My Shiny Toy Robots

After enjoying the first wave of blind-packed Power Rangers Samurai Mega Bloks figures, I was very excited to see the second wave finally in UK stores, now in Super Samurai flavours. This second wave features a total of ten figures, including: Translucent Super Blue Ranger (Ultra Rare) Translucent Mega Mode Red Ranger (Rare) Super Green Ranger (Rare) Bulk (Rare) Training Mode Yellow Ranger (Rare) Battle Damaged Gold Ranger (Common) Metallic Red Ranger (Common) Mega Mode Blue Ranger (Common) Flying Mooger (Common) And then finally a mystery "secret rare" figure, which is rather underwhelmingly a solid red Mega Mode Red Ranger. Now wise to knowing which pack is which via the product codes on the back, I decided to pick up Super Blue, Bulk and Metallic Red as my first purchases. Sadly either I've managed to pick up a defective bunch, or these are nowhere near the quality of the first wave. The metallic Red Ranger is less "metallic" and ...

When Kamen Rider OOO was drawing to close, fans became divided on images of a space-themed Kamen Rider with a rocket-shaped cone head which did its rounds on the internet. Shortly afterward Kamen Rider Fourze , the 22nd Kamen Rider series, was announced with these images proving to indeed be the look of the new rider. While some were instantly put off, others were interested in the talent behind the show - head writer Kazuki Nakashima ( Gurren Lagann ) and director Koichi Sakamoto ( Power Rangers, Gokaiger ), or the promising monster designs. Kamen Rider Fourze began airing in September 2011, running for a total of 48 episodes, with two movies (three if you include Super Hero Taisen ) and various specials. The final episode aired just last weekend, and the show has been my first weekly Kamen Rider experience. Gentaro Kisaragi will befriend you no matter what Fourze  sees new student Gentaro Kisaragi transfer to Amanogawa High School, which has recently become the centr...

In the second part of my BC-04/SJ-05 review, I'll be looking at the various combinations that can be done using one or both of these figures.  Buster Hercules Buster Hercules (or Buster Heracles if you prefer) is the combination of both Go-Buster Beet and SJ-05, and the main draw of this set (as its the robot on the front of all three boxes). The combination inolves swapping the Go-Buster Beet head with the Hercules one fitted onto the crane arm. Remove the back piece from SJ-05 and split it apart into three segments - the left/right "beetle" parts and the middle "jet" section. The beetle parts slot onto the left arm (and in doing so, join together too) while the jet piece is wielded as a weapon in the right hand. The Great Go-Buster head piece attaches to the back of the robot, and finally the gun section clips onto the chest via a fold-out peg. To be honest, there isn't a huge deal different about Buster Hercules to Go-Buster Beet other than i...

While the Tokumei Sentai Go-Busters series has been walking the line of mediocrity in terms of story and characters recently, it's still mecha fights are still both a big draw and highlight. Focusing far more on the singular mecha than the combined forms, its made for a nice change of pace and a reminder that Sentai robots are made up of individual parts. With each robot also having its own transforming gimmick (whether it be one or two modes), this has also made the toys a lot more interesting. Ace , GT-02 and RH-03 have all been fairly solid even if the combined form of Go-BusterOh was ridiculously lacklustre (both in show and toy form). With the introduction of two rangers in the form of Beet and Stag Buster, this also means two new additions to the mini-pla line. With lots of different modes and combinations on offer with this set, I thought it better to divide the review into two different sections. The first will look at the individual mecha - Beet Buster's BC-04 Bee...