Hot Toys Kamen Rider Black RX Review

Kamen Rider Black RX looks like someone shrank the costume down to fit a shelf. The green chest, red eyes, silver face and all those wrinkles have the slightly rough appearance of the suit on screen. I like that. Hot Toys could have cleaned everything up into shiny superhero armor, but that would have lost part of what makes this design work.

Hot Toys also gives RX plenty of hands, Revolcane options and an excellent kick effect. The frustrating choices are underneath: the rubbery-looking green fabric has a crease on the review sample straight out of the box, some armor limits his movement, and the eye lights use batteries even though the other lights use USB-C.

RX’s Helmet Keeps the Old Costume’s Character

The helmet has the big red lenses, frosted silver face and fine lines around the mouth. The eyes catch light through the translucent plastic so well that they can look illuminated even with the LEDs off. With them switched on, the red glow adds quite a bit to the display.

The helmet looks a touch large on the body to me, but this was never a small, sleek helmet on screen either. I wouldn’t want Hot Toys to smooth away the things that make it recognizable just to give it more modern proportions.

The antennae are thin plastic, and spares are included. I’m glad they’re there, although I’d still be careful handling the head. The neck armor runs down into that bulky collar and looks close to the costume when he’s facing forward. There’s more movement in the head than that collar suggests, even if it eventually gets in the way.

RX’s Suit Looks Right Until You Look at the Green Fabric

The sculpted armor has wrinkles, bumps and dips that make it look like the old costume material. The shoulder pads float loosely and move out of the arms’ way. They aren’t fixed tightly in place, but they look right for this costume.

The gold chest emblem, layered translucent details and rougher-looking belt look close to the costume too. It isn’t supposed to look like polished Iron Man armor, and I’m glad it doesn’t. The wrist communicator and separate cuffs can slide down to cover the wrist joints too.

I wish that care had carried over to the green fabric. It has a rubbery surface rather than the simpler metallic spandex look of the costume, and a crease was already visible on the sample before posing. That’s enough to make me cautious about leaving the knees deeply bent for a long time. I can’t tell how every suit will hold up from one sample, but a crease straight out of the box isn’t encouraging.

The boots have sculpted grain, folds and tread, with a separate upper guard so the ankle can move. They look clean rather than weathered, which fits the rest of the figure. The suit has plenty of convincing texture; the rubbery green fabric is the part I’d most like changed.

RX Gets More Than One Sunriser Belt Display

The Sunriser has small sculpted details behind its clear cover, including the different shapes on either side. Hot Toys also includes a mid-transformation front with the exposed readout design. It changes the look of the belt enough to be worth swapping, rather than being another almost identical part that stays in the box.

The shape of the front piece makes it fit only one way. With the clear cover removed, the translucent Revolcane can plug into the belt for the pose where RX is pulling it out. There is gold paint around that connection, so repeated fitting and removal could wear it. I’d choose the display I want rather than keep pulling the part in and out.

The belt’s power cable tucks inside a slot in the suit when it’s not being used. That is a nice bit of thought from Hot Toys. Pull it out for the lights, then hide it again when you want a cleaner display.

Why Didn’t Hot Toys Put All of RX’s Lights on USB-C?

You get a solid metallic silver Revolcane, a translucent version with a removable blade and a light-up version. The little propeller details are there under the domed lenses, and you can show the weapon before or after it turns solid.

The illuminated blade carries its glow right through to the tip. It looks great, and I’d like to see that kind of even lighting in more Hot Toys blades. The belt and Revolcane connect to a junction box powered by USB-C. That box isn’t a battery pack; it has to stay connected to power.

You can clip it to the flight pole or behind RX’s belt. The belt clip presses against the outfit, so I’d clip the box to the stand instead. What makes the setup annoying is that the eyes use separate button cells. The cable already powers the belt and Revolcane. Why leave the third out of it?

The hands are much better thought out. There are fists, gripping hands, several open gestures and a pointing hand, and the left and right hands aren’t just copies of each other. The matte black finish lets the wrinkles and ribbing show without making the gloves shiny. This is the kind of selection I’d like more figures to include.

The low, wide base has RX artwork, a flight pole and a spring-loaded waist clamp. It makes sense for the kick display, although I’d still watch where the clamp presses on the armor. The Black RX figure breakdown covers the included parts if you want to compare the full set.

The RX Kick Is the Pose I’d Want to Make Room For

The translucent replacement feet with orange and yellow flames are my favorite extra here. You remove the regular feet and their upper guards, then fit the effect feet onto the ankle ball pegs. It gives RX that airborne kick without attaching a big flame around an ordinary boot.

It needs the right angle and more shelf depth than a standing pose, but the result looks great. Aim his head forward and tilt his body into the kick, and the pose really comes together. I’d make room for that rather than leave the best effect in the box.

The head has a ball joint and hinge arrangement beneath it, and the loose shoulder pads let the arms lift. The elbows bend past 90 degrees with some adjustment around the covers. The ankles have plenty of tilt, which also helps with the standing transformation poses.

The thicker armor still gets in the way of some poses. Cross-body arm poses run into the chest, the torso can spring back after bending, and the lower armor restricts the hips. The knees bend well, but the surrounding pieces still need watching. RX can get into some convincing poses; I just wish the suit gave him a little more freedom for the really exaggerated ones.

Black RX Looks Great, but I’d Rethink That Fabric

The helmet, sculpted costume texture and effects make this a good Black RX. The kick feet and range of hands give him much more to do than stand there holding a weapon. If you’re building out his alternate forms, BioRider and RoboRider have their own figure breakdowns.

I’d give RX 8 out of 10. The green fabric and separate eye batteries bother me more than the slightly large helmet. Neither takes away from how good that kick display looks, but I’d rather Hot Toys had sorted them out before RX reached collectors.

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