Review: A new take on the classic design
Packaging & Extras: (4/5)
This toy comes in a huge box (38 x 30.5 x 15.5 cm) made of sturdy cardboard featuring glamour shots of the toy. Inside are two plastic trays. The first tray includes the rider and the bike (cowl and hand covers require assembly) as well as:
1) six pairs of fixed posed hands (fists are installed on the rider)
The second tray has:
2) the display stand consisting of a base, rod, and adapter (rod and adapter packaged under base)
3) heavy gun (packaged under base)
4) a mini screw driver for battery installation
Also included in the second tray are the hip armors, gauntlets, front and rear pelvis armor which will need to be installed on the bike or figure. A baggy also includes:
5) A full color instruction booklet
To utilize the light effects, you will also need to purchase 8 AG1 or LR621 batteries. While it’s an impressive toy, it comes up short on accessories. Other manufacturers have provided Gallant pistols in various configurations, saddlebags, a helmetless head, even HBT/protoculture canisters. At this scale, a set of articulated hands should have been possible.
Charm & Collectability: (3.5/5)
Released in January 2025 for $179.99 (with a reissue planned for later in 2025), this figure offers a compelling price to size/heft ratio. Though technically non-scale because this is a modern reinterpretation of the classic design, this toy is roughly 1/7 scale at 26cm tall in armor mode and 28 cm long in bike mode. While the statue-like size and heft (558 g bike, 666 g rider, 1224 g combined) will convince some to splurge, the derivation from the classic design and the imperfect transformation will convince others to pass.
Sculpt, Detail, & Paint: (8/10)
Beginning with the rider figure, I was shocked Moshow didn’t put a translucent plastic visor on the helmet. The fact there’s a well painted and sculpted face behind the visor compounds this issue. Fortunately, the visor doesn’t have the divisive lines found on the Sentinel (to Sentinel’s credit, they produced a toy of a genuine Aramaki design which included that helmet). The thing that jumps out immediately are the rider’s boots. Whereas Beagle and Sentinel opted to shrink the boots so they would look more natural when not in armor mode, Moshow leaned the other way, making them look bulkier and more mechanical. This take on the boots makes a lot of sense since the boots are the base of the enhanced exoskeleton armor.
I don’t like the look of the motorcycle on its own. Yes, this is yet another ‘modern reinterpretation’ but it runs too close to Aramaki’s re-envisioning produced by Sentinel while making things bigger, boxier, and less congruent wherever possible. The front gauntlets are preposterously large. Each gauntlet has an extra armor flap top and bottom that can rotate back for a sleeker, more aerodynamic look… but the instructions say that position is for armor mode. Why? It looks better rotated back in bike mode and might as well be forward in armor mode where the gauntlets would be huge and cumbersome regardless of the direction those parts are pointed. There’s a cupholder in front of the windscreen for some reason.
Those boots that are a bit too bulky on the standing figure look great once the armor is on. The figure feels much more like a powered armor than the nimbler powered suits of previous figures. There were a few issues that I really didn’t like. First, the backpack rides very high up on the figure’s back. Second, the wheels flare out beyond the shoulders rather than tucking in tightly behind them. Third, the wheels droop far behind the armor making the backpack look larger. I think Moshow has reinterpreted the gauntlet-mounted missile launchers as cannons
Design: (7.5/10)
1) Swing out footrests
2) Ability to stow the heavy gun on the right side of the bike (the gun has the collapsing grip and rotating shoulder rest Sentinel introduced to make that work)
3) Light effects (headlights and turn signals). The lights are operated by magnetic switches. The barrel of the gun has a magnet. You turn the lights on, make them flash, or turn them off with a tap from the gun.
4) Integrated rotating and pivoting kickstand. Be careful! The figure is much heavier than the bike so any pose where the figure does not have its feet on the ground can cause the bike to fall over. The kickstand is friction based so a small bump could cause everything to topple over.
5) Free spinning wheels (some might have preferred they be rubber instead of plastic)
The big piston in the front of the leg and the smaller piston above the heel both extend and retract with the movement of the foot.
6) The toy stands upright in armor mode without using the display stand. Many ride armor toys struggle and can only do this precariously or when leaned forward but the Moshow does this easily because the riding figure is so heavy with such strong joints.
I also give this updated rendition credit for not having a goofy leg extension that so many previous ride armor toys have had.
So where does this come up short? No targeting scope on the chest. Okay, maybe that’s part of the redesign and it makes more sense as a HUD in the helmet.
