Arms Change counterparts). Each figure has a ball jointed head/neck, shoulders, hips and feet, while there are also hinge joints for the elbows and knees and a swivel for the waist. The hands easily plug in and out of the wrists and everything is designed to pop off if too much force is applied so there shouldn't be too much worry of breakage.
The back of each one also has a small plug hole, which at a guess I would assume is for standard Bandai stands however I'm not 100% sure on that.
Figure one in the wave is the latest character to join the ranks of Kamen Rider - Kamen Rider Gaim. For such a detailed design Orange Arms has been scaled down really well into such a small figure, with armour detail still as present as ever (although obviously simplified somewhat). The only real detail that has been lost is the gold print on the arms and upper legs, leaving the base suit entirely blue instead. The shoulder pads are attached to the arms themselves, thankfully not hindering articulation in any way whatsoever.
Gaim's two pairs of hands are closed fist and sword-holding ones, which means he also comes packed with his trusty Musou Saber! Sadly the Daidaimaru is absent from the release, which kinda sucks since wave 2's Zangetsu figure has been revealed to come with both a Musou Saber AND the Melon Defender.
Going next in numerical order (and incidentally, also backward in chronological order) is Kamen Rider OOO, who despite being a little less detailed then Gaim certainly wins points for being colourful. It's no secret that I'm not the biggest fan of TaToBa's Figuart and while I did end up having a lot more love for the 66 Action version, that too ended up being my least favourite of the bunch. Its not bad by any means, for some reason that arms felt a lot more restrictive and the limbs prone to popping off more. Maybe OOO just hates me because I haven't preordered S.I.C. SaGoZo yet?
Like Gaim, OOO also comes packed with closed fists, weapon holding hands and his standard sidearm - the Medajailbur. However an interesting little thing I noticed about OOO was that the arms also have holes drilled into the folded back claws. Is there a reason for this? Answers on a postcard please.
Third up is Kamen Rider Decade, star of the series celebrating the 10th anniversary of the franchise's Heisei era. Again the details are a little more simplified (the shoulder pads are missing the black colouring) but even then it looks great shrunk down into 66mm.
Decade features the same four hand types as the previous two figures, and also comes packed with the Ride Booker in sword mode.
Rounding off the wave is the original hero himself - Kamen Rider 1. This figure uses the modern day "Shin Kamen Rider 1" (NOT to be confused with Shin Kamen Rider) look of the suit, and replicates the simple yet iconic look of the hero perfectly. The scarf is moulded onto the the head and so sadly cannot be posed, and with no standard weapon of his own Rider 1's hands are also a little different. In addition to the basic closed fists, he comes with open palms to recreate his iconic henshin pose. And honestly, that should be the number one thing you want from a Rider 1 figure outside of accuracy.
(Also, as I don't have any other Rider 1 figures yet, here's some pictures of him fighting a Dalek and hanging around with new girlfriend Lynn Minmay).
For those who like small toys that are fun to mess around with, cute/super-deformed versions of their favourite characters or all of the above, the 66 Action Riders are a must have. It's amazing to see this level of articulation in a figure this small, and in-hand you quickly feel like each character in the line has a personality of its own (making the sillier pictures all the more fun to do). With wave 2 on its way in a few months (consisting of the aforementioned Zangetsu, Kabuto, W and Den-O sword form...plus a secret character), I'm really hoping this line goes on for a while and we get many many more of these little guys. This is Arms Change level of fun all over again, but in a much smaller (and far more affordable) package!
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