How would you improve the S.H. Figuarts line?
 

Asked Sentai Tamashii and Zeo Ranger V about where to put this on Twitter, so... here ya go.

Over the week, I've been slowly messing with some of my Figuarts after accidentally bumping a shelf and watching many of them tumble from their poses that they've been in for months and I started messing around more with my older Figuarts and I noticed some very stark differences between the Figuarts from the relative beginning of the line (The first S.H. Figuarts Kamen Rider Decade and Kamen Rider G3-X to be exact) and Figuarts from what is currently the tail-end of the line such as Kamen Rider Blade and Hurricane Red, namely how the line has evolved from it's beginning FIVE YEARS AGO to what it has become now and it got me to thinking:

Just how could this line be improved even further than what it has so far?

Aside from redoing some of the earlier pretty questionable releases (Such as the long-deserved redo of Black, RX, and the anorexic Kabuto bodies) and it took me a while, but I think I finally thought of a few ways this line can improve further than what it has become currently, and I would really love to hear what you dudes could think of to improve the line further.

My biggest issue is how Figuarts is currently handling, and will soon be handling the hands. For the entire line (until the upcoming Renewals) they've used a pretty effective style of handling swap out hands what with the well ranged ball joint and such, but as many fans have discovered and experienced with toys such as the Figuarts Gavans and the Kamen Rider W base bodies, the method of swapping out the hands that they currently have can be pretty goddamn scary at times thanks to either the holes for the ballpost being too small in the hands (Such as with Kamen Rider W) or the posts themselves being super fragile.

The upcoming Renewal Kabuto release brings a potential solution to both those problems with hand/peg systems that are identical to the S.I.C. toyline (and competing toylines Revoltech and Figma), but they offer a vastly more limited range of movement, with the hand "up and down" movements being locked to a single axis. I do think, that while this may be a swing in the right direction, that they can perhaps merge the two ideas together into hand style that would offer the more sturdy construction, as well as a more vast range of movement with hands that continue to use the Kabuto-style pegs, but rather than being locked to a single swivel joint, are actually posts with balls at the very end that come pre-inserted into the various hands.

The various other joints, I can't think of anything to improve on. Hurricane Red and Kamen Rider Blade have basically perfected what I think they could possibly do with shoulder, elbows, and the like. The only real big thing I could possibly see them improving on is accuracy of the suits (I mean... come on. You guys are Bandai. There's no way you don't have the assets and access to Toei) and raising the number of hands and accessories Figuarts come with... especially after the bewildering treatment that Kibaranger/White Ranger and Pteraranger/Pink Ranger have received with either not coming with enough hands, or random distribution of previously produced accessories. With the constantly rising prices (Such as Renewal Kabuto) I'd at least like the accessory counts to remain the same.

So what do you guys think? What would you do to further enhance the S.H. Figuarts line? What would you change? What would you keep the same? Do you even think the line could improve from what is currently being released?

My first thought is changing the hand style & making them easier to swap. Ever since I accidentally tore off Gridman's hand five minutes out of box (not the same line, I know, but very similar designs) I've been afraid I might use too much force on other figures.

My only real concern with Figuarts is the hip assembly. They've always felt a bit fragile and I've had some cracking on my Gokaigers. I've always wanted them to design something that feels a bit more sturdy even if it impedes the current range of motion slightly.

The renewal Kabuto and Gaim appear to have a new design and I personally think it looks better visually and functionally from the pictures I've seen.

do the Gekirangers

Improvement acheived

I went with the hand/accessory option. By accessory though, I mean effects parts/auxiliary items. And BY THAT I mean I think it's bullshit when SHFs like Birth and Beast get all of their accessories sold in separate sets which cost almost as much as the original figure. That shit needs to stop.

What is also bullshit is when they just don't put any effort into the accessories. Take the Black rerelease. Black may have had no weapons, but he had loads of flashy effects for his moves but not only does he come with only a couple of hands, he comes with absolutely nothing else. Couldn't you have filled the space where the weapons would have been, with effects specific for Black?

I know Matrix will love you.

This. "How will they get around lack of belts?" is always brought up.

I need them all. Still hoping for an actual release of Rio and Mele. It feels like it's been so much longer than it has since the protos were shown.

As will I.

I have to agree with secretcode, his idea with the hand seems like a great solution. But i would prefer at the moment to see some work done on the ultra-act and d-arts lines. I own only a few of each(mebuis, Gaia, X, zero) and the line have improved since then. I feel that Bandai should try to bring the ultra act and d-arts line closer to SHF and SHM.

