The wording is pretty vague, they're calling it "his newest and most powerful form yet", with an emphasis on the "yet". I think I also saw it being called his "most powerful fusion form"; neither of those specifically counts out either a more powerful fusion or a stronger form that isn’t a fusion.

I would like it to be his final form though because I want a Figuart of it, but I'm not convinced yet.

But this can be confirmed by the next episode, once I see Haruki wielding the Belial sword inside Z to advertise the toy, then it's settled :lol

I mean, so far the only “upgrade” form to not get an SHF is Photon Earth, and the Taiga line had a lot of Ultras to do. So even if Claw wasn’t the final, it would easily get an shf.

I hope so at least, aside from Delta Rise Claw looking cool I want the Beliarok for a few funny shots with Geed and Belial.

Hi guys, I'm new here! Just here to ask if any could help me out here.

I've been watching ZI-O for a while now and really enjoying and would love to get one of the SHFs. I just don't know which one. (I'm around EP 27, btw.)

I checked around Mandarake and found some candidates. (minus base ZI-O, not interested in that.) I saw that ZI-O II was going around 5000 yen and thought that was a good deal for a super form that I really love, however, I saw ZI-O Decade was going for a bit lower and also had the Heisaber which I like.

I also found out that a "Grand ZI-O", I think? was in display and thought if that was going to be released somewhere down the line too. That's his final form, is it?

I also saw a ZI-O "trinity", the all-friends form, I guess and saw that it had both his swords, but it's very expensive right now. If anyone could help me out that would be cool! Thanks!

I guess it really comes down to what you like — I know Decade’s slightly lower but at that point they’re basically the same price. If it helps at all, DecadeArmour and its sword never get used again while II gets use throughout and beyond the show. It’s actually pretty smart how they balance it and his two next forms — without giving too much away, II is Sougo’s greatest power that he can achieve on his own.

Grand is indeed yet to be released; Tamashii often does this at their events where they’ll show a lot of prototype SHFs and it’s a toss up whether they’ll get made at all; but Grand most likely will. You can count on it being about as expensive as Trinity, though!

With Mandarake they adjust price according to demand and popularity so it might be safe to wait for a few months or years. Gaim Figuarts are ridiculously cheap at the moment.

BTW Just a heads up, SHF Zi-O Decade Armor's articulation around the knees is a bit limited due to the bulky armor. I think they only go around ninety degrees.

Also, welcome to Tokunation! We're all glad to have you here umu.

I personally like Zi-O II a bit more because it's got a bit better articulation but the Decade Armor has grown on mean once I got it in-hand. Probably depends on which look you prefer more and the accessories that they each come with.

I really hope Grand Zi-O happens and it's good. I'm a big fan. It has always reminded me of the diety statues throughout southast Asia.

I can see why you'd be reminded of deity statues (the gold coloring definitely helps!), but I don't recall deity statues being as, er, lumpy (please forgive the term I'm using), as Grand Zi-O though.

Zi-O II is my favorite, and I do love the figure a lot.

But if you don't mind waiting a bit, or paying the roughly 9,000 yen, I'd say get Trinity. It has two different weapons, and is a little representation of each Rider in a way.

It is mostly the spike on the head and shoulders, more like a Yaksha statue.

https://www.lotussculpture.com/mm5/g...mple-Guard.jpg

So... Saber reveal tomorrow in Japan (October 1st) if the pattern holds up.

As in SHF reveal ? Please no Bandai
If I remember correctly, Zero One went up for pre order on a single day notice

None of that please

Get your F5 buttons ready everyone.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EjNIpvSV...jpg&name=small

Welp, here they are!

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EjNKoc_V...g&name=900x900

Curious about what else could Blades come with tho to justify the 5500 yen price.

Nothing substantial, much like Vulcan vs. Zero-One. It’s just a matter of making the main rider’s price much lower than standard as has been practice since Build.

Blades comes with a sheathed sword in belt for both him and Saber... which apparently justifies the 1000 yen price difference apparently. I'm kidding they're probably balancing the cost of how cheap Saber is by ticking up Blades price a bit, so if you get both, Bandai won't lose money.

