Yeah but Kou also got all his stuff, he was in like two episodes and all he had was that annoying sword.

You can't do Kotaro's multi-eye, his chop, his punch, his kick. But you CAN put him in a show realistic nazi salute, so I guess he gets a free ride or some shit.

Isn't that like complaining that you can't do the Zyuranger's pose because they don't include a giant coin backdrop?

The Hurricane Red backing card had print on it, no Figuart has an excuse any more! :lol

Considering the SHEER accessory count with the Zyuranger figuarts, you know how obtuse that argument is, even if it was a joke.

It's the principle for me, moreso than the individual. It's kinda like how the Beast SHF got all of his mantels released in a separate set, yet they are both full figuarts prices - so its basically about 7,000 yen for a complete Beast with after market prices. Yet Wizard comes with every conceivable accessory for no extra cost.

The point wasn't specifically tailored towards the Zyurangers, just the first team that came to mind.

Does it suck that the pure fist fighter didn't get any accessories beyond more fists? Yeah, it does. It doesn't necessitate being considered "Worst of 2013" just because people like him more than Kibaranger.

If they released a "KR Black Effect Set" for full Figuart price, then yeah, I'd be in full agreement over how bullshit it is, but the mantles are integral to Beast's design (Not even getting into how terribly handled the mantles were. A plastic shell that splits 3 ways? Ugh...). A clear piece of plastic that looks like an explosion is more of a commodity for Black, not a vital piece.

Well this is our personal worsts, right? So for me it would be Black V2, Mango Arms and Flame Style. I know all the shittiness about the Kyoryuger robo and stuff like that, but I haven't bought one - and never will - so I cannot comment. But seeing so much distaste for Kou seemed oddly imbalanced to me since no one brought Black up.

But yeah, the pure shittiness of how they handled Beast and how the Mantles turned out, meant I never bought him despite him shaping up to be a better protagonist than Haruto in the shows climax.

Fair enough.

Arms Change 01 is easily my toy of the year. It blew out of the gates as one of the most creative, fun and unique toys to come out of the Kamen Rider franchise in recent years. It built upon the sturdiness of the Kamen Rider value lines, covered all of its bases as an articulated action figure, and pulled off the gimmick with aplomb. The little touches (the swords connecting, the interchangeable visors) really made the package feel complete, and showed just how fun toys can be.

I think my worst vote, like many others', goes to the first release of SH Figuarts Wizard Flame Style. The oddly proportioned body and its being the mother of all QC issues really stopped me from enjoying the toy. Almost everything about the figure was frustrating to work with, from changing the skirts to just posing it. It had some pluses, like the included Tamashii Stage and the beautiful packaging, but those weren't enough to save it.
I'd give my vote to NECA Striker Eureka if I'd actually had a firsthand experience with it and weren't just going on hearsay.

Yeah, I think my vote will have to go to Strike Eureka. Mine came with mismatched arm blades and trying to gently pose it resulted in the left arm snapping off at the shoulder.

No hearsay here, that figure is downright terrible. It's the only figure I purchased this year that I would consider among 'the worst'.

Yeah, I just hope they aren't too crazy on the aftermarket.

You have her? All of my jealousy for like..ever.

My all time favorite kaiju, and I will never own her.

I didn't get a lot of things released this year and none of them were really bad, but the best released this year for me has to be Project BM! Kamen Rider Wizard Flame Style hands down. It is just such a stunning figure, and Flame Style is my favorite Kamen Rider Suit design. Hearing about the SH Figurart versions problems I am even happier I splurged on him when he went up on preorder, he is a perfect replica right down to the tiniest detail of the rings(all basic forms plus driver ring, kick strike ring, big, and copy) which are on pegs and so can either be put on the belt or on Wizards hands. The material they use for his costume makes him really realistic looking and it's so easy to shape his cape to make almost any pose look dynamic. He also comes with a nice assortment of accessories, besides the rings it also comes with eight extra hands, his WizardSwordGun(in both forms), and his red magic circle. He's not as articulated as SH Figures, and his right griping hand is a bit lose but when you get him in a great pose and this 12" figure is towering over my SH Figurart Infinity Style it makes the sacrifice well worth it.

