We’re heading to the CR to examine everyone’s favourite video-gaming doctor; S.H. Figuarts – Kamen Rider Ex-Aid Action Gamer Level 2!

Check out my video review below!

Hi guys, Sharp-O back once again with another Mint in Box and today we’re looking at the S.H. Figuarts release of Takeru Tenkuji, the man whose life shines bright: Kamen Rider Ghost Ore Damashii!

Ghost continues the Figuarts line’s shift to a more stream-line package format and as I’ve said previously, I love this as it’s more ergonomic and saves space for collectors who keep the packaging like me.

Inside the packaging you find the figure itself, an extra hood piece, three pairs of interchangeable hands and the Gan Gun Saber.

Also included within this release is Yurusen, the Ankh-like ghostly assistant to Takeru but without the charming anger issues and floofy hair. He comes in one piece, features a head-swivel and has a stand to help him float around Takeru.

Ore Damashii form, translates to ‘My Soul’ and basically means Takeru’s wearing a jacket made of HIS OWN SOUL and it looks fantastic! The slick black with orange highlights is totally my jam and his short sleeved hooded soul-jacket makes him look like a right brawler.

The spirit-hoodie, while looking amazing, is made of a hard rubber that severely hinders the poseability of the upper torso and, to a lesser extent, the shoulders and upper arms which is pretty disappointing.

I’m digging the inverse helmet design that has the compound element all over the face while the eyes are a glossy jet black, a big departure from the norm which lends to Ghost’s unique look. To change out the hood pieces, you just have to scalp poor Takeru by taking a chunk out of his skull, removing the down hood and slipping the up hood over his head and pegging it in.

The Ghost Driver is realised very nice though the handle doesn’t move but it does include a removable faceplate so you can see that monstrous cyclops face that the real Driver has so that’s a nice touch.

The interchangeable hands are swapped out as easily as most other Figuarts, but unfortunately the range of movement is pretty hindered by the silver cuffs, somewhat limiting the range of movement and, by extension, the overall poseability.

The Gan Gun Saber, or Eye Gun Saber, is a nicely rendered version of Ghost’s primary weapon and, in a break from the Figuarts standard of bundling two weapons for different modes and this actually transforms. It comes packed in blade mode but by splitting the blade, and pegging it back in reverse then tilting the hilt to put the weapon in gun mode. It’s a nice solution to a problem that people have hated about Figuarts for a long time.

I’m a little disappointed in Ghost Ore Damashii because while it’s a great looking figure, it’s mired by the same adherence to the suit design that makes it look great but, regardless of that fact, I do kinda recommend picking this guy up because the unpopularity of the Ghost series itself (and it’s baaaad) means that the Figuarts are pretty cheap and I’d say this guy is worth 24 quid of any Kamen Rider fans money just because of how he looks next to his compatriots.

As always, I’ve been Sharp-O, this has been the SH Figuarts Kamen Rider Ghost Ore Damashii and my life will burn bright on the next Mint in Box!

Kamen Rider Wizard is an odd series for me. In concept, a magical Kamen Rider who saves people from falling into a deadly depressive despair caused by Phantoms should be my cup of tea but I just never got on with the series, despite a cool premise and awesome looking Rider design.

So why am I not reviewing the base form? Because, according to trusted review sources (aka Josh over at CDX), that Figuart is garbage and I will not have garbage on my Rider shelf. Trash, yes — garbage, no. Let’s cut to the chase then and take a look at this mage!

Wizard’s Flame Dragon style passes over to his box, with a dull silver and red dragon sigil surrounding the window. The reverse sees full colour images of Flame Dragon form with Wizard’s summoning circle in the background.

Pulling Wizard out of the packaging reveals a very literal box of tricks. He includes six pairs of interchangeable hands, a reversed WizarDriver, the WizarSwordGun in both sword and gun forms and the Drago Skull. It’s a robust selection of accessories but I feel he may have too many hands? Blasphemy, I know, but some are only slight variations on others plus those bulky Wizard Rings on each hand makes swapping them out almost as painful as handling Bravo. He also includes a pretty ugly Tamashii stage but I’m not going to grumble at more stage arms.

It’s Showtime! Flame, Dragon! Haruto’s first elemental Dragon upgrade looks fantastic; taking the long flowing coat of the base form and adding more draconic elements to the design. The figure is well constructed and the joints are nice and tight but is it just me or are his feet a little big?

One thing I love about the Wizard design is that the helmet reflects the jewelled ring aesthetic and the translucent red ‘gem’ of a faceplate is executed amazingly well. Add to that the tandem gems and runes on his pauldrons and the jewelled elements on the torso, and you’ve got one stylish looking mage!

