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After Vol.50 Kiva's conservative and show-accurate sculpt, S.I.C. returns to its roots in this volume, bringing radical changes to the original costume, and exaggerated features.
Decade comes packaged with its fair share of accessories, including:
Hands
- a pair of fists, 2 pairs of palms, and 3 weapon and/or card holding hands. A total of 9 hands.
Weapon
- Sword/Ride-Booker/Gun
Unlike its SHF incarnation, the Ride-Booker is transformable into its gun and sword form. Meaning the blade is removable, and the handle of the gun folds down to create the Ride-Booker. There is also an indented area in which the card is held into position when the Ride-Booker is opened. Lines are sculpted in its internals.
Cards
The figure comes with 23 plastic cards, and a sheet of stickers with the card artwork which you have to apply yourself. This allows you to recreate the cards with the front and back artwork on the one card. On the sticker sheet, you are supplied with the artwork of 10 Kiva Emperor Form cards, the 10 Hensei Riders, and a DCD Complete Form card, which leaves you with 2 blank spare cards. It also comes with a small device that helps you push the card back out of the DecaDriver.
Armour
Interchangable parts for the Complete Form is packaged with the figure, including a head, chest armour, a pair of legs from the knee below, two interchangable die-cast thigh pieces, and the K-Touch. The screen of the K-Touch is made of clear plastic.
Articulation is pretty good for a S.I.C. figure, the main body structure is fairly similar to the ones used in the Den-O series. The body armour is composed of a front and back piece, with movable shoulder pieces that can be lifted up to allow for better posability.
But do not expect the same level of articulation found in its SHF counterpart, it cannot reach its arms to the Ride-Booker from the opposite side like how the SHF can, nor can it strike the pose in which Tsukasa holds his arms out straight with the card in his hand before he inserts the card into the DecaDriver and transform. All other basic poses shouldn't be a problem though. The piece on the hip below the waist uses soft plastic material, allowing for more flexibility when posing with the thighs.
The translucent pink pieces used in the armour is a gorgeous aesthetic decision. Robotic internals can be seen through the clear parts on the legs, and even the lower leg armour is removable, even though that piece didn't need to be molded as a separate piece for transforming into Complete Form. The best feature of the figure in my opinion though, is the DecaDriver. It can be pulled open without the need to change any parts, and the cards can actually be inserted into the driver.
One signature pose this does strike better than the SHF, in the pose where it pushes the DecaDriver close to load the card. This figure just comes with hands that are better suited for this pose. Joints are tight, but not brittle, so they move quiet smoothly. Especially the knees, and you can tell Bandai has done their homework this time, because the knees are where the parts needed to be removed to change into the other form. It's a boost of confidence when you know you can play with these parts without being worried that become too loose easily, or break from wear and tear.
The Complete Form is rather heavy on top, so the silver parts of the legs are all molded in die-cast to give the figure better balance. The articulation in the arms also becomes much more restricted due to its heavy chest and shoulder armour. Love it or hate it, the S.I.C. version packs a mean design, which adds a lot more attitude to the original. Due to it being created from interchangable parts, the back of the hands are not silver, and part of the upper arm remains pink instead of silver. The part changing process is simple, and user-friendly, which is great news to those who have experienced the older part switching S.I.C.s which utilises ball joints. (Kuuga, RX, et cetera, I'm looking at you guys)
Enough talking, let's take a look at some of Decade's adventures before the grand finale hits the theatres later this month!
Kuuga, friend or foe?
Amazon, the final world?
Decade: I will eliminate the greatest nuisance in the universe!
Decade: You are...
Kiva: Right now, my comrades will end your journey!
Yuusuke?
Hope you've enjoyed it!
