Kamen Rider Kuuga Amazing Mighty Form (S.H. Figuarts)

The Amazing Mighty Form is Kamen Rider Kuuga's penultimate power up. This form appears in visions but not in actuality until very late in the series. It's basically the Rising Mighty Form but the red is changed to black and he's got a second shin-guard. It has it's own symbol on the back of the hands like the Rising forms.

This figure is an older S.H. Figuarts so he's got die-cast metal feet and some of the joints look wonky after a decade of figure engineering improvements but I like him. Amazing Mighty checks that dark and sleek box but I'm glad this wasn't Kuuga's primary look throughout the series. 

The Amazing Mighty Form didn't use any weapons so he only comes with some extra hands but that's all he really needs. I like the symmetry of Kuuga's first form being white and is last forms being black with a nice spread of colours in between. I haven't tracked down Kuuga's Ultimate Form yet but I have one more Kamen Rider Kuuga post coming up tomorrow. Stay Tuned!

Kamen Rider Kuuga Rising Mighty Form & BeatChaser 2000 (SIC Kiwami Damashii)

This Kiwami Damashii box set includes Kuuga in his Rising Mighty form, the last of the Rising Forms, and the BeatChaser 2000, Kuuga's second motorcycle in the series.

The Rising Mighty form continues the trend of the Rising Forms adding gold trim and a yellow stone to the look, with the addition of a shin-guard on Kuuga's right leg. The distorted style of the Super Imaginative Chogokin line is evident here but isn't too far out for my tastes. He still looks heroic and not horrific.

Kamen Rider Kuuga Rising Dragon Form (S.H. Figuarts)

The Rising Dragon form is the powered up of the Dragon Form. The Dragon Rod becomes a double sided spear and as with all the Rising forms all that glitters is gold. 

I don't have much else to say about this guy that I haven't said about the Rising Titan or Rising Pegasus figures. The predominance of a single colour in these various forms is part of what really attracts me to the designs. A lot of Kamen Rider designs can get too busy or overstuffed with details, especially ones debuting later in the series. I feel that Kuuga's relative simplicity in this way has led to stronger designs that still look good nearly 20 years later.

Kamen Rider Kuuga Rising Pegasus Form (S.H. Figuarts)

I got the Kuuga Rising Pegasus and Rising Dragon figures in a box set that I think was some sort of exclusive back in 2010. Five-ish years later it was less in demand and I found it online somewhere.

Again the main differences between the Pegasus form and Rising Pegasus are the gold highlights and the yellow stone in the middle of the belt. The hands are a bit rubbery which is good for switching them out but makes the holding hands have less of a grip. Though it's not as dire as I'd read in some reviews of these figures online.

Kamen Rider Kuuga Rising Pegasus is a fun addition to my Kuuga Collection and sports all the great details you'd expect from S.H. Figuarts.

Kamen Rider Kuuga Rising Titan Form (S.H. Figuarts)

The first of Kuuga's next stage of power-up forms is the Rising Titan Form and this was actually one of the first Kamen Rider Kuuga figures I got. Purple is one of my favourite colours so this form appeals to me more than the Titan Form plus now he has TWO swords. This figure was an exclusive when first released but since I'm a relative latecomer to Kamen Rider fandom I was able find it at a fairly reasonable price because it was years later.

In the Rising forms Kuuga's Amadam stone turns yellow and the trim of his armour (where the Linto Tribe hieropglyphs are) turns gold. The sword gets an upgrade too, it's almost comically longer with a golden extension to the blade and the Rising Titan Form allows Kuuga to generate a second sword.

This figure is an older S.H. Figuarts like the Growing Form figure I have and thus has die cast feet and a much shinier finish on the black of the arms and legs. The holding hands really rubbery and don't hold onto the swords as firmly they could which is the main drawback to this figure and a reason why I went for the SIC Kiwami Damashii figures for the non-Rising forms.

Kamen Rider Kuuga Titan Form (SIC Kiwami Damashii)

Kuuga's Titan form is almost like his tank mode and is armed with the Titan Sword. His armour turns mostly silver/grey with purple for the trim as well as his eyes and the stone in the Arcle belt. The Titan form has two shoulder pads and can manifest a sword from any stick-like object, usually one side of the handlebars of the TryChaser 2000 motorcycle.

Similar to the Kiwami Damashii Pegasus form figure, this guy has some more accents and detailing on his armour than the screen version. Also the shoulder pads are pointier. Despite the diminutive size of the figure it still manages to project a regality. All thumbs up on this one too!

