S.H. Figuarts Drive Type Tridoron & Tire Blending Set Official Images & Info
 

This is 2 separate releases we're looking at here. BOTH include Drive Type Tridoron, one also included his Combination Tires:

S.H. Figuarts Kamen Rider Drive Type Tridoron
http://www.tokunation.com/attachment...1&d=1471484689
Tamashii Web Exclusive
January 2016
5940 yen
*Includes Type Tridoron, 2 sets of hands, the alternate "Krim mode" head, Trailer Gun, and the Type Speed & Type Tridoron Shift Cars.

S.H. Figuarts Kamen Rider Drive Type Tridoron & Tire Combination Set
http://www.tokunation.com/attachment...1&d=1471484931
Tamashii Web Exclusive
January 2016
8100 yen
*Includes Type Tridoron, 2 sets of hands, the alternate "Krim mode" head, Trailer Gun, and the Type Speed & Type Tridoron Shift Cars. As well as:
Attack 123 Combo Tire
People Saver Combo Tire
Construction Site Combo Tire
Justice Cage weapon
10 Ton Weight Weapon
Rumble Smasher weapon
Cure Quicker Accessory


Which version will YOU be getting?

This is the last we'll ever see of the TK system for SHFs, isn't it?

Augh. I'm only somewhat interested and it does look better to me now that it did a year ago, I can't justify it given my lack of love for the suit and show at present. I'd rather get Formula.

Still... It's cool that they're even doing the Tires for this one, considering their conspicuous absence from the line past the preorder tires and the singles released for Wild and Technic.

A Final Form for the main Rider that's exclusive?


Bandai y u do this

S.H.F. Kamen Rider Drive Type Tridoron in Tamashii Web Exclusive remind me to S.H.F. Kamen Rider Blade King Form....

Well at least Drive Type Tridoron figuarts has 3 Tire Blendings...

Sometime I am really curious about 4 unused Tire Blendings such as American Dream, Weather Report, Tough Guy, and Grand Prix....

Neeed

Easy pass on both. It's just bad comedy to release freakin' Gold Drive at retail but make this as a Web-Exclusive. Like, what the hell were they thinking?

I can only assume that they had to make room for Rider 1 and the Amazons, but man... this even surpasses the shitty decision to make Necrom, one of three Riders in Ghost Web-Exclusive. Releasing the final form of a main hero more than one year after the show ended, and only as a Web-Exclusive? Bullshit.

And I also don’t understand why they offer this in two flavors. Since they are both Web-Exclusives, why not only sell the one with all the accessories? Is anyone seriously going to spend money on a middleman (or on Premium Bandai in Japan) and not go the extra mile to get all the cool stuff?

I think the route OOO explained that the basic version lands in retail while the "All Tired Up"-version is a Web-Exclusive would’ve made more sense. Or even only sell the figure at retail and have an accessory pack on the Web-Shop. But I guess the tires aren’t enough to warrant a separate accessory set.

Anyways, more shitty decisions in distribution which slowly become the norm and make me want to only collect Shinkocchou Seihou main Riders since the basic ones are guaranteed to show up at retail. But who knows, once Kiva comes around (in like 20 years) he’ll probably be a Web-Excusive too…

Bandai, why? JUST WHY?!? Give me Tridoron over Gold Drive any day!

I just don't understand your anger. Or anyone's for that matter. Gold Drive isn't keeping Tridoron from happening, or even changing his release venue so don't infer that. Gold Drive is an incredibly easy repaint that requires no new molding at all to release. Tridoron is a mostly new sculpt with a ton of brand new accessories and it's the final form of a rider from a show that ended nearly a year ago, it was never not going to be an exclusive.

But it is an exclusive. Which only means it's marginally more difficult to get than a retail release. Oh wait, no it isn't. Retail releases require you to fight at specific and often inconvenient times to pre-order something through a retailer who may or may not have provided enough stock to cover all those interested.

With exclusives you just order through the middleman and done. They are a little more expensive initially, but the ease of obtaining them greatly outweighs that in my opinion. I just don't see why people throw a tantrum when they find out a figure is going to be exclusive rather than retail, frankly it just isn't a big deal.

Amen, Den-O. I, for one, will gladly trade the extra cost of a TWE for no frustration in ordering and a good night's sleep.

As usual. This would be like the fourth time we have this discussion so I won’t even bother.

And I just don't understand why you feel the necessity to swoop in and defend the practice every single time this happens and belittle everyone disagreeing with you as just being cranky children. Honestly more tired of seeing that predictable response than the predictable complaints. Meanwhile, people not wanting to pay more for something they see of equivalent value makes complete sense to me.

Added up, if you want more than the occasional exclusive, that increase really starts matters to people. It's great that you don't see it as a big deal to keep paying more and more for the things you want and can apparently still afford it, but damnit, to some it just is. That shouldn't be hard to see and understand.

