Summary of Zi-O SG Watcher: Vol.44 / Starting Station

From the archive of Bandai’s candy toy blog series for Kamen Rider Zi-O, with a sudden detour towards SO-DO Kamen Rider Den-O.

The man currently in charge of candy toy development goes by G, and in honor of Zi-O, he is now going by the name Gi-O. The man currently in charge of candy toy development for SO-DO Chronicle goes by Mr. D.

So! Gi-O begins by reminding us of the image from a previous blog post, where GrandZi-O was revealed. In this shot, every main Rider made in SO-DO so far is featured… with Den-O in the background.

“Let’s have you jack the Zi-O SG Watcher blog! Mr. D, if you’d please!” 

Surprise! In a rather strange twist, the blog is not about SO-DO Kamen Rider Zi-O at all – it’s instead a rundown of all things SO-DO Kamen Rider Den-O.

Mr. D shares new images of this Den-O-centric wave.

With the first images of the main body, it becomes apparent that there will not be a representation for Plat Form, but there will be a head designed to resemble it, which doubles as a mid-transformation head.

The standard SO-DO format is used here, with an Action Body Set for all of the forms, as well as Cross Armor Sets for each of Den-O’s main four forms.

Between the body and armor sets, the figure comes with a variety of hands. There are standard fists with pegholes, open hands, left and right hands that hold the Rider Pass, and a thumbs up used for Momotaros’ “I have arrived!” pose.

As far as the helmet is concerned, the main portion of the helmet is made of hard plastic, while the visor parts are made of soft plastic. It probably goes without saying, but it’s probably due to small pointy parts that might break otherwise.

Another benefit of soft plastic is in the DenGasher holder on the sides of the belt – these would in the way of the hip articulation if they were made of a harder plastic, so it makes sense.

Images of Sword Form.

And some scene recreation from the episode where GrandZi-O debuts.

“Now it’s my turn.”

As expected, the second item in this wave is Den-O in Rod Form. Like with Sword Form, the helmet features soft plastic – because of reasons established in previous posts about soft plastic, the details of the helmet are painted rather than using stickers. Thank goodness.

The main feature of Rod Form is… his rod. The weapon is quite long, so much so that there was concern it might be fragile as a result. After much adjustments, the rod is now as long as the toy packaging!

Rod Form also comes with hands made for holding the rod.

Images of Rod Form.

“You’ll weep!”

Next up, Ax Form! The axe design on the helmet is made of soft plastic. Mr. D remarks that there is no handkerchief. Nobody’s perfect, Mr. D.

Incidentally, he also remarks that there’s a mix of gold stickers and gold paint, and he’d like you to pay close attention to see how well they’ve adjusted the colors to match. Gold is a constant struggle in that regard.

As expected, Ax Form comes with the signature axe! This comes in two parts that plug into either side of the fist.

Images of Ax Form.

“Hey beary, it’s my turn!”

And finally, Gun Form.

As has been the case for all of these, the helmet’s front piece is made of soft plastic. As for bonus hands, Gun Form comes with pointing hands.

Images of Gun Form.

Now that we’ve seen all of these, and I have a convenient photo with all four together, it’s time to address a nice tidbit provided at the beginning: You can display all four forms together pretty easily.

For those not collecting the figures, one of the buying options online is a box of 10. This will get you the entire wave, plus some duplicates if those comes up. A box of 10 for Den-O guarantees you all four forms.

Mr. D knows you probably knew that, so he sweetens the deal – in each set of 10 (which can be ordered from retailers, for you importers), there are 4 bodies available, so you will in fact be able to display all 4 forms if that is your desire.

“You are merely the undercard…”

As a surprise bonus, Mr. D also shows off Nega Den-O! This was previously revealed as an Ichiban Kuji lottery item.

As expected, it is Den-O’s Sword Form with purple and tribal flames.

Images of Nega Den-O.

Source: Bandai Candy Staff Blog