That's exactly why I can't pull the trigger and buy Figuarts. They're beautiful, I'd love to own some. But.. They are expensive. And in some cases fragile. And I know if I own them they'll just sit on a shelf, and if I break one I'll never be able to afford another. That's why when I had extra cash recently I went with Transformers instead. I can play around with them, and if one accidently breaks I won't have to sell a kidney to do it.

That's another reason why I love the SiC KT's. I've played around with Decade alot and he's built really solid. And he was cheap.

There really doesn't seem to be much logic behind the quality control of figuarts either, considering the money. Like my ShinkenRed and Pegasus Form for example are both as high quality as the hype says they are but then stuff like my DekaBlue is pretty damn flimsy and my Flame Style is just a piece of shit, it looks great but that is if you can stop it from falling to bits every minute.

And there's my problem with Figuarts and Masterpiece Transformers that suffer the same problems. Figuarts builds itself as the new standard in action figures, yet you get Fourze where the figure is solid but the switches fall off if you breath to hard. And ShinkenRed where you could run it over with a truck and it'd still be fine. And the same for Masterpiece TF. If you're going to call you product line Masterpiece or The New Standard then it'd better be damn near bulletproof. And they just aren't.

This set is incredible.

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c5...psda2ddca1.jpg

I have a hard time disagreeing with Sentai when this is the kind of thing SIC does almost all the time. (or did) The amount of parts and options is staggering, overwhelming even. Granted I can't use some of the included pieces because I don't have CycloneJokerXtreme, but that doesn't diminish the experience. Cracking this open was like Christmas.

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c5...ps49b6f0b5.jpg

One thing I stupidly forgot to poorly photograph was the memory gadgets. These things are tiny and incredible. They retain just about every single feature of the actual roleplay toys sans sounds of course. They are TERRIFYING but incredible.

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c5...ps7a5a6057.jpg

The other thing I forgot to photograph (in detail at least) is the amazing sculpting on areas of the body. The asymmetry is subtle but gorgeous, giving every Philip half swirly, esoteric and organic stylings, while Shotaro gets very angular, greebly machined details befitting Metal and Trigger's abilities. But not to the point where it looks Two-face or anything, it's subtle. (it technically was present on CycloneJoker, but only in the chest instead of the torso, head, shoulders and braclets/anklets)

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c5...ps4fd2a2f8.jpg

The paintwork is stunning. The application is surreal. It's not just the colour and paint used, though the colours are outstanding and perfect, it's the method of applying semi-clear coloured coats overtop of shiney silver for a metallic-without-being-sparkly effect. They glean in the light. It also goes without saying that the general sculpting is top notch with intricate details that manage to be greebly and organic without looking messy or futzing the shape of the body parts or overall look. Really makes me wish I had a better camera/setup.

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c5...ps1ec2c4b2.jpg

One weird (i.e. the only negative thing I'll say about this whole thing) is that they took the time to cover up the hole on Metal's back from the connector, but left the whole for the Trigger Magnum. This is especially weird when you consider the Metal Shaft spends way more time holstered than the Magnum, which only ever sits on the chest when he first switches to Trigger or if he's on his bike, but also that the uncovered hole on the back is technically accurate to the show costume, wheras the Magnum leaves no visible connector. They should've covered up the Magnum hole instead. But the cover for Metal does make the figure look much better from behind and thanks to the detailing on Trigger's half of the chest the hole really isn't noticable as anything more than aesthetic choice.

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c5...ps2f13fcc3.jpg

Also, formswapping could not be more fun. I also noticed some rather odd changes that were made in W production as time went on, sort of artifacts detailing it's evolution. Like how on CycloneJoker, at least the Tamashii Nations book version, his buttcrack is full silver, but on LunaTrigger and HeatMetal it's just the suit line. Fastforward to FangJoker and he's got no silver on his crack to no negative effect whatsoever. Also the W driver has slightly more painted detail on these than the book set or FangJoker, sporting the black middle section to complete the "W" shape.

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c5...ps8c670b23.jpg

I also neglected to show the Metal Shaft Maximum Drive since, it's cool and all, but it really is stage one of the MD since it's less burning and inflamed and more like it's just heating up. I may get the effects set one day for a full-on Maximum Drive. (plus it's got other cool stuff like an extra long Luna arm for LunaJoker) I notice a lot of SICs, between multiple hands and effects parts would make excellent stopmotion or sequencial art because of just how many subtle actions you can replicate. Speaking of, the shaft itself is nine pieces total and can replicate any stage the show version can be in from tiny back-mounted to full-sized to fully extended. The Trgger Magnum is also nice (very cool shade of blue, just like Trigegr itself) complete with window for the memory, but I already have Skull so I knew that.

