Yup I was thinking that myself.

A couple questions about Hibiki, as I just started the show and was considering buying him:

How durable is he? I think it was Split Lip who had one of the wrists snap off; is this a common issue? I've also heard about fragility with his horns.

Also, what quality is his paint? Has anyone had any issues with flaking/chipping? Thanks in advance.

Mine is super solid. The hands haven't been a problem at all for me to swap. The horns are certainly thin and sharp, but as long as you're careful enough to avoid a fatal shelf dive, I'm sure they're fine.

The only place where the paint is a bit dodgy for me is under the thigh armor. Out of the box, the paint tends to stick under there and when you rotate the thighs for the first time, a little bit of the purple underneath flakes off to reveal some silver. Unless you rotate the legs completely outward it's not very noticeable, though. I'm not even sure how common a problem it is, either. Also the black wash on the hands sometimes leaves black smudges on my fingers when I swap them. :p

Okay, so I guess it should be fine as long as I'm careful. I'm really enjoying the show right now, kind of dreading the major changes around the halfway point. I'll add him to the list of shf's to get. Thanks! :thumb:

Yeah, My Hibiki's wrists broke. I keep my Figuarts in the basement, where it's cooler, and honestly I feel like it' just a matter of time before the other hand breaks. The pegs are ridiculously small and not ball joints, so keep it in a warmer, upper floor area so the hands maintian their rubberiness for easier swapping.

Otherwise he's perfect. Unfortunately mine fell and blunted one of his horns. Nothing they could've done to avoid it, just a freak accident but I had to sand them both down to not-perfect ends. It's a shame that the figure's so amazing, yet my copy is rendered virtually useless by a dead left hand and ruined portrait. As long as you're more careful than me, you'll be riding high with a wonderful, wonderful figure.

Yet the Genesis drivers are exactly as gimmicky as the Sengoku drivers. They play techno beats. (which honestly feels more like the beat riders) They have soda bubbles in the armour and bendy straws on the driver.

Also, the Sengoku drivers were still handed out to Takatora and the Yggdrasil guards. And Ryouma admitted that he liked the gimmicks of the drivers, like the little phrases. And again, Lock Seeds and Sengoku drivers aren't real. They're toys for kids, and the Sonic Arrow plague was really lame by that standard. Whatever not-actually-explained-in-the-show-explanations there are, it doesn't change the fact that they're really boring.

My Hakaider 3-pack just shipped. As one of my most eagerly anticipated figures of the year I'm very excited to get that in hand :D

In fairness, you already have the figures twice, ;P

To sell toys. There's your answer since you're so keen on shooting down any and all speculation. The reason they gave the Sonic Arrow to so many riders is because they wanted to sell toys. And again, seeing as it's so freaking impossible to find one at a decent price, clearly it worked.

And you know full well I'd keep buying them, I still want the mass production version from the anime too :p

Exactly. What I'm saying it that sucks and the Energy Riders would've been way better with weapon variety. I know what the reason is, I've been saying this whole time what the reason is, but "reason" does not mean "adequecy."