[ljacone]

I'm sort of a mixed bad of feelings about the gimmickry. I'm a fan of the Showa Riders moreso than the modern ones, so the gimmicks are sort of counter to what the old school Riders represented -- simply getting on a bike and fighting monsters. The newer guys seem to be a lot more involved with various tschotskes and knicknacks than the older ones.

That having been said it does help differentiate them. I think one of the problems which the Ultra Heroes face is that ultimately they are all very similar. They all have a very similar look and powers. Yeah there's differences among them, but to the casual fan it's just an army of the same guy. You cannot say that about the modern Riders, who each have some gimmick to set them apart from their comrades.

I loved the Advent Decks on Kamen Rider Dragon Knight, for instance, and liked that even though it linked them together, the Decks also differentiated them from each other.

Really, so long as the final drive of the story is to defeat Shocker (Gel-Shocker, or Gorgom, or Crisis Empire, or whatever...) rather than to collect all the items, then I am cool with 'em.