Toy Review: SH Figuarts Shinken Gold

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I'm not surprised that Bandai Japan released their version of Shinkengers in light of or after Bandai America released their Mega Samurai Rangers in line with their show. Is Bandai Japan in head to head with its US counterpart? Weird isn't it.

Just like the leader of the pack Sh Figuarts Shinken Gold also shares a one-two punch to all Super Sentai lovers especially a Shinkenger fan like me. A plus with Shinken Gold is that it came with the Kuroko. Not that it makes a huge difference, but it is nice that he continues to have it in. If you have Shinken Red in your possession already, at least you have two stage hands (or Kuroko in Japanese) to carry both sides of the flag and reenact the signature roll call you have always pictured - right at your desktop.

It is exciting to see the new box art tailor-made for Shinken Gold. Gold box with all the goodies you want. An exception is again the translucent letters. Irritating in a way that these are incomprehensible in a distance. But the true fun is not on its exterior but what is inside.

SHF Shinken Gold has 5 extra hands that are primarily holding and open hands. Nothing spectacular but at least you have enough options to interchange these while using the sword - which comes to the next part. Surprisingly Shinken Gold has three kinds of Sakanamaru - half open sword, another to place at the back of the figure and lastly a sword with a separate shaft. Different poses, many options for Shinken Gold. Although all of these are different in length, these gives more poseabilities for the figure. The Sushi disk fits well on the separated Sakanamaru. Downside is that it is not compatible with the holding hand. Often times I had difficulty capturing him on DSLR with the sushi disk on the sword. Tsk Tsk.

What's Shinken Gold without his buddies - ebi, ika and Daigoyo. Ebi and Ika's legs or tentacles are rubbery and flexible. These are nice to have especially on the fact that SHF Kamen Riders don't carry that much armaments as Super Sentai. And don't expect that Daigoyo would transform into a robot or even show his head - its not meant to be anyway though I wish it could.

I'm surprised that all of these nifty things that came with Shinken Gold - he doesn't have a Sushi Changer. How come? Red has his phone. How the hell would I do the Ikan Kenjo pose?

The figure has no limitations when flexed because basically no shoulder pads or costume extensions that would hinder its joints to move. What I'm concerned about is despite the flexibility, the joints are susceptible to breakage. I haven't tested my figure to its limit but it is something to mind about.

Some netizens are somewhat disappointed that his body type doesn't match with its suit actor...well again it is not meant to be. Its main actor and suit actor don't have the same body type anyway - so why bother.

To conclude, inspite of the missing Sushi Changer...Shinken Gold is also fun to have especially when I placed him with his old pal Takeru. It's up to you if you still want to complete the whole team, but it seems that Shinken Gold and Red already make a good team.

Video review below.