Aren't beam effects a minority anyways? I got two Godzilla SHMA's, neither of them came with any accessory.

Yep, the accessory counts can be just as varied in that line as they are here.

Well, I mean... didn't like every OOO form come with a Medajalibur? Maybe that's a bad example because it's so simple and requires less parts than the Handle Sword, but I fall in to the group who would just love to display Type Speed with his sword, but really don't want to have to buy Type Wild to get it. 40 bucks for a single small accessory is way too much to ask.

That said, I actually understand the Door Gun being paired only with Technic more. I mean, it's seems absolutely pointless for Drive to use that weapon outside of that form anymore, what with it's ridiculous accuracy and targeting systems.

I am very curious to see how Bandai does the Machin Chaser weapons.

Bonus for Type Formula? But Formula has a load of accessories itself to fit in, three tire types

I think Kamen rider chaser would be practical and appropriate. Chaser just needs an axe and hands. Make a three pack of accessories for the circular weapons a bonus part, and done

Honestly I don't see these happening, at all. They need to be 3 different weapons, because the transforming one from the TK-figure is highly inaccurate to the real deal in order to transform. 3 weapons as a first release bonus are too much and separate accessory-packs are out of the question, if these would happen in the line we would have tire-sets by now.

If they would be packed as single releases, we would have heard from them too, not a lot of releases left that wouldn’t utilize tires for themselves as bonus.

Kamen Rider Chaser has the huge ax, I don't see them making extra weapons as a bonus. I'm sure he'll use some Signal Koukans in the next weeks and these as a bonus. Or the giant wheel from his debut episode.

Maybe they do happen, maybe Premium Bandai-shenanigans, but I wouldn’t count on it.

Well, keep in mind we have seen a couple Tire Changes (Dream Vegas in particular) and we still don't know how they are going to be released. There very well could be some kind of premium set in the future.

Apparently I ordered a second Drive from Toku Taku. That sort of slipped my mind. I'm getting old. :lol

questions
 

Has anyones SHF Gohan ship yet? I think there might be a delay .

Man I think I'm just gonna be happy with the initial tire koukans and effects, anything after that I'm just gonna leave alone, I have the TK line for that kinda gimmick.

Since it's so fresh in everyone's minds, how do y'all feel about first-run bonuses in general?

I don't really see the appeal to them. If they're vital to the figure/character then I won't buy it so I don't support that business venture since if it were to be popular they'll do it on everything they release, but if they aren't all that important I still won't bother with them since they don't mean much & they're not worth the stress & rush of getting the first ever shipments.

I think the deal with first run bonuses is that they're suppose to provide extra incentive for collectors to buy from Bandai + other official retailers rather than buying secondhand. At the same time it keeps the price down because Bandai doesn't have to spend as much extra money on extra plastic + packaging for items that many collectors might not want.

At least that's why I'm assuming Bandai does it.

Nippon Yasan has already shipped mine.

I also ordered mine for NP, along with Tuxedo Kamen and Veggeto. Veggeto and Kamen show up as in stock but Gohan still shows the preorder page. I guess I'll wait till Monday for an update.

Loving that minimalist packaging on the Drive Figuarts. So cool. Hate how much waste has been on most figuarts packaging. Really dwarfs the figures in ways I don't like. Drive's box is super classy.

Tamashi Web exclusive add on set ala Birth I bet.

Hope they stick more shit in that accessory pack then

Maybe stuff for Type Formula, its three tire tool sets, the three machin weapons, and more effects parts, plus tires

At most I see Chase's weapons, some of the more common Signal changes for Mach, and possibly a Tire or two.

Couple questions:

1) What happened to the Sentai Super Robot Chogokin line? Did it not do well? Why not just put them in the Robot Spirits line? That's still around from what I've gathered.

2) If Sentai Figuarts really don't sell that well then why do they keep making random ones sporadically? Wouldn't they just wanna save finances & invest in their current money-drawers like Kamen Rider & other popular things?

The line is still around, it was never specifically for Super Sentai robots. I'm not sure whether the figures themselves didn't sell well but the fact there were a bunch of prototypes that never saw the light of day makes it seem that way.

If anything Bandai are drawing out Rider as long as they can because eventually they'll run out of things to do. Akaranger and Vul Eagle aren't really "random" as they're arguably the two most popular Showa-era reds.

Right. But what about all of the unfinished Sentai teams? If Hurricanger really is popular enough to get a freaking 10-years-after special you would think their Extra Ranger would've been released by now. Was Boukenger only so well-received that they could justify making the whole team but only releasing 3 of them? Sales must've shown that not that many people liked them so they assume no one would've purchased Pink, Yellow & Silver. Which is incorrect, IMO, because they're the females & Extra Ranger of the group, meaning that the older audience (which is who Figuarts are aimed at in the first place) would eat them up. And if Go-Busters was really the "failure" they deemed it to be then why make Figuarts of the main 3 plus their BuddyRoids? That's time, money & resources going to items that they didn't even have much faith in to begin with. Yet they made them & didn't make the Extra Rangers, again. They could've at least scrapped production of the BuddyRoids since they all had to be newer & different molds than they were used to which definitely cost them versus two molds with a similar shape & structure to the figures they've already been making for years. They just seem like they can't make up their mind & it's annoying.

