Bandai's S.H.Figuarts

So how are the TAF (Twist Action Form) Kamen Rider figures, compared to the SHFarts? Similar scale and articulation?

Twist Action figures are apparently an abomination, and should be avoided at all costs.

You know what I'd really love to see in this line? Monster Hunter. The game sells in the millions there, so why hasn't anybody really tried making toys? This series would be an excellent blend of size, detail, and articulation. And considering what they did for the MRS set, an SH Figuarts version would be amazing.

delta_7890 Wrote:
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> Twist Action figures are apparently an
> abomination, and should be avoided at all costs.


Too bad, HLJ's having a Kamen Rider sale and the Twist Action ones are half off. No FArts on sale, though...

The Twist Action figures are bendy wire dolls wearing cloth suits, right?

Marasai Wrote:
> You know what I'd really love to see in this line?
> Monster Hunter. The game sells in the millions
> there, so why hasn't anybody really tried making
> toys? This series would be an excellent blend of
> size, detail, and articulation. And considering
> what they did for the MRS set, an SH Figuarts
> version would be amazing.

I was about to point out that they have tried toys, the Motion Revive trading figures, but I assume that's what you mean by MRS?
Anyway, I don't have any Motion Revive trading figures, but the boxed Xenosaga figures were pretty sweet. Up to a Microman level of quality, in any case.

-Paul Segal

"Oh, the anger is never far, never far." -SteveH

Yeah, those are what I was referring to. That's a line that really needs to be continued. I'm really surprised that they canned it, especially after seeing all of the Monster Hunter merchandise from Wonderfest. You'd think they'd have a gold mine on their hands what with them being the only company producing Monster Hunter toys.

It's so hard to predict what fans will want... or what companies will think they can sell (or will be allowed to sell by the licensors?).

I mean, there's gotta be a reason we haven't got huge lines of articulated figures for massively popular combat-based -anime- series, right? There were, what, three nicely articulated Naruto figures about eight years ago? And pretty much nothing for Bleach, as far as I know. Meanwhile, Revoltech piles on the Fist of the North Star guys and there's a whole new toy line for Jojo's Bizarre Adventure. Not that the quality of the items and their rendition of their source material doesn't justify these products... it just seems like they'd be runner-up in popularity to series that still perennially have no articulated figures for them.

P.S. Some new American release of a Monster Hunter game has commercials all over Cartoon Network prime-time. Maybe we'll get an incredibly shitty U.S.-produced toy line :3

-Paul Segal

"Oh, the anger is never far, never far." -SteveH



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/06/2009 01:09PM by asterphage.

asterphage Wrote:
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> It's so hard to predict what fans will want... or
> what companies will think they can sell (or will
> be allowed to sell by the licensors?).
>
> I mean, there's gotta be a reason we haven't got
> huge lines of articulated figures for massively
> popular combat-based -anime- series, right? There
> were, what, three nicely articulated Naruto
> figures about eight years ago? And pretty much
> nothing for Bleach, as far as I know. Meanwhile,
> Revoltech piles on the Fist of the North Star guys
> and there's a whole new toy line for Jojo's
> Bizarre Adventure. Not that the quality of the
> items and their rendition of their source material
> doesn't justify these products... it just seems
> like they'd be runner-up in popularity to series
> that still perennially have no articulated figures
> for them.
>
> P.S. Some new American release of a Monster Hunter
> game has commercials all over Cartoon Network
> prime-time. Maybe we'll get an incredibly shitty
> U.S.-produced toy line :3

I was wondering about this myself. Do kids not buy toys (beyond the Sentai stuff, Transformers, and Gundam) anymore? I mean, these properties have a ton of gashapon stuff, but very few toys. And there doesn't really seem to be a replacement to the Sunrise shows and their toys in these days. I'm not sure what the audience for Macross Frontier was, but I doubt kids could afford the more expensive chogokin or wrap their heads around the less expensive parts formers.

You'd think Bleach and Naruto, at least, would have some articulated figures. One Piece has a few. I mean, even Bandai America had to turn out their own crappy figures for the American market.

As a side note, I'm curious to see how the latest Monster Hunter Unite game does here. There are a lot of commercials, but I don't think they had much confidence in the game considering it retails for only 30 bucks...

Yeah kids buying toys is on the decline with pervasiveness of video games.

fujishig Wrote:
> And there doesn't really seem to be a replacement
> to the Sunrise shows and their toys in these days.

TOMICA HERO RESCUE FORCE!!

> I'm not sure what the audience for Macross
> Frontier was,

As I understand it, you mostly gauge this by looking at the time slot it aired in. But I'm not really knowledgeable enough to figure that out.

