Toybox REVIEW: S.H. Figuarts Kamen Rider Legend

Release Date: July 2024

RRP: 8800 yen

With Kamen Rider Gotchard featuring a number of different Riders and an even larger number of different forms, it's slightly surprising that one of Bandai Tamashii Nation's earliest releases in the series range was S.H. Figuarts Kamen Rider Legend, but then again knowing the character it's actually rather fitting that he would muscle in on the roster in such a way. First appearing in the two-part web series Kamen Rider Gotchard VS Kamen Rider Legend, the alternate universe Rider and totally not a rip-off of Decade would go on to meet Gotchard again both in the series itself and The Future Daybreak movie. The figure itself was released as a Tamashii web exclusive, and the fourth release in the Gotchard Figuarts range.

S.H. Figuarts Kamen Rider Legend's box matches the design layout of the other Kamen Rider Gotchard releases, but notably features the Kamen Rider Gotchard VS Kamen Rider Legend logo on the front rather than just the standard Gotchard series logo. The windowless web exclusive box adopts a yellow, blue and grey colour scheme that nicely matches the colours of Legend's own suit, with a nice big image of the figure on the front alongside the character name and usual series/brand logos. That figure image wraps around on one side of the box, whilst the other features a smaller image of the figure alongside the character name and S.H. Figuarts branding once more. On the back of the box you'll find the usual selection of images showing the figure off in a variety of poses, and then inside the figure and accessories are neatly laid out on a moulded plastic tray.

Having been saved by Tsukasa Kadoya as a child, Ho-Oh Kaguya Quartz was inspired to base Legend on Kamen Rider Decade - something which is very obvious in the suit's design. Kamen Rider Legend is very much a tribute to the Destroyer of Worlds, with the undersuit, torso armour and helmet all following the design and colour placement of the Heisei Rider. Of course Kaguya also added his own flare to the design, adorning it with all sorts of flourishes as well as an extravagant gold colour scheme to match his narcissistic personality and lavish lifestyle. It's a striking variation on the Decade template, and Bandai have done a good job recreating it in Figuarts form. The blue compound eyes are a particularly highlight, really standing out on that gold and black colour palette. The Legendriver is very nicely moulded, sporting both translucent door pieces and a printed Ride Chemy card in the centre. The Driver however does not feature moving parts, so the "Fabulous Gate" doors are stuck in their opened state. My copy of the figure also annoyingly has the Driver piece glued on at a very slight angle, meaning it doesn't sit completely parallel with the torso as it should. That personal gripe aside though, it's a great looking figure that certainly fits the character's "gorgeous" mantra.

Legend's articulation is very similar to that of Gotchard's, which in turn is pretty representative of what Kamen Rider S.H. Figuarts in general have on offer at the moment. The figure features;

- Ball jointed head, torso, waist and wrists

- Swivel hinge shoulders and ankles

- Butterfly joint shoulders

- Drop down swivel hinge hips

- Double hinge elbows and knees

- Single hinge toe sections

- Bicep and thigh swivels

Whilst that array of articulation sounds pretty good on paper, there are unfortunately a number of aspects to Legend's design that do affect poseability. Although the shoulder pads are able to fully rotate and pull slightly away from the torso to provide better arm articulation, the design still impacts just how far you can raise the arms at the shoulder. The left arm also has those soft plastic tassels to contend with as well, so there's the risk of bending those out of shape when raising the arm as well. Similarly the right leg has the sash piece that drapes down over the hip and thigh joint - not affecting them in any immediate way but definitely noticeable if you try to widen Legend's stance too far out. Legend certainly isn't by any means immobile, but the figure is perhaps better suited to his more neutral grandstanding poses than it is dynamic action ones.

Kamen Rider Legend comes with a fairly small set of accessories, simply consisting of four additional pairs of hands and the Legend Ride Magnum. Most of the hands on offer here are open ones in various different poses, allowing you to capture all of Legend's flamboyant posing in all its glory. Of course, a pair of weapon-holding hands have also been included so that he can hold the Legend Ride Magnum in either hand. The weapon itself is small but nicely detailed, with gold paintwork across its bike-shaped body as well as translucent yellow parts at the back and the "Gorgeous Accelerator" handle. It's a reasonable set of accessories for a base Legend figure (working with the assumption that any of the Legendary Legend form accessories would come with a Legendary Legend figure), but not including any Ride Chemy cards whatsoever does feel like a pretty big oversight when it's the character's primary gimmick. Even though this isn't a Shinkocchou Seihou release, the old Ryuki figures had cards included with them so there's no reason why Bandai couldn't have done the same here. They could have just printed them on the inside flap of the box (ala the original Jugglus Juggler release) if they really wanted to be lazy about it. Given how little Legend needed to come with to begin with, missing such a crucial part of the character out just seems really strange.

Given how many times he ended up appearing in Gotchard it's great that S.H. Figuarts Kamen Rider Legend got a proper release, but truth be told it does feel like a pretty bare bones one. While it does the job of filling up the roster nicely, little issues like the limited articulation and lack of Rider Chemy cards does bring down what could have been a much better release. That said it certainly fits the bill when it comes to presentation however, and in the right pose looks suitably gorgeous. Whether we'll ever see Kamen Rider Legend again post-Gotchard again is unknown, but it's at the very least nice to know Figuarts didn't forget about him like they have so many other movie and/or web series Riders.