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c5...psafc89bc0.jpg

The only thing left to mention is the formswap gimmick itself. I don't know if you can tell from the pics, but I love it. I knew how it worked from the other W SIC's I owned, but that was all just kind of leftover from this. THIS makes the gimmick more worth it than it already was. Seeing the SICs in person in every combination has sold me, more than I already was, on these line of figures and SIC overall. Why this kind of figure isn't being produced in show-accurate designs and marketted as "the new standard" baffles me. THIS is what the new standard of action figures should be. Durable, beautiful, chock full of sensible, unobtrusive gimmickry. I could pay hundreds of dollars for all of the.... okay W figuarts figures of all his forms. But instead I went for the slightly expensive magazine set and this set so I could have great-looking, solid, and all around superior in every practical fashion W figures at nearly twice the size and a fraction of the cost. Again, this is what figures should be. If these were accurate to the source material I could see this method of construction being the method of construction. Which is not a slam on the aesthetic in any way, in fact having W in all his half-and-half forms honestly makes me wish he looked like this in the show.

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c5...ps65f61e24.jpg

I'd nomally say something like "to anyone and everyone who likes W in any capacity and wants to check out SIC, go for these" but sadly these aren't easy to find, and for good reason. I really wish bandai would reissue these, maybe even give the original CycloneJoker the form swap gimmick. So people like me wouldn't feel obligated to get the Tamashii nations set so they could have a formswapping CycloneJoker. (Then again this way I not only have CJ alongside CJX when I get him, but I can use the extra parts to make a Kamen Rider Joker custom instead of paying out the ass for the real one)

My very first bad case of breakage on a toy occurred just now. I picked up a Vol. 37 Leangle/Blade Jack Form set from AmiAmi a couple weeks ago and am just now getting around to opening it. Though both figures look really nice (I really like the different Blade forms), each figure had...issues:

- Leangle's left fist broke off at the joint as I was removing to swap it out for another fist. The ball is now stuck in there and I'll have to pry it out somehow to get another hand in.

- Leangle's left elbow snapped off as well; the joint isn't completely broken (I can try reattaching it and it loosely hangs onto the pin at the elbow), but yeah that'll be fun trying to superglue it or something.

- Blade Jack Form's left elbow also snapped off while popping on one of the other fists - on this one, it completely broke off.

Yikes. At least I didn't pay much for it. There were no signs of stressing at the elbows either, as far as I could tell, and I wasn't using excessive force or anything; they just broke/ripped off. It's too bad, each figure looks great. I haven't tried moving the right elbows too much so I don't know if those are at risk of breaking either.

From my understanding all of the Blade figures are really fragile, especially Leangle. I've heard that most of them break immediately out of the box.

Yeah, sadly basically all SICs pre-Den-O are prone to fragility.

That's unfortunate, especially because the actual Blade figure looked really good (especially since it has the parts for King Form, if I recall correctly). It had been on the "to-do" list for me, but now I'll have to really think long and hard about taking a run at one.

I own Ryuki and it actually seems pretty sturdy, closer to Kabuto and the OOO SICs. I have the Ouja/Knight two-pack on the way, so that'll be my next experience with older SICs.

I had heard that older SICs had fragility issues, but after Ryuki turned out well I admit I let my guard down a bit mentally. Oh well.

Okay after seeing people raving about the KT line in the SIC Bee thread and various other places, I'm beginning to wonder whether I should get a sample figure just to see if this line is as good as everyone says.

So, any recommendations?

I know people say Rising Ultimate Kuuga is one of the best, but the design/character doesn't really do anything for me. So as far as affordable ones go, are my only other options for now standard Kuuga and Decade?

Mandarake usually has a pretty decent selection: http://ekizo.mandarake.co.jp/shop/en...A5%B5%E9%AD%82

Personally, I think that most of them are very fun and solid little figures. The only ones I'd actually advise against as a starter are Blade (limited articulation due to bulky armor and hips), Garo (limited articulation for no apparent reason), or Zero (arms will not stay on to save their damn lives).

My personal favorites are the aforementioned RU Kuuga, any of the Faiz Riders, Den-O, and the Hibiki guys (although they have a different style of wrist peg that is more limited than the ball joints that later figures use).

Edit: forgot to mention Agito, he's really good, too.