SOUCHAKU-HENSHIN KAMEN RIDER SERIES

SH Masked Rider Blade Series GD-67 Masked Rider Chalice (9/2004)

BLADE

MASKED RIDER

KUUGA

MASKED RIDER

AGITO

CLASSIC

MASKED RIDERS

MASKED RIDER

RYUKI

MASKED RIDER

FAIZ

MASKED RIDER

BLADE

MASKED RIDER CHALICE

Bandai released GD-67 Masked Rider Chalice (pronounce Ka-list) in September 2004 along with GD-68 Masked Rider Leangle as followed up to the other two SH Masked Riders, Blade and Garren, from the current Masked Rider Blade Series. Masked Rider Chalice was the third Riders to show up in the series and the one with mysterious origin. He was the undead monster that somehow became emotionally involved with human. It was unclear (so far) how and where he obtained the Kamen Rider Change System but he was clearly able to transform into Masked Rider. His Change Belt was slightly differ from Blade and Garren with the belt buckle act as both Change System and Rouser unit. Chalice design, like Garren and Blade, was based on playing card suit and insect theme. In case of Chalice, his Change Card was mantis and his card suit was the heart. The new series designs was quite a departure from even the recent modern Riders show but I actually do like the Blade series designs even if they were more Metal Hero than the classic Kamen Riders. The only problem I had was actually with the TV show. With its very poor story line and slow characters developments, the show actually turn me off from the series. (I don't mind the card gimmick either). The TV show had improved somewhat in the later episodes and the story seem to move along better. 

Of the four Riders from Blade, Chalice was probably the most striking and attractive looking. His design was very difference from both Garren and Blade and the core body had many new parts molded just for this figure. His head had big heart shape for eyes (that reminded me more of the old Sentai series than a Kamen Rider). His chest had very nice heart shape armors with very nice engrave and painted details. Chalice body was mostly black with gold camouflage motif that help to set him apart from the other three Riders and eluded to his mysterious origin.

Souchaku Henshin format was of course perfect match for the Blade series with its heavily armored body designs. One of the aspect that really set SH series apart from the regular plastic Masked Rider action-figures was the fact that the removable armor parts really gave the figures the realistic look with more of the man in armor suit appearance. SH version of Chalice was very well sculpted with all the parts fit nice and snug to the body. The joints were all nice and tight with good paint job. I have to say Bandai really have advanced the SH series quite a bit since the days of the SH Kuuga series.

Unmasked Mode

Like other SH Riders figures, the human body underneath can look out of proportion and was solely intended for display with the "cloth" (Rider's Armor) on. The core body was similar in style as the body used since the original Saint Seiya Cloth line, however for the 2004 SH line, Bandai had retooled the body to make it more modern. While the head still appear too small due to having to accommodate the mask, this removable "armor suit" however, was one of the aspect that drawn me to this line. The ability to "henshin" into the Rider form made these SH figure a lot like small version of Henshin Cyborg or the RAH costume hero.

The figure can be display with the "masked" removed and show a human head. The head was the same as Blade and Garren but with lighter hair color. This was the same "generic" head used for many of the SH figures.

Weapon Accessories

Masked Rider Chalice came with little miniature Heart Rouse Cards (They were used in the story as a way to capture the monster and then power-up the Masked Riders). Chalice also came with his bow (Chalice Arrow) and his Rouser / Change buckle can be attach to the bow just like the TV show.