The Minipla Avataro Gattai Series 02 ToraDoraGonJin and Omikoshi Phoenix set will come out on November 21.

A very basic, potentially silly question - it's my first time building a MiniPla kit, so what tools am I going to need to make it look good? Like, for cutting the runners, stickering up, etc?

There's no such thing as a silly or stupid question as far as I'm concerned. You'll need some nippers, maybe an exacto knife to help trim the excess plastic from the piece you just nipped it from the runner. You are also going to want tweezers to help you put the smaller stickers on as well as some sand paper to smooth out the imperfections on the pieces. That's what I use.

You?ll definitely need the nipper or clipper tool. You will probably need a tweezer too to grasp the stickers and hold them in place until you can stick them on.

I bought this tool set when I first started out a couple months ago

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01AND0FRG

Something like this is not a necessity, but it can be nice to use to organize the sprues
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B08R23GF1S

And then a nice glass file could help with smoothing nubs out. I myself am not too worried about smoothing everything out
https://www.amazon.com/Military-Poli.../dp/B09FFDLFYX

These are just some ideas. I would think the only thing you absolutely need is some sort of tool to cut the pieces off of the sprues. You can?t do it without a precision cutting tool.

EDIT: Oh and maybe a parts separator. I’m actually in the market for a good rec on one of those. Something to pry loose all the stuff if you accidentally attach two pieces together too soon. I use the flat head screwdriver to do it sometimes, but I’d be lying if I said I never stabbed myself with that thing while trying to jam a model bird’s wing apart or something

You want something called a "spudger". They are plastic tools used in electronics repair.

Because parts separators are always made of a softer plastic (to not damage the model kit parts), they will always break down and eventually become unusable, so you want this tool in large quantities and relatively disposable.

https://smile.amazon.com/Universal-S.../dp/B01DGNCNR0



Good starter nippers:

https://smile.amazon.com/GodHand-Nip.../dp/B07NWBG938

Thanks for the advice all! I'm in the UK, so these links aren't going to work in every case, but I've got an idea of what to look for. I guess we'll see the results in a while!

For part separating, I discovered the ones that come in Lego sets work quite well

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41SalaC5TQL.jpg

On a different note, you guys think we'll get another version of minipla Onitaijin released near the end of the shows run? I missed out on the original release, so I'm debating either finding one on the resell or wait it out for something new. The minipla mechs for Kiramager and Zenkaiger had different versions right?

They did, but those were pretty early in the line -- so it's pretty weird that Onitaijin hasn't had one, and a lot of people have taken that to mean it's not happening. Fingers crossed though!

I never used any tools. The box show that you don't need a nipper or glue to make a minipla kit. The parts are really easy to part form the runner and left no real strain on them. I never tried to sand parts (I don't do it neither for kits that require a nipper)
If you try a super minipla, there you will need nippers !
Putting small stickers can be a painwithout a tweezer.

What kind of minipla are you making? For standard minipla, they're designed to not need any tools - you can pop the pieces off the runners with no marks, and if there are marks, you can usually just rub them off with your fingernail.

For super minipla, you'll need nippers and something to sand with. Personally, I have a pair of godhand nippers and glass files for sanding, but I also build a lot of expensive kits, so it was worth the investment for me. To start, a pair of entry nippers and sandpaper of varying grit should be fine.

SMP Ninjaman! Orders will open on PB Tuesday, December 20

https://cdn-ak.f.st-hatena.com/image...1214144255.jpg

Enough range for him to reach out behind and grab the sword

https://cdn-ak.f.st-hatena.com/image...1216145338.jpg

A separate visor will be included to replicate his rage mode

https://cdn-ak.f.st-hatena.com/image...1215152700.jpg

Samuraiman! No part swapping need to change forms, it's designed to be very similar to the DX transformation

https://cdn-ak.f.st-hatena.com/image...1214144953.jpg

https://cdn-ak.f.st-hatena.com/image...1216225501.gif

Entire contents :

https://cdn-ak.f.st-hatena.com/image...1214145229.jpg

https://cdn-ak.f.st-hatena.com/image...1214144347.jpg

Oh this looks so cool. I’m heavily biased, though, because I had the toy of this dude when I was a wee lad.

