“Effervescent Burst! Rabbit Tank Sparkling!”
Using the essence of Pandora’s Box, Sento Kiryu has managed to create a new power-up item to rival the revealed Blood Stalk! This dazzling new form that shocks even Souichi Isurugi, maximizes Build’s speed and strength and will even drive the fearsome Night Rogue into hiding. S.H. Figuarts Kamen Rider Build Rabbit Tank Sparkling Form bursts onto the scene!
Build Sparkling is another fantastic outing for this mold, slightly modified from it’s previous two outings as Build & Cross-Z. It’s a form I didn’t initially expect to want to own, but you a know a fantastic show has a way of changing my opinion on things like that. In hand Sparkling is a really dynamic and interesting new take on the mold, though it’s sadly very lite on accessories. Including 10 hands (not all in matching pairs either!) Sparkling can interact with all the goodies included in the Parts Set with the Machine Builder though.
This gallery clocks in at just over 65 images, all of which are attached to this post. You can also read up on our full review of the figure by clicking “Discuss on the TokuNation Forums” at the bottom of this post. Next time we’ll be back with a gallery of the Tamashii Nations event exclusives Kamen Rider Joker!
"Even without you, there are things I have to protect."
Faced with the truth about Souichi Isurugi & Blood Stalk, Sento has one last ditch plan to stop him. Distill the power of Pandora's Box into a new power up item! Now that he knows the truth about Souichi, and himself, can Sento really wield this power? Find out in our gallery of S.H. Figuarts Kamen Rider Build Rabbit Tank Sparkling Form!
Packaging
Sparkling continues the trend of two-tone boxes for Build releases and much like the solid color Ex-Aid boxes, this style has gotten a bit stale rather quickly. Honestly it's not terribly important to me how boxes look anymore anyway.
Main Figure
Build Sparkling builds (HA HA HA) off of what we've seen from the line already, and I mean that literally. The main Build mold has only made 2 outings in the line so far as Rabbit/Tank and modified as Cross-Z. Sparkling sees it for a third time.
If you've had experience with either of those releases then you know all the essentials of this mold and what it can do. Here's a brief refresher. With the lower body, the legs are largely identical to Build aside from the new electrical white strips. Like Cross-Z, Sparkling seems to have some tolerance issues with the legs. The knees creak on mine the same way Cross-Z's hips did. The hips are quite tight as well. So just be careful handling him, it seems like a recipe for disaster. Apply heat and shock oil where necessary. For articuation, these legs function identically to the last two uses of the mold.
The Build Driver is once again carried over and identical to it's previous outings. The new feature here is of course the Rabbit Tank Sparkling Full Bottle which is modeled on a typical can of soda. The Bottle is removable, there's no functionality to it though, the pegs can't recede into the can form like the DX toy. Weirdly, because of the way it's designed to slot into the holes on the Driver, it can also fit nicely into the Bottle holster on the hip.
For the upper body, the primary change is the new electrical burst pattern that stretches over the chest and up to the left shoulder. You can see the original diagonal lines from base Build's chest under the paint but the new sculpted detail obscures that somewhat. It's basically the same chest, just with these new details and paint on top. I also really dig thew little electric additions to the rabbit/tank protrusions on the shoulder. A new collar part has been added around the neck as well, continuing the electrical theme.
With the arms we again see what are essentially identical parts to base Build just with new detailing, each forearm also now has a new protrusion on top of the detailing. The biggest change comes in the new shoulder pads which can look a little awkward depending on the angle you move them to. I tended to pop them off by accident a number of time while shooting this gallery.
While keeping in line with the original Build's theme, Sparkling's head is by the far the best new addition. It's very much the super powered version of the Rabbit/Tank head, right down to the new electrified look of the compound eyes. I gotta say Sparkling has never been a favorite form of mine, but this head sells it so hard. It's just spot on. The new collar around the neck can get in the way of posing the head somewhat, but that's about the only drawback.
Quite often, people have made the joke of "Sparkling is Pepsiman" which totally makes sense given this form's color scheme. I took that a bit further with some bonus shots attached in the second post. I hope you enjoy Target: Pepsi Prime!
Accessories
Sadly, Sparkling follows the standard Rabbit/Tank form's lead and comes with minimal accessories:
10 - additional hands. Weirdly not all in matching pairs either. 3 left hands, and 7 right hands of various posers. Which include multiple to hold weapons he doesn't actually come with and ride a motorcycle that was a previous web exclusive and included said weapons. The hand variety is fantastic. Honestly, I wish regular Rabbit/Tank had come this sort of variety. But these go a long way to helping Sparkilng feel like it has more than it does since it can utilize things from the rest of the line.
If you're like me and had already picked up Machine Builder with the parts set then this figure is a perfect compliment. If not, then you'll likely be quite disappointed with the accessory selection here.
Final thoughts
Overall this is a really solid remold of a base figure that I quite like. I didn't really expect to like Sparkling that much, but it's succeeded in being a really great little addition to my Build collection. I usually tend to go completionist on shows I love and I'm really happy I did in this case. Build Sparkling Form is a really unexpectedly fun addition to any Build collection.
Part 2
- Defeat Blood Stalk & Night Rogue
- Drill Crusher
- Machine Builder
- Target: Pepsi Prime!
I still think this should have the weapons, while Hazard got a HawkGatlinger, this form should too, alongside a 4 Panel Ninja Sword and the Pirate/Train one
A form I grew more attached to then I ever thought I would. The figure looks amazing and I think I would even prefer it over base RabbitTank if I had to pick one type of Build to display.
Not my favorite form but that's a pretty fantastic looking figure. Great pics, also. Thanks for posting it.
Need some pix with the Gaim Energy riders
SOOOOOODA
I appreciate the random Target: 2006 homage.
The use of the runners for the henshin effect is great, love this design
While I like the suit, and the figure looks great, it was a bit forgetable with the introduction of the splash drivers and the Hazard not too long after. Wish it had a trenger precense in the story
This is a beautifully-realized figure of a form I've never actually liked. I think it's that it's so close to being Rabbit/Tank, without the elegance that I like about the original design. (Additional gripe; Build was still in Sparkling form for the combined Super Hero Time intertitials for the rest of the series.)
With that said, the Pepsi photo gives me life. Also, I liked your use of sprues to approximate the Build Up sequence!
Keep reading: S.H. Figuarts Kamen Rider Build Rabbit Tank Sparkling Form Gallery - Page 2
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