Movie REVIEW: GARO: Taiga

A big anniversary for a long-running franchise is always a good excuse to look back on and celebrate where it all began, but what about going even further back to before the beginning? This is how the GARO franchise decided to celebrate its 20th anniversary, with the release of GARO: Taiga - a brand-new feature film starring a Taiga Saejima, father to Kouga (and grandfather to Raiga) whose time as the titular Golden Knight had previously only been seen through flashbacks. Series creator Keita Amemiya returned to write the film, as well as co-direct it alongside Masaki Suzumura who handles the action sequences. Shoichiro Kitada takes over as a younger Taiga, with the character having been played by Hiroyuki Watanabe in previous appearances.

Toybox REVIEW: HIYA Exquisite Basic Series Kong (B.E.A.S.T. Glove Ver.)

Release Date: September 2025

RRP: $51

For the longest time Bandai ruled the roost when it came to high-end articulated kaiju figures, but in recent years they've found a real competitor in the form in China-based company HIYA. While initially their primary focus seemed to be tackling characters from Legendary Entertainment's Monsterverse films, recent years have also seen them also move into the Heisei and Millennium eras of Toho's Godzilla backcatalogue as well. For kaiju fans "Bandai vs HIYA" is often a constant source of debate, but HIYA definitely took the win when it comes of their handling of Kong in Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire. After releasing a standard version of Kong in the S.H. MonsterArts line prior to the release of the film, Bandai later decided that if fans wanted a movie-accurate head and the B.E.A.S.T. Glove Kong wields in its climax to go with it, they'd also have to buy (the expensive Tamashii web exclusive) Shimo and Skar King to go with it. HIYA on the other hand went for the much more sensible and consumer-friendly route, releasing the Exquisite Basic Series Kong (B.E.A.S.T. Glove Ver.) as an entirely separate release to the standard version. This is HIYA's fourth version of the gorilla Titan, following on from versions based on Godzilla vs. Kong and Kong: Skull Island  as well as the aforementioned standard New Empire one.

Toybox REVIEW: S.H. Figuarts -Shinkocchou Seihou- Kamen Rider 2/Hayato Ichimonji (Kamen Rider: The Next)

Release Date: February 2026

RRP: 9900 yen

The reveal of S.H. Figuarts Kamen Rider 1/Takeshi Hongo (Kamen Rider: The Next) as the 100th Shinkocchou Seihou Kamen Rider release came as quite a pleasant surprise, even though it absolutely deserved its place given it was the figure that kicked off the whole S.H. Figuarts toy line. Of course it was also far too good of a figure to be left on its own as well, so after a slight wait Bandai Tamashii Nations have returned to the world of 2008's Kamen Rider: The Next with the release of S.H. Figuarts -Shinkocchou Seihou- Kamen Rider 2/Hayato Ichimonji (Kamen Rider: The Next). In the film, Hayato returns on the brink of death, his wasting disease becoming more debilitating without regular transfusions from Shocker. Nevertheless he fights alongside Hongo once more, even at the cost of his own life. As with the Rider 1 figure, this new version of The Next's Kamen Rider 2 was released as a Tamashii web exclusive.

Toybox REVIEW: Shokugan Modeling Project Saintkaiser

Release Date: November 2025

RRP: 10,000 yen

True to any toy company that wants to make money, it didn't take Bandai long after the release of SMP Wolkaiser to follow it up with its obvious remould. Shokugan Modeling Project Sainkaiser is the third release in the Mahou Sentai Magiranger range - based on the movie-exclusive mecha from Mahou Sentai Magiranger the Movie: Bride of Infershia. After travelling to Infershia atop the Horned Sacred Horse Unigolon in order to save his friend Yuka, Kai Ozu's Magiphoenix form combines with the unicorn to form the Holy Majin and defeat Glúm do Bridon. This Premium Bandai exclusive set includes both Saint Magiphoenix and Unigolon, as well as the very first poseable Wolzard Fire figure.

Toybox REVIEW: Shokugan Modeling Project Wolkaiser

Release Date: September 2025

RRP: 8900 yen

Mahou Sentai Magiranger was a series with a lot of interesting ideas, and one of the most interesting of all was Wolzard - the dark magic knight who was eventually revealed to be Isamu Ozu, the father of the five Magirangers who fell to darkness during his battle with the Absolute God N Ma. Repeatedly battling against the Magirangers across the course of the series, the family were eventually able to return their father to the light - making him of the first Super Sentai villains to become an "extra" ranger. His impact on the series makes Shokugan Modeling Project Wolkaiser the perfect choice to continue Bandai's new range of Magiranger model kits - neatly coinciding with the show's 20th anniversary. Featuring both Wolzard and his horse Varikion, SMP Wolkaiser is a Premium Bandai exclusive and the second SMP release from Magiranger following on from Magiking.