He was my first Kamen Rider/Sentai figure along with sh Infinity style and is one of the three best figures I bought this year(with the other two also being Project BM!, Ankh and Skull)

My only real complaint about him is, I wish I didn't get him as my first xp
When you start out with the big guys, no mater how awesome the Figurarts are they just look tiny in comparison. So I just can't collect KR Figurarts, I'm happy with the Sentai Figurarts though and love my Kyoryu Red. Who thankfully I've had no problem with other than accidentally breaking his Gabricalibur though it was easily fixed with a dab of Superglue.

They are really cheap, I looked into the line myself to fill in some gaps for my collection.

"Documented evidence" is not hearsay. I know what you mean, that you have no first-hand experience, but hearsay is information without physical, presented evidence. There are scads of photos online of busted Striker's, and always the right hip. Hell, you could probably find them in stores with the legs broken in package. (my friend found one like that. But that's just an aside, as it actually is hearsay)

Best - SH Figuarts Dragon Ranger. This guy lived up to all of my expectations. The Powerful Ranger add-on parts were just icing on the cake.

Worst - D-Arts Pokemon. While they are near perfect representations, the articulation that they do have is almost uneeded. I wasn't expecting them to be able to get in crazy kung fu poses. Blastoise and Venusaur in particular are really more like statues with a few cut in joints.

Best Runner-up - Arms Change line. I just got Zangetsu and the Mango/Kiwi arms on the 30th and I haven't been able to stop playing with him. If I had got any of them just a couple days sooner they would have made it to the top.

Glad I didn't pick up Striker Eureka. I saw him at the Time Square TRU and was going to buy him because "OMG AUSTRALIA" but decided against it because I don't really have a shelf to put him on. Sounds like I dodged a bullet.

What exactly were you hoping for with Venusaur? He has as many joints of articulation they could fit in his legs, movable neck and mouth, movable leaves and fully articulated vines. That's almost beyond what you'd expect on a stout dinosaur on four short legs. He's perfect.
Mewtwo and Charizard are above and beyond too. My only complaint about the whole line is that Blastoise should be able to retract his cannons/have them removable and that I wish Mewtwo's Shadow Ball was rounder, but otherwise the Pokemon D-Arts line is amazing.

Don't get me wrong, I have all of the D-Arts Pokemon and will be getting Lucario and any others when released. I never expected Venusaur to be able to throw kicks or punches, since it is Venusaur. However, a razor leaf or solarbeam effect part would have been a nice addition since he costs the same as the others. That combined with the nitpicks you listed were why I picked them as my worst. I just feel while they they are close, they just missed the mark a little.

Just as an example, my runners up for worst after the Pokemon would be DX Pteragordon and Kibaranger. Kibaranger for the already mentioned lack of accessories and Pteragordon, because outside of Pteraiden-oh, he just doesn't measure up to the other Kyoryuger mecha.

So by worst, you mean "great but does not meet expectations"? :lol

I guess so. Hell, since it is a list, something has to be on the bottom. :lol

I never did choose a worst did I?

Generations Megatron (The Stealth Bomber one).

He has a really nice vehicle mode, but his robot mode is so thin, and he feels kind of cheap, I mean he's still neat. His transformation is pretty cool, he just has a few faults.

If I had to pick a worst Figuart? Probably (I know I'm going to contradict myself here.) Den-O Gun and Rod, simply because they don't have any effects parts, and lack some hands I would've liked. The reason I bring up the effects parts is because Sword and Axe came with effects parts, so Gun and Rod not coming with any is a bit disappointing, especially since after Paypal and middleman fees, they came out to $112 (and I EMS'd it, but that's because it was near the holidays, and I didn't want to wait a really long time).

I didn't realize Lucario had been announced! I'll still get him, because I love Pokemon and I love the D-Arts line and he looks super cool from the photos, but I was sorta hoping they'd give us someone a bit less predictable and without an annoying furry fanbase.

