Kit Review

Straight build

Size comparison with a cigarette pack

Upper body and head

The chest armor and muffler, split into 6 pieces

MGFigurerise Kamen Rider 1 - The belt's color separation is achieved through a combination of small parts and stickers. In pa

The belt's color separation is achieved through a combination of small parts and stickers.
In particular, you have to apply a tiny red sticker onto each of the 16 small silver parts — it's quite a fiddly job.

The back. The silver on the belt loops is also done with stickers.

Clean(?) legs

Two muffler options are included — a standard one and a wind-blown version.

Two hand types are included — the standard articulated hand and a fixed open-palm hand.

You can swap out the parts on the back of the belt to connect it to a stand.

Articulation is pretty solid.

MGFigurerise Kamen Rider 1 - The shoulder's forward/backward movement mechanism is quite unique. The front chest stays fixed

The shoulder's forward/backward movement mechanism is quite unique.
The front chest stays fixed while the back side of the shoulder folds forward, allowing the arms to be brought inward.

MGFigurerise Kamen Rider 1 - When you raise the arm upward, the top part of the shoulder slides inward to make room for the m

When you raise the arm upward, the top part of the shoulder slides inward to make room for the movement.

MGFigurerise Kamen Rider 1 - The 6 green armor pieces on the chest each move individually in 3 segments, splitting and shifti

The 6 green armor pieces on the chest each move individually in 3 segments,
splitting and shifting in 3 stages whenever you tilt the waist forward/backward or rotate it sideways.
Probably the most interesting and fun part of this kit.

MGFigurerise Kamen Rider 1 - Basic pose (1/4)

MGFigurerise Kamen Rider 1 - Basic pose (2/4)

Basic pose

MGFigurerise Kamen Rider 1 - Jumping pose (1/3)

Jumping pose

MGFigurerise Kamen Rider 1 - Attack ready stance (1/3)

Attack ready stance

MGFigurerise Kamen Rider 1 - Flying kick pose (1/3)

Flying kick pose

MGFigurerise Kamen Rider 1 - Aerial double kick pose (1/4)

MGFigurerise Kamen Rider 1 - Aerial double kick pose (2/4)

Aerial double kick pose

MGFigurerise Kamen Rider 1 - Side kick pose (1/4)

MGFigurerise Kamen Rider 1 - Side kick pose (2/4)

Side kick pose

MGFigurerise Kamen Rider 1 - Together with Kamen Rider Double's Cyclone Joker. Maybe it's the difference between a newer seri

Together with Kamen Rider Double's Cyclone Joker.
Maybe it's the difference between a newer series and the original, but there's a bigger height gap than I expected.
Probably because the body proportions have gotten bigger over the years ^^;

Up until recently, Bandai had been releasing the main characters from Kamen Rider Double as MG Figure-rise kits, and now they've gone ahead and released the original Kamen Rider. The original Kamen Rider series started back in 1971, while the newer Kamen Rider Double is a 2009 production — that's a whopping 38-year gap.

The first kit from the original Kamen Rider series is, naturally, Kamen Rider 1, and it's basically built on a similar framework to the one used for Kamen Rider Double. That said, while the structure is similar, all the parts and details have been completely redesigned from scratch. In particular, the 3-stage individually articulated waist section and the new forward/backward and up/down shoulder movement gimmicks show a more advanced joint design compared to the previous Kamen Rider kits. The forearm and leg sections share the same structure though.

This new waist/shoulder articulation gimmick feels a bit more natural than what we got with the Kamen Rider Double series, making it even more fun to pose as an action figure. I was ready to complain if they'd just swapped out the looks while keeping everything else identical, but the improvements they've made moving into this new series are genuinely worth praising. ^^; In particular, watching the 6 green chest armor pieces each move independently as you shift the waist in different directions is really quite entertaining.

Both a standard muffler and a wind-blown version are included, and there's also an extra set of pointed hand parts — but given the nature of the character, there are absolutely no separate weapons. The trickiest part of building Kamen Rider 1 is the belt assembly, where you have to plug in 16 tiny silver bolts and then stick a small red sticker onto the round face of each one. It's not so much difficult as it is fiddly — especially since you have to carefully apply flat stickers onto curved surfaces and make sure they don't peel off.

As you can see in the comparison photos, the overall kit size is smaller than the existing Kamen Rider Double series — which, given the 38-year gap between the two series, almost feels like a nod to how average body proportions have shifted toward a more Western build over time. Being a kit based on an older original series, the source design is simpler compared to the latest Double series, but through improved proportions and joints, it's been put together well enough that it doesn't look outclassed at all.

I don't seriously think Bandai is going to release kits of every single character from the countless Kamen Rider series out there — but somehow it feels like they're grinning and dipping their toes into an endless ocean of potential releases. Either way, the original grasshopper-style Kamen Rider 1 is a very welcome character for old-school fans, and honestly, I find it a lot more charming than the Double series. On top of that, the quality has improved over previous releases, so I think this is an action figure model kit that pretty much anyone can have a great time with :-)

MGFigurerise Kamen Rider 1 | 2011. 8 | ¥3,500

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.