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Now, this figure was not something I initially intended to get. But having heard a lot of hype for this guy, plus the fact that I pre-ordered a Rising Ixa, I decided that I may as well take Ixa home to see what all the fuss is about.
S.H. Figuarts’s Kamen Rider Ixa comes with a good deal of accessories, which I think is something we need not be grateful for, given his high price tag of 3,200 yen. A white Stage Act stand is also included with the first press issue of this figure, which I always considered Bandai to have factored into the RRP.
The accessories packed with the figure includes:
- An exchangeable head for Save Mode
- 2 extra pairs of interchangeable hands
- Ixa Knuckle
- Ixa Calibur (Calibur Mode)
- Ixa Calibur (Gun Mode)
- Fuestles
It pretty much has everything you need, except for the empty Fueslots that were sometimes seen with 1986’s Ixa in Save Mode. The hand sculpts are great whether it be used for taunting poses or dramatic ones; they also work great when used with a simply standing pose. The Fuestles are all individually painted in the correct colour, and in metallics too. The two modes of the Ixa Calibur come in individually moulded pieces, and are both very crisp and detailed, sculpt-wise and paint-wise. Very little can be criticised for the accessories it comes with, save for a minor gripe that the Ixa Knuckle is not to size when it is removed from the Ixa belt.
The figure however, does come with its fair share of flaws. While its paint application may be detailed in some components, it is also sloppy in others. The symbol printed onto the chest is a little off-centre. It somehow ended up looking more correct in photo than in person, I don’t know how that managed to happen.
Due to the nature of the shoulder pads coming into contact with the neck piece, this is as far up as the shoulder moves. The shoulder joint is also a little loose, although not to the point where it cannot stay in place when displayed, but it will often move downwards unintentionally when you are fiddling around with it.
The elbow is also only capable of bending slightly more than 90 degrees as shown.
The size of his ‘bum-pad’, for lack of a better word, also hinders the hip/thigh mobility to the point where it can barely move backwards. The edges of the blue high-lights in the armour also lacks the crispness in terms of the paint department that I’ve come to expect from SHFs. They may not be that noticeable in photos as I do not have high definition camera, but in person, the sloppy paint app. was one of the first things I’ve noticed when I opened the figure.
The top of the shoulder pads are also somewhat scratched, and this is probably due to the quality of plastic used. I can actually find at least 3 different shades of white used on the figure. There’s the shoulder pads, then the torso, which uses a smoother kind of unpainted plastic, and the painted parts, which are coated on much too thick. If you’ve ever tried to forcibly hand-paint white on top of a dark-coloured piece on a model kit without using primer in one coat, this is sort of what it looks like. The arms would have benefitted from painting black onto white plastic, instead of vice versa, and the white armoured pieces on the legs should have been moulded separately like the Kabuto series for a cleaner, more polished look.
The neck articulation on the figure is also a lot more limited than other SHF figures as the joint on the lower part of the neck has been removed for unknown reasons. The Ixa Calibur is amazingly detailed though, down to the gun/sword handles where all the panel line details and dots are sculpted in.
As to be expected of my luck with these kind of things, I got one of the less popular quote stands, the “I cannot hear you, please speak in a louder voice!†one.
Personally, I prefer Save Mode a tad over Burst Mode’s ‘Turn A’ aesthetics. Though it’s a shame there is very little to choose from when it comes to weaponry. Due to the limited pose-ability compared to other SHFs, it cannot quite recreate some of Otoya’s signature poses.
And as Otoya falls from Ixa’s side-effect, a break is in order. Let’s time skip to 2008 with Ixa’s Burst Mode.
Due to an extra piece jutting out from the back of Ixa’s hands, this blocks any wrist movement you’ll normally have with a SHF Rider figure.
The gold used for Ixa is beautiful, I don’t know why Kintaros and some of the Kuugas ended up with such a murky looking gold. The compound eyes are also crystal clear this time; I hope this is a sign of Bandai’s improvement in toy engineering and not just a lucky fluke. With Gills’ release at the end of the month, we’ll see if that’s the case, as W’s eyes had the same lucidity as Ixa’s.
Fans of Ixa would no doubt be ecstatic over the release of this figure, as it is the only decent Ixa action figure available on the market (the S.I.C. will be making its appearance in May as a twin pack along with Dark Kiva). But for those looking to delve into the SHF line, this would not be the figure I would recommend for a first purchase, as it lacks the same level of articulation and clean paint app. that other SHF figures are known for.
Nago-kun, until we meet again in May, as S.I.C. Ixa and Rising Ixa!