Anyway, I love love love Venusaur. Maybe I'm biased because Ivysaur's my favourite Pokemon and he Bulbasaur line are my favourite evolution line ever and every competetive team I've had has used Venusaur and he dominates, but I thought he was absolutely perfect. Now we need a Mega Venusaur D-Arts!

*is a furry*

:[

http://i.imgur.com/ofv1CPz.jpg

Here are the toku... sorta related toys I enjoyed in 2013. :)

Have US ones too, but those are neither here nor there.

(Don't get the hate for the Gavan mold, Shaider is brilliant, and if you hate Black Renewal, you hate Figuarts.)

Don't take offense. If you're a furry, you should know the irrational amount of drooling that's done over Lucario. :lol

It's only the fact mine broke and I can't really do a proper joint swap that makes me dislike it, until then I thought it was a pretty great figure.

Awesomesauce!

I didn't really get anything this year that I would deem bad so I'll just go over what I feel is worth mentioning.

- All the megaforce zords were solid (mainly Great, Ground, Ultimate and the cycles)
- I love the Legacy Megazord and I feel it's not only just as good as the original but with the Dragonzord coming out (with hints of Titanus) it could prove to be better.
- SH Figuarts Abyss (First SHF I ever bought and I couldn't have picked a better one)
- and finally my giant plush Kyubey :lol

Best - Gosei Morpher. There's literally nothing wrong with it, it's just an English-speaking Tensounder.

Worst - Beast Hunters Shockwave. Only bought it because I saw it locally, then I learned that no matter how amazing his robot mode is, it can't make up for how crappy his "tank" mode is.

I'll start by saying this, it has been a great year for Transformers. Without realizing it, I've refocused my collecting back to Transformers and loving it. That's not to say there wasn't other great toys, but Transformers won this year by a large margin for me. I'll still have a few non-Transformers on here because there's room for all, just prepare yourself for a crap ton of giant robots. As always, I doing my favorites I bought this year regardless of when it was made. I also probably won't do worst.


15. TMNT Mousers
http://i1131.photobucket.com/albums/...ppedtheRat.jpg

Small, poseable, can use a surprising amount of accessories form all over, and they come in a 7 pack...7 PACK! They are as close to perfect as we're ever going to get on Mousers. These are the Mousers I've always wanted and I'm so happy with them. I don't have much else to say. Mousers are awesome.


14. Marvel Universe X-Men Rogue
http://i1131.photobucket.com/albums/...axterRogue.jpg

Even when I was a little boy who refused to buy pink rangers, Rogue had a place in my play time. Why? Because 90's Rogue was awesome! Ever since Marvel Universe started, I wanted this exact Rogue update. I'm glad they waited this long because she ends up using the newer female body that's a huge improvement over the early MU females.


13. Beast Wars Armordillo
http://i1131.photobucket.com/albums/...Armordillo.jpg

At the first of this year I was able to get ahold of most of the Beast Wars figures I was missing including the last Basic I didn't own, Armordillo. What a good one to finish on. He's very similar to Snapper, my favorite flip changer. I don't have much to say on Armordillo. He's simple while staying effective, he's nicely sculpted with some light paint to bring it out, and still keeps the level of articulation I ask from my toys. In sort, he reminds me of why I like Beast Wars and got into Transformers to begin with. For that alone he makes my list.


12. Beast Hunters Skystalker
http://i1131.photobucket.com/albums/...SkyStalker.png

I didn't expect my last purchase of the year to make the list, but I've been having fun with Skystalker enough. First of all, he's an ice dragon. What really sells this guy as an ice dragon is the white swirling in the sky blue plastic of the wings. It gives them a frosted over look. This is the best use of the swirling plastic in the entire line. There's more, like Skystalker being able to sit in dragon mode. I love when quadruped TFs can do that. And finally there's his dragon skull helmet in bot mode that brings back present memories of Final Fantasy's Dragoon class (more specifically Kain Highwind).


