Toybox REVIEW: Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger Minipla Pteragordon & Bunpachy

After a rather lengthy hiatus, I have returned to the world of Super Sentai minipla to finish what I've started - the Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger Zyudenryu. This third offering from the 37th series features Kyoryu Gold's Pteragordon, as well as Kyoryu Grey's Bunpachy. What makes it even more exciting is that Pteragordon is able to transform into its own robot mode, PteraidenOh, as well as combine with the previously released Kyoryuzin for even more dino-samba fun.

These dinosaurs are broken up into three boxes - two for Pteragordon (top and lower halves) and one for Bunpachy. As per usual the building instructions are printed on the inside of the box, and each model kit also comes with a single piece of soda candy for you to enjoy. For candy toys, they sure don't come with that much candy eh? Continuing this review you'll be seeing my painted models, so to also see how they look stickered check out the pictures on this blog.

PTERAGORDON

So first up is Pteragordon, which is Kyoryu Gold's Zyudenryu in its pteranodon form. The figure is mostly moulded in black plastic, with a tiny section of dark grey for the head. All of the colouring is provided by stickers, with the gold instead being Bandai's usual sickly yellow colour. If you're a stickler for accuracy, you have a pretty extensive paint job ahead of you there are LARGE sections of gold with plenty of silver bits to do too. The blue stickers look good enough, but since I had a bit of a mishap with mine I decided to paint those details as well.

The build itself is really straightforward (although the end product will be in PteraidenOh mode if you follow the instructions) and upon completion you'll find yourself with a rather hefty looking pteranodon. Looks are only so much though, and it's disappointing to say that articulation is this form is minimal. With no proper shoulder joints flapping wings are a no go, so what you're left with is movable hands (hinged on the back, left-to-right motion on the front) and a hinged beak. With a very obvious head inside, you might want to be careful about opening that mouth too wide though...

PTERAIDENOH

With that aside, let us next turn to the more interesting aspect of this Zyudenryu - Pteragordon's robot mode PteraidenOh. The transformation mostly involves splitting the body in half, doing a bit of repositioning and putting things back together, but the pièce de résistance is changing the masked faceplate out for PteraidenOh's proper face.

Though the shoulders once again only rotate 360° and don't have any kind of up or down movement, the upper arms can swing left to right and PteraidenOh is even graced with the power of elbows...kind of. Okay so they aren't really elbows, but Pteraidoh's oversized hands have a similar range of motion giving the upper body a little more variety. Moving down the body is much better, with a fully functional waist and hinged hip, knee and feet joints. As a final bonus, the ends of the Pteranodon wings can fold out to act as blade weapons.

Just like Gabutyra, PteraidenOh can also make use of the various Zyudenryu arms for multi-dino configurations. To access these the arms have to be changed a bit - as if you were transforming it back to Pteragordon mode, only keeping the wing tips folded and swinging down the connector pegs. While PteraidenOh has used several different combinations in the show, here I've just taken pictures of the best one - PteraidenOh Western.

Unfortunately this is where PteraidenOh beings to suffer from the same flaws as Kyoryuzin. Now that we're dealing with the same type of arms, the lack of elbow come into play. The Western configuration is great, but its not enough to overlook how disappointing the overall design of these minipla have been. We have a gunslinging, sword-wielding robot, and he can't bend his arms to slash? The limited shoulders only add insult to injury. 

RAIDEN KYORYUZIN

This brings us to our first big multi-robot combination (limb-swapping doesn't count) of Kyoryuger, the rather epically named Raiden Kyoryzin. Through the lightning combination of Kyoryuzin and Pteragordon, the Kyoryugers can then take to the skies with even more power. Though theoretically it could use any arms, the show so far has only seen it using Stegotchi and Dricera.

Raiden Kyoryuzin's combining sequence couldn't be much easier. All that needs to be done is removal of Gabutyra's tail and the head from Kyoryuzin and Pteragordon's head (note: he needs to be in dinosaur mode). Then Pteragordon's body clips onto the back of Kyoruzin, with the closed tail (with the head placed inside for safety) added to the back for extra support. Finally open Pteragordon's mouth to reveal the Raiden Kyoruzin head, clipping into onto the body to complete the sequence.

Despite looking rather imposing, Raiden Kyoruzin isn't really that exciting. Aside from the the cool new head, it's just standard Kyoruzin with a static wingpack. While the wings don't get in the way of Kyoryzuin's limited arm articulation, the added bulk naturally gets in the way of the waist rotation. If you have a stand handy to pull off some flying poses then there might be a bit more fun to have here, but a grounded Raiden Kyoryuzin isn't as fun as its components are separately.

BUNPACHY

Before we begin the review, can we just take a moment to fully appreciate the sheer ridiculousness of a dinosaur wearing a hard hat? Because that is possibly one of the most genius things in Kyoryuger. Right, now that that's out of the way let's take a look at the Pachycephalosaurus-partner of spirit ranger Kyoryu Grey, Bunpachy. This single-box model is another arm-type Zyudenryu, with a similar build to Zakutor and Parasagun from the previous wave.

