S.I.C. OOO TaToBa

A month later than I anticipated, thanks to my hamhands, but I finally got around to reviewing the newest member of the SiC line, Kamen Rider OOO TaTaBa combo. This is the now confirmed start of all of the main OOOs forms in the SiC aesthetic, so does it start with a bang or are we doomed to garbage for the next twelve months. Read on for the review.

Figure Design
TaToBa seems to be a return to form for the SiC line. The last few releases have seemed more hyper-detailed and realistic and less monstorous. TaToBa changes that by taking the animalistic stylings of the OOOs suit designs and scaling it up to twenty, and with great success. Each third of the body really does a good job of mimicking the animal that it represents whether through sculpt or accessory. The Taka (hawk) head is really striking, with the head converging into a beak in the front, and a nice subtle mantle of feathers around the neck. The Batta (Grashopper) legs have a bit of chitonousness to them with a few grasshopper leg spikes popping out the sides. The paint is as always great, with enough black wash in the right places to bring out the necessary details, and I’m happy that they went for a gold shade of yellow on the Tora (Tiger) midsection instead of the more plastic-like yellow of the original suit. Sulpted throughout the figure are clear plastic ‘veins’ that make up where the original suit design had colored detailing lines. These look really nice on the matte black finish of the rest of his body. Topping it off are a set of die-cast kneecaps to adds some weight to the figure. It’s always fun to me trying to discover where they hide the diecast on these figures.
One thing to note, this figure is meant to include the form switch gimmick. The head/neck/mantle, torso, and abs/legs all come apart to allow for swapping with other OOOs SiC releases in the future. The Chest emblems are even removable.  I’m excited to start, but the nature of SiCs has me worried with any potential breaking.

Accessories
Pull up a chair, we’re going to be in this section for a bit. OOOs comes with a LOT. Packed inside are the usually assortment of hands and one unique hand. This hand was actually a surprise to me until I pulled out the instructions and saw that this hand is capable of holding the included cell medals! At first I just assumed the Medals were to go into the also included Medajariber and that be the end of it. So this little (to me) easter egg was a fantastic addition. As already mentioned you get some medals, three cell Medals, and the three Cores that are already inside the OOO belt to create TaToBa. These are extremely tiny but also extremely well detailed and sculpted. You can easily make out the symbols on the front sides. The sword is also nicely done, with a clear blue blade and a working lever to ‘release (but not really)’ the stored cell Medals. In lieu of working correctly the side of the sword pops off to place the cell medals inside, an acceptable compromise, but one of my tabs broke, so be careful.

The main event of these accessories lies in what’s left: The Batta Leg and Tora Claw effect parts, for lack of a better term. In the show, once or twice, OOO transformed his legs into a more grasshopper-like form to initiate an attack. These are included in amazing detail. The feet are really great with all the ankle articulation you’d expect from a regular foot. My only complaint with them is I wish that they had a bit more of a range of movement, but they suffice. My photos really don’t do these pieces justice. The Tora claws, unless my memory is foggy and I’m unsure what these are meant to represent, are completely unique to this SiC Release. Popping off the forearms you can replace the standard ones with this giant cat paws for some really menacing looks. Each claw is individually ball-jointed, but one of mine likes to fall out…a lot. I’m also afraid to switch out these limbs more than necessary as they’re already very loose and I don’t want them to get worse over time.

Articulation
OOOs feels more articulated than previous SiC releases. His joint sekeleton is no different than anything else I have but something about it feels ‘looser’ (and I mean that in a good way, not a things flop around way) Though I suppose I should take this point to warn you all to be EXTREMELY careful with the hips. A frozen thigh swivel-joint caused me to break a leg clean off at the hip post. I got a replacement and noticed one of the legs on this one was also frozen, though I managed to fix that without breaking the new one. But consider yourself forewarned.

Overall
As the start of a new line of SiCs I couldn’t be happier with what’s offered. The convention in Japan this weekend showed off the rest of OOOs forms, with the second already slated to be a web exclusive. If you like SiC and OOO this is a must buy. If you like OOO but are unsure of SiC, this is a great place to start.