S.H.Figuarts Red Wind Ranger Bluefin Release Info
 

Bluefin has just announced that they will be distributing the S.H.Figuarts Hurricane Red as the Ninja Storm Red Wind Ranger!

He’ll be released in October 2013 for $41.99 as expected, the faux Shurikenger vest used in Akibaranger will be omitted from the US release.

cool, but the way im goin now, i might just get kibaranger us release, and get the rest of these guys from japanese release idk depends on if i find these on sale or not :lol

All the reason I need not to get the Bluefin release. Hello Amiami. The preorder page for hurricane Red goes live tonight, no way I'm getting another nerfed Bluefin figure.

I don't care about the Akibaranger bonuses, and it's cheaper to order through Amazon or another seller that carries Bluefin's stuff, so if I do get this figure I'll probably support the US release. It's great more Figuarts are coming to the US!

Hopefully, this leads to releases of Figuarts of Crimson and Navy Thunder Rangers as well as Green Samurai Ranger.

That depends on several factors. I've done the math. Given the discounts of places like amiami along with SAL shipping, it is cheaper to get JP releases unless they are exclusives. The cheapest option for bluefin stuff is Amazon(if you also have prime shipping) because any discounts given by other sites is cancelled out by shipping costs.

If you buy a large enough order even EMS works out in your favor, despite the sticker shock when you first see the cost of shipping. My May AmiAmi order worked out to $7 shipping per figure. Some of the figures I bought are not for sale in the US at all, so there's no direct comparison. But with the Figuarts there is one: Kamen Rider X cost me roughly $30 shipped from AmiAmi. He's $35 at Amazon with free shipping.

AmiAmi's price for Hurricane Red is $29. So shipping per figure would need to reach $12 per figure for Amazon to be as good a deal.

It's cool that they can start releasing Reds, but its the Japanese release all the way for me.

All the reason I need to get it.

I do not understand why people choose Bluefin over Japan-release. Maybe you save a few bucks if you're lucky (but even then, not much), but you're paying for a lacking figure and getting it later. Even if you don't watch Akibaranger, its still an extra accessory that the figure is meant to come with, I hate missing out on stuff.

Amiami for me, thank you!

what i find more ridiculous than anything is that $42 dollar price tag. yikes.

Which is why I went with the Japanese release of Red Hawk as opposed to getting the US release.


Even though I haven't used all the Penultimate powers yet, without it it feels…missing

Honestly, the Akibaranger stuff isn't as inticing this time around IMO. The Chinaman head was hilarious and great and sold me on getting Ryuuranger. The A Kibaranger is cute, but it's not worth middleman prices to get IMO. The Powerful Ranger stuff was amusing, but I'm not exactly chomping at the bit to get that(and since they aren't selling out it should be easy enough to go back and get them in you want to). As for Hurricanger, I haven't seen it of the Akibaranger episode they were in yet so I don't really have attachment to that stuff. Overall, these bonuses just don't feel as awesome as the Penultimate Cannon stuff was.

Wait Red Hawk got a US release?
WHY!?

A few reasons:

One, the box art is supposed to be different. People don't know (or in some cases know but don't want to know) Sentai. Therefore, Akibaranger accessories and the like are worthless to them.

Another thing is, by supporting Bluefin, it opens up opportunities to give us releases of exclusives we might not get without paying an arm and a leg for.

Another reason is, some people just don't feel comfortable (or allowed by their parents) to shop online at places that aren't reputable. Ami-ami is great, but to the casual fan it's a no-name store and even more so to a parent who is edgy about online purchases anyway.

I don't really see the big deal, it's just trying to get the same toys (minus an accessory or two that wouldn't really matter in the end) to a broader audience. More purchases usually mean more future releases, especially with Figuarts.



And 42 bucks isn't bad. If you've ever played with any Figuart, you'd know why the price was so high and for most, worth it.

Actually, it might have something to do with licensing issues rather then lack of interest.

If that were the case they would not have bothered releasing Red Hawk and Black Condor in North America at all. I mean whom in America outside of Sentai fans will know who they are?

Thing is…I think a majority of people that follow Bluefin and buy Figuarts from them already know what Sentai and Toku is.

When was there news of new box-art outside of the Zyurangers? I must've missed that, but that doesn't mean you're not getting less.

Also, could somebody verify to an Australian how Bluefin releases these guys? From my understanding the only ones that were in toy stores were ShinkenRed and Gold, the other Bluefin releases aren't common to people who aren't looking for them. I think the collectors that will go for Figuarts wouldn't be ignorant of the existence of Sentai and even if they were, if they know the Power Ranger enough to buy a high-end collectable of them, they'll be able to tell by the box who it is.