Interesting how Vulcan is selling for around 3000 yen in Mandarake now while they don't have Zero-One Rising Hopper in stock. I know that the main Rider will be a priority for most, but this is quite unexpected.

I'm wondering whether I should order Saber now and order Blades later. Could be cheaper.

Seriously, can't really see how Bandai couldn't just design the hilt to be detachable from the blade and sheath into the driver

I'm 1/3 on pre ordering from the retail sites, never going back to nippon yassan, so hopefully BBTS or Tokullectibles comes through

Although as already mentioned on this thread, Vulcan is very much available for a great price on mandarake so maybe Blades will fare the same

I would love to think that the sheated belts that Blades comes with has complete detachable tiny versions of Nagare and Rekka. That'd be a neat accessory.

https://twitter.com/HiuJoek/status/1311496465005506561

Semi-clear Ultraman Taiga incoming ?

So it seems that Saber is going to have a "new" shoulder armor joint. It isn't going to be attached at the shoulder anymore, but to the chest armor.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EjNfuarVgAAoACC.jpg

Ah, they're finally trying out suit-accurate shoulders. It looks kind of bad compared to the customs I've seen, but I hope it works out.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EjNXo8IW...g&name=900x900

Looks like it only applies to the dragon shoulder tho.

Shoulder pads being attached to the shoulders instead of the torso is almost always for the better when it comes to action figure articulation. I imagine the change for the dragon shoulder is solely due to its unique shape.

Am I the only one seeing another shoulder pad under the dragon shoulder pad?

Yeah there's another shoulder pad under the dragon head, but looking back at the actual suit it's been there the whole time. It's just overlooked due to the dragon head's presence.

Does anyone know of a good way to detect a SHF SS bootleg?

No idea, I only buy from places that offer legit stuff.

But Tamashii themselves have a dedicated section on their website for that purpose, maybe that could help?

https://tamashii.jp/global/fake/

Depends on the site? Bootleg stuff is easy to distinguish on sites like Ebay because of way lower prices and being shipped from China.

Some sellers will even tell you it's not real.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EjkYk0ZX...g&name=900x900

Here's what Saber probably looks in natural lighting. Now where did all the gloss go?

Bit disappointed that they went for the "iron man" approach for his hands. You have to swap out the armor on his hand to the other hands if you wanna switch.

It's an official display under studio lights behind glass, either Tamashii Nations Tokyo or the Kamen Rider Store, none of which I would call "natural" ;)

I can see light reflections on certain parts so I think its still there? :confused:

Yeah that kinda sucks, that's definitely some pieces you don’t want to lose or have pegs breaking. Not cool.

It also looks like the reds between the chest, skirt and arm are all different shades and finish. Hopefully it's just lighting playing tricks but would definitely be curious to see more photos of it in-hand but that'll be some time away.

Tokullectibles has Saber on pre order now

The acrylic logo displays are on sale at the Bluefin Brands website https://www.bluefinbrands.com/kamenrider.html

Looks like they go up for pre-order tonight and it seems like Blades comes with the small versions of the sword that fit in the driver for both himself and Saber. Not sure that justifies the 2000 yen price difference though. Lol.

Saber: https://tamashii.jp/item/13398/
Blades(Blaze?): https://tamashii.jp/item/13399/

AmiAmi fucked up again, pre-ordered at AE instead.

Didn't even realize these were dropping...was able to secure both of them at AmiAmi just now

Yeah, boy, first time I've tried playing the New Figuart preorder game at AmiAmi, and... that sucked. Staying up late (it's 2am here), only for four minutes of error messages, a Preorder click that led to an empty cart, and a sell-out. Glad Saber wasn't a figure I was excited about, sorry for those who were excited.

EDIT: Or maybe not! Thanks to MaskedRiderAsakura, I went back to AmiAmi and the preorders were back open! Got a Saber for next year. Not a wasted early morning after all!

Forgot they were up for preorder until just now. 12:30AM PDT and was able to walk through Amiami and get a preorder in with no issues.