Totally not the ED-209: An S.I.C. Kiwami Tamashii Side Basshar Review

I've been anticipating this release since I bought Kaixa last year, and finally earlier last week I was able to get it. It was the last one in stock at the store and thank god I had a reservation done the day before. Anyway, it's been a week since I got this bad boy so I'm over the initial glee stage, and thoroughly had time to get my thoughts on this release together. 

First of all, I'm very glad they're making more bikes for this line and especially for the Faiz series (which, in case you haven't noticed by now is my second favorite Heisei series), Autovajin was very nice and solid, Sidebasshar is (somewhat) big and best appreciated in bike mode. A point I'll come back to in a bit. but first let's look at the detail on this thing:

There's so much eye candy. The amount of detail and sculpting is impressive, even more than the rider, the paintjob matches (black with gold trim, silver/gunmetal detailing) as well but it's slightly a different shade, which is nice as well, and the weathering on some parts is awesome! Especially on the engine, seat/AI treads, and exhaust pipes/missile launchers.

The bike isn't too big for Kaixa and I'd say it's a believable size for the rider. Not too small, but not exaggeratedly large as well.  

 

Plus since it's a bike with a sidecar, it eliminates the need for a kickstand. and that makes posing it easier.

...then again there's not much of a choice in how you'll pose the damn thing when it's so heavy looking. 

I can't stress how much i like seeing Kaixa on this thing. Yes it is his bike and yes obviously he has to be on it, but there's something about having the two of them together that really blows me away. They just look so awesome. 

The only real disappointments  I have is the sidecar. You can't ride anyone there unless you slice their legs off.

And then there's the fact that the handlebars are too tiny to hold with kaixa's gripping hands.

Oh well, they fucked up Kaixa's torso so whatever, Bandai. 

Overall, bike mode is my favorite since I won't have to deal with the problems of AI Mode...

Here's the fun part, converting the bike to AI mode is relatively simple, though in my opinion the transformation less integrated into the design than Autovajin, but the result is pretty great.

I honestly thought not a lot of parts had to be removed to make that, but then again engineering at this scale would make the price even more prohibitive, so I'll take what I can get. It's pretty dinosaur-like if you squint, but even if you don't it's still pretty badass. 

Mounting Kaixa is tricky since there's no grip on the handles and the footrests are obscured by the robo legs. He has to do this all by piggy-back. I wouldn't mind if the connection points for AI mode didn't get loose too quickly but they do after only 2-3 conversions from bike to AI.

So what's the verdict on this?  If you have Kaixa you're damn well obligated to buy this thing. The issue of the loose AI mode joints can be ignored if you don't play with the thing too often and only display it in the mode of your choice, and I highly recommend keeping it in bike mode, and placing other figures under the tires often, so the point that Kaixa is a huge dick comes across clearly in your display case.

I got mine for 2.2k php ($51 (mother of god.)) which is really steep but this thing's heavy. 

Save up for it if you gotta have it and you already have Kaixa, but just as an impulse buy you can skip. 

Micro-review! Microman Biomachine: Machine Force Hack and MachineTiger

Man, it's been a while since I did a review, on the Microman front we've got three figures, Comic Supes, Comic Batman, and this guy and his trike. 

Microman Biomachine is a subline of four figures and their vehicles which combine into this freaking awesome exo-suit. 

Not much to say about the individual vehicles, personally I only like the one I have and the gorilla-armed one. The rest of them look too odd.   

(Detail of the combined exo-suit and the individual components)

 I have no idea what I got myself into. It'll be hell trying to complete this set to make that giant robot, but it'll be soooo worth it.

Since this is a 2004-2005 release i was a bit wary of breakage but it turns out all he needed was a nice stretch to get his joints moving. 

The vehicle looks really nice with it's chrome finish and transparent parts, though the design looks something between a trike for an old person and a space rover-type vehicle  it's still definitely futuristicky, which is nice.  

 Tiger himself is very detailed. The basic blank body has received new molded parts and details to make him more machine-like and  the engine detail on the chest is well sculpted and designed. The chrome parts really work on this guy, as opposed to just having a chrome head and a fully transparent body.  Speaking of, the smoke colored plastic is very nice, with the gold working as a complementary color on some parts. It gives the illusion that he's not hollow at all and that there's machinery underneath, which is close to the henshin cyborg origins of this figure. 

You can only really appreciate the homage when it's standing next to a vintage (or in this case reissue) Microman figure. 

In the articulation department.... no problem there, it's all pretty tight too, and doesn't wear out too quickly.

Parts of the machine tiger also break off to form armor parts for hack. The armor is distracting, mostly because it's too opaque and covers up the chrome parts.  I don't mind it too much but I wish it combined into a weapon instead. 

Of course you gotta love the play value that comes with being compatible with the original line. 

 And this is what the robot parts look like when transformed. you can use the legs to a degree with the figure but to do it is just too silly. 

Microman Hack and Machine Tiger is a nice set to buy, and a good start for anyone trying to complete the biomachine line, but overall he gets boring real fast, with no other thing to bolster his cool factor except machine tiger itself. the bio-armor mode is meh to say the least and again, a weapon for Hack would have been great.

If you're getting the complete set in one go then I'm highly recommending it, but if you're hunting them down one by one I suggest waiting for a good price. 

I got Hack and Machine Tiger for  500php (roughly 11USD), and it's unlikely for me to manage to find the individual sets nowadays at that bargain as well, so I'm starting to save for a complete Biomachine set. 

even later solicitations

New arrivals just keep coming in, not enough time to make a post about them now. That being said, my target purchase last year has finally been brought in yesterday:

A review will definitely have to be pushed back though, just not enough time to do it. Initial feelings towards this piece are positive though and my thoughts, brief.  I'm glad 2 of my riders have legit bikes now.


Other than Sidebasshar here, I've got a pending Microman batman from a friend, as well as a Zombie viper repaint I've yet to post, so have a preview:

 hooooo boy.

Oni works

Just something i'm working on for a friend and fellow rider fan. Actually one of two projects for him. 

Anyway more on this guy, no secret here, he'll end up as this dude:

Good thing there are reviews of the full size S.I.C. I can use as a reference.

Just thought I'd take a pic.

I'm not dead yet.

I've got a backlog of shit I want to review!

For Starters:

1. Microman Biomachine 03:  Microman Hack and Biomachine Tiger.
2. Microman Superman (Comic).
3. Hybrid Action Vegeta.

and then maybe a build log of STK Bootleg Command Wolf. (Avoid it like the plague if you want quality, but if you're interested in how I'll try and fix it, stick around)

Also, so begins a downward spiral with my first Shinki (Kohiru)

I haven't even archived my gallery for my Motoko  microlady custom and Ibuki  microlady custom on my customs page. 

Interesting first two months in 2012. 

Microlady Ibuki

As done as it'll get for now.