I would stick with one set of Sentai teams. Until every major member is out and the team can be considered complete , before moving on to the next one. The 2 packs are a step in the right direction. I think it is ridiculous that we are almost a year and a half from Akibaranger season 1 and none of the Dekas , Jetmen or Boukengers are complete. Hell , the Go-Busters were not finished either. But here we are with a full line of Kyoryugers and Zyurangers. Don't get me wrong , i am super pumped about both of those teams. But it hardly seems fair to anybody who was looking forward to the first 4 batch of teams i mentioned.

Weren't the Go-Busters releases really shitty as well?

Well with Deka, it's just the extra rangers they haven't done, but the core team is indeed complete.

They were half assed compared to others. I didn't seem to mind as much as others on here , but the elbow joints weren't painted and that bugged 98% of the people who wanted them.

Are the belts really that important?

They shouldn't be. Just have it be a plain waist/hip piece instead of one with a belt design.

What I thought. :lol

So, at the moment, hand/accessory count is tied with less exclusives. I just want to make my stance clear: 2009 gave us Agito, who had four hands; 2013 brought us Abyss, who had eleven.

I think it wouldn't hurt them to include a stand with every release, ala figma.

As I explained in my post, I picked that option, and hands wasn't really the reason why.

More Villians (Candelira), Goseiger Figuarters (Moune), and do something about the damn quality control. You can't call your line The New Standard and then have spotty (I'm being very nice) quality control when it comes to painting and stuff snapping off.

That would improve the entire line tenfold by their presence alone.

Quality control is a good one actually. My Flame Styles for example is garbage, and I'm honestly contemplating replacing him with the WAP version just so I can have a representation of one of my favourite Rider's that doesn't just fall apart if you look at him funny.

I'd also love more villains, my Juuzo is one of my favourite SHFs...and is the only villain I own.

They'll end up taking care of it the same way they handle the Ultra-Acts, most likely.

What I say:

I think if anything could be improved, it's accuracy and maybe accesories on certain dudes, since FiguFarts has just about everything else down. The neo Heisei Figuarts are a bit dated (W specifically. When just about every other Figuart is bang-on to the show, it stands out) and could use improved sculpts among technical things like finishes. (especially with Gaim comign out, who has different finishes to match the show materials, verses, again, W who has haphazard finishes) Ultimately that's what niggles me most, having "decent" representations share shelf space with "PERFECT" representations, you know? Figuarts doesn't have, overall, a huge room for improvement, besides that and more main riders like Kiva and Hibiki. OH shit, Figuarts Hibiki riders would be killer, I love those suits.

What everyone sees me say:

HEY GUYS I REALLY HATE THE W MOULD WE NEED A NEW ONE BEFORE ANYONE ELSE PRONTO!!

More villains would be great really. Hopefully Bluefin actually gets to make some for the Power Rangers side of Figuarts since Lord Zedd keeps getting hinted at. It might open things up for Goldar, Rito Repulso, etc, etc...

On the hands thing everyone keeps talking on it reminds me of when I collected Figmas.

Figmas initially had the ball tips for the hands like Figuarts today, but people were experiencing breakage issues on a number of figures trying to swap hands. Max Factory changed the tips to be more straight and it helped immensely as the hands were easier to swap and still managed to stay on pretty well.

Bandai already has done this actually with the Sailor Moon Figuart, but I'm guessing that's more because of the size of her arms.

I agree. SHF Takuto's QC sucked too.

FiguFarts? Really?

But I agree. Figuarts has come a long way; even some from two or three years ago look rather outdated.

I would really like a stand to come with the figuarts, Ryuki lines did it perfectly they even gave one to Abyss. Others that are exclusive such as Joker get their own stands as well, but I don't like buying separate stands with my figure when it come have easily been package with the figuarts it self.

I want Bandai to do more hidden joints in the chest like they do in SRC, so the arm range can extend, for example Kyoryu Red can't do his spinning the Gaburevolver chamber pose, GoBuster Red can't get his arms out from behind the shoulder straps.

People voting "Less Tamashii Web Exclusives" need to sit down and think about the fact that without Tamashii Webs, we wouldn't even get most of the Figuarts.

I'll say more hands/accessories. Some are perfect (the Gokaiger, Jetman and Shinkenger, Tyranno Ranger and Hurricane Red) while some are lacking (Kibaranger, Pteraranger) and some are missing just one of two important things (DekaPink and Yellow).