Sorry for going on like that, my bad. ^^;

I believe the problem with Sentai figuarts is that you pretty much need the whole team unless you collect all reds + sixth rangers. Rider series typically don't have more than 3 or 4 important riders and even then most riders can stand alone fairly well. Meanwhile with Sentai, most people probably wouldn't buy, say, a blue and not get the other rangers. Unless you're Talisman of course :lol

Keeping that in mind I feel like Bandai hasn't found a way to successfully sell Sentai figures. If you release them separately, many are going to feel compelled to get the others which is a huge money sink. On the other hand, sell them in two packs and many people will probably be turned off by the large price. It's not Bandai's fault; it's like trying to sell Punchhopper without Kickhopper and then multiplying it by 5.


But that's just my theory.

Hey, I'm two short of a full Zyuranger/MMPR team (one if you don't count Dragon/Green and/or Kiba/White).

Give me a series that I strongly care for, like Ohranger/Zeo or Timeranger/Time Force, or just, you know, lower the price of all the freaking Gokaigers and I'll GLADLY break my Blues Only/First rule.

I am working on getting Red and Yellow Buster, though.

Gaim makes my pocket cry.

I am really hoping that due to Ninninger's episode a few weeks back that we at least get a Ninja Red Figuart.

True. That does make a lot of sense. But it won't work when comparing Super Sentai to Kamen Rider. All of the various forms changes can equal & even surpass the number of a Sentai group from a series' Main Rider alone. Kuuga, Agito, Den-O & W onward are proof of this. And that's not even including power-ups like Kuuga Rising or Wizard Dragon. Those don't have nearly as much of a problem selling as Sentai Figuarts since they keep getting made. I feel like there's something we're missing. Something that would keep them from making Sentai Figuarts but not Rider Figuarts. Perhaps it's Rider's popularity over Sentai? That's why more effort goes into Riders instead of Sentai? That's the only thing I can think of.

Most people remembers the RED guy instead of the other colors.
The RED guy becomes the face or representative of the entire show.
Which is why Bandai focuses the RED instead of the rest.
I am sure there are other excuses for them to release rest of the team just by retooling the mold. But then who can guarantee there are enough people buying them to cover the costs.

Same reason why AkaRed represents all the Super Sentai Spirits.

And Reds and Sixthes tend to be the most popular characters.

If this happened, I would freak out. But I am honestly just hoping and praying that we can get an AkaNinger and StarNinger SHF (and KiNinger because he is my favorite on the team)

I hope we get a full team too because I want AoNinger so badly.

Were it so easy.

Beautiful.

My SHF Drive is now in New York. He should be any day now this week.

Are two-packs crazy-expensive because they're sold at a disproportionate price point, or does it just seem that way because the shipping costs tend to be inflated? I confess I passed on VulShark and VulPanther because the markup on BBTS was just too steep for me.

Something Bandai hasn't tried yet is selling a two-pack involving both the red hero and one of the others, like selling AkaNinja with ShiroNinja. Maybe it would alter collectors' buying habits?

Your problem is buying SHF from BBTS

Nippon Yasan and CStoys are better when it comes to web exclusives in my opinion. They are cheaper and easier to pay for then paying for prices that are created by middle man and importing fees. BBTS is good for domestic releases but not so much with Japanese imports if you ask me.

Well Rider is more popular amongst collectors than Sentai that much is true. I think the difference with form changes is that collectors don't necessarily feel obligated to collect all of them since form changes are all of the same character anyway. For example, with W, somebody might only get CycloneJoker, LunaTrigger and CycloneJokerXtreme and feel perfectly content with that because you technically don't have an incomplete "team".

Most collectors are more invested into getting all characters from a show versus all forms from a show. And for Sentai, pretty much every release is a new character.

Another thing to note as well is that form changes, being that they aren't new characters, don't hold quite the same importance as a ranger character. A form change is a suit that may show up the first 15 episodes of the show and never appear again. A ranger is there from episode 1 all the way down to the last episode.

I haven't had much luck with CSToys in the past; I always seem to check them once they're sold out. I just noticed they have a mailing list for exclusives; I'll give them a try.

So after messing with Drive...

...he's a damn-good release. The paintwork and detail on him is stunning. The entire back of the suit is sculpted hit for hit with the actual suit. The paint has a definite car-like finish to it. He literally looks like a car given human form with that specific kind of shine you get from car paint. The tire is actually made of a rubber-like material and feels super-authentic, too. Taking it off requires removing a small panel from the back and essentially unfolding it off the chest holes. All of his Shift Cars (Max Flare, Midnight Shadow and Funky Spike) are already plugged onto his holster, but pop off via tiny pegs. Mine stay in securely.

The Max Flare bonus parts are also very nice. The engaged form of Max Flare swaps out with the Type Speed bracelet piece easily and the belt is really interesting; The face of the belt comes off and you swap the screen piece inside. The tire's made of hard plastic and clamps around like we expect it to. The rim of the wheel even has two extra pieces on it so the Max Flare wheel by itself looks whole. Pretty sure the flame pieces are re-packs from the effect set, but hey, can never have enough flame clips.

Small accessory count be damned, Drive makes up for it all on his own. And the first release bonuses help that even more, as we all expected. Really looking forward to Mach, Mashin Chaser and the eventual release of Chaser's rider form.

I decided due to costs to only collect females.*ofcourse that was shot to hell when HurricaneBlue and KyoryuPink were in two packs*