[Tokumonkey]

I preordered Shurikenjin without hesitating.

A friend bought me the RH-03 for my birthday last year, and I was effectively sunk. It had been a while since I'd owned a toy that didn't fall into the "adult collectibles" category, but I was won over by the neat engineering. It was a bunny! A helicopter! A terrible hat for Go-Buster-Oh! It had a tiny Usada Lettuce! I was sunk.

I paid too much for Kyoryujin and never regretted it. It was the voices: I loved them MUCHO. And again, the clever engineering; there was this potential there to unlock hidden features. (I never looked up a battery guide, but I experiment from time to time.) Heck, I even went partly-in on the ToQger mecha... admittedly, before I saw the show. Even without sounds, I'm enjoying finding combinations never used in the show. And the "battering ram...!"

Looking at Shurikenjin, I'm so curious! It's clear the wolf mecha folds up into the lower leg of the different mecha. Can it form the center of the mecha, too? Is there more hidden in the other leg? Is there anything hidden in the dump truck? And the combination of stuff - dragon, ninja, train, doggie, dump truck, elephant - is so wonderfully random.

I'd exercise patience with this stuff - after all, won't it appear in the U.S. in a few years? - but given the comparative quality of recent Bandai of America releases... I mean, Kyoryujin without GABRUCHINO? No, thanks.

Okay, I'm weak. But these toys are so much fun to fiddle with! (Wow, I 'm using a lot of exclamation points today.)