True to S.H.Figuarts’ regular high standard, the WizarDriver is beautifully detailed; shimmering silver with the Hand Author picked out in an intense gold and dark translucent plastic with a detailed rune behind it. Attached to his hip, Wizard carries the Wizard Rings which give him access to his various forms and the various spells he can utilise.

Both forms of the WizarSwordGun are highly detailed and have the Shake Hands opening gimmick to activate the various Final Strikes. I’m not sure which I prefer overall but I feel the Flame Dragon upgrade should have a unique weapon to add to Wizard’s arsenal. Oh, wait…

Each of the elemental Dragon forms includes a specialised dragon weapon and Flame’s is the Drago Skull which is by far the goofiest one and I say that knowing that Water Dragon includes the Drago Tail. The dragon skull, which is a swappable chest piece that sticks out of Wizard’s chest, has a decent amount of articulation — the neck moves, his ears waggle and the mouth opens.

Stacked up to both his predecessors and his successor, Flame Dragon looks pretty cool but I do lament that this isn’t a good version of the base form because that would look so much cooler.

Overall, if you need a Wizard for your Rider shelf, you can’t really go wrong with Flame Dragon as he looks great and is a functional figure, even if his colour palette is a shabadoobie touch too red. Have any thoughts on Wizard or the Figuarts line? Let your voice be heard in the comments and I’ll catch you guys next time on Mint in Box!

The Rider Figuart reviews continue here on Mint in Box with the man who fights to save humanity from their own greed: Kamen Rider OOO!
Eiji Hino is, for intents and purposes, a hobo who has no place to call home and a tragic past. When the coin-based homunculi known as the Greeed awaken after their 800-year slumber to attack humans and feed off of their desires, the disembodied arm of the Greeed named Ankh gives Eiji a belt and three Medals to fight the other Greeed as Kamen Rider OOO (pronounced Ohz). It’s a well liked show with the gayest double-act in Rider history and some of the catchiest music and henshin call-outs.

Coming from 2011, this S.H. Figuarts release has a rather standard box layout but is accented by the colours and aesthetic of OOO himself. Not much to say about it but it certainly looks pretty!

OOO comes with a fair amount of accessories, namely six pairs of interchangeable hands plus another for holding the included O Scanner, a set of extended Tora Claws and the Medajalibur.

Taka! Tora! Batta! Ta–To–Ba! TaToBa, TaToBa! OOO’s base form really highlights the show’s gimmick well, namely the modular nature of the Rider form. At a distance, this looks like a fantastic figure, especially the Caribbean colour scheme, but it’s once you get it in hand that things quickly go south. Multiple botched paint applications plus no friction in the majority of the joints results in quite the let-down.

Yes, the figure is amazingly detailed, the OOO Driver especially looks fantastic, but the paint work is sloppy at best and the joints, especially in the thighs on my copy, are some of the loosest I’ve ever had on a Figuart and that’s very disappointing.

Despite the articulation problems, you can tweak and balance OOO into the semblance of a decent pose if you try hard enough. The hand-swapping is perilous thanks to the limpness of the wrist joints but the Tora Claws swap out easy enough and you can get some decent poses out of those too.

OOO’s Medajalibur weapon, a birthday present from the Kougami Foundation, is rendered perfectly in the Figuarts scale and the hilt is long enough to be held two-handed by OOO should the mood strike you. It’s just a shame that the wrist joints don’t move significantly to allow for a wide range of poses.

I chose to buy the OOO release that comes with the First Run Bonus of Ankh. Not off to a great start when they misspell the character’s name on both the packaging and the Tamashii stage… Regardless, Ankh’s mono-armed form is spot on and perfectly scaled to interact with OOO. I believe there are additional hands for this “figure” but are included in some add-on set I have no interest in buying.

Overall, Kamen Rider OOO is a disappointment. There’s the makings of a great figure here but the multiple problems let it down a lot. Not quite buyer’s remorse territory because I’m super happy to have him amongst my Rider display but he’s definitely not my favourite Figuart purchase to date. Stick around though because we’re not quite done with Kamen Riders just yet as we delve into the realm of magic next time on Mint in Box!

Hello, Heroes! Welcome to a review that was a long time coming. Way back in the halcyon days of February 2014, I was beginning what would eventually become known as my Anime Renaissance and the first step back into that deep, spiralling pit was a little show called Tiger & Bunny.

