[Den-O]

Orange Arms! Hanamichi, on Stage!

Well this has felt like a long long time coming. After the excellence of Kamen Rider Gaim the TV show, the release of beautiful collector figures was a foregone conclusion. When the S.H. Figuarts of Gaim and his compatriots were revealed months ago I remember being ridiculously excited. And after having this guy in hand, I am still ridiculously excited.

**Note- Post #2 contains an additional 40 images of Gaim so be sure to check them all out!

Let's get started! S.H. Figuarts Kamen Rider Gaim Orange Arms was released in tandem with his rival Baron. The pair of them are the first collector style figures released from Gaim so there's been a lot of hype about them. Let's dissect that hype with a look at this figure now.

Packaging
As you can see Gaim comes in a new style of packaging. Of course this is the common trend each time a new rider show releases Figuarts now. Gaim's packaging is a step above though. It really goes the distance to conveying the orange theme. Within the box Gaim is packed in the traditional plastic clamshells, and oh look he has tons of....

Accessories
S.H. Figuarts Kamen Rider Gaim is certainly loaded with all the pertinent accessories he needs. Included with him are 4 sets of additional hands, each open to a different degree allowing him to hold one of his other accessories. No truly unique hands or anything but he doesn't really need anything more than this.

And what would Gaim be without his two signature weapons? Defenseless! I kid. Gaim includes his trusty Musou Saber & Daidaimaru. The Musou Saber is quite nice and pointy at the tip. Unfortunately for me mine has a bit of missing paint app on one side though it isn't terribly noticeable. A small decal is also used to convey detail on the back side of the Saber which actually looks far better than painted details at that size could have. Sadly the pallete slide tab on the back of the Saber used to "reload" it doesn't move but that's no great loss.

The Daidaimaru is clearly the better of the two weapons though as it is lavishly painted. It's damn near perfect. It almost looks like it could be an actual slice of orange. The two weapons can also combine as they do in show to form the Naginata Mode. Mentioned previously, as a welcome added bonus of design, Gaim's own Orange Lock Seed attached to his driver is removable and can be used with the Musou Saber to simulate a fruit charge attack! This is awesome.

Figure
Now this is the real meat of the whole ensemble. Kamen Rider Gaim himself. I'll just say it, this is hands down one of the absolute best S.H. Figuarts I have ever owned or handled. When looking at the figure, it's the small details that really pop. The functioning blade on the Sengoku Driver & it's removable Lock Seed, the gorgeous pearl orange paint used for the armor, the incredible compound eyes/visor, the free range of motion the figure has, etc, etc. This guy knocks every single thing out of the park. Almost. The articulation simply could not be better either. This figure truly moves like a person could.

It should be noted that Gaim retains the "old style" ball jointed wrists common with a majority of the SHF line. The new "peg system" debuted with Kabuto Renewal has yet to make it to mainline releases.

There also seems to be an issue that about half people have with this figure. And that's with the Musou Saber holster. People who have an issue with it have noted their holster is misaligned from the factory. Mine was the same way. The two halves were assembled just a bit off. For most people this means inserting the Musou Saber is quite difficult and has resulted in breaking the holster. Mine doesn't have a fit issue but is a bit off center. The holster as a whole does tend to pop out of the belt joint if you splay the legs out too far, but that's a minor issue.

Overall
S.H. Figuarts Kamen Rider Gaim is a homerun. It's the homerun of homeruns. This is the single best S.H. Figuart I've ever owned or handled. While it has a few drawbacks it's simply magnificent. The paint job, sculpt, accessory count, and packaging all come together to create an exquisite product. Please please go out and pick this guy up, you will not be disappointed.

Next up on the to do list is the S.H. Figuarts Kamen Rider Baron Banana Arms Gallery!