[Den-O]

G-G-G-G-G-G-G-Ghost!

The spooktacular new rider, Kamen Rider Ghost arrives with the first of many gimmick line figures! Today we take a look at that initial release with Ghost Change GC-01 Kamen Rider Ghost Ore Damashii!

** This gallery was made possible thanks to the generosity of my good friend Baltmatrix, who let me borrow his Ghost so I didn't have to purchase one myself. Thanks Matt!

Packaging
As we've seen over the years the packaging for the mass retail rider gimmick lines is actually pretty nice, though for consistencies sake they usually share the same basic packaging type. Which is a smart move for a series that's on annually. Similar packaging for figures like this through out the years has got to make it easier on Japanese retailers.

In any case Kamen Rider Ghost's packing deviates a bit with the two halves of his plastic inner shell forming over the figure like normal, but the box itself doesn't have a plastic window. My guess would be cost cutting as it is really unnecessary since the plastic shell fully encapsulates the toy anyway. There are good shots of the Ghost suit on the package and call outs to other merch as well as a large Ghost symbol printed on card back in the box. All in all pretty nice.

Main Figure
Ghost Change Kamen Rider Ghost is a rather bland figure on it's own. In his basic form with no Damashii's attached he's known as Kamen Rider Ghost Transient. This very basic form is akin to past years' pre-forms like Kuuga Growing or Den-O Plat Form. While basic it does look rather interesting. An all black suit, the majority of the figure is cast in a translucent gray/green plastic to give it a ghostly ethereal feel. The body lines are painted in a nice bright orange to contrast this and the chest detail in particular is very nice.

The Ghost Driver is a little plain but that's to be expected on a gimmick style toy like this. Though as many fans have pointed out in the show, the Ghost Driver sticks rather far out off of Ghosts' waist. Here it's the same. It's non-functioning but it gets the job done well enough. The helmet details in this form actually deviate a bit from the show. The silver face plate is sort of studded with bumps to replicate the features of traditional Kamen Rider Compound Eyes. This is to help the figure pull the look of each different Damashii off, without having to tool that detail into each Damashii. So while it's a bit off from the smooth show face plate, it's smart.

The figure has a fairly basic range of movement with swivel/ball jointed feet. Swivels thighs, knee bends, rotating hips, a partially rotating waist, poseable fingers, elbows, rotating shoulders, and a neck that can swivel side to side and back. It's capable of some fairly decent poses thanks to this, but as you'll see in images & read below, the Parka Ghosts/Damashiis greatly hinder this.

Accessories
Ghost Change Kamen Rider Ghost is pretty standard as far as retail figures of this nature are concerned. He comes with only the essential accessories:

1 - Gan Gun Saber. A totally unpainted scaled down version of his signature weapon. It's a nicely scaled weapon that indeed is sculpted faithfully to the real thing. But is totally unpainted. And cast in the same kind of translucent gray plastic as Ghost himself. Again this is probably a cost cutting measure. Like the body parts cast in this color and this weapon are probably on the same parts runner at the factory. But gimmick accessories like this rarely have many paint apps as is.

1 - Ore Damashii Parka Ghost/jacket. The series and toylines' signature gimmick. Ore Damashii is the personification of Takeru/Ghosts own soul or damashii. An interesting accessory, this gimmick very clearly appears like a spiritual (forgive the pun) successor to Arms Change. However don't be fooled. It's far sub-standard to that gimmick. While as a floating Parka Ghost on it's own this piece is fun. It's combination with the Ghost figure pretty much kills anything you could have done with the figure.

Rotate the face mask on the Parka Ghost up to reveal the Ghost Ore face plate, rotate the small strappy arms on the sleeves up over the shoulders. Then slide the the whole contraption over Ghost. There are slits in the jacket part to clear the shoulders. But getting the face plugged in is I've found frustratingly difficult. But once you do, you've basically killed all the neck articulation the figure has. You can just barely angle the head side to side by pulling down on the mask and locking it in, but it's minimal at best. But not in any meaningful way that I've found. And the jacket now limits the upper body and waist movement you had before. The shoulder pads are hinged to move somewhat with the arms but they only give you minimal outward movement before they impact the arms and kill that too. Frankly it's the most obtrusive gimmick Bandai could have come up with.

Final Thoughts
After several years of solid gimmick toy lines with Gaim & Drive I'm sad to report that Ghost Change is kind of a flop in my book. The basic Transient Ghost figure is very nicely detailed albeit a bit boring. But the Damashii gimmick itself is terribly intrusive to the figure, limiting almost all aspects of it. Even in static poses the way the jacket forces the figure into a more rigid stance makes it look lifeless. I'm sorry to say that GC-01 Ghost Change Kamen Rider Ghost Ore Damashii is not a great toy. Buy this one on the cheap, or better yet wait for the S.H. Figuart that's being fully revealed this weekend.

[Den-O]

And a few fun bonuses!

[Kiwami]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Den-O

After several years of solid gimmick toy lines with Gaim & Drive I'm sad to report that Ghost Change is kind of a flop in my book.

Yeah that's what I expected. I've seen that you can untab the hood and move the head, but it's still awkward.

Still very nice pics, thanks boss.

[Den-O]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kiwami

Yeah that's what I expected. I've seen that you can untab the hood and move the head, but it's still awkward.

Still very nice pics, thanks boss.

Even untabbing the hood didn't look like it did much to me. I tried that and it just didnt do much.

[KamenRiderOOO]

The jackets are known as the Parka Ghosts .

I'll be collecting those for sure, but I won't pick this up. Especially since we got the SHF reveal

[Den-O]

Quote:

Originally Posted by KamenRiderOOO

The jackets are known as the Parka Ghosts .

I'll be collecting those for sure, but I won't pick this up. Especially since we got the SHF reveal

I swear I literally had no idea the jackets were called Parka's. That's, just silly. Oh well. This is my 1st and last Ghost Change gallery. Can't be wasting money on these things.

[baltmatrix]

My review.

[Den-O]

Ha! I just threw that up on the front page post too Matt

[MnemonicSyntax]

Kamen Rider Sheikah.

[2ndSndWve]

The blank body kinda looks like a Faiz Trooper.