Kamen Rider Kuuga Pegasus Form (SIC Kiwami Damashii)

Kuuga's green Pegasus form is the next to appear in the series. Armed with the Pegasus Bowgun, this form heightens Yusuke's senses allowing him to target aerial foes and eliminate them. The main difference in this new form is the addition of a shoulder guard on Kuuga's left shoulder. The Bowgun is a fairly common hybrid in tokustatsu and anime. Probably because archery has a cool aesthetic but is more complicated to incorporate into live action fight scenes certainly and ordinary arrows tend not to have the power to stop the dangerous monsters faced by our heroes.

Pegasus Form has a more armoured look than the Dragon form figure with a few more details than on the show but but in general looks very similar. Articulation is the same and again it's an overall good figure.

Kamen Rider Kuuga Dragon Form (SIC Kiwami Damashii)

The third form of Kamen Rider Kuuga is his blue Dragon form which comes with the Dragon Rod as its weapon. Kamen Rider Kuuga was one of the first series I watched and is one of my favourites. It's very bare-bones compared to some of the later series and is the only Heisei series to feature only one Kamen Rider.

As mentioned when I talked about his Growing Form and Mighty Form I also just really love the design of Kuuga and as such he is one of the few Riders for whom I wanted to get a figure representing all of his forms. The S.H. Figuarts version was not particularly well reviewed online nor was it easily available so when I found this three pack of the Dragon, Pegasus, and Titan forms in the smaller SIC Kiwamii Damashii line I scooped them up.

Super Imaginative Chogokin is a toyline that reimagines characters (mostly Kamen Riders) through a darker lens, typically ratcheting up the insectoid features. I'm not a huge fan of most of those looks but for Kuuga it didn't through out the parts that I really liked. The Kiwami Damashii sub-line are smaller scale figures in the SIC motif.

Each figure in the set has a stand with a unique deco. The articulation is not as great as Figuarts but is certainly decent for a smaller figure. The sculpting and moulding are very impressive and the energized version of the Dragon Rod is a super fun accessory.

Today marks the start of the longest stretch of daily posts I've done thus far. I'm going be posting a new form of Kamen Rider Kuuga every day until I exhaust my supply so stay tuned!

Mazinger Weapon Set (Super Robot Chogokin)

Today we'll check out the Mazinger Z Weapon Set that gives some extra accessories to the Super Robot Chogokin Mazinger Z. Primarily I wanted the Rocket Punch effect parts. Not much else I have to say about it beyond it's cool and I'm glad I got it.

Mazinger Z (Super Robot Chogokin)

Mazinger Z is the first giant robot in anime to be piloted from the inside. In 1972 Go Nagai started a phenomenon when Kabuto Kouji first docked the Hover Pilder into Mazinger Z's noggin. Mazinger Z led the way in a boom of 1970's super robot anime and established several conventions of the genre. I've only watched the first handful of episodes but enjoy the funky designs of the robots and the action scenes. There's some casual 1970's sexism despite the fact that the female pilot of the robot Aphrodite A is more experienced and competent than Kouji is at first. The Super Robot Chogokin line is primarily for collectors who either cannot afford or don't really have room for the larger Soul of Chogokin figures. I probably fall into both of those categories but the smaller Super Robot Chogokin dudes are well articulated and are probably akin to the S.H. Figuarts line but focussing only on robots and still maintaining some die cast metal content.

Mazinger Z has a very shiny finish on his torso and there's some pretty reflective chrome and gold on his accessories. The Pilder is removable so you can relive the sequence of Kouji landing and bringing the giant robot to life. As I've only seen a few episodes of the anime I haven't seen the sword or the bigger hand. But they are cool and this robot is pretty awesome.

Kamen Rider 2 & Cyclone (S.H. Figuarts)

After the original actor playing Kamen Rider was seriously injured in a motorcycle stunt the show introduced Ichimonji Hayato as Kamen Rider Nigo. Within the story of the show Ichimonji is another cyborg created by Shocker who rebels and Hongo entrusts him with protecting Japan while he goes to fight Shocker overseas. The main differences between the two riders' original looks are the silver stripe down Nigo's arms and legs and the darker colour of his helmet. When Hongo eventually returns the two get new looks that differ only in the colour of the gloves and boots, and the number of stripes along the arms and legs. You can see Kamen Rider Ichigo's new look here. I chose to get this set because it offered a totally different motorcycle and a more distinct look for our hero.

Glow-in-the-Dark Space Ghost (One:12 Collective)

The piece-de-resistance of my batch of Space Ghost collectibles, the inspiration for purchasing the Jace, Jan, & Blip set, we have the One:12 Collective Space Ghost by Mezco Toyz. I have Jay of the Toy Shelf to thank/blame for letting me know about this figure's existence. I love Space Ghost but I love glow-in-the-dark things even more so this was a must get for me.

The figure is very much an updated version of the Mego-style toys. He sports a cloth costume and cape (both non-removable) but has modern articulation and alternate hands with his various rays and beams. And he GLOWS-IN-THE-DARK!

Let's see that beautiful Alex Toth art again.