VioFitz

Kamen Rider BLACK Box Front & Back View

Battle Hopper Box Front & Back View

NOW, this is what I called S.H.Figuarts!!!! I present you Kamen Rider BLACK & Battle Hopper Renewal Ver. review!! Masked Rider BLACK, I think you should familiar with this since I did many review on this series. Especially, this one. Kamen Rider Black is the primary and eponymous protagonist in the 1987-1988 Kamen Rider Series Kamen Rider Black, later evolving into Kamen Rider Black RX. His original name is Century King Black Sun. The Battle Hopper is a living motorcycle created by Gorgom, made specifically for the upcoming Creation Kings Black Sun and Shadow Moon. Before the finale, Battle Hopper was later stolen by Shadow Moon and dies in the final episode, but would later be resurrected as Acrobatter in response to Black’s evolution to Black RX. Enough for the character introductions, so I’m going to review this. Black Renewal Ver. is a standard release (much the same like the old ver.) & the box was colored dark green to blackish & there’s an FX motives on it, the design box is pretty similar to my 1Go Sakurajima except that 1Go Sakurajima’s box is all plain black. Battle Hopper’s design box is also similar to Black but is made for SHF bike size but, slightly smaller than my Cyclone box. It was colored green with aquatic cyan-ish resembling to the coloring of Battle Hopper itself. In the old ver. Battle Hopper is an exclusive release, while the renewal is standard release so be grateful for it. But, I’m telling you that standard release means you’ll have to accept the risk of the cut order, especially on this series. Also, both of their old ver.’s boxes was colored plain gray & the box art showcase has their real life photos of the stunt actor & real size bike instead of their respective figure photo art. Lastly, Black & Battle Hopper comes up with a very limited accessories.

Interchangeable Accessories for Black

Accessories For Battle Hopper

Black comes with 8 hand accessories while Battle Hopper comes with 2 kinds of Display Stand.

Preview Pose

In overall, Black Renewal Ver. is very2 tremendously well made & almost accurate to how he looks in the show, some says he looked like a mini RAH (Real Action Heroes). Well, not fully agree since there are some differences but still, with that intense details Bandai did, it beats far enough his old ver. Black still dons his Matte Black colored outfit which has red & yellow stripes on his body, same goes to his Grasshopper helmet, & he has his newly molded trademark Kingstone belt. Unlike the old one, his outfit felt more like an original spandex looks as you can see from the fabric details on it. Fortunately, like the old one Black still got his upper bicep cut articulations!! So I can create a crossed arm pose for him! Again, much like the recent SHF release he didn’t have a diecast material at all, so he feels light but atleast a bit heavier than my SHF Zyurangers.

Preview Pose

Generally, there is no major changes on Battle Hopper’s chassis and body but, atleast the new paintjob and the newly head made it convincing enough to be considered as a renewal. Battle Hopper’s body was overally colored in green aquatic cyan-ish, also not forgetting it’s red & white stripes & the compound red light/eyes. The overall are black (tires, upper & lower body, handle bars, forks & shocks (front), exhaust tube, & pedals), silver (wheel spokes, handle bars, tank fuels, & antennas), dark silver (engines, inside body, forks & shocks (back), & sidestand), & brown headlight. Unlike Cyclone, Battle Hopper is a motorcycle for riding a higher ground & hopping around and the actual bike was based from Suzuki RA125. Battle Hopper is given a diecast material for it’s sidestand & some inside body, but it still light, though.

Helmet Sculpt

Head Sculpt

Black’s helmet is very different compare to his old counterpart, it looked close accurate to the show. I agree the details are quite convincing enough, the antennas now are made from a hard plastic rather than the old rubber but, this changes are not really helping as the antennas became really fragile so, I need to be extra careful with those. Might don’t wanna let your guard down from breaking them accidentally… The head sculpt of Battle hopper is also much like Black himself from the intensity of the sculpt, I was surprised when I see this, it’s like I’m seeing a real Battle Hopper motorbike. Man… Frankly, their overall are very2 speechless for me… The compound eyes… The stripes… The sculpt… Simply awesome!! Definitely a truly masterpiece of shit! Nowonder, both Black & Battle Hopper PO gone in less than 5 minutes in the webshop….

Front, Side, & Back View

Yes, I definitely agree to many people, this Black is far more bulked up & better proportioned. The articulations are much the same like my ShadowMoon, which Black’s crotch has no extra articulations compare to his old version. Black Renewal’s body is overally big I must say but, he retained ShadowMoon’s proportion which he has slimmer waist & Black now has knee pad on his knees. The ankle’s stripe wrists are molded separately we can even lift or swivel them. However,  his shoulder pads comes up with ball jointed style but, he couldn’t raise the shoulder pads higher like how in the old one works… Yes, we can’t create a scene where he jump during his shoulder pad’s raised for that fall landing after jumping or even bounce when he run. Compare to my other SHF, Black’s arms can be taken off easily however, the gap between his shoulders & arms are too protruding you can see his arm’s stem as his armpit. The Kingstone belt is much better looking than the old version but it appears the belt was almost covered with his pelvic not protruded like the original one even the old ver. The Gorgom’s logo on his chest has a sculpt on it, unlike the old one which only painted.

