I think Super Sentai could have done as well as Kamen Rider, I just think that Bandai messed up with release schedules for them that not many collectors can trust it when it comes to releasing full teams. Like how many times now have they released a few members then just nothing else afterwards, then they start releasing important characters via premium stores and then it's just like "fuck it, can't be bothered anymore"

Least with Kamen Rider you get all the main heroes at least via normal retailers.(Aside from Shin.) and their anime releases don't mess about either even when they're premium releases. Don't they open up polls for Pretty Cure stuff from time to time?

Also in other news, my Amiami order finally got the figmas taken out so it's on mah wayyyy, I'm looking forward to paying customs in like three weeks. Can't wait to get my hands on Drive and the star wars guys.

How is Wizard Flame Dragon compared to newer releases? I kinda want a Wizard rep for my display but the original Wizard Flame Style appears to be god awful.

Flame Dragon is a big step up over Flame Style in my opinion. No blet popping out and the pegs on putting him together does not break into pieces.

I know it isn't the favorable opinion, but I really think Bandai should just TRY doing full team box set for an unreleased team I mentioned before. Just test it out, if it doesn't work, then they don't have to do it again.

I don't care if some of you don't like the idea, but I'd rather they at least tried and failed then stayed in the safe zone.

They could save time and just flush money down the toilet. It would probably amount to the same thing. Considering the track record of Sentai Figuarts, there is no way to justify that kind of gamble. They generally play it safe because that's what keeps them in business.

Besides, while it would be cool to see a whole team in one package, it would be extremely expensive. I know most of us have jobs, but even with them it would be a hard pill to swallow to purchase a (probably) $500 set.

If people aren't buying that many Sentai Figuarts now then that fact alone is what discourages them from doing a whole boxed team. Only one I know of is the Super Samurai one with the metallic Super Samurai Red & regular Green, Blue, Yellow & Pink.

This. They'd have to half-ass it Hasbro-style to make it even remotely affordable for the average collector and even still, Sentai figuarts just aren't successful and they just have to accept that for the time being.

And then comes the problem of what is considered the full team. The core five or the core five and the sixth? And what happens with the teams that have quite a few members? Not to mention those that only collect one color or only want one or two members are kinda being scraped over hot coals over the deal.

The only way I'd even flirt with getting one is if it was at least the core five and I love all of them down the line, a lot of hands, and virtually every accessory you can think of, which for some teams means a lot of work (for example having to include 25 different Kiba Fangs for the Gingaman since there are five variations that all five members can use, but each Fang is color coded so yeah...).

It's just too much of a gamble to even attempt. The perfect time they could have done to even try it is with Sun Vulcan since it's a small team. And with it being from the Showa era there shouldn't be a whole lot of accessories they'd need (I haven't seen Sun Vulcan, so don't take my word for it).

Anyone got their SHF Drive from AmiAmi yet? My mom send me a text that a package show up on the door this morning when I was in class. I'm not home until 6 PM (lab hours from 1:00 PM - 5:30 PM for me), it should be worth the wait.

Just got mine. Fantastic figure, makes me appreciate the suit from the show a whole lot more (not that I didn't like it to begin with).


Getting the Type Speed tire off is a pain in the ass though lol

EDIT: Nevermind. After first taking it off, it's quite easy to take off now lol

They already did though. Even though the Shinkenger team was released beforehand, that SDCC boxset included 4 Tamashii Web Exclusive figures regardless of that fact. You'd think people would have jumped on it regardless of the paintwork, but you can still find it in places. Their booths still have leftovers. If that didn't work, it wouldn't matter with newer teams.

*Receives Figuarts Drive. Proceeds to throw the rest of Figuarts collection out the window.*

All we needs is Drive.

In all seriousness, the details on this guy are beautiful. Maybe wish his elbows bent a little further, though. Also, surprisingly I don't find he's really missing anything as far as hands go. The three pairs he's got are pretty versatile and let him do pretty much everything I'd want him to.

Really do wish the Mr. Belt faces weren't exclusive to the Tridoron. :(

Too many variables with the SDCC set. If you already had shinken red and or shinken gold you would t want them. The metallic isn't at great looking. The 'screw everything else you own packing". Also when the set dropped under 100 on amazon it sold out super fast.

See, I feel like Sentai figures could do decently in 5-packs around that $100 price point, but that's clearly not going to happen lol

Not at Figuarts quality it won't.