Changing the hand style is definitely my biggest concern, since the two figures I've had break on me have also been two of my most expensive ones (Gavan and Basco). Even if they just started selling bags if spare joints I would be happy, but I don't really understand why those two figures have wrist joints that are thinner than the rest of my 40 odd figures.

The lack of hands is something that bugs me sometimes, but it varies by figure. I'm not expecting every figure to have 11 hands, but Kibaranger's 4 is an absolutely pathetic offering. I also agree with Locke that in the absence of the character having any weapons effect parts are the way to go forward. Figuarts also has this habit of leaving out some key weapon in releases lately (the combined gun/sword on Kyoryu Red for example, then there were ones on Ryu Ranger and Hurricane Red too).

Stands should definitely be a more common thing too. Especially on figures like Shinken Red who can't really hold his signature weapon properly without one.

id like to see better use of 2 pack releases. Go-buster stag and beet are no brainers, but maybe Kyoryuger spirit rangers, the Jetman team and any future teams with 2 women on them, such as goseiger but use the pack wisely, maybe with one man and one woman. I know gender politics and toy buying habits over there are different, but i think it would be beneficial.

The problem i have, and i know im in a serious minority, is im in the UK, there's zero distribution here, i pay a premium to get them delivered from Japan and its difficult to source figures at the base or close to base price. Finding all the figures i want from one seller is a rarity, i can rarely justify aftermarket prices, the gokaiger ladies were the exception, took me forever to get the shinkengers cheap. So 2 packs are better for me, means rather than hunting individual figures, its much easier to complete a team.

Im not collecting KR figuarts anymore, so i cant really comment on improvements there. Think i might shift to buying SIC's for KR tbh, i can get them cheap so may as well. If they started SIC Sentai figures id sell my house just to afford them all.

Less goddamned exclusives.

Then you can kiss goodbye to ever getting full teams.

release master asia

i'm serious, there's nothing I want more for this line, its been 5 years, release him already

there is not a single figuart that deserves to be released before him, domon NEEDS his master and we need the undefeated of the east

Another one here...finish a team before moving on to others. If you start a Sentai team, finish it somehow.

Dekaranger would be nice to have DekaMaster and DekaBreak to finish up.

Go-buster could use Beet and Stag Buster.

Jetman needs White Swan, Yellow Owl, and Blue Swallow even though they were shown in Akibaranger.

Boukenger still has no sign of Bouken Silver, Pink and Yellow coming even though they were shown as well.

And Dairanger getting it's remaining four members made is a big question mark.

Even Hurricanger has us wondering with everyone else shown as coming if Sky Ninja Shurikenger will come out as well to complete the team.

I'd be fine with them finishing teams providing it doesn't hold up mass release reds.

Not everyone can afford or want 5-6 members per series, so I don't personally want Bandai churning out figure after figure holding up things I do want. I agree that as far as web exclusives go they should go from one team to the next though.

id like to see the sentai figuarts come out on a ratio of a 2 pack and a single as many months out of the year as possible. Keep the mainline churning out reds, maybe release 3-4 a year, alternate the months. I hate this mentality of chopping and changing, the web exclusives are optional, people will buy them, for those that only want certain members of the team, thats fine, dont buy the exclusives. Cant afford them? hunt them down later, ive not seen any sentai figuart not reemerge onto the secondary market at a decent price in the last year. 6th or later rangers should come solo, its not hard to release 2-3 teams a year, in the next 4 months we've got almost all of hurricnger and all of the core kyoryugers, after that they really should start tying off loose ends and moving on to other teams, like go-onger, timeranger and gekiranger :P

I'd like them to just do teams quarterly. For example, let's say in March they release a box set of all 5 AbaRangers. Then in June, while a complete box set of the KakuRangers come out, AbaRed is released in stores while the other 4 are released individually as web exclusives. In Sept, NinjaRed is released in stores and the other four individual as a web exclusive while a box set of Flashman comes out.

I'll call stands an accessory, so that's most of my reasoning for picking that option. I firmly believe every figure should include its own stand.

But then accessories are also something that need worked on. The decisions to give some characters so much you might never use all of them (Den-O Climax Form), to giving too little you can't do much with them (KibaRanger), to not including things they just damn well need (White Wizard) all seem so arbitrary. Ideally every thing would go the Climax Form route and you couldn't be asking for more.

But of course the accuracy of the sculpts also needs some improvement. The renewals are a fantastic step in the right direction, they just need to expand quickly and not become obnoxiously overpriced like I feel the Kabuto one is.

Ya man.

It's not an insult, but when I say it in real life to many times it sometimes comes out like that.