DX Bison King & King Shurikenjin Gallery & Video Review!

Yee-Haw!

TokuNation is proud to present the fourth in it's series of galleries looking at the DX mecha line of Shuriken Sentai Ninninger! This galleries' subject is the recent release DX Bison King!

** This gallery contains 100 images! So it's spread across 3 posts, check each to see a different selection of images.

Pacakging
The box itself is very busy in it's presentation, as DX sentai robos tend to be. Not quite as dynamic as the DX Shurikenjin box, Bison Kings' still gives us a good look at all the modes of play as well as the eventual combined form with Shurikenjin.

Nin Shuriken
Included with this set is a Bison King Shuriken. This electronic item is what forms the head and face of Bison King. It's normally stored on the rear end of the Bison Buggy when not used to form the main robo. A pair of triggers on this piece detect when it's combined to form either Bison King or King Shurikenjin and plays out the appropriate phrases when done. When not connected pressing the physical button on top will cycle through a couple of phrases:
"The Come on!"
"Who are you? Who arrrrre you?!"
"Rodeomaru!"

When adding one of the Nin Shuriken discs to this base component you slide them on at an angle, lining up the side tabs. When it's all the way down, turn it to the right to lock it in place. A release trigger can be held down to ensure you don't damage the very rubbery plastic of the disc when it's removed later.

Rodeomaru
Diving right in with the main review we take a look at the true core of Bison King with Rodeomaru! As the name implies Rodeomaru is a cowboy themed Otomonin very similar in design and premise to Shinobimaru. Rodeomaru is a bit different functionally however. You'll see that while it may not have the same number of painted details as the other Otomonin that the base blue is striking and the details that are painted on, like the head, are crisp and perfect. Speaking of the head is on a jointed arm to allow it to get into the correct position for combinations. Where Shinobimaru sits down to combine, Rodeomaru lays out like he's riding a horse almost. Hands and arms molded in a position that evokes holding the saddle of a bull. As you can see the transformation joints allow for Rodeomaru to kneel down fully but that's about it, because of the way the arms are molded they look rather silly when raised up and the legs are jointed together.

Rodeomaru's transformation joints also allow him to assume the same position as Shinobimaru, meaning you can combine just Rodeomaru & the Bison King Shuriken with Shurikenjin to form Shurikenjin Texas! Overall he's just a fun little figure that looks right at home with Shinobi, Paon, & UFOmaru's. The recently revealed Sentai Artisan version of Rodeomaru will likely be hyper articulated and feature many more show accurate paint applications and details, but for what it is I like the DX version.

Bison Buggy
This conglomeration of the various parts included is actually pretty awesome. A first of it's kind if I'm not mistaken, Bison Buggy is just that. A Bison themed 4-wheeled vehicle that can accommodate Rodeomaru on a saddle like base. It's big, hefty, pretty solid, and frankly just cool. I like wild conceptualized animal vehicle hybrids like this. Takes me way back in terms of creativity.

Combinations

Bison King
This is where the figure succeeds and fails simultaneously. On the one hand Bison King is a dynamic looking robot with some excellent detailing that simultaneously evokes thoughts of DX Red Puncher in design & DX Gao God in color scheme. However some of the figure is compromised a bit to allow for it's further combination with DX Shurikenjin & the previous buggy formation. I.E. it parts-forms. As a result there are some decent sized "gaps" in the figure that take away from the bulk it should otherwise have, especially in the neck/shoulder area. Don't get me wrong I still think it looks great but the hollowness of the upper body is noticeable.

It should also be noted that the the plate that goes across the shoulder to form the chest area does not have to remain stretched straight out off the back. While technically accurate to the instructions and show (though the show lessens the issue) the saddle which Rodeomaru rides on looks ridiculous when fully extended out. Thanks to his jointed legs and the extra hinge in the saddle the two can mostly be folded down against Bison Kings' back to avoid that strangeness. It's odd that the designers at PLEX wanted the extended out saddle to be the "proper" transformation but so it is. You can always do it this way instead.

