Kamen Rider Build introduces its second Rider with a Build Driver add-on toy, Cross-Z’s Cross Dragon. Now the Cross Dragon can be purchased with or without the Beat Crosser (Closer), more on that later, but the Dragon itself is a neat little item.
Reminiscent of the “gadget” toys from Kamen Rider W, Kamen Rider OOO, Kamen Rider Fourze, Kamen Rider Wizard, and Kamen Rider Ghost, the Dragon is pretty small, though less articulated than its predecessors. It’s more or less a brick with an articulated neck and tail, but that’s mostly for transformation. So pose-ability is a bust but how about sound effects?
Well, on its own, the Dragon makes two very recognizable sounds from the show when the big, red button is pushed. After inserting a Full Bottle (any one, this toy can’t read the gimmick) you get the Dragon’s attack “Cross Flame” and then the pre-henshin “Wake Up”. Now you’re ready to insert it into the Build Driver (and yes, you do need the Full Bottle in there or else the Dragon won’t make its share of the sounds). After turning the crank, the Dragon and the Driver try to work in tandem to make a new henshin jingle and finishing attack. Now I say “try” because the timing is off, just slightly. It’s not bad, far from a deal breaker but there is a noticeable half second pause in between the Driver’s sounds and the Dragon’s sounds. Not only that but this set comes with its own exclusive Full Bottle, the Dragon Full Bottle. Half of a Best Match, (again, more on that later) this is the only way we currently have to get this Bottle. Overall, this set isn’t groundbreaking, but it’s cheap and does everything it needs to do. I like it quite a bit and definitely recommend it to Cross-Z fans.
Now, onto Cross-Z’s weapon, the Beat Crosser– Closer……. I don’t know how to spell it. The official spelling is “Closer” but it’s pronounced “Crosser” so for the sake of time (and sanity) I’m going to go with “Crosser”.
This thing is freaking AWESOME!!!!! Sure it’s small, but what tokusatsu sword toy isn’t? What counts are the sound effects and these might be some of the best in the Build line and even when compared to other toku weapon toys of the past few years. Pulling the trigger gives you a cool techno slash, but the real fun begins when the bottom handle is pulled. It can be pulled 1, 2 or 3 times, activating 3 separate and successively more powerful “Hit Parade” attacks. I don’t know what possessed someone at Bandai Japan to give a dragon-themed Rider a techno music broad sword but give that man a promotion! The sounds don’t stop there, inserting a Full Bottle (not included, well kinda- more on that later too) you get the “Special Tune”. This allows the same 1, 2 or 3 Hit Parade pulls but this time the attacks are stronger and the music is more intense. Overall, I absolutely adore this toy. The sounds are great, the price is right and the paint/detail is on point. It would have been nice if this came with the Lock Full Bottle instead of this being part of a campaign but even still this toy is very solid and I recommend it with or without the Cross Dragon.
Lastly, we have the Lock Full Bottle. Boy oh boy was this a pain to get. The Lock Full Bottle is a campaign item for buying the Beat Crosser, Drill Crusher and/or the Build Driver. Basically, that means this thing is in short supply and can get expensive. Now, depending on the middle man site you use they could have given it to people who bought the Beat Crosser solo or in the bundle pack. Unfortunately for me, I bought the bundle pack which this site did NOT deem worthy of the campaign item (despite it being basically the same as buying the Cross Dragon and Beat Crosser separately). So I had to scout it out elsewhere. Ebay has this listed for $50 at its cheapest (which is insane) but I managed to snag it for $20. Even at its cheaper price point I can’t 100% recommend this item. If you get it with the Beat Crosser, that’s great, but seeing as how DX Full Bottle sets go for $6-$8, it’s hard to justify one bottle at the price of more than 3 sets. This is definitely for the Build completionists or huge fans of KeyDragon form.
For this and other Kamen Rider and Tokusatsu merchandise, check out CSToys and BigBadToyStore.
