8.27.2013

Inside the box with Ichabod presents:

S.H. Figuarts Power Rangers Super Samurai SDCC 2013 Metallic 5-pack from Tamashii nations/Bluefin!

All five all at once, Just the way I like it.

 Exclusive to SDCC 2013, we're taking a look at the Power Rangers 5 pack, in shiny metallic flavor. This was a tad bit of a unexpected release, really. Samurai Red and Gold rangers were available a few years ago at North American TRU's in the original Japanese packaging, with a few American safety stickers. The rest of the team was released as well, but was kept Tamashii web exclusive. Meaning if collectors wanted a full team they had to go through middle men, which got very pricey.

 Starting with Samurai Green and Blue, they use the same standard body of  Samurai Red. This body is a few years old, and they have made a few improvements since then, mainly in the shoulders. Though they are still highly articulated, the shoulder joint design just ends up being a tad ugly.

 The metallic paint really shows off in the helmets, the black visor helps that immensely. The detail and sculpt lines are good and crisp, and I love that the helmets are unique shapes. With Green being more square and Blue comes to more of a point. The chest design is the same on both, though I think Blue's metallic coating seems a bit more subtle, and Greens is easily more vibrant. Both look gorgeous in hand, though. The white parts of the suit use a pearlescent effect, which helps make them look less bland. And the black is just black. The belts get the metallic treatment too, but it is far more subtle than the other parts.



 The Spin swords are fully removable by sliding easily in and out of the hip holster. That fit is tight, but the connection of the holder to the belt likes to pop off. This is preferable to breaking off, but can be annoying for moving things around.

 The super disc is removable, it just pops right off the hilt, with just the right amount of resistance. There is no worries of it accidentally falling off, or being on so tight you risk breakage.

 The Forest spear and Hydro bow both look amazing.  Both discs spin, and have detailing on them. I didn't remove them, but they do pop off. The paint and detail are both tight and crisp on them, but the paint seems to be a nonmetallic color. It's a tad weird, because the rangers are metallic, but their weapons are very close to the original release in color.

The Green ranger turned out a bit closer to the original than Blue, who I think is a lot darker. But these guys look and feel great. The plastic used in the joints is a little off from the metallic color but really I didn't notice it much here. Over all these two are damn strong releases, with dynamic weapons.

 Samurai Pink and Yellow, once again get the metallic treatment. and it turned out.... interesting.


 The helmet designs are really interesting, really the entire samurai ranger team has great helmets, the Japanese symbols make for fantastic visor designs. The details are just as crisp here as on Green and Blue, and sadly that transfers to the shoulder construction as well. Unfortunately I have a few issues with these two, all in the color category. Pink ranger's metallic coating turned out a bit more magenta than pink. Its a weird color to see in person. Yellow is more gold, but metallic yellow is practically gold anyway. 

 The Shoulders, and really all the joints on yellow are a ugly flat gold. It really stands out compared to all the other joints in the set. It's just ugly. I'm not sure what they could have done to fix this, but blarg. It's easily one of the weaker things in the set. Pink's is off from the color as well, but it ends up being more pink than the body, which I happily take over that ugly flat gold. Pink ended up with a weird black paint splatter on her outfit, which is a bummer. Though not as noticeable in person.

The other, other weird thing about this set is the skirts. They are a very pliable and are made up of two halves, split down the middle. It makes for a clean look on display, but limits pose-ability, but doesn't restrict it. Confusing, I know. But... they give you a option to fix this.

 Yay optional skirt parts!

 OH GOD YELLOW I AM SO SORRY BUT I HAVE TO!! GAAAAH

 So yeah, you have to rip her in half, remove the two halves, and pop on the new 3-piece skirt. The front is more like... well panties, and the two halves clip onto the leg ball joints in the upper thigh. It allows for a wider range of motion, but kinda looks terrible. It is made up of the same super soft vinyl the two piece is, and... I don't even know.

 With some fidgeting you can get it to look better but it still is a mess, honestly.

 It does allow for a much wider range of motion, because it essentially makes it not a skirt. With the sides clipping onto the thighs, you have no restrictions. Kinda nice, but you are sacrificing looks for movement. I appreciate the effort, but I think on my shelf it will remain the more solid two piece.

 The Sky fan and the Earth slicer are both crisp and clean, with great details. The Slicer is great, a giant bad ass bladed weapon. The sky fan.... is a big fan. It's neat but I don't know. Its a giant fan. 

 The colors on these girls is a bit farther off from the originals, but they aren't bad toys. Just weirdly colored. The articulation is all there, and they both are pretty great. Two strong releases on their own, and even better as part of a team.

 Super Red Ranger, in all his bad ass long coated glory. The metallic red is sharp on him, and he has a huge amount of that pearlescent white all over the coat. His gold symbol on the back is very well done, with no bad paint splotches.

 His head design is just as strong as the others, with the black visor being so reflective you can see my hands. That is a creepy and cool effect. 

