Toybox REVIEW: S.H. Figuarts Shocker Rider (THE NEXT)

Release Date: June 2008

RRP: 2420 yen

With fewer and fewer Kamen Riders left to bring out in the S.H. Figuarts line, a lot of collectors are turning their attention towards who will be the next character Bandai Tamashii Nations REmake – be it as part of the regular line or the Shinkocchou Seihou range. But while it's fair to say most titular series Riders have a pretty good chance of getting a new figure, not all of the really old releases are likely to be on the cards – the S.H. Figuarts Shocker Rider (THE NEXT) being one such example. The mass-produced foot soldiers of the evil organisation in 2007's Kamen Rider: The Next, the Shocker Rider was the fourth release in the S.H. Figuarts line all the way back in 2008 – following on of course from Kamen Rider V3 as well as The Next versions of Riders 1 and 2.

Once again we return to those early years of silver foil S.H. Figuarts packaging, featuring that familiar black lettering and an image of the actual suit on the front of the box as opposed to one of the toy (something they've thankfully kept going for the Ultraman range but has been lost on Kamen Rider releases). However if you would like to see some fancy images of the figure, side profile shots have been added to the spines of the box to give it a little bit more of an elaborate bookend style look. The back of the box features the usual selection of pictures showing off the figure in the various poses, but its largest image also does a pretty good job into tempting you into buying more than one of these figures for that true "Shocker Rider army" feel. Open the box up and you’ll find the figure (and accessories) neatly laid out on a moulded plastic clamshell tray. Note that neither muffler is attached to the figure in-package, but it’s really easy to pop off the head and place one around its neck.

The Shocker Riders of Kamen Rider: The Next are inspired by the same characters from the 1971 series, who were created by Gel Shocker to battle the Double Riders. These Shocker Riders consisted of six members, each of whom were identical to the Double Riders except for their yellow gloves/boots and different coloured muffler. The movie versions strip away that little bit of individuality given to them by their unique mufflers, creating an identical fighting force of Kamen Riders – a "Kamen Rider mass production type" if you will. The suit design is a composite of both Double Riders – sporting two-piece outerwear like Rider 1 but lacking the shoulder and elbow pads like Rider 2. The helmet (based on the undamaged version which at the time was used for The Next's Rider 2, but later The First Rider 1 and 2), torso armour, gloves, boots and lines running down the body are coloured bronze, with green compound eyes and a yellow muffler just like Shocker Rider 1 from the original series. Finally the gloves and jacket back sport the same Shocker organisation emblems that can be seen on Rider 2. It's the familiar shape of a Kamen Rider, but the alternate colouring definitely gives them that unsettling feeling that something is wrong about it – perfect for evil clones. Though the mould is undoubtedly dated both in proportions and engineering it still does a great job in conveying how great these reboot Rider suits looked even if the films themselves weren't all that hot. Even back then Bandai were giving these figures fabric-like moulding on the bodies, which really helps bring them to life. Thankfully the practice of printing the copyright info on the lower back in huge text was phased out fairly soon, because that definitely pulls you out of the realism this toy was otherwise aiming for.

The colours may be considerably different, but body-wise this figure is exactly the same as the Shocker Riders' heroic counterparts so there isn't anything unique to report. Even jumping this far back in the line's history it's clear that Bandai were all about articulation from the very start, with the Shocker Rider showing off a relatively impressive array including; 

- Peg hinge head

- Ball jointed lower neck, torso, waist and wrists

- Swivel hinge shoulders and ankles

- Butterfly joint shoulders

- Drop-down ball jointed hips

- Double hinged elbows and knees

- Bicep and boot swivels 

- Single hinge toe sections

But just as age is increasingly becoming a problem with the hero Riders, so it is becoming one with the Shocker Rider variant as well. Loose hips in danger of disintegrating is a big enough problem on The First repaints of the Double Riders, so it's even more of a risk on the even older The Next figures. Even in newly opened ones like this you can feel how brittle the hips are in comparison to newer releases, which is a shame because otherwise it would still be a very expressive figure. Another problem I noticed with the Shocker Rider (and not any other variation of the mould I've handled) is that the wrist joints have the tendency to pull apart when trying to swap the hands. On the one hand that's far more preferable to them just outright breaking, but it is a little frustrating when you want to quickly swap hands and you have to suddenly reassemble the whole joint while you're at it. Other nitpicky issues the other versions have, like how not positioning the shoulders carefully can make the arms look dislocated, are naturally also present. It's a fun little figure with a lot more to offer than you might expect, but depending on how willing you are to risk breakage you might be hesitant to go all the way with it as well.

If you were hoping that the Shocker Rider might prove a little more unique when it comes to accessories, then I'm afraid you'll be disappointed as its status as a straight repaint extends to those as well. The figure comes with an identical accessory count to the Double Riders, consisting of two muffler pieces (static and windswept) and three additional pairs of hands to compliment those closed fists (two pairs of open hands and one knifestrike pose pair). The windswept muffler is the same as the one included with Kamen Rider 1 (both The First and The Next versions). Considering the Shocker Riders don't really do much in the film apart from take on Rider 1 in hand to hand combat, this was always going to the best case scenario – if the Double Riders aren't coming with anything exciting, why would the evil clones?

Ultimately there is little unique about the S.H. Figuarts Shocker Rider (THE NEXT), but then again there never needed to be either. The Shocker Riders are essentially just mass production Kamen Riders, and even though they may seem like a straight repaint it's interesting how the suit uses unique elements from both Double Riders. Nevertheless, the unique colour scheme makes it a pretty interesting figure and overall it proves to be just as fun as the other variations of the suit. The lastability of the hips is a bit of a concern, but given just how cheap these things are on the aftermarket (I've seen them for as little as 1000 yen, so they're arguably one of the cheapest Figuarts out there), they aren't too hard or costly to replace should tragedy befall them.