> As a side note, I'm curious to see how the latest
> Monster Hunter Unite game does here. There are a
> lot of commercials, but I don't think they had
> much confidence in the game considering it retails
> for only 30 bucks...

I'm not sure what the normal pricepoint for PSP titles is nowadays... would that make it in line with oddball American PS2 releases aimed at the otaku crowd, like Persona 3 FES?

-Paul Segal

"Oh, the anger is never far, never far." -SteveH

>Yeah kids buying toys is on the decline with pervasiveness of video games.

Yep. Welcome to now. Enjoy your stay.

Hasbro however, still operates under the notion that Transformers as kid based franchise and the collectors aren't a big deal. Takara's now the opposite.

Pretty much 95% of toys released in Japan are for the collector. YEARS of making kids based products but having it fail (imagine making a big line up toyline for kids only to have it fail miserably. I'm looking at you Webdiver). That's why you're seeing collector oriented lines.

They TRY to do older collector based toylines in the U.S. but they always seem to never get it. McFarlene and other similar operations tend to focus too much time on sculpt but little to none about articulation and playability,

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I asked if I have "Time For L-Gaim" but I got "No Reply From The Wind".

Vincent Z. Wrote:
>
> They TRY to do older collector based toylines in
> the U.S. but they always seem to never get it.
> McFarlene and other similar operations tend to
> focus too much time on sculpt but little to none
> about articulation and playability,

Yeah, Marvel Legends, and DC Super Heroes, and the whole GI Joe anniversary line, and, like, 50% of all Transformers releases for several years now... they don't get what the American collectors want. e___e

-Paul Segal

"Oh, the anger is never far, never far." -SteveH

Er, that's true.

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I asked if I have "Time For L-Gaim" but I got "No Reply From The Wind".

Come on Bandai, make Robo Rider and Bio Rider right now. My Black RX is gonna be lonely.

>Pretty much 95% of toys released in Japan are for the collector.

I'd like to know where you're getting that number from, besides pulling it out of your ass. You walk into any Japanese TRU and I would say no more than 25% is for collectors, leaving 75% worth of actual kid's toys.

---------------------------------
[pgaijin.blogspot.com]

hillsy Wrote:
> > Pretty much 95% of toys released in Japan are for
> > the collector.
>
> I'd like to know where you're getting that number
> from, besides pulling it out of your ass. You walk
> into any Japanese TRU and I would say no more than
> 25% is for collectors, leaving 75% worth of actual
> kid's toys.

It's a fallacy of induction. Clearly, what he means to say is "95% of toys released in Japan which I read about on the internet are for the collector".

-Paul Segal

"Oh, the anger is never far, never far." -SteveH

Vincent Z. Wrote:
> Isn't Metalder going to be bigger than the
> previous Action Works figures?

Okay, it turns out the "size up!!" is from 115mm (4.5") on the older figures to, as per the latest Dengeki Hobby, 145mm (5.7") on Metalder - which is EXACTLY the same size as SH Figuarts figures and the later Armor Transform releases. Metalder will come up just a hair taller than their heads but shorter than the tips of their antennae.

-Paul Segal

"Oh, the anger is never far, never far." -SteveH

Metalder was such an awesome toku from the little I saw of it. Great villain designs. Also has a great OST.

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I asked if I have "Time For L-Gaim" but I got "No Reply From The Wind".

Vincent Z. Wrote:
> Great villain designs.

Are you praying for an Action Works Topgunder? You had better be. If they don't make one, it'll be your fault.

-Paul Segal

"Oh, the anger is never far, never far." -SteveH

Mutha-effin' Virtual Reality Troopers!

Ok, so are these kinds of figures any good, or just expensive Japanese equivalents to basic action figures?

Introducing Prometheus Rising Studio.
[prometheusrising.net]
I make 3D printed mecha action figures.

You are not VR.

>Are you praying for an Action Works Topgunder? You had better be. If they don't make one, it'll be your fault.

Heh, him and that one that looks likes a futuristic knight.

Did you know that the mecha designer for Metalder was the same as Zeorymer and Xi Gundam.

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I asked if I have "Time For L-Gaim" but I got "No Reply From The Wind".

Prometheum5 Wrote:
> Ok, so are these kinds of figures any good, or
> just expensive Japanese equivalents to basic
> action figures?

Well, it depends how you mean "good" and how you mean "basic".