That's fair enough.

What? Amiami is one of, if not THE, most popular, famous and reputable stores for Japanese collectables. It's hardly "no-name" to fans interested in import items.

I think I have enough Figuarts to know that, because most of us, including myself, pay far more then that for the exclusives and rarer figures. I never said it wasn't worth it.

Also, I'm talking about us: who know of both Sentai and Power Rangers, making the conscious decision to choose a neutered release over a release that costs pretty much the same and you get it earlier, with everything its meant to come with. Obviously, when I said "choose Bluefin over the Japanese release" I meant people that knew both existed. Otherwise, they wouldn't be choosing anything over anything, because they wouldn't know about the Japan-release. I understand supporting Bluefin, but I think it'd be better if they brought over the figure for you in its entirety, I just hate knowingly missing out on stuff, but other people are different. I'm not saying its a bad thing or a "big deal", I just, personally, don't see why people make that choice if they know how easily accessible the un-neutered release is.

That'd explain that pretty well.

So with all these Bluefin announcements, can we just assume all the posts will be "Cool, but I'll get it from Japan" Blah blah blah?

Infact, why don't we just throw a link to Bluefin through Twitter with all the threads and just be like "Thanks but no thanks. In fact, just go out of business already"

That's all anyone on here says anyways.

It just depends. For someone that doesn't care about that odd accessory, it's not less to them.

I said casual fan or parent who pays for online purchases. Fans who are "interested" in import items wouldn't know about Ami-ami if they're getting the same Figuarts from Amazon. I'm not discrediting Ami-ami, but I've seen people on other forums, and this one as well, stating they aren't sure they trust overseas merchants for whatever reason and would rather order from someone they know, like the aforementioned Amazon. Parents feel the same way. "Mom, can I get a figure from a website using your credit card?" "What's the site?" "Ami-ami, a Japanese based webstore" "Eh... does Walmart have it?" "No, but Amazon does" "Oh, I know Amazon, let's go with that."

That wasn't directed at you, just in general. I must have not properly copied and pasted the other guy's quote that I was referencing however.

Again, people may know about it, but not everyone is in charge of making such purchases. People will go with what they know over what they don't.

If that's what you meant, and the opportunities are available to purchase it yourself and there was a choice, myself, I'd go the cheaper route everytime, regardless if an item was "neutered" or not, unless that item was so important to me that I had to have it.

Bitch bitch bitch.

Moan Moan Moan.

Where's my damn Amazon preorder. I give no fucks about fanfic armor.

My face concerning everything in Akiba S2.
"Oh no. I can't make my DragonRanger look like shit. Such a travesty."

I don't care what the argument is. If they released DekaRed as SPD Red without the giant cuffs, that's a neutered release. HurricaneRed not including armor that no one would use outside of one or two pictures before boxing it and never using again is not. Also, stop taking things so seriously :p

There's been no bitching or moaning... Like, at all, there's actually nothing even nearly like bitching or moaning.

Nobody is wanting anyone to go out of business at all, people are just saying they prefer one release over another. Geez, guys.

Are we reading the same thread?

Exactly my point. I can completely understand why Bluefin can't release items pertaining to Akibaranger. I really do. But it doesn't change the fact that the accessory set that the figure comes with in it's initial Asian release is altered, and therefore incomplete for it's North American release. I have no interest in getting most of a figure.

I totally support Bluefin and what they do, and as I said I understand the legality of them being unable to release certain things under certain conditions, but I won't settle for an incomplete product when I can get the complete one for nearly the same price or sometimes less. That's not bitching, or moaning, or hating, or whatever. When the original release of the figure with a cheap shipping method can still reach me a month before the domestic release, have all of it's intended accessories, and be cheaper all around, then I'm going for that method first.

So wait, what's missing from Ninja Storm Red Wind Ranger that wasn't in the show?

Nothing. All that's missing is a slapped-together piece of armor in what is basically a giant fanfic.

Actually, Hurricane Red IS missing the cloth and umbrella he uses in Rollcalls, and the hang glider they use in the intro.

But I haven't seen Ninja Storm so I have no idea if they actually used that footage at all.

Yes but those aren't included with either release.

And they used the Hang Gliders constantly in the first half of Ninja Storm. I don't remember ever seeing the umbrellas in the show.

