Toybox REVIEW: S.H. Figuarts Phase Variation Batta-Augs

Release Date: March 2024

RRP: 8250 yen

When producing a remake of the original Kamen Rider series there are usually some essentials that have to be hit, and one of those is the concept of the Shocker Rider. These mass-produced versions of the titular hero are Shocker agents that successfully underwent brainwashing, originally appearing in episode 92 of the series as well as the original manga. The Shocker Riders were also featured in both the Kamen Rider Spirits manga and 2007's Kamen Rider: The Next. For 2023's Shin Kamen Rider they were slightly reimagined again as the Phase Variation Batta Augments, 11 mass-produced warriors created by Ichiro Midorikawa to take down the Double Riders. Bandai Tamashii Nations have continued to expand their Shin Kamen Rider range with the release of the Tamashii web exclusive S.H. Figuarts Phase Variation Batta-Augs, their seventh figure from the film.

Toybox REVIEW: SJHU Project Shin Universe Robo

Release Date: January 2024

RRP: 21,000 yen

"There was an idea...The idea was to bring together a group of of remarkable people to see if they could become something more. To see if they could work together when we needed them to, to fight the battles that we never could." 

- Nick Fury, The Avengers

The Shin Japan Heroes Universe is a collaborative project between Toho, Studio Khara, Tsuburaya Productions and Toei that brings together the works of Hideaki Anno for all manner of merchandising and special events. During and following the production of his Rebuild of Evangelion film series, Anno went on to reimagine the tokusatsu juggernauts from his childhood in three critically acclaimed films - Shin Godzilla, Shin Ultraman and Shin Kamen Rider. As part of the project, Bandai unveiled one of most ambitious and bizarrest pieces of crossover merchandise you'll ever find. SJHU Project Shin Universe Robo - a Premium Bandai exclusive figure which takes Evangelion Unit 01, Godzilla, Ultraman and Kamen Rider and combines them in a classic style giant robot. As if the sheer insanity of the toy wasn't enough, further hype was built around the project with the production of a special web commercial directed by renowned special effects director Hiroshi Butsuda - showing off a full CG transformation sequence before showing off the robot in all its glory with a practical suit. Toys rarely get much stranger than this.

Toybox REVIEW: S.H. Figuarts Kamen Rider No. 0

Release Date: October 2023

RRP: 8250 yen

Although Shin Kamen Rider stayed fairly true to the original 1971 series in a lot of ways, there were also some key areas where it diverged quite significantly - the main one being the portrayal of SHOCKER. Rather than a secret terrorist organisation bent on world domination, the Sustainable Happiness Organization with Computational Knowledge Embedded Remodeling (or SHOCKER for short) is a cult-like organisation that has vowed to "lead all mankind to happiness". Another major difference was the  identity of the film's main villain - Ichiro Midorikawa, the son of Doctor Midorikawa (and brother to Ruriko), who was transformed into Chou Augment-01 by SHOCKER. Planning to exact his version of SHOCKER's goal through the Habitat Project, at the end of the film he assumes the identity of Kamen Rider No.0 to battle against the Double Riders. S.H. Figuarts Kamen Rider No.0 is the fourth release in the Shin Kamen Rider range - following on from Kamen Rider 1 and Kamen Rider 2 as well as the Cyclone motorcycle. As per everything else in the range past Rider 1, the figure is a Tamashii web exclusive.

Top 5: Toys I'm Looking Forward to in 2024

It feels a bit strange to be writing a top five post about what toys I'm looking forward to in 2024 when I feel like I've hit a bit of a crossroads with toy collecting. While I can't see me giving up the hobby entirely any time soon, I'm definitely looking at curbing it a bit going forwards - Hasbro lines largely don't seem to hit the same for me any more, and overall I'm just beginning to get a bit overwhelmed by the quantity I've picked up in decade or so I've been into the hobby proper. But nevertheless there will always be new toy releases that excite me, and even though my preorder list feels much smaller than it did this time last year there's some really great stuff lined up for 2024!

Some honourable mentions:

- Haslab Deathsaurus - I know people across the world have already started to receive him so he's technically a 2023 release, but the UK's have been held back until February so I've got a little while longer to wait before I get my hands on him.

- S.H. Figuarts Luffy and Nami (Dawn of Adventure) - 2023 was the year I finally got hit by the One Piece bug, and while I did pick up the new Raid on Onigashima Luffy to tide me over in the meantime (a fun little figure!) I've got a long way to go before I'm up to date with the series (currently sitting on episode 240 at the time of writing). These however? I'll take them all please and thank you. The only reason they didn't make the actual list is because they don't have a release date yet, but with One Piece celebrating its 25th anniversary next year I'm fairly confident they aren't too far away.

So without further ado, onto the list!

Toybox REVIEW: S.H. Figuarts Kamen Rider 2 (Shin Kamen Rider)

Release Date: August 2023

RRP: 8250 yen

As an abridged retelling of the original series, there was no way that Shin Kamen Rider was going to limit itself to just one Rider. As well as depicting Takeshi Hongo's transformation in to the masked hero, the film also introduces Hayato Ichimonji – who fans will know took the mantle following Hongo's departure and became Kamen Rider 2. Shin Kamen Rider plays things a little differently to the original series (and is far more in line with the manga version of the story), but nevertheless Ichimonji remains a vital component in the story. So while his status as a Tamashii web exclusive feels a little undeserved, nevertheless S.H. Figuarts Kamen Rider 2 (Shin Kamen Rider) is an important addition to the line – completing yet another rendition of the legendary Double Riders.

Toybox REVIEW: S.H. Figuarts Kamen Rider (Shin Kamen Rider)

Release Date: March 2023

RRP: 7700 yen

The 50th anniversary of the Kamen Rider franchise brought along plenty of new exciting projects, but arguably the biggest of them all was the announcement of the next instalment in Hideaki Anno's series of unrelated "Shin" films - Shin Kamen Rider. A retelling of the original 1971 series, the film has not only found success in Japan but also worldwide - receiving a number of limited screenings across the US before releasing worldwide on Amazon Prime earlier this month. But moving back to the film's initial Japanese cinema release in March, Bandai Tamashii Nations were on the ball with the release of S.H. Figuarts Kamen Rider (Shin Kamen Rider) to coincide with it. Despite technically being a figure of Kamen Rider 1, with Takeshi Hongo as the main character of the film the figure simply been billed as "Kamen Rider" - the first hero to adopt that name.