A New Hero, A New Legend, A New Bike.

Hello! And welcome to my review of the S.I.C. Kiwami Tamashii Trychaser.
(I hope you enjoyed the mini-comic at the start of this post)

I've been meaning to acquire this bike for a while now but only got to buying it last weekend, let me tell you though I'm a little bit let down by how basic it is, though this doesn't mean it isn't fun.

Trychaser is another very well-built vehicle for this line though it lacks any real gimmick due to being a separate item from the limited Gouram set to be released later in the year. You can compare it to the common Maisto bike in that it features free-wheeling and is quite detailed and includes rubber/pvc tires, but shies away from any glossy finish. It's more of a mix. There's semi-gloss for the body, metallic for the gold parts, dull for the mechanical and engine parts and matte for the wheel and seat.

The gold of the bike is rather pale though it makes for great contrast with Kuuga's faded gold.

The paint itself is very sharply applied and there are a few forgivable paint errors on it. I say forgivable because it doesn't detract from the overall piece. There is some weathering on parts of the bike but none on the wheels itself which is odd, in my opinion. 

The bike comes with new hands for Kuuga to grip the handlebars, which are painted in the same shade of red as used on the bike which is only slightly off with the brighter metallic red used to paint Kuuga. the difference is that whereas the undercoat of the hands that come with the bike is silver, the hands that come with Kuuga are undercoated in gold which makes the clear red sprayed over it all the more brighter. An oversight for sure, but tolerable. 

The bike also comes with Kuuga's Try-Acceller Rod, used in the show both as the Trychaser's starter key and Titan form's sword on some occasions. Very neat accessory for the figure itself. 

Then there's the clear bike stand that lets you display Kuuga on the bike and not have it fall over, if you choose not to use the kickstand of the bike itself.


Some undocumented features are also included which I think have something to do with it sharing the same basic body with the BeatChaser.

the rear boosters of the bike peg on and can be removed

as well as the head of the bike itself.


Both of these features means the body itself will be reused for kuuga's second bike. Neat!

And then at the very bottom is a hole you can use with Tamashii stands (normal and the ones included with Kuuga) for a more dynamic means of displaying the bike.

My only gripe with the bike is that it sits too low on the rear end, rather unusual for a dirt bike though perhaps it's to accommodate the Gouram  when combined. 

Overall, I'm happy with it. But not impressed.

Enjoyable as a display piece for your Kuuga, but not quite as fun without the Gouram because you can't enjoy the combination feature turning it into TryGouram.

I got mine for 1400php (34.47USD) at Greattoys Annapolis

 Kinda expensive for something rather basic, but worth it if you're a Kuuga fan.


Epilogue:

Projects

Working on some stuff this month, first is this KT sized Kamen Rider Black, based on the Takeya sculpt

Next is my version of the Rhino Grongi from Kamen Rider Kuuga. Still a long way to go on both pieces. 

Kuuga Redux!

Might as well do it again. I think I'll end up with a better looking Ultimate Kuuga than the one I already posted. At least now I'm not so heavily reliant on just slicing stuff off then piling on putty.I was able to reshape the horns with just my rotary tool and nothing else, that's probably the main difference this time around. 

I also wanted to make some slight differences in the headsculpts, I'll probably strip the paint they put on the eyes as well. I also experimented further in using thin wire to make tiny details like the trim on the guantlets and abs, as well as the shoulders. Not perfect though I'm satisfied with it, I'm considering it practice for Daguva, haha. 

At this point, all that's left would be some minor sculpting to build up the forearms and shoulder armor then I'll strip the paint off the figure before priming. The color scheme seemed off the last time I tried this custom but I intend to avoid the mistakes I made with this second version.

All this practice is slowly paying off. I'll definitely be making my version of N-Daguva-Zeba soon. 

Year-Ender custom, Kamen Rider Kuuga Ultimate Form

And with that, I take a break from 2012. Hello, 2013.

 I see you over the horizon, I look forward to meeting you soon!

Kuuga Ultimate Form Modifications

Argh. still not done with this, the alternate hands and the alternate head need to be finished and a final topcoat over this figure to seal in the paint but I'm very glad the idea worked. Almost makes me hopeful an official one might get released for this line haha. 

Surprisingly Good: Kiwami Rising Ultimate Kuuga Review

As a rule, I dislike the Rising Ultimate look of Kuuga. to me it was too bulky and super-saiyan-ish with the gold going overboard, plus the backstory of it (even just reading a summary or description) made me cringe, and yet I bought this figure on a whim when I saw its preview a few months ago. And now that I actually have it on hand, It's grown on me due to several key factors I'll talk about in this review.

To get things started, there's a lot to love in this figure. I believe the designer was Kenji Ando, for consistency's sake since he did the Mighty form as well, and as far as I can tell he did wonders with that Rising Ultimate design when he translated it into SIC. 

 Everything just looks regal, something that evokes Blade King form or Kiva Emperor, the then 5-pointed horns have grown to a 21-pointed crown that flows outward and up like a fire, and brings along the many other pointed parts of the armor, It's a very dynamic look for Kuuga and definitely cool from all sides. 

His range of motion is left unhindered since a lot of it was resculpted over the Mighty form body, based on the previews. the fact that they resolved the articulation to work well with the bulky sculpt is something I have to commend. 

And what a sculpt this is.

All around the figure, there are little details popping out, helped along by the gold over black color scheme of the figure, and here's where the super-detailed finish of most SIC designs really work.

 When you have an over-complicated show design like the ultimate form and amp it up to eleven to turn it into rising, It fumbles when you see the costume, but it looks more graceful when turned into a toy.

the figure is full of curves and sharp ends, much like the Wolf Orphnoch, but not as pointed. 

The paintjob is also very nice, with a shiny gold supplementing (or overtaking) the matte black parts, some gold trim on a few areas, and a dark ink wash in others, It's a good mix of different finishes (gloss, semi-gloss, matte) and really gives a layered look to the figure. 

The figure is lacking in the accessories department though, offering only an alternate, black eyed head and some hands as well as the cap on the back of the belt, that covers the hole you use to peg it on a tamashii stand.

A huge bonus for this figure would have been the inclusion of a base or an effect part like the Mighty form, but the figure is still cool even without it. If you bought multiples of Mighty form for whatever reason, like I did, then you'll have no problems with the lack of a stand.

But man, the package was so bare. 

Whatever problems people had with the Mighty form are back in some way with Rising Ultimate, he has that small torso joint again that makes him a bit tiny compared to the rest of the line. Something that really takes away from the powered up and bulky look of the figure.

As imposing as he is on his own he looks so short when paired up with other figures like decade. If this bothers you like it does me, just swap out his torso joint for Decade's (and with that you're obligated to get Decade! hahaha).

Overall, Rising Ultimate Kuuga is a great figure, wonderfully sculpted, well articulated and very tight joints from the outset. It suffers a bit from a lack of accessories beyond alternate parts but I'd recommend buying him still, regardless if you're a full scale SIC collector or a Kiwami Tamashii fan. 

Or even if you're not.

He retails locally for 950 PHP ($23.14), but I got mine for 169HKD ($21.81) While on vacation in Hong Kong