|
|
|
|
|
@microforever.com Bandai Super Imaginative Chogokin line began in 1998 at the height of toys collecting mania. The line was originally design as super details statue figures (similar to US Spawn by McFarlane Toys) with high-end paint job and even die-cast "chogokin" ornament parts. The figures were all sculpted from the reimagined designs of the old 1970's characters created by Mr. Ishinomori. The series debuted with Kikaida characters and then followed with other 70's favorites - Kamen Riders, Robot Detective K and Inazuma. While these were very nice figures, I never had much interested in the statue type action-figures.
The series seem to change direction with the release of Vol.11 Sidecar & Kikaida in 2001. Bandai have decided to add the much needed articulations to the S.I.C series. Also with Vol.13, Bandai began to break with the format and released Masked Rider Kuuga which was a recent modern Rider character, in S.I.C style with changeable armors. The new direction proved to be successful and S.I.C series had became sort of a deluxe collectible line for Masked Rider series.
SOUCHAKU HENSHIN CHOGOKIN KAMEN RIDER SERIES @MICROFOREVER.COM
|
I was never really drawn into collecting S.I.C. line due mainly to the lack of articulations of the figures (the "reimagined" take concept never bother me too much). My friend Jay P. recommended me to give this line a second look since I enjoyed collecting the Souchaku Henshin Masked Rider line and I am glad he did. With the recent releases, the series had became more than just statue-figure line. S.I.C. figures now have features that I love in action-figure series such as changeable armors (like Souchaku Henshin line), convertible figures (like Gundam FIX series) and added articulations. All of these features combined with manga style sculpting but with harder edge looks of S.I.C. (although tone down quite a bit since the early days of Kikaider 00 series) make the line much more attractive to me. I remembered back in its early days, S.I.C. line used to be very popular with US collectors and at one point Bandai USA even tried to sell the series in the US as Bandai Studio Works series but it had lost much following in recent years. The line however is still popular especially in Asia and Bandai have reissued many of the older S.I.C. volumes. This section on microforever is to showcase some of these cool figures (mostly of Masked Riders). It will not be a comprehensive guide to the line but just small reviews and photo essays of some of the S.I.C. toys I have in my collection. SIC Vol.14 Masked Rider I & Cyclone |