Bunpachy is once again a bi-pedal dinosaur, however his unique feature is a ball and chain attachment to the tail. This has been shrunk down really well for the minipla, made up on a number of individual links to give the chain a pretty good range of motion. The ball itself is both missing the bottom and hollow, so that it can be used by Bunpachy as an even fancier hat when he isn't in battle mode.

Like with most limbs the stickers cover most of the important details, but as always a lick of yellow paint will prove much more vibrant and effective. If you choose to use all of the stickers, the only bits you'll really be missing is the silver colouring of the ball and chain, which are moulded in the same dark grey as the body.

KYORYUZIN KUNG-FU

With Bunpachy in hand we can now take a look at the final of the arm-swap Kyoryuzin combinations, the bizarrely named Kyoryuzin Kung-Fu (because a hammer and flail SCREAM kung-fu). This combination uses Ankydon and Bunpachy, and while it arguably looks the most impressive of them all it still runs into the same problem - no shoulder hinges or elbows. You can play around with the waist and legs to get some half way decent poses, but without these things all you're getting arm-wise is up or down. Still, the armaments are very impressive and I'm sure the configuration will look great on the now-released Tobaspino minipla.

So is this set worth getting? Once again it depends how much of a Kyoryuger fan you are. Pteragordon is a fun kit but requires EXTENSIVE painting to look halfway decent, then its combinations are either limited or just plain underwhelming. Bunpachy on the other hand is just yet another limb, even if he is perhaps the best out of all six Zyudenryu arms. Aside from the weapons it's nothing Zakutor and Parasagun haven't done already, and with them being main Zyudenryu they come out on top as a priority choice. For the Kyoryuger fans and completists these are probably essential purchases, but it doesn't necessarily mean they're perfect toys.

Toybox REVIEW: Figma Kuroneko

Despite it's incredibly divisive ending, I will freely admit that I got far too emotionally invested in the second season of Ore no Imōto ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai (aka Oreimo), particularly during the Kyosuke/Kuroneko relationship episodes. Yes I totally ship them, and regret absolutely nothing. As a result Kuroneko ended up shooting up my "favourite anime characters" list and tracking down one of her Figma became required. So here we have a release of the standard Kuroneko Figma, numbered 101 in the main series and released back in July 2011.

Usually I'm one to praise box design, but Kuroneko's is one that doesn't sit with me very every. Its a standard Figma box so there's not much to say in terms of layout (window front, picture on spine, back features poses etc.) but the colour scheme just seems horribly off. For a gloomy goth lolita, patchwork pinks and purples just seem a little too girly. It does fit in better with the other Oreimo releases in the line, but I can't help feel something darker or Maschera-inspired would have gone down better.

Being a character of not particularly high stature, Kuroneko isn't one of the tallest Figma around (it's a shame they never made Saori, because there would have been a good height spectrum). This is Kuroneko in her usual attire - a cosplay of the character Queen of Nightmare from anime-within-an-anime Maschera: Lament of a Fallen Beast. As you can see the outfit is predominantly black with purple highlights, with a white top and underskirt as a nice contrast. There's the usual high level of articulation, however the head had pretty limited side-to-side movement because of the solid, flat hair.

Naturally it wouldn't be Figma without an impressive selection of accessories, and Kuroneko is no exception. Within the box you'll find 10 alternate hands (complete with the handy-dandy Figma plastic piece to keep them all in one place), 3 faces (stoic, unhappy and smug...just the way she should be), an alternate fringe with cat ears hairband, handbag, teacup, saucer, chair, alternate static leg piece (for sitting down poses) and two plastic sheets. What are these for you ask? Also included are a selection of stickers to turn them into the "Maschera Encyclopaedia" and the doujin she makes in one of the episodes (which at the time had only happened in the novels I guess). I don't really know why these had to be stickers though, as they'll undoubtedly lose their stickiness and experience some wear and tear over time. To add further flaw, the corresponding hands don't grip them very well at all.

To swap out the lower half of the figure, all you have to do is remove the body from the waist down then plug in the new body. Following that you'll need to take the legs off the articulated body and pop them on the new one. Since the body is a solid piece the legs won't be moving much other than for precise positioning. Moving on from the chair, the teacup hand is a little problematic as once the teacup comes apart from the hand, it won't be going back in. I don't think I've broken it as there's no signs of breakage and a clear tab/slot system, but as you can see in the image I've had to start resorting to blutack for any tea drinking poses.

The Kuroneko Figma is a fun little package, but undoubtedly a lot of her charm is in the novelty of it. If you're a big fan of the character you'll be more than satisfied with what you've got here, but by Figma's high standard she's nothing overly spectacular. The inclusion of a solid leg section is a great compliment to the chair, but unless you plan on displaying her in a sitting pose a huge chunk of the accessories are just going to be sitting there in the box. I don't regret the purchase by any means, but (and I say this based purely on looks at this point) if you're going to save up for ONE Ruri Gokou figure the special edition Kamineko Figma might be the better of the two. Unless of course you want her more popular appearance that is!

