Heya all.
My first major KR item has finally arrived and i am dying to pick this sucker apart
Since i don't have any other Bandai x Medicom figures, i won't be comparing this guy to any others...So i guess this is less like a review and more like an analysis. I felt this is a good idea because i had a lot of questions before i wanted to spend this much money on a figure but i couldn't find any detailed reviews. In the end, i took the plunge so i hope that my observations touch on all the things that people would want to know before they decide to invest $100+ on a doll. Here we go:
BM project Kabuto
First, the hard facts: Uses RAH301Kai body, which is also used in "KR: First" and "The Next" Hopper 1, 2 and V3. Also used in the upcoming MGS4 snake and raiden. About 29cm tall, dressed with a one piece, stitched body suit covered by armor details. Accessories include display stand, 6 right hands, 2 left hands, kunai gun in tomahawk mode and kunai gun in dagger mode. Right hand variations are: used to hold either kunai gun, grasp zecter horn, point with index finger, closed fist, relaxed hand. Left hand is only closed fist and relaxed hand. Kinda sucks...i was hoping to have Kabuto dual wield the kunai guns. I mean, he can pull the perfect zecter out of his ass...why not 2 kunai guns? huh? huh? alrite...back to the topic.
Design:
Easily removable bits include, helmet (sans head), belt, cuffs on hands and feet and shoulder pads. Other unmentioned armor pieces can also be removed in part, with a little of work, but are connected to bits that are permanently attached to the body suit (elbow and knee pads). Belt is attached with a rather simple male-female plastic connection and can come loose easily. This is the only point that attaches the belt to the figure, it is not glued on or anything. The belt is made of a pliable plastic that hugs the body and keeps shape very well. Velcro holds the shoulder plates to the body suit. This results in a noticable gap (that's never the same twice) between the body and the shoulder armor. On the subject of body armor, the seam under the arms, where the armor halfs meet, is there, just like on the show. However, the seam on the helmet (the show's helmet splits in two for easy on and off) is not there. Also, the horn on the helmet doesn't move but there is a tiny gap between the lens and the helmet, which is also noticable in the show, when the horn moves during "cast off".
Cuffs and helmet hide sleeves and neckline very well and make the figure appear seamless. Only visible seams are on the back, along the belt-line and going down tendou's asscrack to the inside of each leg. Shoulder seam is hidden by armor. Keep in mind that the cuffs are separate pieces and can be lost (easily) when they drop off the wrist as you change hands. Excess material is tucked away discreetly. Details on body suit seem to be a part of the suit, that is, they don't look like they were added separately. I don't know what the material is for the body suit, but it emulates the look of rubber and is pretty show accurate in terms of look and light reflection and such.
Speaking of reflections...paint apps. One thing that was consistent, is the QC concern. I have run across a few sites that said QC was weak but seen little evidence to support it. I think the QC does need a little work, but then i'm not that nit-picky of a person to unleash hell on someone for minor problems. For example, on the body armor, the red parts bleed into the black parts a bit. There is a tiny bit of that on the back of the armor too. I'm not gonna complain about that, but if that is a problem for you, consider yourself warned. Other than that, the rest of the items that are painted (kunai guns, palms on all hands, shoulders, helmet, zecter) look fine. Also, another issue (maybe QC related), the zecter horn on my kabuto wasn't completely straight. I blame that on the material and packaging though.
Articulation at all major joints (head, neck, shoulder, elbow, wrist, upper torso, lower torse, upper leg, knee, lower leg, feet) with most parts of the limbs consisting of 2 joints. Doesn't seem to have an ankle joint (or at least a very stiff one) but feet can turn thanks to them being separate piece from the leg. Alas, it is the costume that limits the overall articulation of the figure. For example, the sides of the body armor, under tendou's arms, prevents him from bringing his arms right up to his body. It's like he has imaginary lats. Also, you won't get a convincing looking rider kick out of this guy because of the way the suit is made. You can mount him on a stand, though, and do a jumping rider kick. Head motion is also restricted by the collar of the body piece. Lack of posability isn't too much of a problem because, I got a feeling, the pose people will put this figure into is kabuto just standing there with one hand on the zecter horn...By the way, the zecter horn moves, but the front plate does not slide, so you can't close the zecter up completely. The zecter is not removable, btw.
The figure can do just about any pose that you see in the show, but the body suit is a little stiff and will need to be "worked" a bit before you get the exact look you want. On the other hand, Kabuto looks fine just standing there. This is okay for 2 reasons: 1) I don't know how the body suit handles creases in the long term or how well the seams hold up and 2) because kabuto isn't exactly the most acrobatic character anyway and he can look kickass in a passive pose such as: pressing clock up pads or the zecter buttons, grasping zecter horn, pointing to the sky...etc.
Personal opinion:
This is my first and, probably, last foray into the whole 12" figure experience. Kabuto is exceedingly well done but there are too many unknowns for me to consider picking up another figure. Questions like "how long will the body suit or the inner body last? how well does the velrco hold up? can it stand up to modest posing? can the QC get worse?" I managed to snag this guy for about $100 without shipping, $120 shipped, so the price didn't hit me as hard hard as it could have. Comparatively, the price tag isn't so bad, even at SRP of $150. As a transformer fan, i spent around $70 on 20th Prime and Movie Prime each....thats already pretty close. And if i ask myself "Is Kabuto $30 cooler than 20th prime?" I'd say "Hell yes!" If that doesn't work for you...well...buy something else
Otherwise, if you can get this guy for $100 or under (not counting shipping) i'd say go for it. I suggest you buy this guy off the internet, like ebay or HLJ, because the chances of you finding it at $150 are pretty low. In my case, i live in Vancouver Canada and i know of only 1 place that sells any RAH figure and they clock in at double the price.
So...is he worth $150? Not in my opinion. At $100 he is acceptable and, in the end, i have no regrets about getting this guy. He is a kick ass, superbly detailed, high production value figure. Everything looks accurate and the details are amazing...I mean, look at those compound eyes.
If i missed anything, or you got any specific questions, let me know. I'll add it, if i can answer it. Criticism and feedback is welcome. Thanks for reading y'all.