Eh, if a store is selling something for cheaper, and you get it sooner, and it comes with something extra, why NOT buy it from there? Seems pretty cut and dried to me. Talking about doing that, and why you're doing that, isn't bitching and moaning. Nobody's annoyed at Bluefin for not being cheaper and coming out later, we all understand why they have to play it that way. But it is a fact that those things about them are true.

Personally, I'm going with mostly the Japanese releases, only avoiding the Japanese web exclusive editions of the Sentai stuff because they end up being more expensive, and the Zyuranger stuff because I don't want to get locked into an AmiAmi preorder for something I might end up canceling. So I went with Amazon for those figures.

It's a discussion. People are just talking about why they're choosing different outlets to buy the same merch.

The response to this news is vastly predictable.
Wait a minute...

I am laughing so hard at this thread.

Who gives a shit about some crappy accessory that isn't even from the original series the figure is from? Sure the figure is incomplete in the most literal sense but I don't think a figure really counts as 'neutered' because it doesn't have an extra piece that comes from another series entirely.

I mean seriously who gives a fuck? With the way people are going on in this thread you'd assume the Bluefin version is just some cheap knockoff rather than removing one, completely inconsequential, accessory that most American audiences don't even care about in the first place. Jesus.

no Starscream Gaga, i was the one that said it wasnt worth 42 bucks and maybe its worth that money, but for that price i am not willing to find out unless i win thr lottery

$42 is actually pretty standard Figuarts price. At least I think so.

I'm getting the US release. Like others, since this time around the Sentai figures aren't coming with actual weapons like the Hurricane Ball, DairanBomber or ZyuBuckler and instead are coming with alternate armor pieces that I know I'll most likely never display, I see no need to go nuts over getting the Japanese release.

It seems like the only people bitching in the thread are you guys that are annoyed about people still preferring the Japanese version, everyone else has pretty calmly expressed their preference.

Personally, I don't want Power Rangers boxes, I can get it cheaper from Japan, it'll be released sooner in Japan AND it comes with extra accessories. They maybe weren't used in the original show, but they're still a nice little bonus that let you recreate scenes from another very good show. I'm seeing few reasons to get the US version beyond "support Blufin" which is pretty inconsequential to me, since importing from the States is even more expensive than doing so from Japan.

First off, there's no reason to bring obscenities into this conversation buddy. Those of us who are "giving a shit about some crappy accessory" are having a pretty civil discussion here about buying one release of a figure over another.

The point is that North American buyers are not exclusively Power Rangers only fans. Alot of us keep up with Sentai and tokusatsu in general as well. In fact Bluefin caters to this by releasing such things as Showa Kamen Riders or Red hawk and Black Condor, or Ultra-Acts, or Super Robot Chogokins, etc. So saying something like "most american audiences don't even care" is just flat out wrong. The audience or viewership of Power Rangers as a program literally doesn't matter here. It's about collectors buying a high end collectors item.

Parents don't go to their local comic shop and spend $40 on these things for their kids. Look at the sales of Shinken Gold & Red at TRU as all the proof you need that the broad consumer market here doesn't support that line. Speicalty shops, online retailers, and collectors however do. And while I recognize, as I've said numerous times, why Bluefin can't release certain things here (like accessories pertaining to Akibaranger) that doesn't change the fact that I'm not buying a figure altered from it's original release like that.

I want the figure, I don't care if a "crappy accessory" or an "extra piece" is all that's missing. I'm a collector. I want the figure as it's supposed to be. Not a second release with less accessories, that after tacked on import fees for Bluefin winds up being more expensive than just buying it through an online retailer like Amiami.

I'm a sentai fan and I still know crap all about Akibaranger. I don't get this weird association in this thread that you cant have one without the other. And as such, that is why I don't think the figure is 'the way it is supposed to be' because one version has an extra, and completely irrelevant accessory. If it was different hands, weapons or general items that related to the character themselves from their series then I'd understand and I'd be pissed as well but it's just a chest piece from another series.

It's basically the current AmiAmi price + shipping if you have Amazon Prime...

It being from a different series is not the point at all. It's an accessory, one that the figure itself is meant to come with. Removing that from it and expecting me to pay more for it is not something I'm interested in doing. It's got nothing to do with what show it is or isn't from, it's supposed to be there. You can have one without the other all you want. Just know that you're paying more for it and getting it later on top of a missing an accessory.

I think the point that Locke is trying to make is that the accessory isn't exactly something that's on topic with Hurricanger or Ninja Storm and that the removal of the accessory has no impact especially to someone with little to no knowledge or interest in Akibaranger.