11. Kamen Rider Gaim Arms Action wave 1
http://i1131.photobucket.com/albums/...msAction05.jpg

There's no way I was going without Gaim toys on this list and this is all I have at the moment...and I'm loving them. On the positive, they're in that GI Joe-ish scale that I tend to stay with, the price of a case is equal to that of one Arms Change, and they still contain the gimmick (though through partforming). The only reason they are this low on the list is because I've had to do a lot of my own customization (especially on Baron) and the stickers aren't of great quality. Regardless, at the end of the day I have Gaim toys that can hang out in my pizza place with Gandalf the Grey, Admiral Ackbar, and Hoth Cliff Clavin. That's all I wanted.

...Yes, my dreams are small!


10. Robot Damashii Gundam Double X
http://i1131.photobucket.com/albums/...ed/DoubleX.jpg

This year, Gundam decided to finally give X some love. As far as I know, this is the first (and currently only) X action figure that's not a model kit. That's a huge positive for me. I'm not saying models are bad, just that they aren't for me and it's rare that Gundams I like get beyond models. While Double X isn't my first choose when it comes to X suits, it is a good one and I happily bought it. There's a good attention to detail here like on all Robot Damashii. While it has to partform to fully deploy the satellite cannons, I like that it can do a half deployment of the cannons and the panels without partforming. It makes it easy to show off the satellite cannons without having to switch a bunch of parts. Aside from that, it's just an overall solid Robot Damashii.


09. Energon Landmine
http://i1131.photobucket.com/albums/...onLandmine.jpg

As far as Energon is concerned, Landmine is the last figure left I missed and had intended to get. Spotlight Trailcutter remind me of that one and so I wanted him for my Lost Light crew. Finding one in great shape (though dirty) for $5 makes this guy quite possibly my best deal of the year. He's full of fun with an almost G1 leader style of play with a back end that turns into a battle station and a more modern "Brute" mode. More TFs need Brute mode. There's just something so satisfying about taking a pretty cool robot mode and neat battle station and combining them into a powerhouse. Landmine is defintely one of the highlights of Energon.


08. Generations Trailcutter/Hoist
http://i1131.photobucket.com/albums/...erAndHoist.jpg

Get your pitchforks ready G1 fans because I'm about to say something bad about your precious Trailbreaker. He's lame and a literal plot device. At least he was until James Roberts got ahold of him. Now he's the star of one of the best one shot TF comics ever. I will be calling him Trailcutter because he wasn't worth anything to me until his name was changed. Anyways, of the first two waves of the IDW deluxes, Trailcutter and Hoist are tied for second place. I'm putting them together because they're basically the same toy. They're tied for bringing different things to the party. Colorwise, Trailcutter is dark while Hoist is light. Where Hoist doesn't have paint apps, Trailcutter does. While Trailcutter is a truck with a camper shell, Hoist is a tow truck. They're different in all the right ways repaints/remolds should be. Now Hasbro, how about you abuse these molds a little? It's a decent choice for Ironhide or MW Hubcap/RID Towline...yeah, I'll keep dreaming.


07. Generations IDW Megatron
http://i1131.photobucket.com/albums/...gsIronhide.jpg

It's surprising it took Megs so long to get a cool jet alt mode and you don't get much cooler than a flying wing stealth bomber. He's my surprise favorite of the first IDW deluxe waves. Part of my enjoyment comes from him reminding me of BWII BB. I'm still considering getting Dreadwing's head and putting up this body because of it. Aside from that, the jet mode is solid and thin (for a TF jet). The robot mode has a good range of movement too and looks rather nice. Above that, he's fun to transform, which is always a huge plus.


