I absolutely enjoy Tokusatsu (Japanese word for “special effects”) live action series. May it be sentai series, Ultraman series and also Kamen Rider series.
In Japan, currently in theaters is “Shin Kamen Rider”, the most successful Rider film surpassing 2 billion yen yesterday in the box office and the Anno Hideaki (known for his “Neon Genesis Evangelion” anime work) film has no doubt caught a lot of interest, especially for its more mature-themed storyline.
The storyline revolves around Hongo Takeshi and Midorikawa Ruriko fighting against a terrorist organization (SHOCKER – Sustainable Happiness Organization with Computational Knowledge Embedded Remodeling) that were responsible for outfitting Hongo with cyberconnects aka “Battle Augment-01” as part of world domination.
But before they could brainwash Hongo, he escaped with his new abilities and renamed himself Kamen Rider.
So, there are multiple Kamen Riders in this film, but for the sake of making it sound simple, Hongo is known as “Kamen Rider no. 1” and journalist Ichimonji Hayato is known as Kamen Rider no. 2.
And with my interest in Tomica collecting and Tokusatsu, I figured I would need to get the Shin Kamen Rider (ver. 1 and 2) that was released in April 2023.
But to be perfectly honest, it was a bit of a hassle because they keep selling out and the ones being sold are from third party sellers wanting double the price.
I remained patient and was able to get them, I did receive ver. 2 first of the Cyclone first.
So, I will kick off with Ichimonji Hayato (Kamen Rider no. 2) first.
Upon opening the box, the first thing you will see are two plastic baggies. One containing the Cyclone motorcycle, the other with the plastic stand for the Cyclone. But once taking the Cyclone out of the bag, you can see the detail.
The details were just fantastic! The copper metallic painting looks very good, but it’s those subtle details that really capture your attention.
Featuring a solid craftmanship from the rubber tiers to overall small details, throughout the vehicle. If anything, if you are able to get the Cyclone for under Y1200, it’s a great vehicle to have in your collection.
Overall, this is a wonderful release from Takara Tomy. Cool looking, plenty of details and just overall quality is top notch for this diecast vehicle. I definitely recommend it!
