I think a combo of these things. ^

In SHF news, I got the Jetman Red Hawk w/bonus today at Image Anime. Didn't open him yet due to work, I'll give impressions later.

The best Sentai Figuarts mold there is, imo. Enjoy him!

Regarding Ultraman....you DO remember that there were the Ultraman Great and Powered shows that aired in the US as well in the 90s? The former being my introduction to Ultraman (not the 60s show or Tiga)?

You can quibble over popularity and how many people are likely to remember either of those shows, but Ultraman did have a presence here in the States on some level.

Just sayin'.

Powered was produced in the US yet didn't actually get an opportunity to air here... but you have the right idea. Ultraman's presence in the US is much more than the original series and Tiga, between the TBS Ultraseven late-night dub, several Ultraman animated films (compilations of Jonias's series, and The Adventure Begins with Chuck, Beth and Scott), a couple of video games, toys that tied in with Towards the Future, and at least two comic book series. There could have been far more presence of Ultraman in the United States were it not for the legal battles with Chaiyo, at least of the original series, and at least with Chaiyo there's still been releases of Ultra Q, Ultraman and Ultraseven.

Ultraman Towards the Future and Ultrasven on TNT didn't do that great IIRC. From what I can remember, both of those came out super early in the morning. The Adventure Begins and Power in the US are pretty forgotten too.

Ultraman may a bit more well known then Kamen Rider in the US, but that's not saying much. Most of the Ultraman shows never been subbed or dubbed in the US. Most people I talked too never heard of Ultraman. Ultraman is still a obscure franchise if you ask me. I do kinda feel like Kamen Rider has become more popular then Ultraman in the Toku fandom in recent history since the series has better fan sub support.

Thanks!

Update: Aside from a few tiny paint niggles on mine, and the fact the weapons don't fasten into the holster, he's really nice. Starting to see the appeal of these Toku-only Sentai rangers. Although I'm still a MMPR loyalist, I honor and cherish these representations of the various Rangers the average joe hasn't seen.

Yeah the weapons just kind of sit in there. I always pose mine with him in the the air (jumping or flying) so they don't fall out on mine, but it can be frustrating if you want him in a specific action pose and the blaster or sword won't stay in.

Hey, has anyone seen those Sentai stage stickers on Mandarake recently? I haven't seen them appear on there in about 6 months.

I ask Bluefin if they were truly done with Toku figures for good and they reply with me with this:

https://twitter.com/TamashiiNations/...90857976045568

I guess with Kamen Rider, anything from 1971 - Wizard should still be good to go. With Gaim, I guess we have to wait for future reissues if they are not done with the Gaim figuarts in Japan.

I finally picked up Hibiki yesterday. He is everything I had hoped. I think he is my favorite figuart I own and a fantastic "last" figure as I don't plan on picking up any more for some time if at all.

I really can't think of anything bad to say about him. Bravo delivered for sure, but Hibiki just manages to top him and I can't place why.