It's pretty much a given that FRS needs some paint. I just built W HeatMetal and LunaTrigger, and the Metal Shaft is solid grey, and the drivers are solid red. Not quite the same but I guess they figure people will need to paint some things anyway. (though honestly the purple handle fits the costume a lot better. Makes me wish that's how the show design looked)

I also hate to say, but the W FRS kits are kind of crappy. They really cheaped out on the accessories, not giving enough hand options and making the weapons solid colours. I would've at least attached the metal shaft's handle to the red and back runner sections for the driver and omitted them on CJ/LT like the actual kit does. Not even having a proper trigger finger hand for LT or two gripping hands for HM is especially weak, as it greatly limits what kind of poses you can do with the latter, and more or less ruins any pose with the former. When you have a design as clean and defined as W, with the high contrast between the hand and gun, and with the gun having such a clear trigger, it's impossible to not look at the hand and see someone who apparently has no idea how a gun works. A single trigger finger right hand would've been all we needed, but they were lazy.

Pretty bummed that Bandai still cuts corners on model kits, considering they are more display pieces than Figuarts.

I know, but this is different from "certain details like black lining missing"; this is "it's the wrong colour entirely".

I wonder when they are gonna release Ondul VIII.

I imagine whenever they get around to Blade it's gonna be a repeat of the Figuart in that they'll give you 5 blanks cards and like 13 different stickers you have to choose from.

And just from Blade alone they can possibly pull off 3 web exclusives, the broken helmet, the terebi-kun imposter, and the Zi-O version.:lolol
In all seriousness they better include Jack Form cause if they do that as a web exclusive I would not be surprised if they got major backlash.

Depends on how Decade turns out since he's also got a bunch of alternate cards -- and they certainly don't look like stickers...


Talking of alternate head stuff by the by, does Den-O come with two different heads? If not, how does the Sword Form Denkamen attach? From the pre-release photos it looked like a pretty integral part of the build.

https://youtu.be/0tkyR9frxTE?t=459

Alternate head.

Cool! Though now I'm really wondering why the Decade kit isn't bothering with Violent Emotion...

maybe the same as the SHF SS one?

W wo Sagaseeee!

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen...193/image1.jpg

A little fun, a little not fun; that build was... kinda mixed!

I definitely see why some of you are saying this is a great FRS for people to start with. The main body and limbs are very simple in a positive fashion - simplified enough for newcomers while still being fun to put together and resulting in a great end product - and while I haven't messed around with it much, the body swapping and Joker Xtreme gimmicks seem pretty intuitive! W himself ended up looking superb as well. Very well articulated and proportioned, and personally speaking the green they used is perfect for what I want.


There are, though, a couple negatives and ones that I would emphasise as reasons I wouldn't recommend this as a first over something like perhaps Zi-O. For one thing, there were a couple sections in the build itself that didn't feel great -- while there are hardly any stickers (another lovely positive!), the ones that are there are a dread to put on. It's either extremely tiny ones that are a journey to make stay on correctly (the head gem, the memories -especially-), or they're the Joker markings which you're never quite sure if you've applied right. The eyes also felt extremely intuitive to put on and I was worried if I'd messed up cutting off the sprues that early for something so important -- it really feels like a matter of luck and just jamming them in there until it works. Perhaps more majorly though, and this isn't to the extent that it ruins the figure; is the head/neck joint and the body/arm joints. The latter feel quite stiff; not terrible but definitely feels like you need more force to move them than you should... and the head barely feels like it's actually connected. It -kind of- stays on there, and it wouldn't come off if you shook him upside down I don't think; but I found it kept coming off so easily. It's a shame when otherwise the functionality is perfectly fine.
I also wanna quickly criticise the decision to not have what I see as relatively important extra pieces -- for one thing, the included sticker sheet has stickers for three different W combos represented on the driver; Cyclone/Joker, Heat/Joker and Luna/Joker. However, there's only actually one driver piece to put these on. Much like Den-O only having one belt to put a Sword or Plat form sticker on, it seems odd that they wouldn't include extra Driver pieces to make the form switching smoother. Lastly, while the included one does a very good job and is still pretty versatile; it's odd to me that there wasn't at least one additional scarf like the original SHF for extra posing options.


Now that all looks like a LOT of criticisms and you'd think I hate this kit... but at the end of the day this mostly boils down to a few teething problems with the build, the lack of one or two accessories that would have been nice, and certain connections not feeling quite as good as they should. Overall this was still a very wonderful figure, and looks just as wonderful as Zi-O and Ex-Aid did to me. If you really want him and you think he looks like a good substitute to the ever-overpriced or unavailable Seihou (seriously, Bandai, there's certain re-issues that would just print money), then yeah; don't let the few criticisms I've said here prevent you from jumping on him -- go for it, this is a great kit! I'm ecstatic to have him in my display at last and I'm excited to get to Den-O tomorrow!

