S.H. Figuarts Kamen Rider Amazon (Amazon JP Edition) Gallery – Final Toku Toy Box Entry

"Gii-Gii-Gii-Gii"

The original violent hero rounds out our line up of galleries for this year! You may be more familiar with the name Amazon because of the recent Super Hero Year mini-series Kamen Rider Amazons. A drastically altered idea on what being a Kamen Rider, and specifically an Amazon, is. This reboot of the 1974 series Kamen Rider Amazon has been critically acclaimed by many rider fans, both old & new. And of course it's success has lead to numerous collector products being manufactured.

This month saw the release of the first high end figure from the show with S.H. Figuarts Kamen Rider Amazon Omega. But we simply couldn't review him yet, not until we took a look back at his Showa predecessor with the original S.H. Figuarts Kamen Rider Amazon (Amazon JP Edition)! The original Amazon was himself known for some particularly brutal moments in his own series, and at the time his series was quite a departure from what Kamen Rider had been up to that point. As a bit of an older release I'm sure many of you are interested to see how this figuart stacks up with more modern releases as well. Read on to find out how!

Packaging
As the first (and for a long time only) Amazon Japan edition figuart, Amazon came in a special box that echoed Amazon's actual brown shipping boxes. This corrugated brown box was pretty unique for a long time, but with Amazon.JP exclusive versions of both the new Amazon Alpha & Omega, Showa Amazon has to share the spotlight now. As is it was an interesting idea for packaging, and winds up being particularly sturdy as well. This type of box is much stronger than your typical figuarts box would be.

Main Figure
The original Kamen Rider Amazon has made multiple appearances throughout the decades since his 1974 inception. Whether it be for a brief cameo in JAKQ VS Goranger or appearances in Skyrider, Black RX, or any of the numerous summer films of the last decade. Frankly between those early Showa appearances his costume changed a decent amount as well. You'll see some inconsistency in coloring and the fabric used to construct his suit in various appearances, as with most early Kamen Riders. Simply because these suits would degrade over time. This figuart represents the best approximation of what Amazon should look like, and how he looks in basically all of his modern appearances as well.

Kicking things off let's just talk about the fantastic way the "stripes" on Amazon are handled. In many cases you'd see this sort of thing simply painted on. In Amazon's case every single line is sculpted into the body then painted giving it a much more real and 3-dimensional look. If they had just painted these stripes on then Bandai could be forgiven as that's basically the way the original suit functioned, but this is a really welcome detail on the figuart. And speaking of welcome details, watch out for those arms and ankle spikes, they're actually quite sharp!

Getting into some of the articulation, Amazon actually gets pretty high marks from me. He has fairly un-obstructed hips, nice clean ankle joints, perfect knees, wide ranging shoulders and wrists, and a good break up between the two torso sections. However, over time this figures ankles have loosened considerably making every pose a balancing act. Simultaneously the hips have stiffened over time, I'm at a point now where I required an application of shock oil to free up the right hip, which was basically frozen in place completely. The only other problem areas for articulation are the neck, which impacts the muffler enough to be a bother. And the mouth on Amazon's helmet. Which is really the best part about this figure. It's hinged enough to allow him to look bestial and wild from certain angles. But honestly most of the time he comes off just looking, happy?

The head itself features more of the wonderful sculpted in stripes and is probably the one feature of the figure that most resembles an actual prop from the show. It just looks dead on. The GiGi armlet on his left arm is already on there for you straight out of the box. It has a strong defined sculpt with a couple of minor but well placed paint apps. Though removing it to use the alternate included armlet can be a pain. I should mention that one totally bizarre feature Amazon has is articulated pecs. For some reason I've yet to comprehend, his pecs can rotate. They serve no genuine purpose but there they are. Use them as you will!

All in all for a figure released 5 years ago now, Kamen Rider Amazon is still a fantastic release. Later end Showa releases really started pulling it out compared to earlier figures in the line. Amazon is a great example of where engineering went in the last few years for this toyline. Figures like this are the missing link between the old era of figuarts, and the renewal/S.S. era.

Accessories
Amazon actually comes with almost everything he conceivably should:

2.5 - sets of additional hands. Thankfully these covers the basics for what Amazon needs. Holding things hands, and some nice splayed out wild hands for his more berserker tendencies.

1 - scarf/muffler. Amazon comes with the windswept version already attached in box. The additional one is of the more standard flat variety and is good for rider line-ups, things that don't require dynamic action. Stuff like that.

1 - GiGi Armlet. The armlet given to Daisuke in the first episode of the series, allowing for his biological transformation into Amazon. This armlet is already attached to Amazon in package. It's the basis for the Amazons Register from the recent Amazons reboot mini-series.

