SIC Battlehopper

[mpchi]

Crickets never tasted this good...

Just picked up the HK made 'SIC' Battlehopper on ebay recently at a good price. Always loved the hopper as my favorite bike among all Rider series, but a shame that Bandai never release the full size version. While a year or two ago, this HK Battlehopper was going for really high price, so decided to pass on it and just got the tiny SIC version. But when I got this today, I am so glad I did. While its not official licensed, the sculpt is awesome & the made quality is almost just as good as Bandai's. Very sturdy and detailed with the same type of hard PVC used on SIC bikes. Steering handle, front disc brake, rib cage and kick stand are all diecast. Antanne & legs are clear parts as well. There are minor flaws however. The bike doesn't balance well even with the kickstand, and very easy to fall unless its leaning at the angle shown in the picture, using the spike on one of the legs for extra support. The base paint job while great overall, the dirt wash can look a bit too rough in some areas. Also, I can see Bandai use nicer clear PVC to get better transparent effect on the antannae, and especially the eyes.

So its not perfect for sure. But its good enough to make every Black fan or SIC fan happy. If you see one with a good price on ebay around $50+ shipped, you may not want to pass this up.