[Tokumonkey]

I just got my first Revolve Change figure from Tokullectibles, the Tycoon/Buffa Ninja/Zombie. How they're built is definitely interesting, but... yeah, I've lost my interest in buying any more. Too bad I pre-ordered the US releases of Geats and the bike.

I found it interesting that the part with the two heads is removable. The problem is that lots of other stuff is also removable, and further, doesn't like to stay attached. The Tycoon and Buffa-specific parts and the chest pieces for Ninja like to pop off frequently. (Ninja's armor separates in a manner completely different than what its form suggested, which I appreciated.) The lower legs of either form have the kind of stability you'd expect from something that's supposed to double as an elbow. This can technically provide additional poseability, except it's for parts that aren't supposed to move like that. By comparison, the thighs lose some movement from the structure that's supposed to give them stability when they're a chest. Buffa's helmet "hair" severely restricts the head's poseability, and the Tycoon head's eyes don't look great with the Ninja form's background color. You can do some interesting things with shoulder posing, but doing so leaves some gaps that don't look great. The teeny-tiny hand/feet don't look great as hands, and they don't provide a ton of stability for posing, or even just standing. Also, although you have the option to display it as either Buffa or Tycoon, you'd need to buy the rather-expensive-for-what-it-is two-half-bodies Premium Bandai set if you wanted to display both characters.

There are some interesting ideas at work here, but I'm afraid this isn't going to be as cool as the Gaim Arms Change line. The biggest problem is that the revolving gimmick is more fiddly than fun, but YMMV.

On another note, while the Bandai candy blog has been weirdly silent about Geats ID 4, you can find the full case breakdown on Tokullectibles. I've got mixed feelings about the wave, because four of the 13 boxes are dedicated to Revice... movie stuff, I guess? Which I have no interest in. Most of the wave is still Geats-related, specifically the Fever forms for Tycoon Ninja, Na-Go Beats, Buffa Zombie, and PunkJack Monster. Box 13 is the one that most interests me, and I hope (but probably in vain) that it's the one that appears twice in the case. It comes with a chest and leg pieces for the Armed forms, the Armed Arrow and Armed Water gun, a modular Desire Driver that can have different Raise Buckles slotted in, a Ninja lower leg that isn't Tycoon-specific, additional half-helmets for our five current Riders, one of every single Raise Buckle that appeared in the show before Command, and basically all the stickers ever.

Sadly, there's only the one box, whereas I'll probably want multiples of the Armed pieces for the eliminated Riders. I imagine they'll release another along these lines with more Armed pieces and the remaining Armed weapons in ID 5.

Fiddling with the Desire Driver a bit more, I've heard some more novel sounds, including Geats Strike several times. I think there's something about the raise buckles on one side not always seating properly. I'm looking forward to seeing whether and what "Geats Strike" will refer to. Seeing that there's a new upcoming driver - and given that they don't appear to be selling the Command Raise Buckles absent the sword - I'm inclined to stop picking up more belt-related stuff, at least after Fever ships. Still, I'm fascinated by how the newer major raise buckles are all doing *something* interesting mechanically.

I've probably overinvested in merch from this show, but I'm enjoying Geats more than any Kamen Rider series since Gaim, and that's saying something given we've had some very strong shows since then.

Oh, one last bit: the picture of the Revolve Change Na-Go and PunkJack having Entry Form lower bodies apparently isn't an indication of the way Na-Go/PunkJack will be actually released. I didn't realize the image above was of a part of the back of the Buffa/Tycoon box. On the box, they're arranged right next to Tycoon and Buffa laid out the same way, so presumably, it's a "if you buy all the Revolve Change figures, you can do this" thing.