1 - Combined GiGi/GaGa Armlet. The twin ancient Incan artifact to Amazon's GiGi Armlet is the GaGa. When the two are combined the user attains mastery over ancient Incan science & power, to rule the world. In the final episode of the series these 2 armlet's combined, the figuarts don't really do this. Instead Amazon comes with the GiGi Armlet on him in package already, the alternate included accessory is the already combined GiGi/GaGa armlet. Which is a bit odd but it works I suppose.

1 - alternate Condorer Belt. Amazon's belt, unlike his predecessors, is not his henshin device. But it does serve a purpose as a weapon. This alternate version of it can be plugged onto the waist band, and it comes with the bar through the center removed for him to hold. This simulates the way in which Amazon removes that bar from the belt to turn it into a rope weapon.

1 - Condorer Rope. This bit isn't as flexible as you might like but it gets the job done. And it does look convincingly like rope. Amazon always was more of a hand to hand fighter, a brutal one at that. So I can give this accessory an easy pass no matter what.

1 - Dai Setsudan/Big Slice Effect Part. This milky white slashing effect represents Amazons' signature downward slash. Which he uses often to cleave an enemy in two! It comes in two halves that peg together around his open palm hand. But they also work extraordinary well in tandem with a tamashii stage as just general slashing effects.

Amazon Japan Bonus
1 - Tamashii Stage Label. This personalized label sheet for Amazon gives you a reason to use a dedicated stage with Amazon. No stage is included with this release, but it's a fairly simple label to apply. I find that now that I can display Amazon on his Jungler, I rarely have sue for this particular stage anymore. This label is the exclusive that makes this release an Amazon.JP Edition. Other than the packaging, the inclusion of the label is the primary difference with the normal release.

The one omission that bugs me about this release is the yellow eyed "Injured Amazon" head. In episode 19 Daisuke was blinded by the Owl Beastman and the Amazon armors' eyes shifted from red to yellow to signify this. I'm not sure why such an easy swap out accessory wasn't included. It would have been incredibly easy to produce and pack in, even with the much much more recent release of his Rider Machine, the Jungler.

Final Thoughts
I'd forgotten just how much I loved this figure until shooting this gallery. Amazon has always been one of my favorite Showa designs, mostly just because it's so different from your typical rider. Likewise I love the Alpha & Omega designs for the same reasons now, they just stand out from a crowd of Heisei riders. S.H. Figuarts Kamen Rider Amazon is still one of the best older releases in the line and has stood the test of time very well. I would never say no to a Seihou release or anything like that, but he hardly needs it. This is still a fantastic figuart.

Part 2
- Condorer Parts
- Dai Setsudan slash effect

I have always liked this version, I still need to get the hold of it though.

AAAAAAMMMAAAAAAZZZOOOOOONNN!!!!!!!
I love how they came up with a wild type of Kamen Rider!
It looks very beast type with the claws and everything, almost as if he was a monster!
The figure looks good as always, great colors, great details, also love the scarf!
Awesome looking figure as you would expect from a figuart!

It’s a cool looking figure for sure, but I don’t really see a reason to get it now that it seems like Showa Shinkocchou Seihou figures might be a thing. It’ll take a couple of years for sure, but I will wait, this figure is simply too outdated for my collection.

I do like the slash effect though, a lot actually, so I hope the newer release includes something similar. To be honest I hope they go bonkers and include blood splatters you can attach to other figures, some people made custom ones and they look really cool. Kamen Rider isn’t an overly gore-y franchise but I feel like Amazon needs to have something like this.

I love Amazon so much! Not the gore filled one, but Amazon Showa Era! Such a cool design and it really pops when compared to V3 or Black.

This guy is easily one of the best Showa figures, just for daring to something different with the design, and doing it damn well.

Amazon is definitely one of the more unique Showa Rider designs I enjoyed. It's why I enjoy Amazon Alpha over Sigma and Omega, mostly because Alpha does a decent job at remaking a classic design into a more modern version.

I would definitely grab this figure if I had the chance.

Haven't even seen the show, but watching Amazons and seeing this figure really makes me want it, even if it's to have him alongside his modern counterparts. Great gallery, Den-O!



Speaking of which, I am noticing a trend of breathing new life into old Showa Riders, whether that be updated suits, updated henshin sequences, new characters based on old characters (Sangou) or in the case of Amazon, a reboot series. I quite like this trend, actually.

Hadn't realized how much time had passed since this figure released, especially because it still looks so good. One of the few Showa designs I've considered getting despite never watching the show because it's so wild and unique.

And I still love the Amazon box concept.