[Den-O]

Drive! Type Wild!

Start your engine again with another gallery from Kamen Rider Drive! Today we're taking a look at Drive's first upgraded form. From the Tire Koukan line it's TK-03 Kamen Rider Drive Type Wild!

Don't forget to check out the video review of this excellent figure by my man Baltmatrix as well!

Packaging
Much like Drive Type Speed and the TK-02 tire set, Drive Type Wild comes in a nice slim box with one diagonally rounded off side. Collectors of the line have nothing new to see here other than the obviously new stock images for Drive and some of his new tires. Unlike Type Speed however Wild is packed as one solid figure rather than two halves. This is of course due to how the Tire Koukan gimmick has changed for this Type.

Main Figure
Kamen Rider Drive Type Wild is a pretty beastly form. A design commented on by many, Type Wild looks much like a mixture of Master Chief, Optimus Prime, and a little bit of Riser Gant thrown in for good measure. It looks great in show and in figure form it really pulls off the badass police tank theme it's going for.

While the figure may seem plain at first it's not missing many paint apps aside from the belt and brace. It actually conveys it's on screen appearance very well. The black is slick and properly applied and the hints of gray/silver really break up the monotony of the black as well. Taking a look at the back of the figure it shares much of the same undercarriage detailing that Type Speed had, just in gray this time making the details easier to make out.

One big improvement this figure has over Type Speed is the shoulders. Type Wild has pull out shoulders! Given a normal range of forward/back and outward motion already, the shoulders on Type Wild can be pulled out from the torso about a centimeter allowing his shoulders to swing up pretty far and allow for some fairly dynamic poses. You might think the right shoulder where the tire attaches would hinder movement but it already doesn't And even if it did this clever shoulder design would alleviate such a problem.

While talking about that shoulder you can see there's actually a groove molded into the upper arm for tires. This ensures when a tire is attached that it doesn't get in the way of the arm and instead physically moves with the arm. Rather than sitting on top of the arm it's physically part of it. Pretty damn smart engineering. Where the tire is connected you'll see that a silver cap sits in the center as well. Before or after you plug a tire on this cap can be removed revealing a peg that exactly matches that of Type Speeds torso, allowing for lot's of wacky combos. The silver cap is mainly there to fill in where a weapon would normally be stored on a tire which includes one. The cap is a part of Type Wild's standard look with a normal tire, but some tires have additional parts that would go where it is. As for tires, the figure really isn't complete without it's default one, so let's move onto;

Accessories
Drive Type Wild comes with just 3 accessories, but they're the perfect inclusions for this upgraded form.

1 - Type Wild Tire. This of course is the primary tire accessed for this form from the Type Wild Shift Car. It's a nice bulky off-road tread tire that looks like it would be at home on a police humvee of some sort. It really adds to the whole police tank aesthetic they were going for with this form. Even with the Tire attachment point moved to the shoulder this figure will still fit comfortably in DX Tridoron. And of course now you have something to pair up with Tridoron Type Wild as well.!

1 - Rumble Dump Tire. This tire is one of the afformentioned weapon tires. More than just a tire on it's own the drill can also be detached from Rumble Dump. When this tire is plugged onto the shoulder you need to remove the silver "hub" cap first. This allows the tire to be connected while the drill is still attached. When the drill is popped off you can put the cap back on completing the normal look of the shoulder. You'll also see when you take the drill off that there are gears in there too. When you rotate the top half of the tire and the drill is connected, this rotating will make the drill spin too! To me this is hands down the best tire in the line so far.

1 - Handle Sword! Yes, Type Wild includes the Handle Sword, Drive's signature melee weapon! Though it's primarily a weapon for Type Speed we know that Wild & by extension any form, could also use this sword. It's actually a pretty awesomely detailed weapon, quite a bit more so than most of last years Arms Change weapons even. And the steering wheel actually does turn!

In short Type Wild comes with everything we've seen from it up to this point. Everything it needs.

Final Thoughts
Already the Tire Koukan line is shaping up to be pretty damn solid. Drive Type Speed was fantastic while the first Tire Set left a little bit to be desired. But TK-03 Drive Type Wild is the full package. Excellent sculpt & details packed with just the right accessories. You should definitely do yourself a favor and pick this one up, in my personal opinion it far exceeds the excellence of even Drive Type Speed. Though an eventual Figuart will of course beat it out, for now this figure does not disappoint.

Nice Drive!