Toybox REVIEW: S.H. Figuarts Gokai Christmas

While all six members of the Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger crew have been available in Bandai's S.H. Figuarts line for almost a year now, that doesn't mean there aren't still a few more figure possibilities for the 35th anniversary Super Sentai team. While the most obvious release would have probably Gokai Silver's gold mode, online store ToeiHero.net had some different (and more festive) plans for their exclusive figure. With a release date in December last year, its only fitting that the figure in question is Gokai Christmas - a special one-off suit that appeared in episode 44 of the series when Gokai Silver combined the powers of the Gokai Red and Green ranger keys.

In true Christmas fashion, Gokai Christmas comes in possibly the gaudiest box imaginable. A festive blend of red and green stripes, with the words "Gokai X'mas" emblazoned in white text with gold trimming. The front of the box also features the ToeiHero.net logo as a sign of its exclusiveness, while the back of the box features the figure in a variety of different poses.

Upon opening up, I immediately realised how much I'd missed the excitement of a new Gokaiger figure. Even with a little bit of leg articulation limitation from the suit's jacket, the overall poseability of the Gokaiger body is still the best Super Sentai has to offer. The figure just oozes personality (whether you want some serious action poses or crazy Gai Ikari antics) and the added bicep-swivel gives the figure an added edge that previous (and later) figures have lacked. The two-sided colourscheme has been recreated perfectly, right down to the asymmetrical visor and gold logo on the helmet (although that should really be luminous yellow). While the red arm on my figure doesn't quite match the shade of red for the jacket, its only noticeable in certain lighting and an issue that could possibly vary from figure to figure.

As far as accessories go, unfortunately it isn't anything we haven't already seen in previous Gokaiger releases. Included are 11 pairs of hands (including the usual closed fist/sword gripping/pistol gripping pairs and a few extravagant pose hands), a Gokai Saber, a Gokai Pistol, the Gokai Christmas ranger key in flipped and unflipped forms and exchangeable barrels for the weapons. There's no unique or character-specific items included (or even a Gokai Cellular), but then Gokai Christmas never really had any specific items in his fleeting appearance. While there is an impressive level of detail on the ranger keys, its a little disappointing that there wasn't anything unique included with this release...items such as a scale Gokai Galleon Buster may never see production. However I suppose its somewhat understandable that Bandai may not want to include what would be such a sought-after item with an exclusive release that wasn't from the Tamashii webstore.

So what's the verdict on Gokai Christmas? Well, that all depends on just how much of a completist you are. Gokai Christmas was a throwaway character in a Christmas-themed episode. A great throwaway character in a great Christmas-themed episode, but still. There's very little to fault about the figure itself and the paint job is pretty flawless, but the lack of anything truly unique in the accessories might put casual collectors off putting their money down on an exclusive release. I'm giving it an average rating just because on the grand scale of things it probably isn't a necessaries purchase, but if you love Gokaiger just as much as I do you might want to throw a bit more onto that 3 out of 5 rating.

Toybox REVIEW: S.H. Figuarts Gokai Silver

As the Gokaiger series draws to a close in Japan the sixth member of the pirate crew, Gokai Silver, sees his turn to be immortalised in Bandai's S.H. Figuarts line! While one of the last to be released (alongside Pink), Silver is in the fourth of six to be a mass release - the two girls being relegated to Tamashii web exclusive status.

As is the usual standard with Super Sentai's "extra" heroes, Gokai Silver sports a slightly different aesthetic to the other five...and a shinier paint job to boot. The visor area is a bit dark, but other than that the helmet is excellent. The shiny silver and gold paint on the jacket and cuffs compliment the matte black finish of the jumpsuit part nicely, and certainly make Silver stand out in a display with his crew mates. As usual the level of posability is superb, which suits the ever excitable Gai Ikari perfectly.

Gokai Silver is packaged with a total of 11 additional hands (including ones to replicate his roll call pose), the Gokai Cellular, an unfolded Gokai Silver ranger key and his weapon of choice, the Gokai spear, in both spear and rifle forms. While these are nice additions to the figure, I can't help feel that there is one of two things missing. Firstly, there is no unfolded ranger key, meaning that no key can be inserted into the weapon or cellular (however given the size of the cellular this is somewhat understandable) like in show. However to make up for the cellular situation a tiny gold mode anchor key could have been included to plug into the bottom, much like the folded ranger keys plug into the standard Gokaigers' mobirates. No gold mode key was included, but a hidden feature on the Gokai spear suggests that perhaps we may see more of gold mode in the future. The trident blades are removable, and can be reversed to make up the spear's Anchor mode, which of course was used exclusively by Gokai Silver Gold mode. A hint toward a (probably Tamashii web exclusive) gold mode parts set in the future? Who knows, but it's always fun to speculate. Unfortunately Gokai Silver does not include his Gojyujin darin, possibly because it is larger piece than the others. Still,unless it sees a future release it's disappointing that the Kanzen GokaiOh cockpit can't be recreated.

While his accessory count may be a little lower than his predecessors, but the figure itself has just as much (if not more so) charm than the rest. With an excellent selection of hands, a great paintjob and potential hinting of an upgrade set in the future, Gai Ikari really does have his moment in the silver spotlight in the form of Figuarts Gokai Silver. If you were only to buy two of the Gokaiger figuarts, I would recommend Silver as one of those not only because, as a mass release, he would  be far easier to obtain, but also because of the difference in design and paint to the others.