I actually got my HeatMetal in today!

Got him half built and am now missing a knee joint piece :(

Oooof; did you drop it somewhere or was it not in the kit itself? If it's the latter that's really mad; haven't heard of that happening before...

I'm afraid I don't know...I can't find it, but it just not being there seems weird and unlikely.

https://bandai-hobby.net/item/4042/
https://bandai-hobby.net/images/153_...1jnk1svd23.jpg

yessss

Entry Grade. Yeah I'm okay with that.

Awww, man, I got excited for a second there.

Oh well. Still neat for those who like these!

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen...698/image0.jpg

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen...210/image1.jpg


Plat Form was a complete and utter joy to build! Compared to W, a lot of his inner construction is far more comparable to other FRSes like Ex-Aid, though he uses a similar style of leg construction to W -- if that's the new one they're deciding to use, I'm all for it; because it's very simple to put together and results in very good articulation. The result as well is a figure that looks insanely clean; this is partly down to the high amount of parts separation and how few stickers are used here (I'll get to that in a moment), but when I finished putting Plat together I was satisfied in a way comparable if not superior to Ex-Aid. It's... maybe weird saying this, but I think Plat Form is probably the best looking FRS so far! The only negative is of course that there's unfortunately no second belt included, so if you're mainly getting this kit for Sword Form then you're gonna have to put the Sword Form belt sticker on, and that's gonna make Plat Form look a little off -- and vice versa. It's a shame and looking at the trays they could so SO easily have put in a second belt, but thankfully this is the only big flaw I feel and it doesn't look awful.


Now I'm not often gonna post about stickers or mid-construction things, but due to the nature of this essentially being two figures I feel it's important to note here. The instructions have you start off building Plat Form and then later on brings in the Sword Form transformation, whose additions end up being much shorter because of course you've already built a full figure.
What this means is that the small sticker sheet you've seen before is even smaller for Plat Form -- only about half of them were used, and very very few were specific to Plat! To quickly run over which ones are involved in Plat Form -- the silver on his heels; the belt details; the two small black triangles on his 'mouth'; and the holstered den-gashers. That's it. EVERY SINGLE OTHER DETAIL YOU SEE HERE, even the silver on the chest, everything on his arms and hands, etc; all of it's part separation, and he comes off looking extremely good for it. I've pictured below what was left of the sticker sheet before I started Sword Form to give you a good idea.

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen...456/image0.jpg


Moving swiftly on, the transformation! At first removing a couple of these parts feels slightly iffy, but ultimately it comes off very easily and you never feel like you're gonna break anything. It definitely tends towards the 'tight' end of the scale than loose and doesn't strike a perfect balance, but it's more than good enough to work for this kit. All in all you take off the head; the neck collar; the shoulders; the chest; the thigh panels; and the small strip running down his back. Aside from of course the arms, the back strip will be used for Sword Form to help secure the connection and complete the look of the Ax Form backpack.

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen...569/image0.jpg


And finally, the main event -- Sword Form! Now quickly jumping into a couple negatives so we can end on a climax; as you probably could tell from the sticker sheet photo, a LOT of stickers end up specific to Sword Form here. First off is the Den-Gasher's Sword Form, which despite about 8 stickers to fill in the detailing on the handle; comes off as easily the weakest-looking most underdetailed part of the set which is becoming a bit of a theme with these FRS Riders. Without paint there's no blue detailing on the handle and no silver outline on the blade. Much like Ex-Aid's fully white Gashacon Breaker, this ends up with a simplified appearance that I personally don't mind and think actually looks kinda nice, but it is of course inaccurate and it is a valid concern to consider if you're picking up the kit. Beyond that there's a couple more Sword Form-specific stickers -- four red stickers for the details on the back of his shoulders; two black stickers and two small yellow stickers for the detailing on his 'collar'; two gray stickers for his antennae; one long yellow sticker for the middle of his head; and not pictured above because for some reason they're on a different sticker sheet, two silver foil stickers for the inside of his eyes. Most of these are fine to apply, but I really have to mention the eye stickers as being by far the worst part of building this kit. It's a shame because otherwise this was probably the funnest FRS for me so far, but these eye stickers do not want to co-operate with you and will do anything they can to not go inside the eye piece. They're extremely finicky and you have to place them in a very tight and narrow area in a very specific fashion, and mine didn't really end up perfect; they're a small bit away from where they should be. As this is just to get the 'shine' in the bug eyes it's not too bad but it was certainly a letdown.


