Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Beast Saga: Kingdom of Death Sea BS-02

Opposite of the Kingdom of Land Gloria would be the Kingdom of Death Sea.  Doesn't that name sound so cool?  Death Sea.  I bet you can guess what type of animals reside in this kingdom.  Upon the first solicitation images posted online of the early Beast Saga sets, the Kingdom of Death Sea was the one that seemed to garner the most attention and hype.  While the Land Gloria's lion, deer and hamster were cool characters, they just can't compete against a shark, coelacanth and pirahna.

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BS-02 shares the same style packaging as BS-01.  Takara Tomy would continue to use this 3 pack style packaging for subsequent releases down the line.  I love the image of the main character blasting the dice from their chest.  In this case we have Killer Shark firing his blue die.  The rest of the box has the yellow tribal like markings.

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The back of the packaging gives you a little story update (I think) at the top where you see the image of Raioga.  You can also see that a play mat is packaged inside.  Below are the three characters and a layout of their respective dice.  The right side of the box gives you abbreviated examples of how the dice game plays out.  Underneath those examples is a group shot which is a direct homage to the Beastformer packaging of old.

BS-02 Kingdom of Death Sea photo 100_5355_zps489a74ed.jpg   BS-02 Kingdom of Death Sea photo 100_5354_zpsd28c6d97.jpg

The ends of the box gives a breakdown of the characters and their accessories while the opposite end gives you each character's strengths and weaknesses.

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From left to right: Killer Shark, Shirensu and Pirazon

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Inside the box you'll find two items.  You get a full color play mat to play the associated game with the figures.  The back and white sheet is a basic set of instructions.

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BS-02 Kingdom of Death Sea Killer Shark photo 100_5360_zps2e7bfca0.jpg

BS-02 Kingdom of Death Sea Killer Shark photo 100_5361_zps9e8d09b4.jpg

Killer Shark is the leader of the Kingdom of Death Sea.  His arch rival would be Raioga from the Kingdom of Land Gloria.  Killer Shark is based off a Beastformer of the same name.  I absolutely love the sculpt of this figure.  The sharp fin blades on his forearms, the image on his die, his toothy grin...all excellent.  Even his trident weapon looks great in hand.  However I do have one problem with my figure.  Do you see it?  He has two left arms!  At the time this set was still fairly expensive ($30) on the secondary market.  Most e-tailers had already sold through their stock and re-orders didn't seem like they were going to happen.  I know it's a small issue, but it's one that bothers me.  I will eventually buy another set so I can get a Killer Shark w/ the proper arms.

BS-02 Kingdom of Death Sea Coelence photo 100_5362_zpse80adf9d.jpg

Second in command is Shirensu.  If you aren't sure what fish he is based on it's a coelacanth.  I believe this is the same animal the Transformers Seacon, Skalor, is based on.  He's pretty cool looking and has some nice features.  The armor bits on his shoulders look like the front section of a submarine.  Kinda fitting seeing how this type of fish usually lives in deep waters.  Giving a fish arms and legs couldn't have been easy for the designers so I love how the feet came out looking like flat fins versus more humanoid.  I'm not crazy about the purple armor myself, but I guess it works since it's a darker color.  He comes with a decent looking shield and a spear type weapon.  The plastic used for the weapons especially is a very soft plastic.  Because if this expect to see minor warping of the weapon, sometimes straight out of the packaging.

BS-02 Kingdom of Death Sea Coelence photo 100_5363_zps0e9e0c1d.jpg


Pirazon looks fearsome and awesome at the same time.  The beady red eyes, the mouth full of sharp teeth and the double bladed weapon makes him someone I wouldn't want nibbling on my toes!  I also love his animal design on his blue die.  Pirazon's green armor has a slight metallic hue and works very well with the fading yellow touches to the fins on his armor.  He also has a uniquely shaped shield that looks nice in his hands.

BS-02 Kingdom of Death Sea photo 100_5358_zps20bbcaf3.jpg

Of the three Kingdom themed sets, BS-02 is a strong candidate for the best set.  You get three very strong and fierce looking figures with great weapons.  The artwork used on the playing cards are great looking as well.  I'm guessing I just got a dud with Killer Shark having two left arms, but thankfully I found a listing on clearance at Plamoya for this set that I plan on buying.  I just hope this time around I have better luck w/ Killer Shark!

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