My Shiny Toy Robots

In my earlier review of S.H. Figuarts Kamen Rider Fourze I said that despite him being a great figure, just how great he can be depends on how much money you're prepared to spend on him aside from the initial figure. At the time of writing that only the first module and stand/effect sets had been released, now as we come to end of Kamen Rider Fourze a total of four module sets have been released, with perhaps the possibility of more to come. Initially I didn't have plans to buy anything else outside of the stand set (because I'm a sucker for character-centric stands) but when AmiAmi had Module Set 01 on sale for 500 yen (£4/$6), it seemed too good an offer to pass up. Included in this set are the following switches. Switch 02 Launcher (Right Leg) Switch 04 Radar (Left Arm) Switch 05 Magic Hand (Right Arm) Switch 06 Camera (Left Arm) Packaging is a typical black Figuarts style box (albeit smaller) with some Fourze style pattern and an image of the ch...

Can you believe its been five years since Gurren Lagann ? Well it has, and while Gainax haven't shown any plans in celebrating the anniversary of my favourite mecha series lesser known toy company Sentinel have given fans something to celebrate about. Revealed nearly a year ago to much excitement, the fourth installment in their Riobot (Riot Robot) line has finally been released. While Sentinel might not have quite the extensive resume as lines such as Kaiyodo's Revoltech and Bandai's Robot Damashii or Super Robot Chogokin, the few figures they have put out are said to be of superb quality (which is reflected in their hefty price tags). Costing a whopping 9500 yen RRP (£75/$120), Riobot Gurren Lagann has quite a lot to live up to before being compared to previous incarnations of the robot. Much like how the packaging for RIO:Bone (Sentinel's human character line) Panty and Stocking impressed with their fantastic graphics, Gurren Lagann also has a box...

A female Sentai Figuart that isn't a Tamashii web exclusive? That's crazy talk! But believe it or not, Bandai has gone and surprised us all with the Figuarts Akibarangers, which just goes to show how much they seem to be pushing this series in terms of merchandise. After Akiba Red's release at the end of June, the end of July saw Akiba Blue aka Mitsuki Aoyagi hit retail in figure form. They were joined earlier this month by Akiba Yellow (who's currently on her way to me), rounding off the three main Akibarangers. Much like her predecessor Akiba Blue's packaging is a rainbow explosion of anime-esque proportions, with the unofficial stamp now blue rather than red. The box shows the figure in a variety of (fairly simplistic) poses, but unlike Akiba Red lacks any reference to the Inordinate Powers sold separately with the other Super Sentai Figuarts. This is a shame because Bouken Red's Bouken Scoop is a weapon I more closely associate with Blue, but I...

While the Panty and Stocking figure set may be great, its arguably the least interesting set of the four Phat Company have released as the characters in their generic costumes are available via a variety of costumes (also available is the highly-coveted-by-me Angel ver. set, and a limited edition version of their police uniforms with the colours done by clothing company Galaxxxy). But alongside the three Panty/Stocking sets is one featuring characters whom as far as I know have not had any other form of figure release. I'm talking of course about the demon sisters and series bad guys Scanty and Kneesocks. After rewatching the series I've found myself liking these characters more and more, so picking them up really couldn't have come at a much better time. Like their angel counterparts Scanty and Kneesocks are packaged in the same "You either open it or keep it MISB forever. You can't have it both ways." bubble packaging, only their colourful card feat...