And now that we're done with that small negative? HOLY HELL THIS GUY LOOKS GOOD! Like. LOOK at that picture below. I'm not someone who uses paint and despite the more complicated nature of Den-O's design compared to W or Kuuga, he ended up looking -superb-. Aside from more Den-Gasher details, an extra belt for Plat Form and the silver heels needing stickers (seriously, I'm fine doing that, but why...?), I can't think of any criticism I'd give to the finished product here. He's as expressive as a Momotaros should be with all the hand options and articulation you'd want; the sculpt and shaping is fantastic; every colour application that needs to be there is there -- Plat Form edges it out a little due to needing less stickers and not having an underdetailed sword, but Sword Form is really not far behind! Seriously my favourite FRS so far and well worth the asking price. You can do a lot worse things with your money than picking him up :D


https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen...144/image1.jpg

For the heck of it, here's my two new boys along with Zi-O and Ex-Aid for a picture of all my FRSes so far. I'm very happy with them; and while Ex-Aid remains a favourite for me, I think Den-O stands out here in just how much more vibrant and proportionally accurate the line has become. Such a winner!



good god I need Zi-O's ridewatch stand


https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen...332/image0.jpg

Sadly, the Zi-O one only came with Figuarts Zi-O.

The reflective stickers for the eyes are stuck to the inside of the lenses right? Different from the usual FRS which place them on an interior surface for the lenses to sit on top of?

And that's why I've had trouble getting it! If anyone in the UK was wanting an SHF Geiz I'd happily split with them for the Stands but alas.


Yup, and that's why they're a pain to get in. With other FRSes you have to worry about placing them right because the creases can look pretty bad, but you can still get em on pretty easily. Den-O is a pain to even make the stickers happen. You'll get there, but it's not a fun experience.

N, no broom? *sniffles*

Anyone know when this month Amazing Mighty's meant to come out? Finding myself more and more frustrated by a lack of exact dates to releases; four weeks is a pretty broad window!

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen...809_083101.jpg
based on the p bandai website

it will release september

That's for the second run.

Hey Die, could you do 360 comparisons between Ex-Aid and Genm?

Definitely, but not until tomorrow. Tomorrow for me, anyway. Let's say about 30 hours from this post, unless I somehow get out of work crazy early?

All right, thanks!

ah, yea, almost forgot bout' that one

maybe it's 18, or 20, or 23, just like other Figure Rise Kamen Rider figures

P-Bandai Figure Rise figures doesn't have exact release date
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen...17/unknown.png

Hmmm. I guess I can expect mid-month then, which isn't bad...

https://challengerscomics.com/images...o/IMG_2783.jpg

First, I want to point out how great I had these two posed, and what I'm giving up by taking these pictures. They were PERFECT! And I threw it all away!

Anyway, here's some 360 comparison photos of Ex-Aid and Genm, taken with my shit lighting and entertainment center background. If they're not quite what you're looking for, let me know and I'll see what I can do.

https://challengerscomics.com/images...o/IMG_2784.jpg
https://challengerscomics.com/images...o/IMG_2785.jpg
https://challengerscomics.com/images...o/IMG_2786.jpg
https://challengerscomics.com/images...o/IMG_2787.jpg

haha genm the god of games got his gashat back to front what a loser

You can't turn your back on Parado for a minute!

I can't tell if I'm missing a joke or something, but isn't Ex-Aid the one with the Gashat reversed?
https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/...20160903002718

Look, you two figure it out and tell me which one I screwed up.

nvm fixed

https://challengerscomics.com/images...o/IMG_2788.jpg

Thank you, Die, for the sacrifices you have made in my name. I never really noticed that more than half of Genm's colours are black, which makes him one of the most monotone riders in Ex-Aid.

cuz now it's august, and august is FRS Kuuga Amazing Mighty release month
let's take a look at the stickers, just my assumption

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen...34/unknown.png

stickers on the hand pad, but the butterfly logo looks already molded, so... you can both use stickers or just paint it. I also assumed that the black part and the gold part were a seperated part, but it's almost impossible.

and there's black circle thing on the bracelet, it's a sticker, same as the Mighty one

and theres one on the upper part of the arm armor thing

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen...31/unknown.png

and yeah, perhaps, the belt sticker is the same as the Mighty one, but it's stacked with the gold part of the belt.

Wow, GenmCorp truly does make the best consoles. You can fit the game anywhere and it'll still play!

Yeah, Amazing Mighty will have few surprises compared to Mighty, and that includes stickers.