[Switchblade]

Picked up my first new Rider merch since last fall today: Kiwami Tamashii Kaixa and Agito Trinity.

I've been a big fan of this line almost since the beginning and have, lately, actually given serious thought to going back to these exclusively instead of Figuarts (which are great, but they're so big and expensive and I honestly don't think I'll find another one that's as good as Knight). These two really help reinforce how great this whole damn line is and why going back to collecting them exclusively may not be a bad idea.

I'll cover Kaixa first, since he was the figure I wanted more, although both are equally great. The design is pretty damn SIC-ish with tons of sculpted detail and greebling everywhere. The paint is beautiful, articulation is unhindered by anything, and all the joints are nice and tight. The accessories are great, too. He has four extra hands, the Kaixa Shot (which just sits on the belt), the Kaixa phone in belt and gun mode (and he can actually hold it in gun mode, unlike Faiz and his phone), the Blaygun with attachable blade and working hip holster, and the... whatever the kick thing is called. The kick thing (Kaixa Binoculars?) is actually really cool. It clips on his back or foot and the sides actually flip down to form the Rider Kick mode. I never expected such a tiny accessory to do something like that. This guy is so cool.

Agito Trinity was an impulse buy. HLJ had him on sale for 50% off so I threw him in the cart with Kaixa. I figured that, if nothing else, he'd at least look cool on the Tornador. Gotta say I'm very pleasantly surprised with how cool he is. Yeah, he's, like, 90% identical to the Ground Form figure, but the new additions are really cool. The sculpting is solid and the metallic red on the Flame arm is gorgeous, although the blue on the Storm arm is so dark it almost looks black in the wrong light. The Weapons are surprisingly cool. The Storm Halberd's blades actually fold back like they do on the show. Even cooler, the Flame Saber actually has tiny little fins that fold out on the hilt, again just like on the show. I'm really impressed with these accessories, they do things that my Figuarts Agito Trinity's weapons don't even manage. It's a pity the Storm and Flame effects parts only come with the exclusives.

Seriously, if you like cool Kamen Rider toys that manage to be really cool and affordable, get these things.