S.H. Figuarts Best Selection
 

With what seems like a new format for reissues, Tamashii will re-release SHF Kamen Rider Build and Ultraman in June.

With 3850¥ Build is only marginally more expensive than the original release, Ultraman comes in at the same price and is thus cheaper than the first time around. However: Ultraman does not include any of his effect parts, only the extra hands and the alternate Color Timer.

It seems like these reissues are cheaper but lack accessories, looking at the other non-Toku releases. Build isn't affected since well, he didn't have any real accessories to begin with :p

These go up for pre-order tomorrow, February 7nd in Japan. I won’t mirror all images since they are the exact same stock pictures as the original, just lacking the ones that show the accessorieswhich are not included anymore.

https://tamashii.jp/item/13148/
https://tamashii.jp/item/13150/

http://www.tokunation.com/attachment...1&d=1580962878

http://www.tokunation.com/attachment...1&d=1580962878

Gimping accessories is a no-no, so I'll pass.

I wasn't able to get the Build Figuarts when it was reissued for Zi-O (I think?), so assuming this is a regular retail release and not some Premium Bandai thing, HOORAY!

Whoops, forgot to mention: Yes, all retail releases!

So you're telling me I just paid $70 for a used Build for absolutely no reason?

Welcome to Toy Collecting 101- Toy companies ONLY care about Money,not our feelings. It sucks. But it is de Way,my bruddah

Oh thank god. Here's hoping this eventually extends to secondary characters and seihous.

So the announcement for this and the item pages I posted are gone from Tamashii's website. I don’t know if it got put up early by accident or something, we'll find out tomorrow.

Not with this sub line hopefully because cutting out accessories for a cheaper price is not my cup of tea.

Well, a few things on that...

For one thing, we haven't got a -huge- precedent right now. The only accessories omitted from Ultraman are his effect parts, and not his others. It's entirely possible we'll see some 'certain accessories, but not all' cuts in future re-issues; like how 20RK Gaim came with almost everything but left out his closed lockseed.

In addition, it would depend on the figure for me if accessories are cut. Like, if you rerelease Seihou Hibiki without his drumsticks? We're gonna have words. But if they were to bring out Cross-Z without his sword? Well, the sword is cool; but it's one of the most superflouous least-fitting weapons in Rider history, and that's saying a lot. So I'd be perfectly fine with a rerelease of Cross-Z only coming with extra hands as his accessories.

I paid like $80. for NECA Nintendo Godzilla and then they re-issued it for $25.

I know them feelz.

Want that Ultraman but no accessories? .....idk....

Definitely seems to be a "cut accessories for lower price" approach across them all here. It's hard to say which Naruto in particular this is a reissue of (especially with the page gone for now), because it doesn't really match... Any of the releases. It's clearly not the super outdated first one. The next two were both takes on his Sage Mode though with faces to reflect that.. Which this one didn't look to include from what I recall. Also only looked to have a single small Rasengan and not the bigger Rasenshuriken accessory. Nevermind the coat and scroll of the proper Sage Mode. I don't think I remember seeing any kunai either? So then it also feels like they're saying "here's normal Naruto if we'd used this updated design from the start" type of deal.

So anyway... Reissues are good. For sure. But I'm also not a fan of the "but it's only happening because we're cutting things from it" style of reissue that these seem to follow.

Personally,as a collector of these damn wallet-rapers,I DETEST reissues.But Bandai is the KING of this crap (after 21+ years of collecting every Bandai Godzilla fig until 2006,the CONSTANT reissues absolutely killed it for me...I digress) and will slap teh hell outta these unless they don't sell.Aw well,only (roughly)260 more of these things to go...including all the dang reissues- because like Pokemon,I must have them all

DH2!

Even as a collector, why would you get re-issues? It's just the exact same figure you bought before.

Also, what is even remotely bad about reissues that in Tamashii's case don’t even slow down the release of new figures?

There's literally no downside to this at all. You have it? Great, skip it. You don’t have it? Great, buy it.

Because I am a COMPLETE collector,and don't think like that towards my KR stuff. That means EVERYTHING,including reissues. This is a hobby I want to complete,simple as that,and my "toy-ego" will then be satisfied.It's hard for people under 30 with no kids/in school/not adults yet(this is by no means disrespectful,btw,hopefully) to "get" this ideology of having everything in a collection I am noticing,to be randomly specific about it. I pay my bills,buy my food,put gas in car,then I get about 10 figures a month afterwards. Not rich,just know how to collect within my means. Having a nerdy Spouse that wants you to have that goal does not hurt,either!

DH2!

And that's perfectly fine, but I don't really think you have much room to complain then. Whatever the reason for your collecting decision, you've personally made the choice to buy every single release that comes out - no matter how much you might like the figure or the character; no matter how many figures they put out; no matter how different each one might be to the other. Bandai are hardly doing a bad thing here just because you've elected to buy all of their products.

Hey Kurona- there is ALWAYS room to complain about Bandai!!!
Ha, just kidding...it just means I have to find more $$ to get these randomly announced cash-grabs ...

DH2!

So, hey, getting back to the "no accessories = no interest in buying" thing for a second, if that's cool.

For me, I don't think a lack of accessories in a reissue is disqualifying. My SHF purchases are little trophies (I watched this whole series!) that go up on a shelf in a cool pose. After that, my physical interaction with it is around zero, not counting picking it up if it tips over. I just like looking at 'em, you know? Most accessories are something that just stay in a little box, something I now have to store in a closet or a drawer. Tamashii deciding to do a smaller box with just a figure in it, maybe a base or a single weapon, I'm totally onboard with that. Plus, it seems ideal for the fanbase that doesn't want to see an original purchase devalued, because, hey, that original one comes with a whole bunch of accessories. Best of both worlds, I'd think.