Bison King is also armed with a pretty damn awesome gunblade in this form. Originally an exhaust pipe of sorts for the Buggy mode. It can sort of be stored on the left thigh of Bison King if you so choose but really why not have him holding it? It just looks cool. Also You can at least use the UFO & Paon Shurikens & weaoibs with Bison King, but the Maru's themselves are totally incompatible with Bison King. So I've posted what those half combos look like.

Shurikenjin Texas
As mentioned above, Rodeomaru has some useful articulation, such that he can actually take Shinobimaru's place on Shurikenjins' throne! When configured this way and using the Bison King Shuriken in place of the Shurikenjin one, Shurikenjin Texas can be formed! While it isn't all that different from the basic Shurikenjin combo, Rodeomaru adds a bit of brighter color to the combined robot that I quite like.

King Shurikenjin
And here's the main event. The HUGE combination that is King Shurikenjin. I should also note that it definitely falls into the category of "stackers" for sentai robos. In this figures case even more literally than normal. To create King Shurikenjin you want to break down Bison King to it's base components and remove the arms and head from Shurikenjin. Each of Bison King's legs forms a "shoe" for Shurikenjin to wear. Nicely enough they are also color coded for which leg they go with. So white for Wanmaru, Pink for Byunmaru. Sadly only one tab on the heel holds this part onto Shurikenjin's foot. So it doesn't feel entirely stable to me.

Next the small gray triangular piece that fills the gap of the Bison Buggy under it's saddle become a handy hip support for Shurikenjin, it ensures that the legs won't splay out with the additional weight this combo brings. Now take Bison Kings' arms and literally plug them onto to Dumpmaru & Dragomaru like gloves. They slide right over and some gigantic fists flip out. Take what was the lower chest with shoulder pegs from Bison King and plug it on top of Shurikenjin, then plug your new huge arms onto this slightly higher shoulder joint. The Bison King saddle piece with Rodeomaru still attached then goes atop this. Fold up the chest plate to reveal the face of King Shurikenjin, though he isn't quite fully formed yet. Next you want to plug Shurikenjin's shuriken onto Rodeomaru's shoulders then take the Bison head from the Buggy and fold out it's lower flap. It has friction tabs which plug onto the Shuriken and thus create an epic headdress. The cherry on top of this totem pole is the Bison King Shuriken!

One more thing you need to do is take Bison Kings' gun, plug Dragomaru's tail into the barrel and his wings onto the sides and bam, gigantic sword for you gigantic robot. When it's all combined together King Shurikenjin is impressive, albeit a little wonky as far as proportions go. I love his general look and the larger arms, but the feet feel incomplete. And sadly the bison horn headdress sticks so far out that it's laughable. As with Bison King you can fold up Rodeomaru and his saddle out of the way to make the back of the robot a bit more pleasing as well. I think it's a really fun and creative combo for sure, but considering how much they built upward with this one, I'm not surprised that Ninninger's next big combination involves Shurikenjin sitting back down.

As a side not please forgive my photos of this combination, it's significantly larger than what my photo setup is traditionally meant for

Final Thoughts
While I may have a few minor complaints about it's combined modes DX Bison King really is pretty great. Though not quite the home run that Shurikenjin was, Bison King still succeeds in being a big bulky fun toy. I can't wait to see properly how it's incorporated into the next combination.

Part 2 ya'll!

Part 3 partners!

The Hat on that combined form, Oh My God. It's like the cowboy mecha pope.

Big Hoss looks good. King form is very reminiscent of Build ToQ Ressha, but with duck feet.

Yeah, I'd have to agree with Sentai. That hat....what is it they say about cowboys and how many gallons the hat will fit?

I also have to wonder what the ultimate form will look like.

I really should like the combined mode a lot more than I do. Aesthetically, many of the different elements all work for me, but something about combining them just fails utterly. I suspect it's the giant hat. I already disliked the big hat on Shurikenjin, so stacking two more hats on top of it is really not working for me.

Great review and pics!

The King Shurikenjin combo isn't that popular, but I really like it! I just like that it doesn't look like it has too much stuff jutting out (besides the ginormous hat) and it roughly resembles human proportions.

WHY do these look so good? No can afford!

Seriously this is a crazy fun line even with its flaws.