S.H. Figuarts Kamen Rider Hibiki Gallery
 

Henshin!

A long time coming, S.H. Figuarts Kamen Rider Hibiki finally makes his appearance! After many years of this line continuing without all the main riders, we're one step closer to having them all!

Released in the same premium style as the recent S.H. Figuarts Kabuto Renewal Hibiki aims to deliver an incredible product and for the most part it succeeds. Let's take a look at exactly what this figure is like.

Post #1 contains 40 images with over 30 more in post #2!

Packaging
S.H. Figuarts Hibiki comes in identical packaging to Renewal Kabuto. The exact same type of rectangular box, with stacked white plastic trays. It's a little odd that Hibiki would be given the same premium treatment Renewal Kabuto was, considering this is the first SHF Hibiki to be made. So far these two figures are the only ones to feature this packaging which seems odd, we'll see if it continues down the line.

Main Figure
First things first, Hibiki is drop dead GORGEOUS. The sculpting on this bad boy is absolutely perfect. In every way imaginable it captures the look of the on screen suit right down to the textured musculature. The details are near perfection. Seriously I can not say enough about the new sculpting process used for Hibiki that was first introduced on Kabuto Renewal. Like Kabuto we see from the included concept book that the sculpt for this figure began from the ground up with a skeletal inner frame. And that extra work really pays off, especially when compared to other main line S.H. Figuarts.

The only issue I really have with Hibiki, which is isolated to the one I have, is errant paint applications. Just above his belt on mine there are several significant splotches of silver. And there's another on his inner thigh. Based on how tight some of the joints are I think it's safe to say that the purple paint all over the figure may flake off over time as well. The thighs/hips and upper body were pretty darn tight too. The interesting new hip design makes me think they could break pretty easily as well. But that's just catious speculation on my part, it really feels like there could be issues with the figure down the line.

As is, the main body of the figure looks gorgeous. Again it really does look incredibly faithful to the onscreen counterpart. The articulation is pretty superb as well. The way the shoulder pads unhinge up and over the shoulders themselves, the innovative way the hips angle out with a filler piece that fills the gap (itself reminiscent of Toy Biz Marvel Legends joints), and the traditional peg style hands with pretty open wrist cuffs that won't hinder their movement.

It should be noted that Hibiki DOES NOT use the "figma style" wrist peg system that Kabuto Renewal does. It has the traditional ball jointed wrists that nearly all Figuarts do. So far the only releases that have featured this new system are Kabuto and the Anti-Piracy figures. I am hugely thankful of this. The peg system introduced with Kabuto is in my opinion pretty terrible. I'm very happy to see a return to standard ball joins again.

Accessories
S.H. Figuarts Kamen Rider Hibiki is fully loaded! Aside from the excellent sculpt of the figure it's also armed to the teeth with accessories. Including much more than the pre-requisites of more standard fair releases, the accessory count is what really bumps Hibiki into the premium SHF territory. Included with Hibiki are:

4 - sets of alternate hands. As usual this gives you all you need for nice static, dynamic, and signature poses, including the perfect pair for Hibiki to hold his weapons.
2 - different sets of Ongekikou Rekka. One set molded into a holster. This set can be plugged into the back of his belt in place of the standard "empty" holster pouch. The second set of Ongekikou Rekka are magnificent. These full fledged versions of the weapons slide into Hibiki's holding hands and actually looped around the forefingers just as the real rider himself would hold them. They really are excellent.
2 - flame effect parts for the Ongekikou. To use them you need to pop the head of each Ongekikou off and pop these on. These flame effects look fantastic and really help the figure pull off it's dynamic look even better. Great for dynamic shots and poses.
2 - different versions of the Onkaku Tuning Fork. One version is molded in a folded down position to be plugged onto the right side of the belt in the same manner the Ongekikou on the back. The second Onkaku is the proper unfolded version for the figure to hold in hand. Though I don't feel any of the included hands can really hold it that well.
1 - Disk Animal holster molded with the appearance of 3 discs in it. Again meant to be plugged onto the belt in place of the bare plug that's normally there.
3 - Disc Animals in disc form. Though they don't transform, at this scale I'm not sure that would be possible. They'd almost certainly break. As is they look really nice for their size/sculpt/Paint. The 3 you get are Steel hawk, Azure Wolf, & Green Ape.

So as you can see, Hibiki gets a boat LOAD of accessories. Seriously this is basically everything he could possibly need. These accessories really make it the premium release it should be. As a bonus the the Ongekikou Kaentsuzumi buckle on his belt can also be removed to replicate at least the first part of the Ongeki Da finisher. The figure should have included a giant version of this accessory but that's a bit of a dream honestly. You can always pick up the old Final Form Rider Hibiki to replicate it if you wish.