Set in a world where corporate sponsored superheroes compete in a heroic reality TV show. The series see a low-ranking veteran hero, Kotetsu T. Kaburagi aka Wild Tiger, teamed with the rookie Barnaby Brooks Jr. Together, they embark on a buddy-cop adventure of justice, revenge and what it truly means to be partners in crime-fighting.

It’s a fantastic show and I highly recommend it but one of the cool things about the show is the sponsors; most (if not all) are real brands and corporations. Naturally, Bandai produced figures of all the character in the show under their S.H. Figuarts line and we’ll be looking at the titular heroes today!

Barnaby Brooks Jr, or ‘Bunny’ as Kotetsu affectionately teases him, is the young upstart who doesn’t have a codename and has a Bruce Wayne complex like you wouldn’t believe! His toy offering is… Not good. It’s barely Marvel Legends tier and that’s a pretty low bar for a Figuarts to stoop to. The entire package includes Barnaby, a custom Tamashii stage (every T&B character gets one, which is neat) an extra forearm guard, his Good Luck Mode leg and a whopping TWO pairs of interchangeable hands.

Barnaby himself looks rather dashing in his armour, his reds, whites and translucent pink all pop vibrantly. He looks like he stepped right out of the anime on those heavy die-cast legs of his. Naturally, the extra weight has made his hips rather droopy which is a pain but this is one of the older style Figuarts so you take the rough with the smooth. If there’s one downside, it’s the collar of the armour severely restring the ball-jointed head’s movement.

Out of the box, Bunny is sporting two Crusade branded gauntlets but you can swap one of those out for an Amazon.co.jp branded one. Across his chest is a giant Bandai logo and there’s even a cute little Bunny logo that matches Tiger’s.

The Good Luck Mode special attack is one of the first times Kotetsu and Barnaby truly sync up as a duo and it’s amazing. Granted, the armour add-ons are purely cosmetic, they still look bad-ass. The plastic counterpart is a solid representation, swapping out the whole leg assembly in a rather frightening way, and even has a little bit of articulation.

Overall, Barnaby is a poor outing for the S.H. Figuarts line. That’s not to say there aren’t good points but really, he feels more like an accessory than a figure in his own right.

Kotetsu T. Kaburagi. Veteran hero. Widowed father. Goofball DILF (by Blue Rose’s reckoning) and one of my all-time favourite superheroes. Wild Tiger is a true believer and a trouble magnet, as well as a well-dressed underdog. This particular release (one of four for this particular mold) is for later in the show when Kotetsu’s powers begin to deplete to the point he can only activate them for one minute at a time. Despite the severe downgrade, he still fights one as Wild Tiger 1 Minute! His accessory count is what drew me to him, including a custome Tamashii stage, twin Wild Shoot grappling hooks and SEVEN pairs of hands, all of which are signature poses from the show and omitted from every other release.

I love the Wild Tiger armour, it couldn’t be cooler if the green parts were orange. As opposed to the lithe form of Bunny, Tiger looks like a brawler and is more built for strength than speed. His logos are for S.H. Figuarts and SoftBank and the nape of his neck boasts the exclusive title he sports toward the end of the story. Much like Bunny, Tiger is super heavy thanks to the die-cast legs.

Kotetsu’s Wild Shoot allow him to swing around Sternbild City like Spidey and to grapple enemies, rendered here in clear orange wire which refuse to straighten.

His hands are amazing and I love them all. They give the figure so much character and expressive ability, whether giving people a cheeky double thumbs-up or a Wild Roar or making fun of Barnaby and his ears.

Overall, Wild Tiger 1 Minute is a fantastic release and I’m super thankful to Josh from CollectionDX for buying this me for Christmas and all but forcing me to buy Bunny to go along with him. More than any other dynamic duo, you need both Wild Tiger and Barnaby Brooks Jr together if you’re a fan of the show and I recommend getting them, even if one half is letting the team down.

Mint in Box revisits Zawame City for a bite of this delectable forbidden fruit! Oren Pierre Alfonzo is one of the many Armoured Riders who star in Kamen Rider Gaim but unlike many others, this effeminate man mountain has no ties to the Invess game; in fact, he hates it. A former soldier turned pastry shop owner, Oren demands the very best in every field and this leads him to clash swords with the young Beat Riders using the Durian lockseed and becoming Kamen Rider Bravo!

Kamen Rider Bravo was a Tamashii Web Exclusive, befitting of a man who is to extravagance what Mitsuzane is to betrayal, meaning he’s a little tougher to find and demands a high price on the secondary market (but not as much as Gaim’s secondary Rider oddly…). This premium feel extends to his box which, while stylistically similar to Gaim’s, foregoes the window box for a glossy photo image. His packaging even comes in a custom brown box for extra protection!

