Review: SH EX: Mirror Monster 01

The Review Corner archives continue with this, er, classic, which got a little edited on account of the fact that we've since had 4 more of these.

Sôchaku-Henshin Series EX: Mirror Monsters 01
They're big, they're ugly, and they're getting their own offshoot toy line!

What it is: The first in a line of Sôchaku-Henshin (sometimes known as "Armor-Transformation") figures, featuring the Contracted Mirror Monsters from Kamen Rider Ryuki. As of this writing, a total of 5 sets have been released, covering all 13 Riders plus the Alternatives' freaky bike dude. We'll be looking at the original set that started it all first.

What's the deal: Back when Kamen Rider Ryuki was first on, Bandai produced a line of roughly Sôchaku-Henshin scale figures under the banner "Rider & Monster Series". While lacking the die-cast parts of their predecessors, the R&M line did faithfully recreate the concept seen on the TV series of using the Contracted Monster's, uh, body parts as the Riders' weapons. Back then, the only way to get Metalgelas & Evildiver were in the R&M Kamen Rider Ouja set...until now!

With Sôchaku-Henshin figures of Kamen Rider Gai & Kamen Rider Raia out, it was only natural that Bandai release the old sculpts again. In a surprise twist though, they passed on redoing Venosnaker in this set in favor of Gigazelle, one of Kamen Rider Imperer's many Contract Monsters, who had up until now only been done as a regular Bandai vinyl figure in the short-lived "Mirror Monsters" line. Despite being rehashes, Metalgelas & Evildiver sport new, improved paint jobs, with an overall grittier, more realistic look (sorta like when real props/suits are used for these monsters as opposed to CG.) It's more obvious on Evildiver, but in person, Metalgelas is actually very different from his older self. Gigazelle is all new, and armed with his trademark spear weapon. All the figures have removable pieces that can be used as their respective Riders' weapons, although now that we've had the more accurately-scaled Sôchaku-Henshin versions, the old Metal Horn looks freakishly big, and the new Gazelle Stab is a little on the small side.

Even though Gai & Imperer get the short end of the stick, the new Evil Whip is a big improvement over all other versions- it's made out of a more flexible material, so it can now be held more like a real whip. Lastly, since Metalgelas & Evildiver are the same sculpts as before, they can be combined with the old R&M Venosnaker to make Genocider! They can also be combined with the re-release of Venosnaker in this series' fifth and final set, and I think for best results they should be, but the below pic shows them with the R&M version since I didn't have the new one at the time I first reviewed these (the new release comes in a darker shade of purple with improved paint job.)

Final Vent: If you already own the R&M Ouja set, this one doesn't offer that much new, but Gigazelle is pretty cool and the weapons (new & recycled) are welcome, if the results are mixed. If you don't own the Ouja set, or are a big Ryuki fan, then this is a definite pick-up. Venosnaker can be found in SH EX: Mirror Monster 05 alongside Blanwing & Dragblacker, and pretty much everyone else can be had in between (I'll review those sets in the future.)

Where to get it: Amazingly, Hobby Links Japan still has this one along with the others (although as of this writing, 2 & 4 are on backorder.)

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