Some elements of the transformation aren’t satisfying. The windscreen in bike mode feels like it should slide further forward and peg into the upright position. The butt of the bike extends back without a lock. The extending barrels and spinning side kibble on the gauntlet may entertain some folks.
Some will lament the lack of perfect transformation. Perfect transformation allows the armor to be displayed in armor mode off the character while perched on the display stand which looks really cool. Perfect transformation also allows you to display the toy in ‘storage’ mode, how it might be packed into the Legioss/Alpha.
The included display stand is cool but it has one major weakness: there’s no way to connect the bike to the display stand. Sweet wheelie poses? No. Leaning while turning? No. Riding with the rider’s feet off the ground and kickstand up? No. The best you can do is straddle the bike. The display stand is a metal plate with an adapter that slides around on top with a very strong magnetic grip. Magnets included in the feet add additional stability and are so sturdy you won’t need any other support for most poses. The adapter piece can be used on the butt for rider poses or under the backpack in armor mode. The adapter pivots and locks in position.
Durability & Build: (8/10)
This toy is big and heavy with metal joints and is wonderful to handle but it does have a couple fit issues that will hopefully be addressed in future releases. The ‘C’ shaped pieces that fit on either side of the bike and then under the armpits have limited anchors and can pop off pretty easily until you train yourself to avoid them. When maneuvering armor mode, be careful not to put your finger in the middle of the pistons while moving the foot. A minor issue that might be unique to my toy: one of the pegs on the hip armor kept pushing itself out of the slot on the boot. There are several very small pegs that hold the toy together. If the toy topples the wrong way, it’s easy to imagine something breaking.
Articulation: (9/10)
The toy has a ball joint where the head meets the neck allowing the head to spin 360 degrees, cock about 15 degrees, look slightly downward and more impressively upward (key for riding the bike). The base of the neck also appears to be a ball joint, enhancing the head’s ability to move in any direction. The shoulders are a simple round peg/slot sliding into the torso, allowing the arm to spin entirely around. In the torso, behind the shoulders, are hinged parts that allow the area the arms peg into to angle slightly forward, assisting in reaching poses. Armor flaps above the shoulder connect via an arm which can pivot to move the armor out of the way so it doesn’t inhibit articulation. A swivel below the shoulder then allows the arm to move 90 degrees from straight out away from the body to straight down (or up if you rotate the arm at the peg). The double hinge at the elbow allows about 135 degrees of motion. A swivel within the forearm allows it to spin freely below the elbow which is very helpful for bike riding poses. Fixed posed hands attach via a ball joint to a wrist part that also appears to connect via a ball joint which increases the hand’s ability to angle in all directions. Two vertebrae in the back allow the toy to pivot forward/back at the base of the chest armor and the middle of the lower back. The upper vertebra joint also allows a small twist (a few mm) that enhances the toys waist twist mobility (about 30 degrees in either direction). The hip joints are a bizarre affair: the hip attaches via a peg to the center of the crotch, the peg is connected to an extension piece by a round rod that allows that extension piece to angle outward, the extension piece connects to the thigh at a point that also allows it to swivel outward. This combination of hip joints allows the leg to swing forward back, extend out away from the pelvic armor, and then jut a full 90 degrees away from the body to make some impressive hockey goalie level splits. A swivel point at the top of the thigh allows you to rotate the leg about 15 degrees out and 30 degrees inward. A double-jointed knee allows for nearly 180 degrees of movement. The foot has a very impressive range of movement. Pivots at the heel allows the foot to angle 20 degrees up or down and 20 degrees left or right which allows for some very impressive looking wide stances. The toe also has the ability to point upward about 40 degrees and the whole foot can swivel allowing the toe to point left or right. This toy benefits from the lack of perfect transformation in armor mode where none of the joints will be restricted by transformation mechanisms.
Total Score: (40/50)
I wasn’t a huge fan of the aesthetic of this figure but otherwise thought it was a very good. Not being perfect transformation, with all the cool benefits that come with it, is the biggest shortcoming. When I handle my Beagle or Sentinel toys, I’m really blown away by the engineering. At their scale, those toys feel fiddly and complicated, and each has some durability issues, but at 1/7 scale they could beat this figure handily. That said, there are benefits to ride armors not being perfect transformation. The Moshow is very easy to handle and pose in armor mode without the frustration of working around the connective armor parts that you will encounter on the Sentinel and Beagle. The heft and presence of this figure is a thing to behold and I think most purchasers will be thrilled to have it. If they do Ray, I hope they give him one or two gatling guns instead of that pea-shooter from the original show.