Mister Dangerous is damned impressive right out of the packaging. Four pairs of interchangeable hands, a special holding hand, a closed Durian lockseed, his signature Duri Noko chain swords and, to top it all off, a tiny wine glass! Truly, a man of exceptional accessories.

The figure itself builds on the already amazing frame that Gaim had but casts it in rich metallic greens, purples and silver. The paint is astounding as usual but if there’s a downside, it’s the plain green joints that stand out against the metallic lime-green of Bravo’s limbs. It’s a very minor nit-pick on an otherwise astonishing visual treat! (And yes, he’s missing a back spike from his right pauldron. I did buy him third-hand.)

Bravo’s accessories give him a wealth of personality, which is perfect for the larger than life Oren. As a natural showman and a fair maiden at heart, his hands and articulation allow you to make the figure excessively expressive. Whether it’s the shy demeanour reserved for his beloved Melon (Kamen Rider Zangetsu), the showmanship of a gladiator or even the distinguished mannerisms of a renaissance man; Bravo will look fantastic no matter how you pose him.

His tiny lockseed is just as minuscule as Gaim’s and will never leave the packaging again after this review. His wine glass on the other hand will see lots of play because just look at him! He exudes class and respect despite the inherent stupidity of trying to drink wine through a helmet!

Size-wise, it feels like Bravo is a little smaller than Gaim and that’s just wrong, not only because their respective actors are on opposite ends of the height scale but because Bravo should feel like a bigger figure. He should be a brute! Until it’s time to sexually harass the others — then the size would only make the kabe-don even better!

Finally; we come to the Duri Noko, Bravo’s signature twin chain swords. They’re cool enough and certainly fit with his aesthetic but are ultimately just props. It’s a shame they don’t connect into one weapon like the show and like Gaim’s naginata weapon mode.

Overall, I love having Bravo in my collection. He’s a fantastic character and all that awesome translates to his toy well! If you can put up with the minor colour discrepancies on his joints and your fingers feeling like you’ve pleasured a porcupine after prolonged posing — Pick him up! I can guarantee you will not be disappointed!

Just like Drive before him, Mach is presented in a rather stylish matte black box that’s much thinner than previous S.H. Figuarts releases. Unlike Drive however, Mach packs a ton of goodies into this slender package!

Included in the standard release are five paris of interchangeable hands, two interchangeable scarves, the Zenrin Shooter – Mach’s signature weapon, and the Margarl Signal Bike and Signal Koukan plate. A big step up from Drive right out of the box.

Kamen Rider Mach is just gorgeous. His matte white makes all the other paint details pop even more. Every application is fine and crisp and the palette is spot-on to his onscreen counterpart. The details of the figure are even up to the S.H. Figuarts standard. The Mach Driver Honoh has great silver paint apps and even has a functioning chamber for Signal Koukan goodness!

Articulation wise, he’s much the same as Drive but with the added hand count, you can pull off some really expressive poses, which suits the character to a T.

The Zenrin Shooter (Front Wheel Shooter) can be held in either hand and is nicely detailed and is one solid piece. I’m sure someone would’ve liked the wheel to spin freely but that person is crazy. I might have liked some blast effect parts but considering the playability here, I can live without it.

For the Signal Koukan parts, the change between the default load out and the included Margarl parts is pretty simple but due to the small parts involved, it can be fiddly. Still, it’s pulled off well and you’ll have Mach pulling of bending shots in no time!

Next to his partner in crime-fighting, Mach looks fantastic! The balance of colour and contrasting vehicular themes make them quite a pair to own.

And as I race to the finish of this review, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention one of Mach’s most interesting features, executed perfectly in Figuarts form – the V-Helm. Since Mach is clearly based on a motorcycle racer, his visor lifts, allowing Mach to vent excess energy from his faceguard. It looks so cool in motion and I’m happy they included it on the figure.

Overall, Mach is highly recommended! Even more-so than Drive even because Mach beats him in nearly every way in my eyes. He looks better, he has more accessories and his design is more conducive to pulling fun poses. But Drive isn’t completely shafted by Mach because he was nice enough to bring a present.

The First Run Bonus that comes with Kamen Rider Mach is the Funky Spike tire for Drive. While nothing outlandish cool, it’s one of the series’ mainstays and part of Drive’s default loadout.

TIRE KOUKAN! FUNKY SPIKE! The tire lives up to it’s name by being a fantastic metallic green but also really spiky so watch your fingers. It’s not my favourite tire but it’s still nice to have it.

