[Tokumonkey]

Despite not having had the foresight to preorder any of the early waves of SO-DO Kamen Rider Ex-Aid, I was able to snag a set of Stage 3 - plus JuJu Burger - through Mandarake. They arrived today, and I opened up Brave Beats Gamer.

Despite the stickers and the inferior paint, this Level 3 form looks so much better than the LVUR version it's almost heartbreaking. Furthermore, it makes the ugly backpack fully optional. The armor is swappable, but I'm much inclined to do so, since it's really easy to mess up the stickers while handling the thing. (Getting the shoulder armor on was something of a challenge.

I've seen a suggestion that something like nail polish can be used to prevent stickers from peeling. Anyone have experience with this? I'm concerned that some of the stickers are right next to joints, so there'd be a risk of freezing the joint. Despite my careful use of tweezers, a couple of the around-the-arm stickers are already peeling.

These boxes also cemented for me that I did, in fact, have a few of the same type of candy toys from Gaim (Duke, Bravo, Gaim Ichigou Arms) given to me by a friend. I'd liked them - I remember being impressed - but never thought about trying to acquire more. In retrospect... I mean, I love my Gaim Figuarts, but shelf space is at a premium. The small form factor of these candy toy lines is tempting.

It's tempting enough that I splurged on preordering the other Ex-Aid SO-DO for which I could snag preorders: Stages 8 and 10. Stage 3 comes with a few Gamers (Jet Combat, Girigiri Chambara, Skarakiri Sports) without base figures to attach to them, which is disappointing given that Stage 1 and 2 are difficult to obtain.

Since I didn't want to experience similar failed-buyer's remorse, I also ordered a SO-DO Build set from AmiAmi. For all I know, the 6" toy line will be superior for those, but now that I've seen how deeply SO-DO got into Ex-Aid - Poppy! JuJu Burger! Niko! scenery items! - I'm hoping the Build line will be just as cool.

I think I'll look into getting rid of my LVURs. I've got the Figuarts of the original trio, and the upgrade forms just look way better in SO-DO. Anyway, anyone got sticker-preservation tips for those of us with no paint skills?