Tuesday, July 1, 2014
Review: S.H.Figuarts Kamen Rider Gaim -Orange Arms-
| Figure Information | |
| Manufacturer: | Bandai |
| Origin Series: | Kamen Rider Gaim |
| Scale: | Non-scale |
| Height: | Approximately 14cm tall |
| Original Price: | 4,104 Yen |
| Packaging: |
After owning several rider figuarts for like around a year and some months now, I must say I rarely get a wow factor in SHF packaging and the Gaim series definitely gives it. Tackling the front of the box, the most notable aspect of the packaging is that the window is shaped as an orange and there are even pulp-y details on it; it's pretty creative if you as me and putting on the white background along with the fruit's color for the label is quite neat in presentation.
They actually removed the product ad on the sides of the box and instead puts on the armored rider's logo on the fruit's color side. The back. while containing the usual product shots have this neat contrasting background color and the logo once again, making it less boring to look at.
| Details: |
I usually focus on general details first but since I feel I have to make this review extra detailed and extra special I'll cover the important details one by one. As a rider SHF, bandai's tamashii nations division has been giving us delicious eye details since the very release of the line, and to be honest, some riders have it applied in a non-satisfying way but Gaim Orange arms definitely denies this statement! The eye details bring out that vibrant compound detail while at the same time capturing the part that visual that it also looks like that of an orange's inside.
The next part of the discussion is what wins Gaim Orange arms for me. The Sengoku Driver, while small, is completely detailed from the sliced lockseed's (with a very small Daidaimaru detail too!) and even the rider's plate which is Gaim's face in this case.
Now aside from having a highly detailed driver, Gaim's belt even has more ridiculous features! On his left lies a piece that can actually hold lockseeds, and it can hold up to three to boot! To his right comes a piece where his Musou Saber can latched upon; these features, though plain and simple, are actually very notable since I don't really encounter them on S.H.Figuarts that much, it's more of an S.I.C. feature if you ask me.
Now going to the Orange armor, it's ridiculously finished in a top-tier paint, everything in the armor is covered in vibrant metallic paint and the details doesn't look cheap by one bit. The metallic orange is very rich as well as the golden bits of the armor; they even didn't make mess out of the red jewel in the forehead and the green bit on top of his helm. Metallic orange and gold aside, the silver paint on the remaining details is as beautifully done as the rest of the armor, so a big kudos to bandai for this as it actually feels like something from the Shinkocchou Seihou line.
The shoulder area also holds some leaves-like detail and to actually not got in the way of articulation, they're actually made of soft plastic.
Finally, going to the pre-arms suit, the golden trims on his arms and legs are ridiculously well done and there aren't really any noticeable paint flaws in there. The XX details on his torso are also clearly visible as well and the rest of the suit is covered on a rich dark blue color that blends really well with the rest of the paint finish.
And seriously, would you believe that the beneath his feet lies a well carved Gaim logo (and some product serial number thinggies, haha!)?
| Accessories: |
You've already seen the Musou Saber and orange lockseed in the details section, Gaim comes with his primary weapon, the Daidaimaru, as well, and this can in turn attach with the Musou Saber to form the Naginata mode. For hand sets, Gaim comes with 5 pairs of hands: fists, open hands, trigger hands and two variants of gripping hands with one slightly tilted to allow Gaim to point his weapons at his enemies. For a record, they didn't miss out on anything and the accessory sets are pretty complete with a really satisfying array of handsets.
| Articulation Points: |
Articulation points overall has some limits but they're not really a bummer since he can pull off his trademark poses with ease. Starting off with his head, it tilts sideways but the back of the helm limits it from fully tilting; and the usual two points of neck joint does allow Gaim to look up in a decent range but surprisingly, his range of looking downwards is better than the other. Head does easily rotate but I forgot to take shots of it. XD
Arm articulation wise, his shoulder pads use a hinge and they flip completely up to freely rotate the arms with ease and raise it sidewards to a perfect 90 degrees. Bicep swivels exist and they do allow the arm to have a full rotation while the elbows bend to around 75 degrees.
The body holds the usual joints on the torso and the waist; bending outwards does have a nice range and inwards is just okay. Sideways, when combining the two does allow you to reach around 45 degrees twist from the central position.
Going to the legs, Gaim does adapt the same joint used for Riders like Ryuki and Shinkocchou Kabuto, and as such you can pretty much just raise the legs to a 90 and have a tad bit of backward movement; the joints does allow a complete sideways split on Gaim though what worries me is the piece that holds the Musou Saber as it is made of soft plastic and it feels like excessive splitting might make it detach in the future and Gaim does a lot of widely open leg poses. The thigh swivel also allows you to rotate his legs completely while the Knee joint does have a nice bend to it. Lastly, the ankles are your standard SHF ankles which can tilt nicely, move upwards or downwards nicely due to the hinge and also rotate completely on its attachment point while also having the usual toe hinge.
| Poseability: |
Gaim's playability can only be bound by one's imagination as he can pull off a range of realistic poses. While I've not mentioned it above, the slicer on the Sengoku Driver is indeed moveable, a very neat approach I must say; with every you need handed to you and given a total of 3 weapon varieties along with an ability to do a Rider Kick, Gaim Orange arms definitely provides you a wide array of options on how to play or pose him.
Additionally, they made the belt's lockseed removable so you can attach it to the Musou Saber's lock slot. Be it the Naginata mode, the Saber, the Daidaimaru or dual wielding swords, the finish on his figure definitely help bring out the figure's "awesome" factor.
I really like how Gaim can accurate do his poses especially his pre-battle poses. The figuarts release is definitely a very good representation of the character/suit in every way and its equipped with joints that easily lets you adjust his frame and pull off a pose in your mind; a definite winner in play factor.
| Bonus: |
As a first release bonus, Gaim comes with a special black base that's imprinted with the four main riders' logos. While it does not have the ability to port any tamashii stages on it, it does serve as a good display piece while having the Armored Riders standing on top of it.
I believe the base can actually hold up to 4 figures but only time will tell as I only have 2 (soon becoming 3) right now from the series.
Sneak preview of the next review as well! ;)
| Final Thoughts: |
Gaim Orange arms is pretty much flawless in my book and as there are some overtime worries that I have; the figure is complete in every way: details, accessories, joints, proportions. Never have I been so much amazed at an SHF release and I seriously think that he is a much superior release than Shinkocchou Seihou Kabuto for one. For the pricepoint, Gaim is definitely worth every bit of it especially if you have the bonus base. I won't actually recommend because Gaim Orange arms is simply a must in my book, and hey, a godly release for easily one (if not the best) rider series to date. Gaim is an easy mark for SHF collectors. Once again, this piece another pre-order of mine from CWToys! (and I actually just got him last Friday haha!)
Gaim easily gets 5 out of 5 on stage!
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Great review; nice pics!
ReplyDeleteKR Gaim is my favorite, too ...