[Vangelus]

Thought I'd start a thread on something that has a fairly daunting number of collecting options.

What is Kamen Rider?
Badass men whose belts transform them into superhumans that kick your ass.

What kind of toylines are out there?
Aside from the "mainline", which is mostly vinyl figurines and roleplay toys, the -current- action figure side of things includes...

• Souchaku Henshin/Armour Trans: The biggest range of Kamen Rider figures out there, these toys are designed with removable armour and diecast components. Over the last few years, the diecast content has lessened while the overall quality of the figures and their articulation has gone up. Lately, this line has been dwindling, but it's also one of the best ways to collect Riders from the last decade.
• S.H.Figuarts: This new line seems to be replacing the SH/AT figures. Figuarts generally have a teeny amount of diecast, multiple hands, and incredible articulation. They also take a few design nods from SIC, mostly in that the figures are a lot leaner than a guy in a suit in real life would look.
• SIC (Super Imaginative Chogokin): Higher-end toys with extremely stylized designs and a wide range of quality. Older SIC toys are generally shelf-display items, while more recent ones have added in further articulation and play value. SIC toys are the higher end of the non-sixth-scale spectrum, and the stylized designs can be a little hit or miss depending on your taste.
• Motion Revive: Kamen Rider GI Joe! These trading figures are a huge sleeper success, blending the designs of Kamen Rider into the 3-3/4 inch scale, garnished with an astounding amount of posability for toys of their size. Though Motion Revive generally only contains newer Riders from Hibiki onwards, some older designs are going to appear in Motion Revive's updated form come December 2008. The new MR toys will be pricier, but feature painted weapons.
• Project BM!: A joint venture between Bandai and Medicom, these 1/6 scale Riders are the pinnacle of both display value and monetary value. Usually costing between $150-350 apiece (depending on rarity), the Project BM! Riders are incredibly close to their real-life counterparts. You get what you pay for, but you pay a LOT.
• Twist Action Form: A new line debuting in January (with Den-O Sword Form and Kuuga Mighty Form), the Twist Form figures will be around 8 inches tall. Their main feature is that beneath the armour, the figure is a wire armature wrapped in a padded black bodysuit. While this opens up a ton of posing possibilities, it remains to be seen if fragility will be this line's death knell.

I know there are more Kamen Rider fans out there, so here's a thread.

[Venksta]

SIC figures rock. My favorite are the Ryuki series figures, especially Kamen Rider Knight. I haven't collected any new SIC figures past the Faiz series and The First figures. I'd like to get around to getting some of the Blade figures as they had really nice designs. Definitely looking forward to the Kabuto and Kiva figures being shown off sometime in the future.

[Vangelus]

Yeah, newer SICs are apparently tres nice. I'm eyeing the Agito+Machine Tornader box.

Here's all the Motion Revive toys to date, in order of release! Remember, these are GI Joe scale and way more posable.







Most all of them come with accessories and sometimes multiple hands. And yes, Kiva has a folded-up shinplate as well. The only downside is all the accessories are generally unpainted, which will be rectified in the next wave.

[Chosen]

Thanks to Vangelus, damn him, I have been tempted for a while to pick up some SH Figuarts. I haven't, yet, which may or may not be a good thing.

I used to have the SH Den-O Sword Form. It was a neat figure, but I thought the armor didn't attach well enough to my satisfaction, and the joints weren't perfect. At least it didn't suffer from puny-human-head syndrome (older Souchaku Henshin figures have removable helmets with pinheads inside that are supposed to represent the character). Figuarts seems to fix all the issues I had with SH that kept me from 100% loving the line, but I always held it in high regard.

I've never bought a single SIC before. I didn really want the Sword Form/Momotaros set, mostly due to Momo, but never got around to it. I like playing with my toys to some degree, and all the horror stores worried me just enough to reconsider the hefty price tag they carry.

[Vangelus]

If it helps any, I've heard that the Den-O SICs are way more posable and durable than previous ones. I'm tempted by them now that all four suits are out (Limited Edition Rod Form and Axe Form 2-pack just came out >.<).

[Venksta]

Some new SIC photos...

[Chosen]

I've seen the Climax Form and Negataros/Nega Den-O images already. But a SIC Yuki? Damn, that is a cool one.... but isn't it awfully early to already have fully painted images?