And, as a Transformers collector, one of the most frustrating elements of higher-end official figures is the amount of weird shit they come with. A swarm of hands (that's the proper term, right, a swarm?), multiple faces, six different things they can hold, some deep-cut reference from one episode.. all that stuff makes a single figure cost, like, who knows how much more, and it feels too weird to throw it out so now you've got a medium-sized box of ephemera piled up somewhere. I'm honestly a fan of Tamashii reoffering older figures, bare bones, at a steep discount off of more definitive releases. For my style of collecting, it's something that I appreciate.

At that point though why not buy a statue and be done with it? Part of the reason of getting an action figure, atleast to me, is having multiple options in terms of posing and display.

A few reasons!

VARIETY - There's no Rider line that has as many figure options as SHF. Who's making a statue for all twenty Heisei Riders, most secondary Riders, and a few hundred form changes? At least with SHF, if I want a specific suit, I just have to be okay paying for it.

PRICE - The few statues that are out there are usually a lot more expensive than a Figuarts. You see that Ryuki statue? $900!

GOLDILOCKS SIZING - The Ichiban statues are too big to display a bunch of them, and the SODO figs are too small to have the best detailing. SHF figures are just right.

I TRIED THE ICHIBAN VINYL STATUES AND I HATED THEM - Decent price, but the vinyl was bent right out of the package, and they each (W, Geiz, Den-O) fell over every single night. I got rid of them within a week.

NOT PRICED FOR ME TO FEEL COMFORTABLE PLAYING WITH - When I pay Figuarts money, I feel weird playing with it. Small movements, delicate handling, not a lot of interaction. Handled with care, you know?

LEAVING IT ALONE AFTER I POSE IT IS ONE OF THE MULTIPLE OPTIONS IN TERMS OF POSING AND DISPLAY - I get to decide how it looks on a shelf, which means I can feel an ownership over my display. Once I do that, I feel like I got my money's worth?

Yeah, but again, having more options in general is only a good thing. Otherwise, have a key pose in mind but can't do it due to not having a certain hand, weapon, or whatever? Too bad.

What's that? Didn't have any spare cash for the first release, but now you have enough for this reissue? Ha, sorry man, can't do that cool Ultra Laser anymore because we took it away. Pay a crapton in aftermarket prices or it's a no-go for you!

Granted, if you personally didn't care about the accessories that got nixed, then yeah, it works out great for you. But for many collectors like myself, having a reissue that only gets rid of things is bad because it would cost them literally nothing extra to just reissue the figures as they were.

Heck, at the very least with the "Kicks" line we got bonus stands in places of the other stuff that got axed. Not ideal, but it was something!

Reissues like this just leave a bad taste in my mouth, personally.

And it's totally cool if you don't feel like this release is for you. It seems like this is Tamashii recognizing that there are two different types of collectors, though: those who want a tricked-out release with a bunch of accessories; and those who just want a nicely-detailed plastic man because they liked that character from a TV show. You're in the former, I'm in the latter. It's not like Tamashii's going light on high-end offerings and whatnot, so I think it's okay if they offer bare-bones releases as well?

Also, to put it in robot-toy-collector terms again, every time there's an Optimus Prime Masterpiece toy, two warring camps emerge on the boards. It's always Camp Why Don't They Drop The Trailer It Adds Too Much To The Price I Always Leave It In The Box versus Camp But Optimus Prime Should Come With A Trailer He Has A Trailer In The Cartoon I Want The Release To Be Definitive. This argument has been going on for years. There are always going to be people who love the accessories, and people who resent having to pay extra for ones they don't want. Robot toys, you don't get an option, and it can be frustrating. Here, it's like, the original Build figure still exists? You can still get those accessories if it means that much to you? And people who don't want them can just buy this one? I'm not going to say it doesn't suck to want the original and not have the opportunity to have it reissued at the original price, but this feels like a very Making The Most People Happy situation. It's never Making Everyone Happy, but the Most People Happy.

For me it once again depends on the figure. Having Build's Drill Crusher or Cross-Z's Beat Crosser does open up more posing options for them, sure; but for their identities they definitely feel a lot more superfluous than Blade's sword or Fourze's rocket and drill; and frankly don't even feel like they fit as much like Ex-Aid's hammer does. It would feel wrong to have Gaim without his Daidaimaru, but if I get Geiz without his axe... bow... thing? Meh.

A very long-winded way to say that for me, it's case-by-case basis depending on how important it is to the character and how integral it is to their poses and/or silhouette. I'd really like Brave to have his sword as a knight, but if Drive barely used his sword and gun and they're more important to his other forms anyway? Screw it, don't include them so I can have him for cheaper.

For the record, I'm not trying to say "If you approve of this reissue, screw you you're dumb." If you're down with it, great. I'm just saying for me personally, I'd want the total package.

I also think the title is a bit misleading too. Maybe calling it "Figuarts Basics" or something like that, then revealing that these are meant to be cheap alternatives rather than outright reissues, would soften the blow some.

Ehh, this is just personal opinion but unless it is Blade or Hibiki or Den-O Sword Form, a rider like Build I would not mind getting just the figure.

By the way, these will be repackaged in what appears to be closed boxes.

http://www.tokunation.com/attachment...1&d=1581076907

Build sold out in seconds lol

Goddammit just as I was planning to buy him someday.

Honestly I'm just surprised that they're acknowledging their Naruto line after it had appeared to be canceled for the last two years.

Wow, what ugly boxes.

Entertainment Earth has Build up for pre-order for $35.