That being said: I am getting the Shodo of this dude already, so maybe I don’t need it... Oh well, plenty of time before this releases for me to break down and order this kit. Thanks for the update!

I wonder if this would be brought over as an MMPR domestic release.

This is really cool because while SHODO's been doing it for a while, this is the first time they've really gone back to a previous SMP line and added more releases to it! They also very explicitly hint at more due to the success of the preban re-releases!
How much do you wanna bet the next SMP release'll be something Megaranger?

https://i.imgur.com/thDqWKa.png

I might bite for this. I love Ninjaman and Ninjor

Also, wow, Kakuranger is getting a lot of love. The SHODO, the LC 5 pack, and now 2 different Ninjaman options depending on if you want a SHODO scale or SMP scale

Here's a list of missing SMP/Shodo to the best of my knowledge.

Zyuranger:
SMP - Finished
Shodo - Finished
(I still want the Bandora gang in Shodo, but it is finished)

Liveman:
SMP -The carrier Machine Buffalo is missing.
Shodo - Finish
(Carriers don't sell nearly as well as the other, so I can see why they didn't start with this for previously skipped SMPs)

Kakuranger:
SMP - Still missing the Jusho Fighters.
Shodo - Missing the Flowery Kunoichi Team.
(Some won't count them, but I do because almost everyone will count the Nezirangers)

Megaranger:
SMP - Missing Mega Winger and Mega Voyager
Shodo - None made. I'm of course counting the villain team the Nezirangers to.

Jetman:
SMP - Missing Tetraboy, that'd be a small and easy release.
Shodo - None made. Like the last two, I'm counting Neo-Jetman.
(Also, it'd be crime not to make Grey.)

Sun Vulcan:
SMP - Missing another carrier Jaguar Vulcan.
Shodo - Finished.
(I would count the Zero Girls as a villain team, but their faces are visible, so I assume they aren't even allowed to be considered)

GoGoFive:
SMP - Missing Victory Mars.
(Also the Lights of Ginga power up for Victory Mars, but I figure Gingaman would need to come first)
Shodo - Finished.

Bioman:
SMP - So finished that they even did a villain mecha.
Shodo - Finished.

Gaoranger:
SMP - I'm sure something is missing, I can't keep track of all of Gaoranger's mecha. Feel free to chime in on this one.
Shodo - Finished.

Gokaiger:
SMP - None.
Shodo - Finished unless you want to count AkaRed and Twokaiser Flint, which I sure do.

Denjiman:
SMP - Finished.
Shodo - Finished.

The whole assist robot sidekick thing is one of my favorite aspects of Sentai. So I would love TetraBoy and the Shinkenger Lantern robot and such.

I've stayed away from SHODO because of scale and price, but a Jetman set would be hard to resist because I've just always wanted to complete that team in some form.

Nope! They actually did this one.

For Gaoranger, the only thing missing is Gaohunter Blue Moon (which is purely a recolour of Gaolligator, I believe)

https://i0.wp.com/toy-wizards.com/wp...23%2C424&ssl=1

I thought they had made it, but wasn't finding it. Good, another one to call finished.

Man I can't wait for SMP Ninjaman

The only Gaoranger/Wild Force sets we are missing are the Soul Bird and the GaoHunter/Predazord Blue Moon.

Wasn’t there a white colored DX GaoLion toy?

There was a metric ton of toy-exclusive Gaoranger DXes consisting of recolours like that, but I think we're just keeping it to the shows here

Here's the link to SMP Ninjaman. http://https://tokullectibles.com/products/smp-ninja-man?variant=44214477947197

Random thought. I hope we see some Carranger Stuff when it's 2023.

Vaguely on that topic, do we have a rough knowledge from the Japanese fanbase of which of the more Classic-series (let's say anything pre-GoBusters) are ranked, ie what's high or low? Cause I imagine that affects stuff like SMP and Shodo releases*. At a naive guess, Zyu, Kaku and Mega seem high, with a lot of legacy releases, as well as Hurricaneger (although that could be just as much actors loving their roles).