[Venksta]

That last colored ones might be customs then.

[Vangelus]

Yeah, that's what I was thinking. Custom SICs like that are fairly common- I got to see some in person at Heero Gangu. Huge triple-digit pricetags but daaamn if they weren't immaculate.

[QuantumShock]

I want to learn how to kit bash my SICs, their efforts are just awesome...

[Vangelus]

On the topic of SICs, the Limited Edition Den-O Axe Form + Rod Form is out, and already sold out on HLJ. :O 1999 has it though, if anyone's still looking:

S.I.C. Limited Masked Rider Den-O Rod Form & Masked Rider Den-O Axe From (Completed) Bandai S.I.C. Kamen Rider Den-O

[Chosen]

Stupid SIC customizers and their professional-looking figures!

I guess I should add, it wasn't only sticker shock or crappy older SIC stories that prevented me from getting the Sword Form and Momotaros set. There was also the issue of what the heck to do with them. At the 6" and 4" scales, sure, there's plenty I can do with them. My dream match of Momotaros vs. Destoroyah could become reality! But I don't have much at that size, unless I bought more SICs, and that's just asking for trouble.

With Momo coming out in SH Figuarts, I think that's the way I'll go.

[QuantumShock]

I think you guys deserve to know this, coming next year February, new SIC

[Venksta]

Wow, that looks amazing. Very cool how you can store the helmet in the bike.

[QuantumShock]

and able to the henshin sequence too, you know, the "click".

[Vangelus]

Okay, just got SIC Rod Form and Axe Form in the mail.

Speaking as someone who bought all but one of the SIC Garo toys, several of the SIC Ryuki toys, and the Akumaizer 3 box...

Bandai has fixed all my problems with SIC.

I am really quite blown away. These don't feel like they're going to crumble to pieces in my hands. The knees ARE A DOUBLE-HINGE JOINT. All the pop-apart balljoints are gone.

These finally feel like TOYS, not posable statuettes.

I for one am happy. Apparently all the Den-O SICs + the new Agito one that comes with his bike are like this.



DYNAMIC


CHOP

[Optimus Scourge]

Those are some cool figs, man.

I'm tempted, but I am literally knee-deep in 'Joes ATM

[AdrienVeidt]

I've picked up all the Motion Revive sets so far (and the Monster Hunter set), and am quite pleased with them despite knowing sweet fark-all about Kamen Rider. I'm stopping with this 5th set to save money for school, and it really sucks because once these are gone they are *gone*.

I'd kill if Bandai did this for the Guyver property. Now *that's* a line that needs some super-poseable 18th love!

[Chosen]

I dunno, I think about half the cast from Heroes deserves a Dynamic Chop to the forehead before Linderman, but then that means you would have to collect Heroes figures. Eww.

Very awesome to get reliable confirmation that these toys are toys this time around. Many moons ago I was tempted by and nearly hunted down the Garo Equip & Prop figures, so I dodged a bullet there?

[Vangelus]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chosen

Very awesome to get reliable confirmation that these toys are toys this time around. Many moons ago I was tempted by and nearly hunted down the Garo Equip & Prop figures, so I dodged a bullet there?

Well I had great luck with Zero, the first Garo, the winged Garo, and Kiba. But they all felt very fragile, and the task of swapping armors to go between armored form and human form is a HELLISH task on any of them.

[Chosen]

What about your luck with the rest of the Garo figures? You only said you were missing one. :P

I never did plan on swapping armor if I got any though, so I guess in that regard, the Garo toys would be relatively safe buys. Or I could try tracking down the GE Chogokin Garo... hah!

[Vangelus]

White Knight guy was my absolute worst. One of his hip-balls disintegrated at the peg when I tried to swap his legs. >.<

[QuantumShock]

Medicom Rider 1 (yes, with motor)



(SIC Rider 1 from The Next)

[Vangelus]

Unnnf, the huge solid knee joints on the SIC are delicious.

[Vangelus]

Just got Motion Revive Series 6 in the mail!



Really excellent quality all-round, though most of the vaunted painted weapons have all of 1-2 apps. XD Also, the secret chase figure is -painful-. It's an awesome idea, since the broken-mask scene was really epic and memorable for Kamen Rider Garren. But you don't get an unbroken mask, so it's kind of obvious what one of the Series 7 line-up is going to be.