Series REVIEW: GARO: Sentinel of the East

As the GARO franchise continues to celebrate its 20th anniversary, fans are lucky enough to have two projects representing its two main continuities. Whilst the Saejima family timeline added a new chapter to its story last year with prequel film GARO: Taiga, 2026's offering instead focuses on Ryuga Dougai - continuing his story from when we last saw him in 2024's Heir to the Steel Armor. Though at only eight episodes (plus a prologue episode which quickly recaps Ryuga's story from the very beginning) GARO: Sentinel of the East is one of the shortest entries in the franchise thus far, it does however reunite Ryuga with Rian - the Makai Priestess who first debuted alongside him in The One Who Shines in the Darkness and continued into Gold Storm, Gold Storm -Sho- and Fang of God. As with the previous series, The Eastern Sentinel was made available worldwide via the official GARO YouTube channel with multi-language (albeit AI generated) subtitles.

Toybox REVIEW: Transformers Studio Series Thundercracker

Release Date: January 2026

RRP: $42.99/£34.99

The Seekers are arguably the Transformers' franchise greatest cash cow, and with the ability to repaint/retool the same mould into a dozen different characters rarely does a line go by where they aren't included. Since its debut back in 2020 the War for Cybertron: Earthrise version as been the standard for mainline Transformers, sneaking its way into multiple lines since - including the Studio Series with the Coronation Starscream set. But now a new challenger has finally entered the ring, with Hasbro unveiling an all-new seeker mould with Studio Series Thundercracker. Based on his (brief) appearance in Transformers: The Movie and the preceding seasons of the Generation One cartoon, this is the first of what will certainly be many more Seeker releases in this mould. Is he good enough to justify potentially buying them all over again?

Toybox REVIEW: S.H. Figuarts Rekiness

Release Date: January 2026

RRP: 13,750 yen

Thankfully the fact that most Ultraman series feature a solo hero have never stopped Bandai Tamashii Nations when it comes to character choices for the S.H. Figuarts line - with plenty of alien and kaiju figures to go alongside them. That said, with the Ultra Series placing much more emphasis on legacy characters many of these tend to come from the classic shows, leaving the New Generation era far more underserved outside the Ultras' various forms. With Ultraman Omega featuring kaiju battling alongside the hero himself though, there was no way the line couldn't include at least one of them. S.H. Figuarts Rekiness is the second figure to be released from Omega, and another general retail release.

Anime REVIEW: Tojima Wants to Be a Kamen Rider

Tojima Wants to Be a Kamen Rider is available on Crunchyroll

With the release of Fuuto PI back in 2022 there was the fleeting hope that it may result in more Kamen Rider anime series, but while an adaptation of Kamen Rider Spirits is still nowhere to be found in the meantime Liden Films (Cells at Work! CODE BLACK, Tokyo Revengers, Goblin Slayer II) have come along with the next best thing. Tojima Wants to Be a Kamen Rider is a 24-episode adaptation of Yokusaru Shibata's ongoing manga series of the same name, made in cooperation with both Toei and Ishimori Productions - giving it official recognition as a spin-off (of sorts) of the wider franchise. With its release also coinciding with the main show taking its first steps in wider streaming on YouTube, newcomers who discover Kamen Rider through this show also might want to consider checking out current series Kamen Rider Zeztz as their first steps into the wider world of this iconic franchise.

Toybox REVIEW: Chogokin Metal Gear Rex

Release Date: February 2026

RRP: 36,300 yen

Despite Metal Gear Solid being arguably one of the most popular video game franchises of all time, when it comes to figures and merchandising there's a lot of untapped potential. The majority of characters haven't had toys since the games originally released, and when it comes to the Metal Gears themselves the only real options are large/expensive figures like the ThreeA releases (which are even more expensive on the aftermarket) or Kotobukiya's impressive (but requiring a lot of extra work to look screen-accurate) model kits. As such it came as a bit of a surprise when Bandai Tamashii Nations announced their Chogokin Metal Gear Rex seemingly out of nowhere, bringing a new offering of the iconic war machine from the 1998 game to the table. At 36,300 yen (roughly $220/£171) it's still not exactly a cheap option, but as a Chogokin release their Rex should promise a high quality release with plenty of diecast metal. Is this truly the weapon that will lead us into the 21st century?