I'm just happy that we have all the in series stuff announced with this one.
And since most of the movie forms are just slightly different from already existing forms it gives me some hope that they will actually complete this line.

THIS

Guys, web exclusives are NOT all that difficult to get ahold of these days, especially now that we have sites like Mandarake.

It more so has to do with the fact that this disscussion takes place EVERY time a new batch of web exclusives go up.

Honestly, it's just as annoying as people complaining about the lack of Figuarts Kiva.

Web exclusives get thrown up based on the popularity of the said character, that's all there is too it.

Fact is: it's far easier for Bandai to release a pre existing mould as a mass retail release than it is a compltely new design like Type Trideron, especially this late after Drive.

You have to remember that even if it is a Web exclusive, to japanese collectors it's almost as simple as buying the thing on Amazon. Only us non japan based fans have to pay a middleman. We are not the target audience so it's pretty useless to lambast bandai/tamashii for their practices when it's perfectly serviceable to their home Base. It's also a form for a show that's ended already so it's risky to be releasing it like this that's why it's a Web exclusive so they don't over produce it.

This is sort of the point I was trying to hit home. We as western fans feel entitled to a certain degree of ease in collecting that we shouldn't be when we're buying items from a market that isn't local to us, or frankly really even intended for us. It's great when things work in our favor. But in this case it's only logical that this release would turn out the way it has. Furor over Bandai/Tamashiis reasoning behind making Tridoron an exclusive is misplaced though, and that's whats' most frustrating about the situation.

[QUOTE=Kiwami;629418]Easy pass on both. It's just bad comedy to release freakin' Gold Drive at retail but make this as a Web-Exclusive. Like, what the hell were they thinking?QUOTE]

Business. They're thinking business. I don't like exclusives either, but I understand the reasons behind making something exclusive. It's business. As was pointed out to me on Twitter if they feel a figure won't sell they make it exclusive as a way to cover loses. And as I said in the same conversation, they also make something exclusive if they know it'll be popular. It's a way of generating revenue. Bandai doesn't make these for the love of the series, or for the joy of it, you know? They make these and sell them as a way of generating money. It's the same reason the shows exist in the first place (I know that might come as a shock to some). So the answer to your question is... business and money. Simple as that.

But back on topic, I love how this looks. I was worried with the solid red it wouldn't look right as a toy. Sometimes when a toy goes for one solid color like that it ends up looking somehow cheap. Like Mach TK. But I love how Trideron looks, I'm just waiting for some in-hand images before pulling the wallet-trigger.

We're still missing quite a few Gaim forms (Fresh Orange comes to mind), so I wouldn't count on it. But, anything is possible I suppose.

Honestly, the fair point is the matter of how easily accessible the other parts were for them. They already had Drive's head, arms, legs, and belt molds ready from the original Drive release, and then they got the Proto Drive chest mold when they made him. So for Gold Drive to be retail was easy for them cause they had all the parts necessary. Tridoron is practically 95% new sculpt, so they probably went with the exclusive route to try to make back the money lost from making those new molds. I understand it's infuriating for all of us to want a retail release, but as past releases have shown, most of the time, post-show releases get regulated to Exclusive status.

Though in my statement, don't know why Gold Drive is retail but Zero Drive, who uses all the same parts, is exclusive. Might have to do with the amount of items packed in the release schedule

Fresh Orange/Pine/etc were always gonna be iffy as HBV/special video forms. Sadly those never get made. So we're never going to see them, much like Drive Type High Speed, Wizard Flame Dragon Falco Mantle, Fourze Rocket Drill States, etc :(

It's like the world's easiest repaints... Argh.

I agonize over the lack of Kamuro and Ringo Baron daily. I expect I'll do the same over Mach Chaser.

Mach Chaser (Or Chaser Mach) has already been confirmed and shown off, though...

As for the current topic at hand, it's the same song and dance as always. "Why is ______ a web exclusive this is such bullshit." You'd think after so many web exclusives of characters people want, we'd be used to it by now. Chaser was exclusive, Necrom's exclusive, Shin was exclusive, etc. No one was complaining this much when 3/4ths of the Gaim cast ended up being exclusive releases from what I remember.

Just for clarification, Chaser Mach exists as a figuart, we reviewed it last month. But Mach Chaser is his form from the upcoming V-Cinema. There's no figuart of that currently nor likely to be one sadly.

I'm gonna have to sacrifice my Chaser Mach for one, aren't I?

Depends on how well these next few drive figuarts are gonna sell im guessing.
But even if they do sell well i think there will be a bigger chance for a drive type special or a super machine chaser.

I think people retail releases because they are easier to get without paying middleman fees and that retail releases can be reissue in the near future.

"Can", but rarely "are".

If I recall correctly, they were. I suspect that the Shin Zangetsu fiasco has associated "web exclusive" with "prohibitively expensive" for many people. For Gaim, the core four Riders, Kachidoki, and Kiwami were all mass-market releases. It was reasonable to expect Drive's final form wouldn't be an exclusive. (To be clear, I don't feel strongly on the topic, and there have been plenty of posts in this thread explaining why this being an exclusive may not be unreasonable or necessarily a bad thing.)

