My first real introduction came via the old Sega Cd game which was essentially 1 full episode of Kamen Rider Zo designed to be played like Dragon's Lair. The game was RIDICULOUSLY easy to play and by playing it you basically got to watch the full epsidoe of Zo in the process, all nice and Subtitled.
Then Saban brought there abortion to the States and I lost all interest.
However, within the last year all that has changed. More to the point it all changed for my interest in one specific Rider.
I have recently had the oppurtunity to watch Subtitled Episodes of Kamen Rider Black and that is one cool show. So, of course, I had to hunt down the Bandai Hero Vinyl.
If nothing else he provides a Rider for Kame Bazooka to beat up on. At least until I decide to get a KRV3 proper.
Now, Bandai Hero Vinyls are not the same as their Kaiju brethren. For one thing they come boxed with at 1 or more wire ties holding the figures in place. I imagine the extra packaging allows Bandai to charge slightly more for the star of the show, than for the monsters of the week.
Secondly these are not toys you buy for dynamic poses. Any Bandai Hero Vinyl, be it Ultraman, Kamen Rider, Sentai, etc is posed in the standard hero pose. This is straight as a board looking forward and usually with hands clenched into fists.
Articulation is limited to the arms and slightly at the waist/torso area. If you are looking for a figure that can move in a variety of action poses and ride the motorcycles, they make more expensive toys for those purposes.
These vinyls are made for 2 reasons. They are either a collector's figure for posing with the accompanying Kaiju vinyls, or a cheap figure a for a child out shopping with Mom or Dad.
But, as a decent representation of the character, it does the job. Molded in black with the details of the costume molded in and then paint aps overlaying certain areas. Actually, my one major complaint about such an insanely cheap purchase is the paint apps. I know this is not a 100+ Chogokin or Jumbo or anything, but the paint on mine is SLOPPY, not offensively so, but it could have been a bit neater.
Plus it is missing the yellow and red stripes that should be present on both wrist cuffs. But, all in all I'm satisfied to have a likeness of my favorite Rider. He'll look a little weird standing next to my veritable ARMY of Bandai Ultrman Hero Vinyls, but he does deserve his place amongst the pantheon. Besides, the black will break up all that red and silver nicely.
In the end if you have a Japanese Hero character you like a lot, especially a Tokusatsu character, and you just don't see him or her represented in vary many other types of toys, check out Bandai's Hero Vinyls. You might just luck out.
-Ray
