[Toys] SH Figuarts: Kamen Rider Fourze Base States

So, I dunno if I mentioned her befooore, but this girl, Jazz? She's awesome.

As an art commission payment, she managed to send this my way from the lovely sometimes-overly-priced online store Amazon, a name relevant to Fourze since Amazon will be featured in the Hyper Battle DVD special.

I'm going to add a lot of detail about this guy since his show is, for the moment, still on air! My first time owning Kamen Rider merch for a show that's still airing, imagine that. Anyway, let's befriend this kid.

"What's his problem?"

Kamen Rider Fourze. It's a show which completely surprised me with how awesome it ended up being, with a fun cast of characters and a unique combination of quality people working on it. Some of its supporters have started to dislike and even hate it as it nears its climax, but after the last few episodes, I'm loving it more than ever. Which is why I'm glad this arrived.

TOY TIIIIIME!! 

So here's Fourze in Base States, his default form. I don't have pics of it but I will mention that the box is awesome - it's white and patterned after Fourze's chest. Since Double (maybe even Decade before that) they've made special personalized boxes like this, but this was my first one. I like the look of it much more than the silver and black. 

So, as far as accessories go, Fourze comes with enough to feel satisfying. He has a large arsenal of Switches and modules in the show, but 40 items is a bit much... 

I will point out now, while all the paint is there for the design, I added the black lines on the suit. They were molded in and I felt it would help if I colored them in to make them pop. Since taking these pics I've done the same with the arms, whoops. 

Not much to say about the alternate hands. He has fists, relaxed hands, and relaxed hands that point outwards. Notably the latter can be used for stroking his pompadour. If it wasn't for the helmet - not that it would stop him from trying. 

One thing that I recall being pointed out is that Fourze's a little bit shorter than his fellow Riders in the same line. This is canonical since, well, he's a high school kid, so it does give a subtle difference in height. Not a major and noticeable one, mind you. 

I'll also take this moment to say the eye lenses on this are glorious, as per Figuarts quality. They're a nice vibrant color I wish I could capture better. 

The pose that is as overused as OOO's vending machine ride...

So let's get to the accessories you're looking at; his iconic modules. Yes, while packing in 40 weapons is not acceptable, they did have to at least include the ones he uses most, Rocket and Drill. 

While it's clear I am a fan of painting the molded detailing on things, I did NOT do the black paint work on these two; they were, in fact, like this when I got them. Kudos to Bandai for saving me lots of work! 

There isn't a whole lot you can do with these two together when you don't have a display stand to make him do his Rocket Drill Rider Kick, but they're neat chunks of plastic to mess with. Drill's... drill spins, it's tight but movable, and Rocket at least makes a nice punching weapon. The ends of the rocket are removable for an effects part set (sold separately!) that allows you to plug on a burst of flames, but if you lack that, there's not much it can do besides look cool. 

These accessories overall are just Bandai's dirty way of making you consider buying the module sets that include 4 of these bad boys in each set, which I've seen go for upwards of $30. If only I could get one for 20, if only... 

Another thing I didn't take pics of is me using Drill on his arm. It doesn't seem to be securely plugged in, but it stays in solidly enough. Fanmode!

So the thing about Fourze's belt... If you've seen the show you know how he puts in Switches which can then be activated to materialize weapons, such as Rocket and Drill up there. Showing how detailed Figuarts likes to be, they made it so you could literally take off parts of the belt to change the Switches. Let's see how that looks. 

(By the way the handle on the side is articulated, whoa) 

Sadly, you don't literally take out Switches, but instead you remove part of the belt in the process, hence the little flipper on the Switches here. 

All four are removable despite you only getting two modules (thinking ahead, Bandai...), however as you'll see, there's five... this is because they include an alternate version of the Drill Switch. Why? Because it's activated by turning a knob, and there's a tiiiny point on the knob, and they included a version of the Switch for when the knob is turned.  

That is how crazy the Fourze toys are. While Rocket's activation is an example of how minor a difference it is that they need not making a spare, they have in fact made spare versions of Switches that have minor differences like Drill's. It's insane. 

I will also point out now, I kinda wish they'd handled these differently. The way they plug into the belt is what you'd expect, peg and hole, but the peg comes from the Switch itself and it's far too short... Making the peg, a long peg, be something on the belt that the Switch plugs into, would work out SO much better, as is they fit rather loosely on mine. If you grab him by the waist they might fall out from your thumb pressing against them.

Samurai States?

So, as a whole, I think Fourze's a really cool package, but boy does it tempt me to spend more money that I shouldn't. If you love the show as much as I do, it's worth getting. The cheaper (depending on where you go...) gimmick toyline has good figure quality as well, lacking in some paint and articulation but including 4 modules with each figure, is a good alternative to this, but the detail and quality is always top notch with Figuarts. 

Now, we'll see if my birthday brings forth any other reviewable goodies, here's hoping.