Kamen Rider Black RX: S.H. Figuarts Ridoron Gallery – Toku Toy Box Entry

Just in time for the end of the year we have another behemoth Rider Machine to review! Not to be entirely outdone by Kamen Rider Drive's Tridoron, the late Showa classic Kamen Rider Black RX swoops in with this massive release to round out the year. S.H. Figuarts Ridoron!

Packaging
Much like the recently released Tridoron, the Ridoron is a behemoth, shipped in a gargantuan box. If anyone has experience with larger Bandai/Tamashii Nations releases then you know what to expect with this release. It's just massive. And really fantastic. This box does a great job of evoking the style of packaging set forth by the Kamen Rider Black & Black RX renewals. The vehicle itself is packaged much like Tridoron, in a giant plastic clam shell.

I have to point out that yes the box features the spelling of the name as "Ridelone". This is not an altogether inappropriate way to ramonize the name because of how R's & L's work in Japanese test translated to English. However it has been well established since Black RX originally aired on television that the name properly romanized is Ridoron. Numerous vintage products from that period and many since featured that official English spelling. This is the first use of the "Ridelone" spelling so for the sake of ease we will continue to spell it Ridoron.

Main Figure

Luckily S.H. figuarts Ridoron is basically ready to go straight out of the box. You need only attach the small ball jointed antennae that are included as separate pieces. These are in fact the only accessories included with this vehicle so that section won't be present below as usual.

As with the mighty Tridoron, which you just can't help but draw comparisons to, Ridoron is a huge vehicle. It just looks like the show prop rolled off set. Interestingly the actual physical Ridoron is based on a 1st gen Mazda RX7 whereas the Tridoron would eventually be based on a Honda NSX. Both sort of "super" cars for their times, and neither of the finalized show vehicles really look like their bases. I always find it intriguing how these shows can transform such mundane vehicles into such fantastic machines.

Much like it's namesake S.H. Figuarts Tridoron is far from mundane. The entire body is painted in a really gorgeous glossy red. It's very reflective of light but thankfully this helps make it seem more like real automotive paint. Unfortunately it also has a ton of scuffs on it straight from the factory. It'll be hard to see in the attached images but my Ridoron has several hot spots of scuffs. It looks like the car really should have been wrapped in plastic before being inserted into the tray. As most of the scuffs look like what would occur during shipping from the tray rubbing against the body of the vehicle. The scuffs match up with where the separation for the clam shell would be.

Moving down the exterior to the hood Ridoron features fully functioning mandibles that are spring mounted in the front bumper. A small button located just behind one of the ridges on the hood activates them. A really unique action feature for S.H. Figuarts. Much of the rest of the car exterior can be summed up just by saying it looks really great. This vehicle didn't have a ton of features or minute detailing. The paint present is crisp, the lines present are sharp, and the ridge/fin that extended from either end of the car is superbly sculpted. It's just a gorgeously detailed figure of this vehicle. Perhaps the one really incredible thing to note about the exterior is the moving turbines in the rear bumper! Calling back to toy days of old these turbines spin in time with the movement of the rear wheels. They make a rather loud noise when turned because of this but the effect is undeniably cool. The front axle is also connected to the steering wheel in the cockpit allowing them to have real turning action. A nice touch that wasn't present on the Tridoron because of it's removable cockpit display.

The interior of Ridoron is where the most lavish detail has been poured on. The gull wing doors pull up and back on a nice sturdy hinge allowing them to rotate completely vertically out of the way. While the interior of this vehicle was sparsely decorated, what is present is magnificent. More KITT than car the dash clearly takes inspiration from Knight Rider with various multi-colored switches and monitors all fully painted. Honestly it's an even more interesting dash than Tridoron because of this. And while we get a functioning steering wheel and front axle with this release, the trade off is that the gear shift & parking break do not function.

The cockpit is pretty spacious and should allow you to seat 2 S.H. Figuarts, or any other 1/12 scale figures, of your choosing pretty comfortably. Kamen Rider Black RX certainly feels right at home in the driver's seat as he should. All in all this release may not have all the bells and whistles of Tridoron, no LEDs and no accessories. But it does have rarely seen action features.

Final Thoughts
I'm more than happy with how S.H. Figuarts Ridoron turned out as a mass retail release, the difference in price between it and the Web Exclusive Tridoron is apparent, but the quality of the toy (paint scuffs aside) is still superb. If you want to complete a Kamen Rider Black/RX collection then I highly recommend picking up this affordable piece. As is I'm only missing a Roadsector to have all the Black & Rx releases in the line. But this gorgeous piece fits right in!

Oh man, as an owner of the Renewal Black RX this is something I would be tempted to buy. The only thing though is despite me enjoying Ridoron... I'd have absolutely no shelf space for the vehicle.

I managed to get the Masked Rider version of Ridoron for 10 bucks brand new. Love the thing. This version sounds well and away superior though.

Man, so Kotaro Minami definitly wins for 'most vehicles owned by one Rider", right?

Anyways this thing looks gorgeous, but not having watched Black/RX I'm not nearly as interested in it.

I love this design so much, definitely one of my favorite vehicle designs in all of Kamen Rider. I'm honestly rather curious how close the inside is to the show, since we never really got a good well lit look inside.

I'm still shocked this got released at all, let alone as a freaking retail release. If I ever have the extra money, this definitely would be a purchase for me. But otherwise I have priority placed on other art toys.

Old School with new school engineering!

Man, Tridoron looks so cheesy and 90's.
...Wait...
OH! IT'S RIDORON!

But yeah, I love the design of the Ridoron. It does have a very...Strange look, but it's still pretty neat looking. Honestly, the only part of it's design that I'm not a fan of is the size of the spine(?) that moves down it being so large.
I love the little mandibles in front, and the turbines along the back. They're so cute

I'd so pick one up for my Black and RX if I had the dough~

Kamen rider black is old and I haven't bothered watching it

I remember seeing this in Masked Rider. I liked how it looked. Glad to see it!