Yup. Now Hasbro is a different story :lol

SHF Drive Type Speed is great, but I have some minor flaws with him. One QC issue that I know that a small paint scratch on his left arm. I do hate how the shift car can pop easily and losing it can be a pain given how small it is. He looks great next to Gaim and Wizard on display, but W and OOO looks pretty bad now compare to the new figuarts from the last three years.

Post removed. Please keep this discussion from devolving into pointless vulgar language people.

Huh. I don't have this problem. The shift cars are pretty secure on mine. Then again, I also got lucky with Fourze's driver, too.

I do wish Drive (or the Max Flare bonus) came with a closed Type Speed shift car for the car holder on his hip when he's using other tire changes. Then again, I guess it could just fly away or whatever when he's not using it.

Bandai has tried. 5-packs are simply not an option because a) most collectors aren't willing to shell out that much money all at once and b) you isolate the people who collect reds and sixth rangers, who still make up a sizable portion of Sentai's collector base.

And it makes no sense for any business to continue investing money into a product that's continued to fail numerous times under reasonable distribution methods. Especially when it's abundantly clear that they have numerous properties under their belt that are far more successful than Sentai releases. They'd be better off putting that money towards their Rider, DBZ, Marvel, Sailor Moon, etc., stuff.

The shift car pop out on mine when I was trying to put the flames on his hands. Not a major issue but at least it's not as bad as Flame Style's belt where that things pops off constantly.

I can't wait for Chase, Mach, Type Wild and Dead Heat. I think Drive's figuart line is going to be great just like Gaim.

Yeah, Drive's line is off to a great start. I'm not getting the other forms (besides maybe Type Formula and the Final Form) but I'm definitely excited for Mach, Mashin Chaser and possibly Rider Chaser depending on how I feel.

I hate to say you are right, but you are right. Sentai's popularity has been on a decline for a while now and collectors aren't willing to shell out the money for the SHFs. The sentai collector has become a niche market within a niche market, it seems. Oh well, I will just enjoy what we get and what I have!

They won't know unless they try.

The Samurai 5 pack does not count because that was a SDCC exclusive, was a pack containing 5 figures that had already been out for a few years, so most people that really wanted the characters had already bought them, gave them a metallic paint job, and did not even include the regular red ranger.

Why is everyone so afraid of them just trying to do it? It wouldn't be $500 because that make each figure $100 a piece. Bandai needs to just try it. Come out of their comfort safe zone and test it out. It's not like half the figures in the box are going to require a new mold. Hell, if they did a Kakuranger pack, 4 of the 5 rangers would all have the same body and only a new head. Same goes if they did Abaranger or Gekiranger. I don't see what the harm is in just trying it out once.

Collector's are willing to shell the money out for rangers WHEN THEY CAN GET THE ENTIRE TEAM!! There is no point in just owning one or two rangers to a team.

None of us ever said we were afraid of them trying that. Hell, most of us would most likely purchase a set. I know I would. We're saying that in the long run, it wouldn't work financially. This isn't a Kamen Rider set. Releases like Genocider and the upcoming Tridoron are sure to sell. Sentai doesn't have the same amount of pull. A full team set wouldn't sell as well as they probably would divided up. Different fans collect differently. Some get only reds, others only get their favorite ranger, etc.

Not ALL collectors. You need to understand that the collecting community isn't a hivemind. Just cause you or I would be willing to throw down for a full team in one go doesn't mean everyone would. As mentioned before, reds and sixths are popular. They can also stand on their own perfectly fine if that's all a collector wants. There's no point in just owning one or two rangers to you, but it's not an issue for others.

Exactly Kain, Shin is right. What you're assuming is that everyone is willing to shell out money for an entire team, but you're disregarding the fact that everyone has different tastes when it comes to collecting. Take my good buddy uchihabro77 for example. Ninninger is on right now. Does he want the entire team? Nope, just Starninger. Why? Cause he likes him and happens to fit everything uchihabro77 likes. Now think about those who only want Reds. I know a shit ton of guys like that. Or like me. I only collect female Sentai members, and the teams that I like (which luckily for me, are at least complete [well, minus Kyoryuger, but I have a solution for that.)] Also, think about costs of production vs the actual income they take in. If you spend so much money engineering Figuarts, then painting them, then putting them on the shelf, how much do you actually make? An average Sentai figuart at first is just 3500-ish yen. Exclusives mark up to (at the least) 4000yen before middleman fees. Two packs mark up to at least 7400yen. Assuming you add on approximately 3400yen per figure, that makes at least 17100 yen. Which is a little too high for collectors who don't make that much/are unemployed. Now, if you charge that much, will people buy it? Yes, some will, but then there are the amounts you produce that people don't buy. Those don't move, you got excess stock. Your only solution is to mark it down. Losing money. Which Bandai wouldn't wanna do.