06. Beast Hunters Ripclaw
http://i1131.photobucket.com/albums/...clawKnight.jpg

Beast Hunters has been a strange line for me. I dug the non-show dragon designs, but there were so few Predacons and they weren't easy to find in the mountain of pointless random remolds of toys I either already had or didn't want to begin with. Of those dragons, Ripclaw was the one I was willing to go out of my way for and she was worth it. In beast mode, she's a classic European style dragon that always brings Maleficent to my mind and that's awesome. Then there's Ripclaw's robot mode where she looks like she's wearing awesome knight armor and helmet. The proportions remind me of Samus in her armor to, so Ripclaw gets bonus points. I like to use her claw weapon like it was similar to Samus' charging cannon. She gets my vote for best fembot of the year.


05. MSiA Gundam Astray Red Frame
http://i1131.photobucket.com/albums/...RedFrame01.jpg

Red Frame is the odd mecha out in the ten 5 list as it isn't from this decade or a Transformer, but I got it this year. For me, this has been one of my holy grails for years. I passed it up at retail and when I realized it was my favorite Gundam, the prices were ridiculous and have stayed ridiculous. Plus, there's been no sign of a new non-model kit ever getting made. At least until I finally found one on Mandarake (Japanese version too) for cheap. It was a good day. Thankfully, after all these years of pining for it, I love it. It's exactly what I wanted and expected from a MSiA. There's not a better Red Frame for me except for a mythical Robot Damashii.


04. Generations Metroplex
http://i1131.photobucket.com/albums/.../MetroMMPR.jpg

Here's the toy everyone expects to see on favorites lists this year. Metroplex is big mofo of robot. He's a great example of why I like small Transformers. The smaller the "normal" Transformers get, the more impressive this guy will look. Putting him next to World's Smallest Ravage and you are at max impressiveness. As far as city bots go, Metroplex is a great companion piece to Fortress/Brave Maximus. Metroplex's strong points are not the same as Brave Max, so they end up complementing each other. Metroplex's robot mode is fairly poseable with plenty of joints while Brave Max has a much more well defined city mode. Metroplex's alt modes really needed to do a bit more transforming to really feel like a city/carrier mode and that (along with the ungodly amounts of stickers) is why Metroplex couldn't make it to the top of my list. That said, I do not regret it at all. Posing him like he was a robotic version of My Buddy is a lot of fun. He's a lot of fun if you're after the giant robot. If you're after a great city mode, go looking for an Encore Fort Max.


03. Fireflight/Air Raid
http://i1131.photobucket.com/albums/...r/FireRaid.jpg

This is one of the toys I've kept coming back to throughout the year. I got Fireflight because I had enough Shockwaves already and this figure looked like a fun no body. He's not Fireflight, Air Raid, or Shockwave. He's just cool is what he is. He has decent range of movement all around and what may be my favorite set of weapons all year. These weapons make up for any problems Fireflight may have. You get a double barrel gun that can replace a hand, a very cool robot broadsword, and this strange gun looking thing with a fold out blade. That's plenty, but what makes it even more awesome is they can combine in different ways and Fireflight has many places to mount the weapons giving him so many options. I love having him two-hand his combined sword.


02. Generations Rhinox
http://i1131.photobucket.com/albums/.../TeamRhino.jpg

This Rhinox is what I've been wanting. Beast Wars toys updated with modern ways and not sucking (I'm looking at you Universe 2.0 Cheetor!). I'm sure Waspinator would be on this list along with Rhinox, but I haven't been able to get Waspinator yet. Rhinox is pretty close to his animation model. At least as close as I think any Transformer can get and still transform. The rhino mode is pretty much a brick, but I'll allow it because it does a great job hiding almost all the bot bits (save for the forearms). However, more than anything else, Rhinox is awesome for one thing above all others: Chainguns of Doom. He gets two and spinning gimmick is still there. I can spin these all day long.


01. Generations Springer
http://i1131.photobucket.com/albums/...rSandstorm.jpg

Yeah, I can't deny the perfectness of Springer. I considered Sandstorm, but I finally had to disqualify him for being a bit back heavy. I'm going to start with the weakest mode: helicopter. The helicopter mode works just fine and does look like a helicopter. It's my least favorite only because Tomahawk is more my cup of tea when it comes to copters. Then there's car mode. It's my favorite car mode of the year, maybe of all time. There's just something about it that makes it look powerful without going overboard. Finally, there's the robot. When I think of Springer, he looks pretty much exactly like this in my mind. The Nick Roche head, the broad shoulders, and the great balance of green, yellow, and grey all make this perfect. Bonus points: Springer having the coolest sword in a year full of cool TF swords.

