Kamen Rider / Masked Rider

America gave us Batman, Spiderman and Superman, along with other costumed heroes; Japan gave us anime, manga and tokusatsu (live action films with special effects). Two of the greatest tokusatsu were the Ultraman and Kamen Rider series. Growing up in the 70s, i am only familiar with the Kamen Riders and Ultraman of the Showa era (describing the reign of Emperor Hirohito from 25 December 1926 to 7 January 1989).

Kamen Rider premiered in April 1971 and introduced us to the world of bugs, insects and the like. Kamen Rider 1 & 2 took the form of grasshoppers and all the other riders almost took different insect forms, except for Kamen Rider Amazon. He took the form of a Komodo dragon. They were all Riders because they all had their trusty bikes which they ride around on. They often defeated their enemies with their trademark "Rider Kick".

In 2001, medicom released their 100th RAH figure, Kamen Rider 1. Unlike their earlier releases which had melting, flaking and disintegrating costumes, Medicom decided to go "deluxe" with this new range.

The Box had an outer cover/slip case which showed what you could expect inside. Love the art (not too keen on the Star Wars box covers - too plain for my liking).

The box cover revealed Kamen Rider 1 before his transformation.

Box opened to reveal contents.

Takeshi Hongo before his transformation.

Kamen Rider 1


Typhoon belt - To transform, Kamen Rider creates wind-pressure against his Typoon belt. The pressure spins the wheel in the center of his belt which then activates the micro-nuclear engine and allows him to transform.

Check out Kamen Riders group shot and the next generation Kamen Riders.