I think a set with all six rangers would be way too much like most people said. People have their limits when it comes to collecting. If a possible full six pack of all of the rangers goes around $144 without adding shipping then I would use that money for something else to be honest. With that movie I can use it to save up to buy the new Nintendo 3DS or save it up to pay off my school tuition.

17100 is about $140. Before shipping, that isn't that bad. Not nearly as outrageous as some people say 5-packs would cost. But on the other hand, it's still not something I would buy. I rarely like more than one or two rangers per team, and I wouldn't want to buy the whole team just for them. Which would mean the best option would be splitting a pack with someone. Which would mean less money for Bandai, because they would have sold 1 pack instead of 2. So still a loss for them. Although, I do see the idea of 3-packs for smaller teams working out (Abaranger, for example).

I'm glad 2ndSndWve brought up 3-packs because I was just going to ask if that's ever happened before. What do you guys think about it? I still feel pretty hesitant towards 2-packs, never mind 3.

I admit that I do buy only full teams or all of the main rider forms if it's a show that I like. I can see why the other Sentai teams didn't sell since fans most likely want to buy the rangers that they like.

We're not talking about an untapped market here, we're talking about a product that has consistently failed to sell outside of a few notable releases.

Think about it, back when we first got SHFiguarts Sentai releases, nobody had any reason to believe that full teams wouldn't eventually be completed, and yet the line still didn't perform up to Bandai's standards. That right there set a precedent for the future of Sentai figuarts. Simply put, if they had the potential to be huge sellers, theoretically speaking Bandai would have tried to capitalize on this. Keep in mind that these figures also came out at a time where Bandai's attention wasn't split between a billion franchises so it's not like the Super Sentai figures had much else to compete with.



I'm not afraid of them trying to do it. I'd love to have a full team of Timeranger, Abaranger, and Megaranger. Just from a business perspective, there's not much reason for them to do it. Business decisions are much more complex than throwing something at a wall and hoping it sticks. With toy companies, there has to be a sizable enough market to overcome the inevitable production costs, and driving them up to create toys for a franchise that historically hasn't faired well just doesn't make that much sense.

You and others may be willing to do that. Others aren't and are perfectly fine with only having one or two figures to represent that series. And you can't try to appease both crowds without making the production costs absurdly high.

Having the Figuart in hand, I just sort of noticed that Drive is the first Heisei rider since Hibiki not to have a jewel on his helmet. I guess Hibiki doesn't really count though, because if I recall he wasn't designed to be a Kamen Rider initially. So I guess Drive is the first one who's intentionally lacking it. I mean, he's got the rider symbol, but no jewel.

Hibiki was always designed to be a Rider.

Regarding Hibiki, here's a good post by Igadevil on the topic: http://igadevil.tumblr.com/post/5532...u-mention-that

The post in a nutshell: Hibiki was ALWAYS designed to be a rider. During Blade, there were talks of putting Rider on hiatus, but they ultimately decided against bringing back Henshin Ninja Arashi or an original show with a Japanese motif because Bandai wanted to keep the franchise going. Hibiki was never designed as anything else than a Kamen Rider, but its heavy influence of Japanese folklore was inspired by previous things that were considered as alternatives.

I was under the impression most Sentai collectors only bought the Robos anyway?

I'd have assumed the forehead jewel was a consistent theme, but Hibiki stretches the theme to "forehead decoration." Drive could be the second with that theme, but you could also argue - persuasively, I think - that the lights that run up his forehead stand in for jewels.

Something I love about these designs is that references to the first Kamen Rider are always there, but wholly abstracted. Hibiki dropped the compound eyes, but the horns (representing antennae) and belt seem to me to be clear references. Ryuki had already set a precedent by almost completely obscuring the compound eyes. Wizard re-imagined the compound eyes as smooth jewels, and Drive re-imagined them as headlights.

Part of the fun for me is trying to figure out which design elements were deliberately playing off Kamen Rider 1, and which are just my imagination.

Unrelated: whichever of you posted, "All we needs is Drive," thank you! I was starting to think I was the only person who noticed. (I also wish subbers would stop fixing the flub, which I find to be charming.)

Me too. :p

Kivala listing's up on AmiAmi:

http://www.amiami.com/top/detail/det...=FIGURE-011354

I read that as Kiva and freaked out for a moment. Then I read it again, realized we haven't even heard tell of him getting a release yet, and felt silly.

Wishful mind playing tricks on me.