R&M3 Kamen Rider Zolda

Kitaoka Shuichi has everything. Good looks. Money. An outstanding career. A faithful butler cum bodyguard cum cook.

Kitaoka nonetheless takes part in a deadly game as Kamen Rider Zolda because he badly needs the prize — one reality-altering wish.

The man who has everything also has a terminal illness and he’s running out of time.

Bandai’s R&M3 Kamen Rider Zolda set is the third in the Rider & Monster action figure series based on the Kamen Rider Ryuki show. It retailed for 3200 yen when it was first released in 2002 but I got it from Jusco Mid Valley early last month for RM79.92 thanks a 20 per cent discount.

Contents

The set comes in a box with an inner plastic tray containing the following:

• Kamen Rider Zolda figure.
• Magnagiga figure.
• Magnavisor.
• Bipod.
• 3 Advent Cards.
• Double–sided instruction sheet in Chinese and English.

Zolda

It’s been suggested (1, 2) “Zolda” is derived from “soldier” but that doesn’t really tie in with Kitaoka’s character or Zolda’s motivations.

This is even less of a traditional Kamen Rider design than Ryuki. Indeed, Zolda’s cool Cylon eye effect and the rotating gears on his helmet (both were understandably omitted from the action figure) actually suggest cyborg origins.

This is a nice design but the combination of green, black and silver chrome doesn’t appeal to me much. A nitpicky bastard (e.g. me) might also fuss over minor missteps (e.g. the slightly miscoloured Magnavisor) but Bandai’s action figure is largely faithful to the character.

The figure stands about 13cm tall with the antennae adding a few millimetres to the height. Being all-plastic (with the exception of the screws and rivets), it’s solid enough to survive a few falls and the antennae are made of pliable plastic which means they’re unlikely to snap off.

R&M Zolda has all the joints and ports of the Ryuki figure reviewed earlier but has an additional hinge joint for each shoulder pad. Despite the presence of those extra joints, the pads do still restrict posability at the shoulders.

Green Bull

“Magna” is Latin for “great” and “giga” comes from the Greek word “gigas” meaning “giant” which means Magnagiga is more or less “one big sumbitch.” Appropriately enough, the figure is the reason why the box is twice as thick as R&M1 Kamen Rider Ryuki’s box.

Magnagiga stands about 16cm tall with the tips of the horns adding another 2cm to the height. Construction-wise, the figure’s all plastic except for the metal screws and rivets.

This is a decent action figure on its own. The articulation low-down:

• Head — swivel joint.
• Shoulders — swivel and hinge combination joints.
• Biceps — swivel joints.
• Elbows — hinge joints.
• Hips — ball joints.
• Knees — hinge joints.
• Left claws — hinge joints for the claws as well as the claw “teeth” pieces.
• Horns — swivel joints.

In addition, the chest opens and cannons lower from the shins in order to reproduce Zolda’s final attack, the End of the World.

Annoyingly, some parts are prone to popping off with the shoulder pads being the biggest pains. This is especially exasperating since it’s not apparent to me why Magnagiga’s shoulder pads have been made removable in the first place.

Giga gear

Zolda’s Magnavisor, the card-reader device used to trigger his special attacks, comes in the form of gun which can be holstered at Zolda’s hip port.

Additional arms and armour comes from Magnagiga whose entire self can be dismantled for that express purpose.

For starters, Magnagiga’s head detaches to become the forearm-mounted Gigahorn.

Magnagiga’s arms and back detach and straighten to become the oversized Gigalauncher. (I’m guessing it’s called Gigalauncher mainly because “Penis Compensator” didn’t pass the copyright search.) The 29.5cm-long weapon attaches to Zolda’s hip port and includes handles for the figure to grip but its sheer size makes it difficult to be held without the use of the provided bipod and stand.

The stand (formed from Magnagiga’s trunk) also doubles as an oversized shield called Giga Armor.

Magnagiga’s lower half folds up to become the Gigacannon which plugs into Zolda’s back ports.

Finally, Magnagiga’s kneecaps become armour pieces called Gigatector which attach to Zolda’s shoulder pads. Zolda looks well-armoured as it is so I’m not sure why he would need additional armour for the shoulders. Perhaps he’s seen what happened to Brawn.

Bottom line

The Souchaku Henshin and SIC lines get more attention from collectors but I really like the R&M series since it scores highly in the value-for-money department. The R&M3 Kamen Rider Zolda set is typical of the series with two nice action figures that are faithful to the source material and as such it gets a thumbs-up from me.

Magnalinks:

• Reviews (in Japanese) by K and Yone. Yone has an imposing (if exaggerated) fan-mode to share while K has discovered an alternative use for Magnagiga’s head.
• Kamen Rider Zolda data by TV-Asahi, Jillun and Joey Leung.
• Additional photos of the figure.