The 5th Armored Rider of Kamen Rider Gaim joins the fray in the ever popular Arms Change toyline!
Like his fellow riders released before him Kamen Rider Gridon comes packed with his trademark Donguri (Acorn) Arms, his arms weapon the Donkachi, as well as a personal Lock Vehicle, the Dandeliner! Though the Dandeliner has only been seen to be used up to this point by the Kurokage troopers, this release would imply that Gridon will use it soon enough. Though if you try to troop build these vehicles for your Kurokage army, you’ll have a rather large excess of Gridons.
Gridon succeeds in being yet another fun an intuitive addition to an ever growing line, and his vehicle takes a crack at some of the shortcomings of the previously released Lock Vehicle bikes. On the whole this one is another clear winner for Bandai of Japan. As seems to be the case with almost any Arms Change figure, this one is also a very welcome addition to the line! To see a full 50+ image gallery of this set click “Discuss on the TokuNation Forums” at the bottom of this post.
Never Give Up!
The Arms Change line from Kamen Rider Gaim chugs right along with it's latest release, Kamen Rider Gridon Donguri Arms! Gridon is also a first for line, being packed with his Lock Vehicle the Dandeliner.
Come on, Donguri Arms!
Let's start with Gridon. As you may know from the series his name is a play on the word Donguri, Japanese for Acorn. It's the result of reversing the syllables for Donguri. Kamen Rider Kurokage jokingly gave him this name and Jonouchi progressively got used to it. Now the Gridon base body or pre-arms itself is literally a repaint of Kamen Rider Baron with a new head. The body itself is exactly the same as Baron featuring only paint app differences. The whole look of Gridon appears to be akin to a viking.
Paint differences aside this guy functions just like the rest of the line interacting with the included Donguri (Acorn) Arms. This Arms plays it safe and goes back to the basics of the Arms Change line, being a straight drop onto the riders head, then fold out type. Though this one has possibly the easiest transformation of all it's actually pretty fun. There''s an added slide bar connecting the front of the chest to the back plate that allows for an extra bit of movement during transformation but also really helps to lock the chest in place.
This Arms strikes a great balance of being bulky yet functional, much better than Banana but not quite as free as say Orange or Melon. The Donguri Arms, while not a perfect match for the other riders, works fairly well with them. Gridon with his more muted color scheme thankfully works with just about everything. Brilliant examples are Gridon using Pine, Kiwi, and especially Banana Arms. Though the Legend Rider Arms do look rather bland on him.
The included weapon, the Donkachi, doesn't have any movable parts and surprisingly doesn't have an open socket on the handle to combine with a Musou Saber. Though it shares the same basic mold as the Daidaimaru & Pine Iron which do. It's a fun little mallet, though like the Dragon Shot can be difficult to hold
The second post of this thread contains the attached Dandeliner images.
Now to the Lock Vehicle. The Dandeliner as we've seen it in the show so far, has only been used by the MP Kurokage Troopers working for Yggdrasil. Being that this one is packed with Gridon it's safe to assume he'll acquire one rather soon. Magazine scans also show that Gaim will use one in the near future. The Lock mode itself is just as nice as the Sakura Hurricane or Rose Attacker. It functions with DX role play toys but has no electronic features.
Transformation is just as straight forward as the lock bikes. However because this represents a flying vehicle, there are no wheels on it. So it sits flat on any given surface and doesn't have nor need a kickstand to sit up right. Another welcome addition to the Lock Vehicle line.
The AC 07 Arms Change Gridon & Dandeliner Lock Vehicle set is another home run for Bandai of Japan. As if this line wasn't popular enough already, this release was severely under stocked by several major online import retailers. With quite a few customers reporting their orders went to back order, or were simply cancelled due to inadequate stock. If you can get your hands on this set I HIGHLY recommend it. It's worth every penny.
Dandeliner Images
Den-O, quick note, his weapon is called the Donkachi, Gridon Impact is the name of his finisher.
I like the little tables you have for the lock seeds and weapons
Aside from that, great gallery as always Jordan! Mine's coming in on Monday!
I'm surprised how much I like Melon Gridon.
Keep reading: Arms Change Kamen/Armored Rider Gridon Donguri Arms & Dandeliner Gallery - Page 2
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