I can't say I'm a big fan of exclusives. I'd intended to order Shinkocchou Seihou Kamen Rider Gatack, but due the sometimes-long delay between the announcement and when they're available for preorder, it completely slipped my mind, so I missed the ordering window. People often post reminders when retail releases are about to be posted. Also, for people who are ordering from non-Japanese retailers - BBTS and such - the pricing difference between web exclusives tends to be dramatic, further reinforcing the perception that web exclusive = pricey.

Things that are obvious to people who've been part of this community for longer aren't always obvious to newer people. It took me a very long time to get comfortable with ordering from Japanese sites and middlemen, and not everybody even knows where to look. Not everybody's going to have the same mileage. (And to be clear, people here on the forums have been helpful in pointing me toward better options, but posts tend to get buried in threads pretty quickly.)

I suspect the elephant in the room is that how Figuarts handles Kamen Rider may be changing in a way that not everybody is comfortable with. We're all aware that Figuarts has expanded to include more popular and lucrative properties, and I've gotten the sense that we're seeing slightly fewer toku Figuarts released. This probably isn't a coincidence. Bandai's indicating that they don't believe that Drive's final form would sell well enough at retail, and that could prompt some folks to feel anxious. People are still stinging from Figuarts dropping Sentai, and missing the Figuarts Rider releases of a few years ago. Scorpio Zodiarts was a retail release, which is unthinkable now.

That might be needlessly pessimistic of me, of course. I'd never have guessed that Kiva-la would be a retail release.

I'm not quite sure what I think about the web exclusivity. I'm less invested because I don't intend to pick up Type Tridoron. However, I have to say that the Figuarts pictures have prompted me to appreciate the form more than I did its on-screen counterpart. The tire effects... those are delightful, and they make me wish very slightly that Bandai'd release corresponding tires (Justice Hunter, Rumble Dump, etc.) for Type Speed. This looks like an excellent release.

Here are some more pictures of the figure: http://blog.livedoor.jp/shfiguarts/a...059753314.html

What do you mean by "sometimes long delay"? Web exclusives go up literally the day we get the official images, there is absolutely no delay between announcement and the preorder window opening. If anything it's the retail releases that have a delay between announcement and preorder availability.

And then after that the Bandai window is something like four-five months, and even after that I'm not entirely certain some middlemen simply shut up shop on taking orders.

I honestly could care less where it comes from. Mass retail? I go online...web exclusive? I dm my middle man...either way shows up at my door.
He looks fantastic though for a final form. Mind you I have only three final forms in my figuart collection, Infinity and Survives. Usually I'm not a fan of the final forms.

Well hopefully after this release Bandai will go back and release more Gaim Figuarts that I want like the movie riders.

Since this is the last drive figuart that's going to be release.

On the whole exclusive vs retail thing, the only detriment I can really see at this point to things being an exclusive of some sorts is it prevents the possibility of a re-release...but even that's a weak position, given only so many things get re-released at retail anyways (people are still waiting on a Knight/Darkwing re-release, or even Kachidoki Arms), and if Bandai/TN REALLY want to, they can get around the exclusivity thing and re-release stuff anyways (see the Premium Color DBZ figures).

Even on the aftermarket, it doesn't seem like many toku SHFs have jumped dramatically in price. Yeah Zangetsu Shin isn't cheap, but aside from him, what other exclusive Gaim Riders (or any recent Riders/toku figures) consistently clock in over 7000 yen (that aren't two-packs are larger releases, like Dragranzer)? What's the last figure to truly skyrocket & stay highly priced, Gai?

Anywaaaaaaays, I'm glad we're finally getting a preorder for Type Tridoron, and FINALLY TN opts to toss in some extra tire stuff with a fucking Drive release like I've been whining for!

Chaser, for one, hasn't dropped under 8000 yen since its release. If anything, it seems to be rising...

Ah yeah I forgot about Chaser. So with him and Zangetsu Shin that's....two, for toku (non-two-pack/large release)?

I won't be surprised if they announce another drive figuart around the time the mach/heart movie is released though.

Well were still missing Type Next and Lupin.

I don't think it going to happen the extra movie don't get Figuarts.

Only movie we got Figuarts from were Gaim because it was very popular that why.

Also at that point Bandai will probably move on to Kamen Rider Ex Aid Figuarts.

Weren't Femme and Verde movie Riders?

Yes they were and that was a very popular movie at that time that's why they got Figuarts.

caucasus, ketaros, hercus, Ryuga, G4, siren, verde, NEW Den-O Strike Form, Den-O Wing Form, Skull, Eternal, Nadeshko, Kivara, Burakawani...I could go on, but those are all movie Riders or forms that had Figuarts releases in the past.