S.H. Figuarts, Figmas, Action Works, etc are all expensive equivalents to basic action figures in that they're 5-7" in height, and have a standard level of "high articulation". However, they are not expensive equivalents to basic action figures in that they - MOSTLY - don't have poor quality control, the messy paint and fall-apart-y joints of most American figures like Marvel Legends and such. I've heard some bad stuff about Figmas breaking, but the ones I have seem as solid as Revoltechs (not that Revoltechs don't have their own problems when they unwisely choose standard pegs-in-holes instead of revolver joints).

Another way that these are not just expensive equivalents to basic action figures is that the Japanese distributed productions of those basic action figures are much more expensive over there. Look at any of the Hasbro stuff that HLJ carries the Japanese distro of... the prices jump way up, into the range of these figures.

-Paul Segal

"Oh, the anger is never far, never far." -SteveH

-Paul Segal

"Oh, the anger is never far, never far." -SteveH

Heheh, I've got the BIG figure of that VR trooper, (store display?) about 16" tall...

The post man brought us a S.H. Figuarts Zectrooper. Same your money. It's booty.

Deal breakers: The thing popped apart at the hips, biceps, and sternum at least a half dozen times in ten minutes. The fit on those parts is terrible. The shoulder joints are covered with a crappy "flap" mechanism, presumably to "hide" the join underneath; imagine a standard Gundam shoulder joint sculpted to look like cloth. Ugly. And it does more to reveal the joint than to hide it. The hip joints are equally deformed in function. And the ankles are simple ball joints - simultaneously loose and with little forward/backward/lateral motion. Boo. Hiss.

Minor quibbles: The eyes are painted black with absolutely no internal compound detailing. The feet are plastic and not diecast. The gun is off-model and, a personal annoyance to me, has a solid muzzle. It drives me crazy when the sculptors can't be bothered to add a small indentation in a barrel. Aack.

I previously picked up a SHF Kamen Rider Black RX. That thing is awesome. What the hell happened in between these two releases?

Eh, doesn't matter. I'm done with SHF figures.

While the shoulder flaps may look a little off on him, they actually really improve the look of that upcoming Rider W figure.

I figure they just made this guy cheaper so that collectors could troop build them if they wanted. They are just grunts after all. Hmm. Maybe we'll see some Shocker grunts in the near future.

The Dragon Ball Z figures are looking very nice.

I'll have to get them. :p

[collectiondx.com]

he's the son of the sun.

[www.geocities.jp]

The paint detail is stunning. Every single panel and light is accounted for.

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I asked if I have "Time For L-Gaim" but I got "No Reply From The Wind".

Metalader looks freakin' AWESOME!!

I didn't realize he was already released. His die-cast feet should help stablize poses.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/18/2010 09:11AM by Runaphen.

Awww...Gomora just wants a hug!

Aw, it comes with his cyberdog.

-Ginrai
Golden Gate Riot on dead trees at: [www.destroyallcomics.com]

Has it already been a year since I bitched about the Kamen Rider 1 & 2 figures with their tiny-assed heads and goofy proportions? And they're still not out yet? What a pain.




Ultraman looks sexy though. Mmm. Hope they pop out a Baltan Seijin...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/07/2010 08:30PM by Gcrush.

Gcrush Wrote:
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> Has it already been a year since I bitched about
> the Kamen Rider 1 & 2 figures with their
> tiny-assed heads and goofy proportions? And
> they're still not out yet? What a pain.


I'm not sure those were ever meant to be real product protos. I think maybe they were just in-house customs to give some sense of how the classics could be presented in the line.

Here are pics of what seems to be an actual prototype for Rider 1. I hope it gets a release date soon.







This thread is full of more Ultraman pics: [www.toy-world.com.hk]

It'd be sweet to pit a bunch of Figuarts ultra-kaiju against Toho and Daiei kaiju from Revoltech! Wheeee!

Since they finally decided to make a non tamashii exclusive bike for Double, is there hope for the classic riders to actually have their bikes? Also, I'm surprised there's no kikaider yet...

Runaphen Wrote:
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> I'm not sure those were ever meant to be real
> product protos. I think maybe they were just
> in-house customs to give some sense of how the
> classics could be presented in the line.

That looks much, much better. Nice and funky.

Kamen Rider Skull showed up in the mail the other day. The Bad Criminal motif is hot-hot-hot. But the product quality is not-not-not. Loose joints, sloppy paint, and a stupid price tag. Oh, and the belt parts keep falling off. Slick.

Wish it and the bike were regular releases, but what can you do when Bandai hates you?

By the looks of this pic, an Ultra-Act Ultra Seven should be the right size to go up against GX-37 King Joe. Yay!

[www.toy-world.com.hk]






Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/24/2010 06:26PM by Runaphen.