Really? That is great to know, I might have to pick one up.

There's that. And the fact that's it's just a truly subpar release. With a lack of accessories, poorly applied chrome, not the most stellar articulation in the world. It just feels cheap, even for a Web Exclusive, especially when compared to the old Action Works Gavan which I still hold to be a far superior figure with a better selection of accessories and range of motion.

I expected better of the SHF. Considering the wrist on mine also broke, I don't hold that figure, or Sharivan and Shaider in high regards. They look nice but are some of my least favorite releases of 2013.

I guess, only having watched the Gavan movie and the Super Hero Taisen he was in, I am not familiar with what Gavan, Shaider or Sharivan could be missing. Type G was only in those two things, and I watched both, so he doesn't seem to be missing anything, IMO.

As far as the wrists go, I think people just yank on them way too hard, or maybe Shaider is improved from Gavan, because mine are fine, they don't seem any less sturdy than other pre-mid-2013 Figuarts wrists. That said, they have done a good job of beefing up the wrist joint on Figuarts, Alt Zero, Abyss, and Blade King all seem to have really nice and sturdy wrists.

As far as articulation, the only bit that I find to be hindered compared to other Figuarts is maybe the shoulders a little? Not really sure, again, maybe Shaider is different than Gavan in that department.

I am not saying that you can't dislike the figure, I am just trying to figure out WHY, considering I think Shaider isn't even close to the worst Figuarts released this year.

The wrist joints on Gavan are thinner than the average Figuart, hence the easy breakage and frustration at the fact I can't just switch the broken wrist out with a cheaper figure.

BESTS

Best Kamen Rider Toy: DX Sengoku Driver-love the sounds and the return to less noisy, less gimmicky rider belts.

Best Sentai Toy: I'd have to go with Gabutyra de Carnival. I love the amazing amount of sounds it has and it's just a lot of fun to mess around with.

Best Official Transformer: MP Soundwave (US Edition). I've always loved Soundwave since I was a kid and this just knocked it out of the park. I love the transformation and I love each cassette! Close second: MP Prowl (who loses to Soundwave only because I wasn't a huge fan of the character when I was a kid).

Best Third Party Transformer: This is a hard one. I just got back into third party Transformers (and back into Transformers in general). Over the past 4 months I've gotten MMC Bovis, MakeToys Yellow Giant, MakeToys Chaos/Paladin, Fansproject Code/Quad-U/Smart Robin and I love each of them. If I had to pick only one I'd go with MMC Bovis since I love the quality on this guy and can't wait to complete Feral Rex (hopefully) this year!

WORSTS

Worst Kamen Rider Toy: None really. Drago Timer is close due to how bloody loud the gears are but I still like it overall.

Worst Sentai Toy: Kyoryujin. I had 4-5 clips break over the year and I barely played with the thing! I wish I could say I like him but the quality is definitely not the same as it once was.

Worst Official Transformer: Transformers Prime. Pretty much all of it. There are a few I liked here and there but overall I didn't like the aesthetics nor the transformations all that much. And don't even get me started on Beast Hunters...

Worst Third Party Transformer: Hands down TFC Uranos. I wanted to like this guy. I really did. I liked Superion as a kid and I dug the TFC aesthetic for the most part. But three out of the five guys I got where pretty much broken out of the box. Combiner joints were completely floppy on one of the legs as well as one of the arms. Missiles were cracked on some of them. Mis-assembled shoulders on the central figure, Blackbird. I ended up sending all of them back to the vendor and got my money back. While mine might be a rare case I also did not like the fact that they ended up releasing the "true" version of Uranos as an add-on kit. Never again will I buy a TFC product.