Again, Kamen Rider Mach is a must-buy, both as a stand-alone figure and as part of Kamen Rider Drive’s trio of heroic Riders!

Shinnosuke Tomari is a former elite police officer in the Metropolitan Police, who, after an event that traumatized one of his colleagues, has been “demoted” into the Special Investigations Division. This division looks into the stranger happenings in the city, particularly the recent “Heavy Acceleration” events. These events, termed “Slowdown” by the public, leave people unable to move. When he is chosen by the Drive Driver and Tridoron, Shinnosuke transforms into Kamen Rider Drive and is tasked with battling the Roidmudes who plan to rise against humanity and take over the world.

While the main Type Speed release is a little lacking in accessories, the First Run Bonus parts more than make up for this deficit.

One thing I love about the packaging for this figure is that the window motif mimics the given fruit theme of the Rider, in this case, having a segmented orange pattern while the back has a very ornate, Japanese theme to it.

The tray inside houses five pairs of interchangeable hands, a closed Orange Lockseed, a Musous Saber and Orange Arms’ signature weapon, the Daidaimaru.

Kamen Rider Gaim is my favourite S.H. Figuarts release to date, and that just by messing with him straight out of the packaging. This is a brand new style of figure with a fantastic detailing, gorgeous paint and some new quirks to the articulation. His hips are more akin to Marvel Legends and the posts for his interchangeable hands are smaller yet feel much sturdier. Unfortunately, the holster for his Musou Saber isn’t as sturdy and is prone to popping off the belt.

Accessories-wise, I better talk about the smallest first with the Orange Lockseed. Gaim’s ‘open’ hands can hold it comfortably with a little coercing or it can be stored on the Lockseed holster on his right side. There’s an open version on his Sengoku Driver, which features tons of detail and chopping action with the knife, allowing you to replicate actions from the show.

The Musou Saber is the standard side-arm weapon for a quartet of Riders on the show and has some great paint apps. It’s a combination sword/pistol, much like the Ixa Calibur from Kamen Rider Kiva. The Daidaimaru is the signature weapon for Orange Arms, looking like a segmented orange slice as a blade.

You can combine the Musou Saber and Daidaimaru into its Naginata Mode by plugging one into the hilt of the other. This combined weapon can be further added to by plugging the Orange Lockseed into the blade’s cross guard.

Compared to the Arms Change line, the S.H. Figuarts release is a gorgeus delight which is superior in all but one way, the AC gimmick. Yup, no swapping armours between figures but you know what? I can live without it when they look THIS good!

As a whole, I LOVE Kamen Rider Gaim and having a Figuarts this gorgeous and this poseable is the cherry on the cake and this release gets a massive recommendation!

The packaging for this S.H. Figuarts release harkens back to older figures, with a more basic package but the reverse is undeniably a Ryuki design, with the shattered mirror motif and bold text declaring “ADVENT”.

The inside tray has a ton of accessories! Along with FIVE pairs of interchangeable hands, you get a card-holding right hand, the Abyss Visor, Strike Vent, the twin Sword Vent, and his four TEENY-TINY Advent cards. Also included is an awesome Tamashii stage with his logo and name printed on it.

The Advent cards (L-R: Final Vent, Sword Vent, Advent and Strike Vent) are incredibly small, only a few millimetres in size but feature very detail printing and I’m going to keep them in their designated baggy because you could lose these as easily as you could lose Kyoryu Red’s beast battery. Interestingly, his Advent deck is removable from his belt but cannot store cards.

Out of the package and equipped with his Abyss Visor, Kamen Rider Abyss looks astounding! His shark motif is cast in a gorgeous metallic blue. One nice thing I like is that unlike the plain black legs that most Ryuki Riders have, Abyss adds lots of colourful details to the undersuit. Like older KR Figuarts, Abyss has die-cast feet, helping posing options and giving some much needed heft, especially considering that Abyss is pretty short compared to other Figuarts I have. He’s a right shorty shark.

Sliding Advent cards into their Visors, Ryuki Riders can access the weapons and abilities associated with their Contract Beasts and Abyss is no different. His visor opens and has room for a card to be placed.

Strike Vent is Abysssmash, a huge blunt force weapon for his right hand, giving him sharky boxing gloves.

Sword Vent calls forth one or two Abyss Sabers, which are awesome serrated blades that look as mean as you’d expect a shark man to use.

Kamen Rider Abyss is a fantastic design that I’ve always wanted a figure of and having him in hand, I can happily report that I’m pretty chuffed. He might be small but he’s got tons of personality and I welcome him into my S.H. Figuarts collection. Some might not be as happy by his arrival in Sharp-O’s World…