Sunday, November 28, 2010

MG Figurerise Kamen Rider W Cyclone Joker Part 8 [Final]

Joker! Maximum Drive!

The last part of my review on MG Figurerise 1/8 Kamen Rider W Cyclone Joker. ^^







"Ordinary" kick. XD


















And that's how I remembered the Rider Kick of Kamen Rider W Cyclone Joker from the video clip I watched in the past. Is not entirely accurate I suppose. ^^; Also, as you should be able to tell from the assembly of this model, there's no way for the figure to split entirely in half for that unique finishing move. ^^;

Done with this kit, I must say it was a very special build experience. ^^; Apart from the fastest get-to-completion in my record, the absence of mechanical details in the parts (which resulted in no panel-lining work) as well as most of them being pretty big in size and are made of different materials do make the kit very fun to assemble. ^^ It's definitely a refreshing experience after so many Gundam kits that were done in the usual, similar methods.

And since I used just a few of the foil stickers given, a huge portion of it is untouched. ^^



On the other hand, while I do acknowledge the quality of this kit, mainly its articulation and part separation are on par with the Gunplas in the MG series, I'm not really sure why Bandai would create a sub-series to cater for action figure type releases.

If you look at the all the 5 MG Figurerise releases so far, none of them has a definite consistent design point:
- Son Goku, Super Saiyan Son Goku and Luffy D. Monkey come with clear stickers and water slide decals, while Kamen Rider W (Cyclone Joker and Lunar Trigger) don't.
- Luffy doesn't have any "mechanical muscle", a feature all the other releases have.
- Only Kamen Rider W has articulated fingers, while the other 3 come with swappable option hand units instead.

I do not believe that the label of "MG" means this kit is more superior than the other plamo series, just perhaps more features and gimmicks. So even if it doesn't bear the MG label, I don't think the quality would be any lower than the current design. A standalone plamo line would be somewhat more suitable I think, like the recently launched "Digimon Reboot" series. The redefined line details, proportion and articulation of the pilot release, Omegamon are amazing.

Comparison with MG Gundam RX-78-2 Ver. OYW:


Obviously much taller than the Gundam.


Oddly enough, the size of the hand unit is almost the same. ^^;

Comparison with Hot Toys' 1/6 Jill Valentine (B.S.A.A. Version):



Obviously much smaller than the action figure because of the scale.

Perhaps it's still too early to really understand what Bandai is planning with the MG Figurerise series. It's still a very young series anyway, and we need more releases to really see that. Then again, seeing that the next 4 releases are all from "Kamen Rider W" - Heat Metal, Fang Joker, Skull and Accel, I'm wondering if the focus of the series will be on Kamen Riders - "armored humanoid figure" where some of the features like the "mechanical muscle" and movable fingers can be implemented without having to look too awkward as compared to other characters like Son Goku and Luffy. ^^

All reviews on MG Figurerise 1/8 Kamen Rider W Cyclone Joker:
Part 1: The mirror
Part 2: Artistic time
Part 3: Mechanical muscle
Part 4: The invisible split
Part 5: All silver joints
Part 6: W-Fin on!
Part 7: It's an action figure
Part 8 [Final]: Joker! Maximum Drive!

View full gallery:
MG Figurerise 1/8 Kamen Rider W Cyclone Joker

3 comments:

sl619 said...

Great coverage on the W ngee. ^^
im very much anticipating for the Accel and see how much improvement is made to make Accel transformable.

Chris said...

So far, the MG Figurerise series focused on fighting, ass-kicking guys from popular series. I wonder if we'll ever see the day when a girl character is introduced into MG Figurerise. XD

Unknown said...

I bought omegamon yesterday. I was on the fence, but couldn't wait anymore when amiami was down to 2 left. The new details look great. Are you thinking of getting omegamon? I hear it's 1/100 size so while it may not be mg stamped, could be just as interesting as the other mg figurises.