Summary of Zi-O SG Watcher: Vol.2

Bandai’s candy toy blog posted a new entry for Kamen Rider Zi-O, revealing the difficulties of making the SO-DO action figure line for this new series.

The man in charge of candy toy development goes by D, and in honor of Zi-O, he has changed his usual nickname to Di-O.

The first topic Di-O touches upon are the latest SofV releases, SofV Hero Kamen Rider: The Ultimate Experiment!! Edition. The set includes:

• Kamen Rider Build (Genius Form)
• Kamen Rider Evol (Black Hole Form)
• Kamen Rider Build (Cross-ZBuild Form)
• Kamen Rider Zi-O

As these are made of soft materials, Di-O remarks that you need not worry about sharp parts, making it the perfect toy for small children. Of course, with these paint jobs, they are also good for adult collectors.

Previously, Di-O revealed the first entry in the SO-DO Kamen Rider Zi-O line, the title character. Here, we get a first look at the BuildArmor form that he’ll be using, based on Kamen Rider Build. This will give an idea as to how most of the line will function.

BuildArmor consists of head parts, shoulder armor, chest armor, thigh armor, a Drill Crusher armament, and a display stand. The stand also features Build’s emblem, as well as the form name.

The style of Zi-O’s form changes is something Di-O describes as bold but troublesome. Since the armors are effectively an entire suit of armor from head to toe, it was debated whether they should make attachable parts all over the body.

As the only unique parts between the forms are the thighs, shoulders, chest and head, the simplest solution was to make a separate Action Body called Armor Changing Kamen Rider Zi-O.

“Of course, I tried considering putting the armor onto the normal Action Body of Zi-O, as it was part of the play pattern… but the troublesome part was the silver armor covering the limbs. If all that silver armor were to be made into different pieces, then the parts count would be greatly increased to compensate…”

He also adds that it would have resulted in thicker armor, which he feels would make it less accurate to the show’s designs.

“Choose the path that gives you the best in both cases, making proportions of each form the top priority, by creating an Action Body for his default form and armored form! That’s the conclusion I came to!”

Continuing the talk about the form changes, Di-O shows BuildArmor in various poses, confirming that the Action Body for form changes is every bit as posable as the default form of Zi-O, and even comes with alternate hands. He also shows that you can display BuildArmor without the Drill Crusher and can attach it to the standard Zi-O for a mid-transformation display.

Di-O also clarifies that this Armor Changing version of the Action Body will be compatible with future armor releases, and in fact will not display a year on the Ziku-Driver to avoid displaying the wrong date for any particular armor. Di-O encourages the buyer to decide for themselves if they want the one Action Body or if they wish to buy multiples to display all the armors separately.

“By the way, this BuildArmor Set has a little secret, which I will explain in a future blog post… next month’s first update day! It’s scheduled to be updated on September 1st! The keyword is “A.D. 2068″?!”

The schedule included with this post reads as:

August 27th:

• SofV Hero Kamen Rider: The Ultimate Experiment!! Edition

October 1st:

• SO-DO Kamen Rider Zi-O: RIDE 1
• SO-DO Kamen Rider Zi-O: RIDE 1 Set

Source: Bandai Candy Staff Blog