SIC Volume 34 Zanki and Todoroki

SIC Zanki and Ibuki pack is my second SIC and I am quite encouraged right now to make a review about this volume. The main selling point of this line is that the appearance of the Kamen Riders are re-imagined and all SIC products have die-cast metal parts (some have excessive and some almost do not have but nonetheless, every SIC has a die-cast metal part).

Now back to SIC Zanki and Todoroki. I really wanted to have this SIC volume ever since I first saw the pictures somewhere in the internet. I got this last year, December 2010 for just a whooping 1500 pesos, almost half of the the actual selling price. Well, I guess I really hit lucky with this one. lol

Anyway on to the review:

BOX

Front:

Box has the Hibiki feel to it and a large window on the front showing the two Kamen Riders that are in this volume, as well as some of the accessories. This thing looks good even if displayed for MISB (Mint In Sealed Box) purpose.

Back:

The back of the box shows some poses that the figures can do and some of the accessories that come with it.

After popping out the contents of the box, these are what you will get:

I tell you, these pack has SO MANY disc animals and thingamajigs that you can pose with the figures. Accessories always play a major part in playability and this volume having a lot of accessories is a really good thing. Also, I am not entirely sure for what will I use those armor parts that came with the accessories. Also, the first seven discs on above right are made of die-cast metal.

And now we go to one of my favorite Kamen Riders, Zanki:

Sadly, (third pic) that's just as far as the arms and legs can go. Considering that this is one of the old SICs, it could really be expected that this one would have limited articulation. At least the neck articulation is pretty acceptable with this one. The legs have four points of articulation: the pelvis joint (ball joint), knees (swivel joint), below the knees (ball joint) and the ankles (swivel joint, I think?). The trouble with these old SICs is that there is "too much" movement because of excessive points of articulation. In other words, the only important joints for the legs are the pelvis joints, knee joints, and the ankle joint. The ball joint below the knees, IMO, makes the stability of the figure weak and you can even pose the shin facing backwards. That's bad IMO.

This dood also comes with a lot of hands but what caught my attention were the "Wolverine" hands.

"Shut up, bub. I'm gonna gut you."

Anyway, what is Zanki without his epic weapon? Well, still Zanki I guess. lol

Anyway, Zanki's weapon of choice is an electric guitar. Yes, newbs, electric guitar. In this volume, there are two guitars that are in it: one that has a metal body but plastic fret board and a plastic one. The die-cast metal guitar is really badass, yeah, but it could mean serious weight issue. I tried to pose mine in many poses as my mind can think of but sadly, the arms sag down after a few seconds of holding the guitar. As for the plastic one, it looks good with all the details in it and it is actually better to use it in posing rather than the die-cast metal one IMO.

"Let us layeth the smackdown!"

Now we go to the other Kamen Rider in this pack, Ibuki. The amount of die-cast metal in this one is really extraordinary. By extraordinary, I meant extraordinarily frustrating to pose this one. The whole vest is made of die-cast metal, making it really, REALLY top heavy. More to add to my chagrin, posing this is a really pain in the ass since the ankles are really weak and it always falls over. Also, I dunno for the others' copy of this but my copy's shoulder pads can easily pop off. Forgive me if I only have a few pics of Ibuki as it was really hard and frustrating to pose this figure. Well, here are the pics anyway:

As always, details are also top notch, though I think these two are rather kinda show accurate.

What is awesome with this one is that it comes with the face that has the mouth. lol. The mouth part is clear plastic.
Disappointingly, with the armor pieces slapped on to its chest, the head can't be moved sideways as the armor pieces block it.

Anyway, its trumpet/gun is mostly die-cast metal and sadly, I wasn't able to pose it in kill-shoot pose (due to weight issue, again) so I guess this ones would have to do.

Note for the trumpet: the thing on the front can easily fall off.

As for my final thoughts on this volume, I was pretty much disappointed with the articulation of these two. Though the articulation was disappointing, I was very much impressed with the die-cast things and the accessories in this pack and the top-notch details. Well, this one was one of the old SICs so I think I can forgive the serious flaws in the articulation. One thing I also disliked is that the parts on SIC Ibuki and some on Zanki can be easily popped off, notably the armor pieces and the shoulder pads, and seriously, posing the two of them was really a pain in the ass for me. Zanki is pretty much fine though since the only part that often pops out of him are the shoulder pads and the upper die-cast metal part. Still, I really don't recommend that you to play this like a toy as not only is it fragile, but it also has a lot of loose small parts that you can accidentally lose just while trying to pose it. Still, I really like this volume because of the number of accessories and the die-cast things which the modern SICs have in only small amounts (except SIC Kiva which that figure has a die-cast metal part on every part of its body).

For verdict, the action figures are kinda meant for display purposes only instead of a toy. I really don't recommend that you buy this but if you are a Hibiki fan, like me, then get it. As for my rating:

3/5 for the articulation (Terrible. Really terrible.)

3/5 for the design (Hey, it's an SIC. What could go wrong in the designs? I gave it a 4 since the two figures kinda look like exactly the ones in the TV show. Would've appreciated if they were more deformed. Also, joints are freakin fragile. That's really not amusing.)

5/5 accessories (Shitload. Nuf said.)

3/5 price (though I got mine for a steal, this one is actually pretty cheap. I found one seller selling these for 2300 pesos only. If you want to know who that is, then look for Coldfire Gundam in Facebook. Pretty much. you paying for two figures with terrible articulation but at least you get a shitload of accessories.)

Verdict: 3.8/5 (These two are just good as eye-candies and not really for playing.)