* Obviously it's not going to be a perfect indicator, but it's probably something.

I can offer you this poll from mid last year which had Japanese fans rank each Sentai from a particular decade (70s was lumped with 80s bc the former is so short)

70s/80s:-
1. Gorenger
2. Sun Vulcan
3. Liveman
4. Denziman
5. Bioman
6. Changeman
7. Dynaman
8. Battle Fever
9. Turboranger
10. Goggle V
11. Flashman
12. Maskman
13. JAKQ

90s:-
1. Kakuranger
2. GoGoV
3. Dairanger
4. Carranger
5. Jetman
6. Megaranger
7. Zyuranger
8. Gingaman
9. Fiveman
10. Ohranger

00s:-
1. Dekaranger
2. Shinkenger
3. Timeranger
4. Magiranger
5. Boukenger
6. Gaoranger
7. Go-Onger
8. Hurricaneger
9. Gekiranger
10. Abaranger

Wow! Fascinating there. Would not have pegged GoGoV as the #2 most popular 90s show.

And judging by the amount of releases Gaoranger got this year, the popularity of a show might not be the biggest deciding factor. Also poor, unloved #10 Abaranger is getting a 20 years later and memorial changer release.

Netflix has a couple episodes translated of a Japanese series called ?Old Enough? which shows a bunch of little babies being sent out to complete a little errand for their parents and they try to not get run over by a car. The batch of episodes on netflix covers a broad span of years from the mid 2000s to now. Every now and then they will show some of the kid?s stuff, and I swear I saw so many of these kids with Go-Onger merch. Even from episodes that took place a few years after Go-Onger aired. Also one kid had a really cool hand sewn Gokai Red pouch. Anyway, my point is Go-Onger might be surprisingly popular. Hey, it ain?t #10 at least!

Also Hideaki Anno?s wife wrote a biographical manga about her life with him and she totally revealed that that guy got up every weekend to watch Hurricaneger live. So we got a noteable guy loves #8 at least.

Go-Onger has very child friendly robots!

You can see Sentai influence in all sorts of modern creators. The director of the Persona series is a fan of Jetman.

Suda 51 is a general tokusatsu fan with the name of his game studio Grasshopper Manufacture coming directly from Kamen Rider.

Ah ok. The featherman costumes make sense now. I also think I just like those types of JRPGs because of the Sentai vibes they have. Assembling a team and working together to fight evil. It?s always a nice story to me.

And I?ve seen that screenshot of Travis Touchdown talking about the Ibaragi Quarry, lol.

To get back on topic, which I derailed, sorry: I think Abaranger mecha would be a great line to start up with Gaoranger done or nearly done. Instead of animals, they got dinos.

Abaranger would be really cool but I'll be very upset if we don't get Dairanger soon.

Why did they give Ninjaman/Samuraiman the ability to merge with Tsubasamaru when that NEVER happened in the show and isn't possible with the original DX toys!?

http://ukiyaseed.weebly.com/ukiyasee...mages-revealed

Why wouldn't they if this was going to be reengineered anyway? They generally try to find ways to innovate, and this wouldn't be the first time they showed off a configuration in SMP that never happened in the show.

That actually looks pretty cool.

I've looked further, and they do clearly love to play around with things much differently than was previously possible!

https://bandaicandy.hateblo.jp/entry/20221219_sentai

What were some of the other imaginative configurations?

Because it's awesome!!

According to a Google-translated version of the Bandai Candy Toy Blog post revealing SMP Ninjor:

"There is a joint hole on Ninjaman's back for attaching the scabbard. Surprisingly, the diameter was miraculously the same as that of Tsubasamaru's joint axis...Super Ninjaman (provisional) is born!?"

So it was basically a very happy accident.

You say that like it's a bad thing.

Already stated that I examined the matter further.

It just seemed awkward and random, at first. Nonsensical and random kitbash combinations are more of a Power Rangers thing!

I've accepted it as intriguing and an added incentive to commit to the Shokugan line. Shared the news with a coworker and he was impressed with the concept.

Still curious at the other Shokugan Combinations that were already dreamed up!

Me want Magiranger/Mystic Force