I mean, you're definitely right, but if any of Ex-Aid's other forms was gonna get made, I just wish it could have been one that actually matters. Or two in this case.

And Action Gamer Genm probably will be, but Zombie Gamer is a distinct design in itself so it's definitely getting a proper release. It's probably too much to hope for it being retail, but eh.

Yeah, that's why. The first power-up is usually one of the more notable ones, at least imo. Robot is way more memorable to me than Hunter. And Ex-Aid has actually used it at some point in the last two months, which is a boon.


Yeah, that was just me speculating before seeing the scans. Doesn't seem like they come off, which is just extra lame. Absolutely nothing appealing about this release to me.

I do like how it comes with the Gekitotsu Robots Gashat though. Hopefully that's some sort of confirmation that the Gashats are in fact semi-functional (in that they can be taken off and inserted in places, that is). There was some doubt...

Don't even remind me, still crying over never getting the chance to own Newton :(

Well, as long as the possibility for Safari Quest Gamer exists I suppose I don't mind *too* much.

Hey, if freaking Gold Drive could be retail I'm willing to believe anything. I just have to wonder if he'll come with the Gashacon Sparrow or if they'll actually do a Lazer Lvl 2.

Agreed. Then again all of Ex-Aid's actual forms aside from Gekitotsu Robots are pretty non-necessary for me.

Which is good because everyone else is the opposite, and right now I'm contemplating stretching my April budget to accomodate Snipe.

Eesh. I don't know how I feel about that. Removable trinkets are always a nice touch but I'd be worried about those things snapping in half.

It's like the one form of his I found remotely interesting. And would it have killed them for Tutankhamun Specter?

(Gets on his knees and starts praying)

Please let there be a new Sasword, please let there be a new Sasword, please let there be a new Sasword.....

That's subjective. I personally thought Kiva was a vastly superior series to Kabuto. Also, Kiva didn't forget its main villain in the last 10 episodes.

No, popularity is not subjective. Individual receptions are subjective, which is why you like shows other people don’t and the other way around, but the overall reception of the target audience is not up for debate.

Bandai knows Kiva isn't very popular, which is why the will wait until they think they can release the figure without it being a complete failure sales-wise.

Yup. I'm sure they saw what happened to Hibiki and are proceeding with caution when it comes to Kiva, ESPECIALLY since we already have an Emperor Form figuart.

That and it's simple cost-effectiveness. Kiva has a LOT of details on his suit and I assume that SS are NOT cheap to produce. There're a number of ways Kiva can go wrong, ranging from "nonfunctioning" to "will break if glanced at wrong".

Right now it's much more efficient to keep making Kabuto Riders and Kuuga forms due to having a large selection of similarly-tooled suits that are from shows that were, again, VERY popular, ensuring that they will sell acceptable quantities at the very least and keeping production costs down due to shared parts. And because Bandai, and by extension Tamashii Nations, are a business, those points are extremely important.

They know there's a gap in the Heisei lineup, they're not ignoring it just to spite you. Kiva will happen. EVENTUALLY. When they feel they've produced something that is not only acceptable but the definitive representation for the line, and when they're certain they can turn a profit on it, we'll get him.

Indeed, Hibiki doing rather poorly is probably a big reason why we still haven’t seen Kiva yet.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Kiva is the very last Shinkocchou Seihou Heisei Rider they do, just so that they can milk the fact of him being the last puzzle piece collectors need even more.

Honestly, my hopes are pretty high that at least the Riders from the TV show will all get a release. I mean, with the release of the Hopper Brothers, that's 5 out of the 8 riders from the show and TheBee and Drake are pretty much 100% the Kabuto mold from the waist down not including the belt. Sasword might require a little bit more retooling, but not that much.

Speaking of which, pretty interesting that we haven't seen any main Riders get an S.S. release this year. Not sure if they're using 2017 to focus on Secondary and Tertiary Riders, or we're simply going to see something by October/November (likely Ichigo).