Front, Side, Back, & Upper View

This is how Battle Hopper looks from certain angle, in overall appearance Battle Hopper looked slim. The painting are quite nice although, mine one was kinda messy from it’s white stripes & green between the lower body. Much like Cyclone, the articulations are working 2 wheels, spring on the back wheel, moving forks, & sidestand. Unlike the Cyclone, Battle Hopper’s handle bars is made from a rubber plastic & that goes to it’s hopper spikes. But, still… Battle Hopper is a very2 solid motorbike, I loved everything on them.

Option Hand Parts

BATTLE HOPPER!!

Black’s option parts only consists interchangeable hands, nothing else… Well, that is the same case like his old ver., except the renewal was given 8 hands while the old one only given 5 hands. Yes, some people was kinda displeased, because they felt like he still need something like Rider Punch/Kick FX… But, it doesn’t matter for me since I never liked a lifeless FX. Well, in the show, Black was actually weaponless, only wielded with his fist & kick. Okay, the option hand parts was fistful hands from the one that already attached, the extras are pair of outstreched palm, attached open palm like a chop, 2 pair of variant extra hand parts which is a 2 open finger & open splayed 2 fingers, & a pair grasping hands for riding Battle Hopper or holding ShadowMoon’s Satan Saber. The hands are much smaller than the old ver. & the details is pretty standard for me, except more real life compare to the old ver. one.. Yes, 2 open fingers was meant to create his trademark style, the open splayed 2 fingers was meant to recreate a scene where he uses the clutch on Battle Hopper… But, another option is actually come in handy to create my own battle pose for him.. Black’s grasping hand hole are made a bit wider, so that he can hold Satan Saber more fitting than the old one. In the old version, the grasping hands are included in Battle Hopper Old version. But, in the renewal version they are included in Black himself.

Stand Display

Toki o koero sora o kakero kono hoshi no tame!
Atsuku moyase namida nagase asu to iu hi ni!
Kamen rider BLACK! Kamen rider BLACK!

Riding Battle Hopper with Nene

a clear colored wheel stand display to maintain Battle Hopper’s position, when we don’t use sidestand on it. & a joint connector for jumping scenes, the pose is shown above. As you can see, joint connector must be attached into triple jointed stand from Tamashii Stage Act 4 clear colored, but you can also use Stage Act 5 or Trident as long as they shared same coloring & supporting the joint connector that Bandai included in Battle Hopper. In the old ver., Battle Hopper is included with a triple jointed stand (black colored & it’s printed with Kamen Rider Black logo & the art of Black riding Battle Hopper) & like I said earlier, it is also included with old Black’s grasping hands.

With ShadowMoon

Due to the availability ShadowMoon’s grasping hands, ShadowMoon can ride Battle Hopper himself just like in the show when he stole Battle Hopper. Very cool, isn’t it? Now, I can finally make my ShadowMoon ride Battle Hopper! Btw, if you want to see my ShadowMoon review, you can check him here.

ShadowMoon & BLACK

 To the height comparison first, from side view ShadowMoon is slightly taller than Black but they overally same proportioned to me. However, some people even prefer ShadowMoon’s body better than Black.

COMPARISON BETWEEN THE OLD VERSION

Kamen Rider BLACK old & Renewal Comparison

 The comparison between the old version is very different as hell, the old one feels like a mere toy but his arms & hands are slightly bigger than the renewal version & the proportion of the Old Black looked awkward, mostly on his waist, hip, & crotch. Due to their biggest differences, most people throw the Old version to change getting the renewal version, but not for me! I’m a true fans of Kamen Rider Black series, so I’ll keep him in honor of Kotaro Onii-san!

Neck & Waist Articulations 01

Neck & Waist Articulations 02

Neck & Waist Articulations 03

 Wow, their articulations are almost look alike from the pictures shown, except old Black doesn’t have extra joints under his Kingstone belt like Renewal had, so Renewal Wins! But, Even so… Old Black’s movements can still works as Black Renewal did, they can even swivel their body perfectly matches. The problem is Old Black’s proportions looks off

Hand Articulations

Crossed Arms Pose

Shoulder Articulations

Well, their arms & hands articulations also works the same… Both versions can even mimicking their movements including my favorite pose of Crossed Arm since both has upper bicep joints on the shoulder which allow us to twist their arms, eventhough BLACK old got no butterfly joints but, he can still do a close hug arms perfectly. So, both versions wins!!

Knee & Feet Articulations

Their knee & feet articulations works perfectly the same in my opinion… But, since Black Renewal has extra joint under his Kingstone belt, he can bend his waist even more than the Old Version. & from the looks you can already tell that renewal’s joints are more well hidden that old one. Yes, once again Renewal wins!!

