Mayday mayday SOS!
And we’re back to kick off a new month of toy galleries with another classic character from 1990’s Tokkei Winspector! Earlier this year we took a look at the team leader of Winspector with S.H. Figuarts Fire. Today we get to examine one of Fires’ two robotic partners, S.H. Figuarts Bikel!
Bikel builds on the already solid design and accessory count of Fire, and gives us just a little bit more. Managing to have a ton of personality, Bikel is one of the more interesting robots you could have in your collection. His wild & rambunctious attitude in the show is conveyed perfectly in this excellent figure. Bikel includes his Daytric M2 Sidearm, his signature Bispears in multiple forms, 4 sets of hands, and even a tiny to scale figure of Demitasse, the Winspector’s tiny robotic ally!
We’ve attached a selection of images to this post but you can click “Discuss on the TokuNation Forums” at the bottom of this post to view the entire 70+ image gallery! We’ll be back next week with another ghostly addition to our galleries as well!
Wake Up! Switch On!
Today we're taking a look at the second S.H. Figuarts release from the classic 1990 series Tokkei Winspector. One half of an incredibly hilarious duo, S.H. Figuarts Bikel gets us one step closer to completing the Winspector trio. A fun design with a lot of character, Bikel is a welcome addition to the already robust selection of Metal Hero figuarts that Bandai has released in the last few years.
Packaging
The slim style box returns once again with a few minor changes. Bikel is a Tamashii Web Exclusive so instead of a window box we get a photoshopped image in place of it. But we aren't buying the figure for the packaging really. I do however really like the monotone art on the spine of the box.
Main Figure
The review of S.H. Figuarts Bikel is going to be somewhat similar to S.H. Figuarts Fire's as they do share some basic parts reuse. Primarily in the legs which are nigh identical. Right down to the hip holster for the included Daytric M2. The only difference being the color of the holster for Bikel. The rest of the figure from the waist up is mostly all new though.
Bikel winds up being ever so slightly out of place with his teammates as well. While the figure is undoubtedly great and completely accurate, sharing some tooling with the previously released S.H. Figuarts Fire, he has one small difference from his comrades. Both Fire & Walter feature yellow eyes on their helmets where Bikel's are red. Clearly to contrast with his bright yellow/gold armor. In a team of characters where 2 of them are robots & the 3rd is human, it's odd that one of the robots appears to be out of the ordinary. Speaking of eyes Bikel's helmet has the same kind of flip up visor feature as Fire's, something I sorely miss in toku heroes is the revealing eye shot of a helmet. Many Metal Heroes feature it prominently. In Bikel's case the red paint used helps them peer through the gray visor and give him a very lifelike effect.
The biggest difference between Bikel & Fire is the rather large tire protruding from his torso. While it doesn't seem to be rubber it is a soft nice plastic that simulates it, however it does not spin. So really it's just like 2/3 of a tire fixed in his chest. You can pose Bikel laying his stomach for his rolling mode, but with a non-functional tire you won't accomplish much. And you thought Kamen Rider Drive was the first toku hero to have a tire in his body! Unlike Fire, Bikel does not have asymmetrical shoulders but they do share much of the same upper arm sculpting. Bikel has the same great range of motion that Fire gave us, and these two truly are the best Metal Hero figuarts ever released.
Bikel probably has more intricate paint details than Fire as well, there are several very small "lights" painted on his chest. And while he looks right at home with his commander, like Fire Bikel still has numerous tiny details missing from his design. For every panel line or indicator that is painted there's at least another that isn't. But at this scale I guess it's hard to expect everything to be painted 100% accurately. Also as you'll notice below I've featured some shots with the vintage DX Firesquad & Winchaser toys. As was the case with Fire, Bikel interacts VERY well with these vehicles. I was hoping Bikels' Bispears could function as the Winchasers' handlebars like on the vintage figures. Sadly they can't but that's alright. He still scales pretty damn well with it.
Accessories
2 - Bispears (half). These are Bikel's signature weapons formed from the handlebars attached to his shoulder blades. The handles detach from his body and in show extend, here the extended form are entirely different accessories. In show Bikel would use his Bispears as the handlebars for the Winchaser bike.
2 - Bispears (full length). See above.
1 - Bispear Staff adapter. Just to combine the 2 extended portions together into a staff.
1 - Daytric M2. The multi-purpose standard sidearm of the Winspector trio. Each member caries this item in a right hip mounted holster. The Daytric M2 in it's standard form is a pistol. Sadly I have to point out that it isn't even remotely fully painted. It's cast in a cheap black plastic with minor trim as the only painted detail. Which simply isn't accurate, not even close. None of the proper detailing is present. The Baton mode can be achieved by flipping the barrel up and sliding the scope forward. It's a bit of an unorthodox design but it does the job of being a nice melee weapon. It's a smooth easy change between modes at least.
1 - Demitasse. A very diminutive robot and small companion for the Winspector team, Demitasse was a new creation of Mr. Nonoyama's first introduced in episode 13. In show and in DX toy form Demitasse could transform into a small canister. This incredibly small figure is not capable of that, but at this size it's totally fair. However what's not fair is that it is terribly mis-colored in a greenish/gold tinge rather than the appropriate chrome silver.
4 - sets of additional hands. A pretty healthy selection given how many web exclusive have such a sparse one. Considering the accessories already included with Bikel the hands are like an extra bonus.
Bikel pretty much comes with everything he needs to get the job done. With Bandai releasing a massive Winspector accessory pack later this year I can't really complain about anything being missing from this release. Eventually we'll have it all.
Final Thoughts
Once again I am very pleased with this offbeat release. It seems that Bandai continues to throw their best resources at more obscure characters and licenses. As long as Metal Heroes keep getting the love I have zero complaints with this. I've been a massive fan of Tokkei Winspector for a very long time, 2016 sees 4 individual releases for it (Fire, Bikel, Walter, Accessory Pack) and that's crazy and great. S.H. Figuarts Bikel is another great addition to any Metal Hero collection.
Post 2
- Bispear combinations
- Demitasse
- Winsquad, Trychaser, & Fire comparisons
- General additional awesomeness
Looks as great as I imagined it would. Now begins the long hunt of trying to find one.
Cool gallery as always
I'm actually surprised how far they went with Bikel's accessories, especially with the Bispear considering how the lance with TriceraRanger/MMPR blue was handled.
In contrast, I'm surprised at how horrible Demitasse looks. Given the level of detail we've seen in past, this looks horribly lazy. I can sort of understand not paining the details on his chest if only for cost, but at least paint him silver and give him yellow eyes. It's not something I would call a deal breaker by any means, but I know they can and have done better.
Also he doesn't have his secret medal, so I demand an UPGRAYEDD set to correct this issue.
That being said, Bikel looks great and I would probably pick one up if he wasn't a webEX. As much as I love the show, I simply cannot justify the MonsterArts level prices he goes for.
Full Thread: Tokkei Winspector: S.H. Figuarts Bikel Gallery
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