Toybox REVIEW: S.H. Figuarts Takuto Tsunashi

Despite what my collection habits may have you believe, the S.H. Figuarts line isn't just about tokusatsu toys. Other than the Kamen Rider and Super Sentai franchises the toyline has also played host to a number of anime franchises including Dragonball Z, Pretty Cure, One Piece and, more recently, Code Geass and Sailor Moon. This review is of a one-shot figure that was released back in 2011 to roughly coincide with the release of a Robot Damashii figure from the same series. I give you the Galactic Pretty Boy himself, Takuto Tsunashi from Bones' underrated Star Driver.

Takuto's packaging is pretty simplistic in terms of colours and layout, but certainly has the flare and elegance befitting of the Galactic Pretty Boy. The predominantly white front features a star shaped window, with the figure image all red save for his yellow hair section. The writing is in a very nice red foil, and the bottom has the series logo above a rainbow backdrop. The back however is much more like the show, with the figure posed on a back drop of the "zero time" the mecha fight scenes take place in.

Out of the box we can see that Bandai have adequately replicated Takuto's spindly frame, which works both to the figure's advantage and disadvantage. On the plus it makes the sculpt that more accurate to the show model, but unfortunately it means posing him can sometimes be a bit of a pain - especially with a billowing soft plastic tailcoat that has next to no articulation. However it seems Bandai anticipated the posing difficulty somewhat and made some attempts to fix it, as we'll see further down in the review.

As a figure that's now over two years old, you can also see just how far Figuarts have come in terms of engineering. While the shoulders and elbows still offer a similar amount of articulation to their more modern counterparts, looks-wise they are far more intrusive. The other annoying thing about the shoulders is that the pads almost constantly pop off when moving the arms - its just a ball and socket so not hard to pop back in, but annoying nonetheless. These old style joints aren't quite as sturdy either, so while Takuto can hold a decent amount of poses there is a fair bit of floppiness at the same time.

While not completely overloaded with accessories, Takuto comes with more than enough to keep a Star Driver fan happy. We have 3 alternate faces (standard, smiling and screaming), 9 swappable hands (including one of the Glittering Crux' "KIRABOSHI!" pose), a normal sheathed sword and finally Takuto's signature weapons - the star swords Emeraude and Saphir. These star swords are smaller versions of the ones included with the Robot Damashii Taubarn, and while they aren't a whole lot to look at detail-wise the coloured translucent plastic is really nice.

But that's not the only surprise in store! Outclassing most BETTER Figuarts, Takuto also comes with his own signature Tamashii stage. I say signature, it's the same one included with Taubarn - made of translucent red plastic and with a 5-point star base. I really like this stand, so I was glad to see it included again with the figure. Plus its a massive boost to the set as a whole since Takuto isn't so great at holding dynamic poses under his own weight (blame a huge coat and spindly anime legs).

Takuto is a great figure, but one that falls noticeably short of the usual S.H. Figuarts standard. Whether this is due to its age, build or simply the fact Bandai hadn't quite nailed poseable anime figures in this line yet, he certainly doesn't measure up to the numerous Rider and Sentai figures I have. Still, poseable Star Driver figures are something that are very hard to come by and there's unlikely to be any more in the future so if you're as big a fan of the series as me this is definitely one worth getting - either to nicely compliment the RD Taubarn or simply look fabulous on a shelf alone.

Custom Figure: TV 21 Comics Black Dalek

I'm into the TV-21 Dalek comics in a big way. So much that getting a nice little collection of comic-deco Daleks is one of my biggest priorities when it comes to customs. I've already got a Zeg, and another project in the works (which you'll see in the pictures further down) thanks to a garage kit I managed to find online. The only problem is that these require 1964 Daleks as the base, and these aren't particularly cheap to procure anymore. While a talking version is out in the near future to make life a little easier, I managed to pick an original one up from a convention and started work on my next project - the Black Dalek!

Notice how I said "Black Dalek" rather than "Dalek Supreme"? This is how the Dalek is referred to by the Emperor in the comic and to me the name connotates a little more than simply leadership. When Zeg challenges for leadership of the Daleks and proclaims his invincibility, he is demanded to test his worth against the Black Dalek. Though the Black Dalek's firepower proves completely ineffective against Zeg, the challenge suggests that this is perhaps the strongest Dalek in the empire. Not just a leader, but a black knight of sorts. The Emperor's champion.

Though other black Daleks would appear in the comics with different decos (including the Dalek Supreme of the 1965 Dr. Who and the Daleks movie), this one is based off the black/silver design that first appeared in the strip. As mentioned the base body is a 1964 Dalek, with Citadel's "Chaos Black" and "Mythril Silver" paints used.

Next on my "to do" list is a couple of standard drones in various different colourschemes!