Finished painting up my Figure Rise Ex-Aid!(at least until I get orange paint)
On another note, I’m wondering what my next Figure-Rise should be. I’ve narrowed it down to W, Build and Genm. What do you guys think?

I love 'em all, but it depends on what you're looking to get out of the kit.

W is a very fun, very simple kit with a lot of expandability if you pick up multiple forms. Not a ton of painting to be done on him, if that's what you're after.

I'm doing Genm next weekend, but I'd have to think it's like Ex-Aid in every way that counts. Fun kit with a lot that you can paint if you feel like it. And it seems like you do!

Build's a middle ground between the other two. Definitely some fine details that can be improved with paint (panel lining, that white "spring" on Rabbit's leg, the Driver), but fairly straight-forward experience of putting it together and a figure that looks solid just with stickers.

I don't know, there isn't really a wrong answer. I love that W kit, though.

Well, what would be your reasons for each?

I will say that for me personally, I've put Genm at the top of my priority list -- not necessarily because he's my most wanted one (probably top 5, though?) but because he was an exclusive. As such he's much harder to get than the others; and my mindset is that if I see him for a good price, screw wanting Build or Hibiki this month, I'm getting that Kuroto.

You know what, that is very good reasoning. If you’re looking for him he’s on this website: https://www.gundammad.co.uk/product.php?productid=18986 . You can also find him on Ebay for equally decent prices. I’ll probably get Build or Genm.!depends how much I’ll have. Thanks everybody!

Woooah woah woah; hold the heck up, is that a UK site that domestically ships FRS Riders???

Yeah, but I haven’t actually ever ordered from them before.

So I built Den-O this evening and it's a really great kit, however I feel it fuels this conspiracy theory I have:

I think Bandai is deliberately holding FRS back so as to not compete with Figuarts. The scale being slightly off, the articulation being slightly limited. This kit feels capable of perfection but some things just stand out as "why would they stop short of greatness? Like the ankles. They're really limited due to the design, but don't need to be. They could easily have larger joints cut into the show itself, ala figuarts, but he's got these tiny black universal joints that just don't cut it. There's lots of little limitations that, while they don't drag the kit down, they keep it from reaching the peak Bandai is so clearly capable of reaching, but they don't. Because if they did, guys like me would just quit Figuarts and go all-in on models. :lol

I wish they had a bigger budget. The Den-gasher could've been parts separated with blue. The middle of the belt could've been translucent red with a black rim sticker rather than one whole sticker.

Ah well, still a fantastic kit, but Bandai's holding back and I wish they wouldn't.

I mean frankly? I have the same conspiracy theory for why Bandai suddenly pivoted their mainline gimmick figures from standard 6' to suddenly giving RKF its own completely unique scale incompatible with anything else. So I wouldn't be surprised!

The best explanation for RKF I've heard of is that it makes the big Rider armours like the Time Mazine and Breaking Mammoth a lot more appetising for Bandai by requiring much less plastic to be able to interact with the Rider itself. It's still semi-tinfoil hat, but less so than "Bandai is intentionally shooting themselves in the foot in a completely different market."

I had these same thoughts, especially with how close the SHF and FRS of Den-O release dates were. I asked the folks at Bluefin and they said that the teams for both product lines are completely separate. Obviously there is some overlap in planning and launch, but there is no expectation (at least from Bandai's perspective) that these two lines take away from each other, no more than Gundam model kits and Gundam action figures take away from each other.

For a significant amount of people, the idea of having to build a kit to create a figure is anathema. And simply put, a model kit is just never gonna match the detail, material quality, and durability of a Figuarts, especially an SS.

I am an avid Gunpla builder and I sometimes forgot how many people just do straight builds without any extra detailing, painting, or otherwise improvements (many many people outright refuse to use any form of a sticker!).

As for the foot/ankle joints, from what I understand, it has a lot to do with visuals. None of the FRS kits have the toe joint, but they gave one to Kuuga, and then afterwards, Den-O, Hibiki, and Decade go back to one-piece feet. This is because Kuuga's black shoes hides it very well and he has a somewhat iconic pose that utilizes a toe bend.

That being said, I personally prefer the look of a solid foot. I've never been a fan toe joints on my figures.