[Toys] Action Hero-Pro Ryukendo

This is an odd one. It's a Japanese superhero that isn't from Kamen Rider or Super Sentai, and isn't made by Bandai or Toei.

Madan Senki Ryukendo is a tokusatsu which was an attempt by Takara and We've Inc. in an attempt to cash in on the success of aforementioned superheroes, and while I've only seen a little bit of the show, I do love the design scheme it has and the show is taking its own direction. I think it's worth checking out if only for some variety.

Now, it's time to raijin up.

Takara, best known for their creation and distribution of Transformers in Japan, has had years of experience making quality action figures with their Microman toyline (coincidentally, where Transformers originated from!), so let's see how they handle tokusatsu!

Akin to Bandai's Souchaku Henshin line (featured various times on this site) this figure is a blank boy which comes with attachable armor pieces. Unlike Souchaku Henshin, THERE'S SO MANY. It's mainly because these various leg and arm guards devide into multiple pieces. I like the amount of building going on since it almost feels like a heavily simplified model kit, but I can't help but feel it makes him a bit more fragile because of it.

The articulation, hoo boy, where to begin...

He's got some basic stuff you expect from high quality figures today. Double-jointed knees and elbows, balljoints in the chest, thigh and bicep swivels, balljointed shoulders (which are akin to Figuarts as I noticed later), balljoint on the top and bottom of the neck, and balljoint ankles with a subtle balljoint wrist joint. Also akin to Souchaku Henshin he has articulated fingers, just one though.

Some stuff that's unique to this, however... First off, the thumb is articulated, as illustrated above. It's actually useful in making him hold the few accessories he has.

The thighs have this weird unnecessary part in the back which is spring-loaded and made to push inward when the leg is bent all the way back, allowing some clearance. It's barely needed but damn cool they thought this deeply into the joint work.

The feet are something I'd want to praise for articulation but really can't. See, he comes with a pair of feet that has TWO toe joints, allowing it to bend in fairly unearthly ways. But the thing is, they're meant for the blank body, and the feet that are part of the armor have no toe joint due to how the armor is covering the entire foot. Still cool they included this, as though they knew some people might want to display the blank body.

Overall the articulation pleases, and while it may not the be near-flawless display that Figuarts has, it's got plenty of range.

 

The armor attaches like so, or this is how I usually attach it. It's almost in layers. One detail I will say here, this shows how Souchaku Henshin could have handled the removable helmet but didn't. I kinda think the helmet size works with this design and at this scale, but it probably wouldn't have worked out so well on some of the Kamen Rider designs.

The Gekiryuken is the large Kingdom Hearts-esque sword you see here. It's large and it's something he can hold, that's about it. Also (barely) seen here is the Madan Key Holder that is on the side of the belt. Actually, it kinda keeps the belt in place, but removing it doesn't loosen the belt much. It's a nice accessory for them to make removable even if it can't be held very easily.

He also comes with the Madan Knuckle, a brass knuckle type of device which he uses for a long-distance energy blaster. To attach it to him you kinda need to disassemble it into three pieces (or I do for the sake of not having it fall apart in the process) by sliding his hand into the handle, attaching the middle piece, then placing the top piece back on. You also need to remove the dragon head from his forearm armor, because the top of the Madan Knuckle pegs into the whole once occupied by the aforementioned removed piece. Neat piece of engineering.

And this is the alternate middle piece which is splayed open for attack! I will give a warning here; I saw stress marks on both of these interchangable pieces. Part of it might be because I tried to switch it out without dissembly - don't ask. Point is, these pieces are thin and made of a plastic that I don't trust to be all that sturdy, so I'd be careful with it if I were you. I don't see myself switching to the splayed piece pictured above very often now that I'm seeing a possible breaking point in it.

That said, how's this guy hold up? Pretty well, I gotta say. If you like the design, he's a nice figure to get, but as a warning to those concerned with scale, he's a little over 6" tall, and looks a full head taller than Kamen Rider figures, so if you plan to get these guys together for photos of your own sinful crossover of brands, then angled shots help!

Anyway, overall this guy is pretty cool. I don't regret picking him up or taking a chance to test drive another company's take on tokusatsu designs.

Next on my list of things to review... Gosh, he was adamant on arriving. Now that he's here, I finally have a baddie for my Riders to fight.