Shoulders & Legs Articulations

High Kick

Black Renewal’s shoulder joints works even vast than the old version, as he can raise his arms even higher. But, the gap of the joints are clearly be seen enough than the old version. They got a different kinds of shoulder pad joints, Old Black has them with hinge joint which able to raise the shoulder pad higher than Black Renewal did. While Black Renewal comes up with ball jointed style but, he couldn’t raise the shoulder pad very much. Well, they’re both has their own advantage & disadvantage so, I think I’ll let you decide which version’s articulations is much more preferable. I bet you’ll prefer Renewal far better, right? Unfortunately, Black Renewal has a limit on his crotch articulations, so he couldn’t do wider gymnastic split pose as the Old Version did very smoothly. So, judging from the high kick photo, made the Old Black Wins!!

Recreated Original Scenes

Well, in overall… Their articulations works pretty much the same except few things I mentioned above. & from this pictures, we can still recreate faithful pose as the TV Counterpart did on both versions. But, in overall looks Black Renewal owns!! This original Black picture came from the boxart of Old Black’s box. Since, the old version’s box showed them with original stunt actor photo rather than official prototype photos in the renewal version.

BATTLE HOPPER

Comparison between the old version

Side view

With their respective Riders

UPDATE: Now, I got my own SHF EX Battle Hopper & I will review the comparisons. Well, both renewal & old actually shares the same body sculpt & the recycled chassis from Souchaku Henshin Series Battle Hopper & Acrobatter. The major differences are the old one has metallic green color which really shine, different head sculpt which a recycled from SHS counterpart & the antennas of the old one was made from soft plastic. They may looked different despite having exact same body & chassis which surprised me a little but, now I know their actual differences aren’t that big except the old one was given rich accessories.

Battle Hopper in the show.

Overall, the renewal has the closest looks of the show counterpart. Mainly on the head & coloring but, it doesn’t mean the renewal fully captures the real one perfectly as my friend spotted itsy bitsy different build between the body & the head. Which I’m actually surprised he noticed that… But, I’m still happy with both renewal & old.

Nene: “KYAAAAAAAAHHHH…..”

BLACK: “I gotcha!”

BLACK: “Take her to the safest place!!”

BLACK protecting the girls

BLACK: “I love being alive in this blue cosmos.”

I Just love this! I definitely love this figures!! Truly a true legend!! Whenever I pose them, they looked very heroic & badass!! I really-really admire this SHF alot!! Thank you so much Shotaro Ishinomori for creating this legend, & Bandai for bringing them into a very decent figures!! YES, If you asked me recommended or not, my answer is definitely YES!! They’re very worth to have but, I’ve heard the price gets skyrocket by now & it keeps growing due to the popularity of this series. Man, on the begining I already got a bad premonition this renewal is going to be very boomed, & the result is very beyond from what I imagined, I’m just glad that I did an early PO of them. Well, first to know first to act of course. Now, waiting for the BLACK RX & Acrobatter Renewal Ver.

Pros: I’m totally clueless on this 2, they’re beyond too perfect to me… Bandai really confused me to judge this 2… I say, get them while you still can!!

Cons: Still hate swapping those hand accessories, it’s even harder than the old ver. & there’s one flaw from Black which is the gap between his shoulder joint is too damn visible & it looked awkward in certain pose, the rest is good enough for me. One thing, both hoppers got a very limited accessories, I think it would be better if Bandai should have bundled them together instead of being sold separately. But, yeah… Most people dissagree with this, but it’s better than sold separately which you have to deal their limited accessories & more risk of getting cut order.

S.H.Figuarts Kamen Rider BLACK

Design: 5/5

Movement: 4/5

Small Parts: 3/5

Substance: 5/5

Accuracy sculpt: 4/5

S.H.Figuarts Battle Hopper

Design: 5/5

Movement: 3/5

Small Parts: 1/5

Substance: 5/5

Accuracy sculpt: 5/5

OMAKE:

1Go: “So, you’re still alive. Kamen Rider BLACK?!”
BLACK: “Huh?!”

Duh… Not him again…

1Go: “RIDER PUNCH!!”

What the hell?!

BLACK: “That’s your ace in the hole?!”
1Go: “What the…”

Oh, shit! Those jerry-rigged Rider Punch has no effect on Black?!

BLACK: “You gotta do it like this!!”

KingStone Charge-up!!

1Go: “WUAAAAAAAHHHH….”

BLACK: “Going somewhere?”

BLACK: “ULTIMATE RIDER PUNCH!!”

BLACK Knight Steel: “TOH!!!”
1Go: “GWAAAAAKHHHH….”

Do we know this scenes?

BLACK: “In Indonesia they used to call me… BLACK Knight Steel!”

My childhood memories…

Thank you for reading !

Thank you so much for reading!!