What they need to do is just upscale the minipla engineering.

Minipla Sentai Mecha in DX Mecha size will be very interesting :D

I've already mentioned I'm pretty confused by the toyline. Feels like I'm missing something, because as it stands, it just looks really un-engaging.

I guess I'm not missing anything then?

I feel like we just had a show with too many Rangers. It is hard to keep up with these characters at times.

Not really all that unexpected for this one. Has some neat concepts, but the toys aren't something that seemed like they would move. Though Minipla I expected to do so somewhat well. Sometimes that can be surprising though. There have been other lines I would have sworn would have done so-so and sold out the wazoo. And ones I thought would have done better than they did. It happens time to time.

TBH, while I loved the comedic element, this is too over the top for Sentai. It's not the first time this has happened either though. Previously in the 90s there was a massive drop at one series too, with then a massive increase following it.

Next series will likely see an increase. Lupin vs Pat, as much as I love how absolutely silly it is and over the top, does kind of feel like a filler series to buy time for another year and kill time for other concepts later that are too early to do right now. Though I do absolutely love the Jackpot Striker concept. And the show itself is fun with the cockpit shenanigans.

And unlike previous years, there is no collectible gimmick this go round either really. So the merchandise is kind of slimmed down as it is. All around suggesting numbers were expected to be lower this time, and an increase will come later.

Coming off of how heavy the merchandise was for Kyu though, this isn't too surprising either. It does kind of feel like a more fun romp to let parent wallets recuperate. While an upcoming series should hit a better stride on merchandise by what it capitalizes on.

That being said though. I absolutely love how over the top it is and how much thought and work went into it. You can see various elements where they tried to work in some great things. DX mecha with elbows. The saw blade hand is perfect for Lupin as a safe cracker nod. Absolutely love some of the side mecha, the full combined form mecha is straight up cool in an almost "asura's wrath" kind of way.

My only complaint at all is maybe on the Patranger suits being too much white that it makes them look kind of non-descript. But at the same time, some of the other aspects of their characters needed that.

But tbh, some shows hit, some shows don't. Go-Buster was one that didn't do that great either in the modern 20 years worth of series. But then other stuff did truckloads better and is still celebrated by audiences. Go-Onger and Zyohger were straight up as ridiculous as this is, and they still did extremely well.

So I chalk this one up mostly to the buying craze Kyu was. With this feeling the effects more from that, alongside the lack of a heavy collectible gimmick. Formula-wise, this show really had nothing much new that other series didn't prove was already popular. Random dips happen. It's the nature of the market in general. Even the versus element had potential. And this really isn't factoring in ratings either.

Is this the state of Toei tokusatus now that a gimmick is considered an irremovable staple of their shows even by fans?

Well, when we're talking about toys...

The shows have been gimmick based since the 80s. More dominantly in the 90s, to then now. It's rather true for nearly all children's toku since the 80s. Even Metal Heroes or other franchises from other companies. To the point it saved Ultraman. Same is true for Kamen Rider as a trend that started as of Black/Black RX. Heck, it's literally what brought Kamen Rider back in 2000. Back then the market wasn't as strong on roleplay, but that gradually increased series to series. Comparing Kuuga to Agito, then the shift in Ryuki for wider Roleplay and wider figures, then the shift in Faiz for wider roleplay lower figures, to blade with a mix of both, to Kabuto on forward that had stronger pushes on role play over figures, but still a decent figure line to go with it.

It's part of the marketing system which is what Tokusatsu that's aimed to move merchandise is built on. If you're talking about something like Amazons or Garo, that's a little different since those aren't built on moving merchandise in large quantities. But we're talking about stuff that's supposed to move merchandise as the sole reason why it exists. So yeah, a gimmick is typically required. We're talking about selling toys. Which best sales results come from that "gotta buy it all!" mentality a gimmick factor tends to evoke.

That kind of Tokusatsu(moving merchandise kind) is the same as Cartoons in the states that solely exist as commercials to sell product. Same as anime that's like that. The product line is integrated into the show itself by demographic with the intent of moving merchandise so it uses those marketing standards for best practices to do so.

Speaking of though. That's something they should look more into. A sentai figure line is something that's not that common outside of minipla, with most of the emphasis going to the mecha. Which while that's great, the mecha needs some tweaks to have more wow factor and a figure line couldn't hurt.

That one's a tough call though. While I love minipla's articulation, there is something that's really satisfying about Magiking and other DX mecha over the years too. But the up in articulation is what made GekiRanger really get a strong notice too. So that might be something to revisit in design practices. And it does seem there's a push for that internally with how Lupin/PatKaiser had elbows.

Tough call overall. But I do expect there'll be an upswing in sales numbers with later series. Numbers vary series to series. One of the perks to how they do this yearly. If one's a miss, the next one can make up for it.

Considering we went from a series with 12 rangers and a successful toyline to one with the standard 7 rangers, I highly doubt keeping up with characters is the problem.

I think it's because Lupin Yellow is the big draw to Lupin vs Pat, and she gets fuck all in terms of toys :p
One sofubi, and one SoDo.