 Here he is with the original Samurai Red, you can see the color difference here. Super Red is obviously darker, due to the metallic paint. I don't think they look that bad next to each other, in my opinion. I know some people were irritated at the difference between the two, but I'm cool with it.

 The three body types all lines up. The Blue and pink are in appropriate scale, but something is off with Super Red. He is shorter than he should be. But just barely, one of those "so close but still off" situations that drives me insane. 

 With original Red, it's a bit more obvious. He is literally a hair shorter than Red. Something is off with the torso or abs, I think. Just slightly smaller and it throws off his size. I know I'm splitting hairs here, but my eye catches it constantly and it keeps bugging me. Not a deal breaker, but it detracts from the experience.

 The coat thankfully does not restrict the movements. He can pose and sass like the best of them. But... mine has this issue...this really annoying issue. His feet ball joints are super loose. He constantly kept falling over. Some clear nail polish or floor polish will fix it up, but pulling something out of a box and having it constantly fall over is frustrating.

His shoulder pads are on a great joint system that is on a pivot arm and then plugs into the torso. Its a neat design that prevents them from getting in the way. 

 The Bullzooka. a giant gun that looks like a bull. It's highly detailed, and big. The white power disc is removable, and there is a good reason for that.

 Mmmmm shiny white power disc. I just love the detail on these things.

 So the Spin sword, the super disc, the black box and the Bullzooka all can combine into...

 The super Bullzooka. I think it looks cooler this way anyhow. His trigger finger hand is a little loose on the grip, which makes posing with this kind of a chore, but once you find a solid pose, he holds it fine.

 Yay emblems and folding zords! 

 The folding zords all have fantastic paint and detailing done to them, especially for how tiny they are. They don't actually fold, that would be insane. But you get The zords in embalm mode, so it's a win win.

 The samuraizer is tiny, and looks like a calligraphy pen mixed with a cell phone. Which is exactly what it is. You get 5 of them.

 SO MANY HANDS. I kinda of messed this up, and lost track of who's hand is who's. Oops. There is a instruction sheet that has a break down of who gets what, which holy crap that's nice. you end up with a total of 34 right hands and 22 left hands. That's 56 fricken hands! Most of them are interchangeable between characters, but they share a lot of similar ones. 

 The whole team, all together at least. really, they look great. I'm happy with this set, getting all 5 rangers in one box is a cool thing. Yeah, some of the metallic colors are a tad off. But as far as I can tell, it's the only way to get the full team without shelling out a arm and a leg. You get every individual accessory they originally got besides the Kuroko bonus. I don't mind not getting a articulated kneeling statue.

And hey, they look just fine with regular Red as well. This set was a SDCC exclusive and carried a heft price tag. It was $200 at the con, which breaks down to $40 a figure. That is a STEAL. 5 figuarts, fully loaded out and previously web exclusive? If you want this team, even to represent Shinkenger, and you missed the originals this is a unbeatable price. It will be available directly from Tamashii Nations/Bluefin through their on store. Details on that will be available via their facebook page in time. 

If you are interested in the older Power Rangers incarnations check out my MMPR Red Ranger review and go check out SuperPowerCollectibles.com where you can get those and more.
This set was provided courtesy of Bluefin and Tamashii Nations.



4 comments:

  1. Great review Ichabod! The photos are nice and clear it it really showcased some of the more baffling decisions from Tamashii BlueFin for me. I understand that the Shinkengers were released as Tamashii Web Exclusives, so to put a different spin on it, the set was released with metallic colors. BUT! Since the TWE figures were never widely available other than to few savvy collectors, making this set metallic is totally pointless, since most people who got Samurai Red and Gold are now stuck with a set that Samurai Red doesn't quite fit into. Gold is better fitted in this set since his paint job was already more metallic, but that was the whole point, he IS gold, now he is sort of pointless be cause Yellow is also gold :(

    It's a double edge sword, while I am glad that BlueFin is bringing over Figuarts, and in large box sets like this to the US, the paint job is really too gimmicky and may only appeal to the casual fans and won't snag any purists.

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    1. I don't think Red looks that bad with them in person, to be honest. Though I do agree making them metallic was kind of odd, I think that was part of the workaround to get them released over here. And depending on how the set sells, and the feedback on it, will change the plans for any future metallic sets. The color choice on pink and yellow do baffle me a bit, as a metallic yellow could have been made without making it as gold. I think part of the Gimmick was it being a SDCC thing, remember that all Metallic/chromed out MegaMan X they did a few years back? Maybe it's a tradition thing.

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  2. I agree the Metallic Colour was to let them release it over here. What this means for future rangers, especially the females, remains to be seen.

    Great review sir, and one I havent seen anywhere else. i never got Super Red, I was happy with his first incarnation. But seeing the Bazooka tempts me.

    Quick question: Do you have the remaining characters? The Female Shinken Red (I dont know if she appeared in Samurai) and Shinken Gold? And might i recommend the Juuzo Fuwa figure in its monster form, a REALLY nice looking SHF.

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    1. I plan on getting gold, and maybe female red if I can find her for not insane prices. The bazooka is cool, the horns do rotate, I forgot to mention it.

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