Kamen Rider Fourze Watch by Bandai

I've had a few Kamen Rider watches before (also known as Masked Rider) - which can be found by looking for the Masked Rider tag. All of those have been modelled on belts, but this one is actually the helmet.

The watch is made by Japanese toymaker Bandai in China. It is a promotional item from 2011 for the Kamen Rider Fourze series, which is the 22nd series overall, and commemorates both the 40th anniversary of the Kamen Rider Series and the 50th anniversary of manned space flight.

The story features a bad boy transfer student who uses strange devices found by other students at a lunar base to fight monsters called Zodiarts. This series is from Japan only, and there is no Masked Rider equivalent.

The watch follows the normal tradition for these watches. The case is modelled on the character, and pressing a button at the bottom causes the lid to slide up and reveal a basic LCD display (with the usual time, date, and seconds options). It also has a small velcro strap, which is only for children, as it doesn't properly go round my small wrist!

Kamen Rider / Masked Rider Transformation Belt Watch Two

Another of my boxed watches today, and the second of a series I began to post in July last year.

It is another of the Kamen Rider Transformation Belt watches which were released in 1998 by Japanese toymaker Banpresto. They are modelled on the special belts which the Kamen Rider used to transform into his superhero form. Four different watches were released, and this is the white version of Kamen Rider 1's belt from the first series. The Kamen Rider series (or Masked Rider in the US) was created in 1971 by manga artist Shotaro Ishinomori, and revolves around a world where terrorists convert victims into mutant cyborgs. Kamen Rider is managed to escape the process before he was brainwashed and fights back against the terrorists.

The watch part is revealed by opening up the watch, and like most novelty watches, it's got a 4-digit LCD display, and can show only time, date, and seconds.

It also states on the box that this is a 'Toru Toru item', and I think they might have been a prize in an arcade.

Kamen Rider/Masked Rider Transformation Belt watch

Today I've been doing some DIY and painting and so didn't wear a watch today as I didn't want to paint any of my collection. So I'm blogging another of my unopened boxed watches.

Kamen Rider was a sci-fi series created by Manga artist Shotaro Ishinomori, which started in 1971 and spawned many sequels and started the franchise. The story revolves around a world under threat of a terrorist organization called Shocker, who kidnaps, brainwashed, and turns their victims into mutant cyborg. One victim escapes before the brainwashing and fights back as a grasshopper-like superhero Kamen Rider. Further series had different Kamen Riders each with a slightly different styles, and the series Kamen Rider Black RX was released in the US as Masked Rider.

In most of the series, the Kamen Rider used a special belt to transform, and in 1998, Japanese toy manufacturer Banpresto released a series of watches modelled on the Kamen Rider belts. This watch is the belt of Kamen Rider 1 from the first series, and is one of 4 different ones I have in my collection. To tell the time, the watch face opens so show a simple digital display. Inside it also states the American name Masked Rider, but the rest of the packaging is in Japanese.