Sunday 5 December 2021

Toybox REVIEW: S.H. Figuarts -Shinkocchou Seihou- Kamen Rider Zeronos Altair Form

S.H. Figuarts -Shinkocchou Seihou- Kamen Rider Zeronos Altair Form 01

Release Date: July 2021
RRP: 7700 yen

With the amount of Kamen Rider Den-O figures there are to (re)release as part of the S.H. Figuarts Shinkocchou Seihou range combined with the overall popularity of Den-O in general, releasing the titular Rider's main forms in two-in-one sets was a pretty genius idea on Bandai Tamashii Nation's part. That releases from the series have been pretty sparse with everything else going on in the line too, so much so that's it's taken just over a year since the release of Sword & Gun Form for S.H. Figuarts -Shinkocchou Seihou- Kamen Rider Zeronos Altair Form to finally arrive. The secondary Rider of Kamen Rider Den-O and time traveller arrives as the second Tamashii web exclusive from the series, which based on further releases already solicited for the 2022 will likely be the way all future Den-O Seihous are released.

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Like all Shinkocchou Seihou figures Kamen Rider Zeronos comes packaged in the standard two-piece box, which for Kamen Rider figures has a matte black and white design. The lid of the box features the usual bust shot of the figure inside, but in Zeronos' case the colours look really faded. While the effect they put on these shots probably makes it hard to get the metallic green across it still doesn't look quite right here. However if you want a better look at the figure just look at the underside anyway, where Bandai have kindly provided plenty of images showing off the sculpt, articulation and accessories. Open it up and you'll find the figure and accessories neatly laid across two moulded plastic trays – a deeper one holding the figure itself, and then a shallow one underneath with all the accessories.

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If there's one thing you can always rely on Shinkocchou Seihou figures for, it's a damn good paint job. Immediately upon opening Kamen Rider Zeronos you're greeted with a dazzling display of metallic green, gold and silver, all of which stand out perfectly against that matte black body. The head sculpt also has those brilliant green compound eyes, which you'd think might be lost against the metallic green of the bull horn pieces but stand out thanks to that reflective texturing underneath. Of course while the bull motif comes from the star Altair (from which the form takes its name) being a cowherd, you can't escape the very clear train motif either with those gold tracks running down the head and body. It's a great design that's been replicated on the figure perfectly - with Den-O himself having so many forms of different colouring (to the point where he can practically be his own Sentai team, as per I'm Born!), Zeronos properly stands out as that sixth ranger/extra hero with a design that's similar but with it's own unique flourishes. Arguably this is the case for all secondary Riders, but some just do it so much better than others.

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As we've all come to expect from the line by now Zeronos also has an interactive Zeronos Belt, but just how well Bandai have pulled it off is another question entirely. The (impressively detailed) Zeronos Card is packaged separately from the figure in the box, and can be both held in one of the included hands and slotted into the Belt for proper screen-accuracy. The Card slots in easily, however the problem is that the Belt has no locking mechanism once it's inserted – resulting in it rattling about whenever you move the figure and falling out really easily. You can write "DO NOT MISPLACE" in the instructions as much as you want Bandai, but if you're going not add a way to properly secure the smallest/thinnest piece in the entire set then people are going to end up losing it. Though the figure itself can't transform into Zeronos Vega form you can however insert the Card with the gold side facing forwards and turn the wheel at the middle of the belt, but getting the purchase on the wheel to get it to turn is fiddlier than you'd expect.

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Though there's some moulding differences in the torso and arms it's still essentially the Den-O body under there, the bottom half of the figure being identical. So of course you're getting pretty much exactly the same figure in terms of articulation as well, which definitely isn't a bad thing. Altogether Zeronos features;
- Ball jointed head, neck, torso, waist, wrists and hips
- Swivel hinge shoulders and hips
- Butterfly joint shoulders
- Double hinge elbows and knees (with built in swivel joint)
- Single hinge toe pieces
- Bicep and thigh swivels
There still seems to be a pretty mixed consensus on how good the built-in swivels the elbow and knee joints have had on both the OOO and Den-O Seihous - it's a good idea in theory but at the same time they are pretty fragile, leading to many collectors inadvertently tearing the joint apart when barely putting any force into moving them at all. There don't seem to be any problems like that on Zeronos, but at the same time I can't say I use those swivels all that much when posing - it's nice that they're there but they're very easily forgotten about with everything else going on. Everything else is just your typical Shinkocchou Seihou goodness - maybe even a little better than Den-O actually with the way the armour isn't so restrictive around the shoulders and waist. That said it isn't quite perfect - admittedly it could only be an issue with my copy but not only is there a pretty ugly gap between the torso and hip connection (which for the most part is hidden by the belt, but said belt does rattle around a bit) but the torso is movement is extremely stiff. Regardless of these minor gripes it still hits all the right buttons for the line though, so it's hard to imagine anyone being disappointed at what it's capable of.

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While Zeronos may not have the same form-changing gimmick as the Den-O figures it does at least still have plenty of accessories. In addition to the aforementioned Zeronos card the release also comes with eight additional hands as well as numerous components to make up the ZeroGasher in holstered, sword and bowgun mode. First of all you have the two components that make up the weapon (the blade and the grip), which can be slotted onto the holsters on either side of the belt. It can be a little fiddly to firmly attach these pieces to the holster (particularly the blade), so I recommend removing the holster piece from the belt in order to put it on tight. For Saber mode remove the plug pieces from either side of the grip, connecting the larger blade piece to one end and the extended handle piece for the other. For Bowgun mode, simply remove the front plug and attach the open bowgun piece. As cool as a properly transformable weapon might be these modular pieces are far better for a highly screen-accurate figure, since it always all the various forms of the weapon to be scaled properly. Each one is beautifully moulded and painted as per the Shinkocchou Seihou standard, and with an excellent range of hands on offer (including various weapon holding and posed hands in addition to the standard closed fists) Zeronos certainly isn't short of posing options. Just be warned that like the Zeronos card the various plug pieces and handle are all very small, so be careful not to lose any of them when swapping modes.

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S.H. Figuarts -Shinkocchou Seihou- Kamen Rider Zeronos Altair Form is another incredible release from Tamashii Nations' premium figure range, but at the same time I'd be lying if I said it wowed me the same way so many other Shinkocchou Seihou releases have. Maybe it's just because I've become so used to their high quality that the fairly standard Zeronos struggles to stand out from the crowd, but at the same time the amount of small and fiddly parts on the release can get a little frustrating as well (that Card REALLY should have been done better). That's by no means meant to put the release down though, because it's still a hell of a good figure - great sculpting, beautiful colours and fun accessories too. With most of the releases so far (as well as the releases to come) being Den-O himself, Zeronos was long overdue this figure.

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