Final Thoughts
S.H. Figuarts Kamen Rider Hibiki really does feel like just as much of a Premium release as Kabuto Renewal did. Though mine suffers from some unfortunate QC issues, don't let that affect your opinion of it. It really is an excellent figure. It has the sculpt down perfectly, and for the most part the paint apps are incredible. It has a wealth of accessories that really are just incredible.

With Hibiki's release we are now officially 1 rider away from having ALL the Heisei riders up to current in SHF form. Drive being the exception as that show is about to air. We now only need Kamen Rider Kiva to have a full unbroken set of S.H. Figuarts Heisei Riders from Kuuga to Gaim. As for the future of Hibiki releases, I would hope they would maybe take a little more care with the QC on any further figures. I would think given the hype around this release, that more Hibiki riders are inevitable.

For now though enjoy over 70 images of S.H. Figuarts Kamen Rider Hibiki!

Man he looks fantastic. That purple paint is just oozing with perfection.

I hope we get the other Hibiki Riders.

Then Den-O can recreate the crab battle. :D

This is the goal!!

Yay! Make sure the crab is BW Rampage!

After seeing this I want Kiva to be made in the new renewal/premium line which will most likely be the most and once he does I'll buy him in a heart beat.

And then make a new Agito figure because, well, yeah, Agito.

Agito, Kuuga, W, OOO, & Decade are all really starting to show their age as the new stuff trickles out. Agito & Kuuga feel like they're from a different toyline they're so outclassed now.

I'll have to pick this up, but I'm kinda bummed at the lack of a clawed hand and open-mouthed face.

He has just about everything else he needs, but alas those two would have been great additions :(

It's very much a premium release, but I can't help but feel it doesn't quite live up to my expectations.

I still think Kuuga holds up personally, but I guess a little redo wouldn't hurt anybody. W though could use a new mold with less annoying wrist joints, and I can't really comment on OOO and Decade. But Agito needs a new one soon, one that fixes the gap with the shoulder pads and gives him more then one extra pair of hands.

I'm actually curious if we'll ever see the premium line move on over to the Sentai line of things.

I have to say, Hibiki looks good as a Figuart.
On an unrelated note, in the picture with all the riders, I thought Fourze was flipping me off.

How fragile are the disc animals?

He looks pretty awesome, especially the fire attachments.

The only ones that need new Figuarts are Decade, Kuuga, and Agito. Both OOO and W are fine.

I feel like W's other forms hold very well. I own all of the figuarts of W's main forms, I do feel like Heat/Metal, Luna/ Trigger and Fang Joker still look great today. My figuart of OOO never had any issues with it and I never knew people had issues with Tatoba until I join this site. The Youtube reviews of Tatoba were good and I always watch video reviews of Figuarts before I buy them. I got Tatoba from Toy Arena's website last year and been happy with it since then. I also got the reissue of Tajadoru and it still looks fantastic in my opinion.

I do feel like if they do renewals of W and OOO then their other forms will be web exclusives because there's so many of them. Most casual collectors don't have the web exclusives and it hurts fans who want all of the main forms of their favorite rider.

Disc Animals are fine. Very thin plastic, but fine. Since they don't transform I'm hardly frightened of breaking them.

But seriously OOO needs the premium treatment. Loose hips, limited ankle tilts, gummy plastic on the hands. W is also a very inaccurate sculpt sadly. A lot of the older figures come from an era where good enough was all you needed to hit production. And frankly good enough isn't enough anymore as the last year or two of releases have shown us.

At least Hibiki turn out great. He's another figure to put on my Hoilday wishlist. We just need Kiva's base form and J to finish up the main rider line up since Drive won't be out until April - June 2015.

Oh, I thought the disc animals transformed. I could have sworn I saw pictures of them in animal mode...

I guess OOO could because of the ankles, but honestly, with the quality control Bandai has not had lately, I'd be surprised if a 2.0 version of OOO turned out better. Sculpt wise, yes, quality wise, not so much.

I still don't see anything wrong with the W sculpt at all though.

There are some rather old Disc Animal figures out there that are about this size that dont transform but are molded in Animal Form. But these don't transform.

That is such a gorgeous figure. The paint in particular is what makes it really shine, I just love that metallic purple. I'm glad to hear your thoughts on the potential of flaking as a long-term issue though, that's a concern I've had as well. I'll just have to be extra careful with him!

I just got Hibiki, and he's quite nice. I was rather surprised by him. Good amount of accessories, super beautiful finish on the body. Mine exhibits no problems or issues at all. I'm very pleased with him.

Having been working on the Decade/Diend galleries, those guys could definitely do with an upgrade. Kuuga/Agito too, but I think they're better than Decade/Diend. W, well, he's got some inaccuracies in the head, but my biggest complaint is the shoulder joints suck. They never stay in a natural position, and they don't move right, it seems like.

But KIVA FIRST PLEASE!

Hibiki though, I found him to be a very worth purchase.

Man. This figure is amazing.