[Tokumonkey]

Yesterday, I got Lazer and the Gamers for everyone except Snipe in the mail.

I'd looked forward to these, but mostly, I'm unimpressed. When I decided to more or less go all-in on this line, I'd hoped for something along the lines of the Gaim Arms Change figures. Thing is, from what I've seen of Arms Change, the base figures were largely able to retain their articulation and function.

The Gamers more or less paralyze Ex-Aid and Brave. Since the masks are attached to the chest plates, they lose head articulation. (Why they didn't replicate what Arms Change did and make the masks separate is puzzling.) Anything other than a straight-frontal pose looks bad. The figures are also made excessively top-heavy, so just getting them into a stable pose is more challenging than it ought to be.

In their Gamer forms, the Robot and Beat Gamers just don't do anything. They have little to no articulation and, much like their armor forms, they only look good from straight on. Gaim's fruit armor had the benefit of their non-armor form being, well, deliberately inanimate. There' no reason to expect the orange to do anything. With the Gamers, their form kinda implies some kind of function that just isn't there.

So the Robot and Beat Gamers aren't great. I'd be interested in seeing Figuarts versions of these designs, since I think the gimmick here gets in the way of some interesting/fun design.

Lazer was the best purchase of the lot and the most substantial toy. It looks better as a bike than I'd have expected. I haven't changed it into its Level 1 form yet, and the base figure for Level 3 is pretty good.

The Chambara Gamer is... How do I put this? As a Gamer, it's trash. However, it's far more ambitious than the Robot or Beats Gamers. It tries for greater articulation, and I appreciate that. The problem is that the tiny connections for its limbs are so weak, it's all unusable. It falls apart - to quote Archer - for, like, no reason. It looks arguably slightly better than the other two, as long as you don't try moving those limbs.

Where it shines is in its Level 3 combination with Lazer. The Limbs are largely *not* floppy and are relatively functional when attached to Lazer for his Chambara Gamer form. (I'm still having trouble not typing "Chanbara.") counter to my complaints about the other Gamers, the mask is a separate piece that attaches well to relatively well-hidden holes in Lazer's face.

Level 3 mostly works. For what it is, it's got relatively decent articulation and proportions. Level 3 is more or less the "complete" version of Lazer in a way that's not true for the other Level 3 forms. Unfortunately, some of its articulation is blocked by its slightly bulky design, and the articulation of the head is iffy. (Technically, it can move, but it doesn't look good in doing so.) Lazer also suffers from the same problem the other Ex-Aid riders have, which is hand articulation so weak he can barely hold his weapons. I'm also coming to the conclusion that Lazer Level 3 actually looks a little better without the mask.

That Bandai went out of their way to supply each of these with a swappable Driver is a welcome and unexpected touch.

Finally, there's Sports Gamer, Genm's bicycle. First, to my surprise, he can actually be more-or-less posed riding it. Second, he's got a lot more articulation than the other Riders in Level 3 form. He's not quite as top-heavy. He shares the mask problem with the other riders. (That mask problem isn't just limited to the immobility; there's really no pose in which Brave's or Genm's faces look great.) He looks okay in more poses than the others. To my surprise, Genm actually looks better with the Sports Gamer than Ex-Aid does, even though it's consistent with Ex-Aid's color scheme. The form is a little clunky, and the parts that plug into the shoulders are unnecessary, don't work that well, and hinder the articulation of the arms. It's not bad, but it's not fantastic.

In retrospect, I regret picking up the Robot and Beat gamers, but I feel that Lazer and the Chambara/Sports set were worthy purchases, despite the weakness of Chambara in its Gamer form. (Alas, I also pre-ordered Jet Combat.) These purchases together have left me questioning how much deeper I want to delve into the LVUR line. I think I'll give the upcoming Gamers a pass unless they work VERY differently.