Toy Review: SH Figuarts Kamen Rider Yuuki

Finally...after searching for months and months for an SHF Kamen Rider Yuuki, that is not ridiculously priced, has come to an end. Skimming at Mandarake's online hobby shop I stumbled upon Yuuki at 4000 yen. Not bad since today's mark up could have been triple the price. So if you are as lucky as me, hooray.

The box art is damn straight forward since this figure belongs to SHF's infancy. Before there was a Bandai Collector shop logo, there was a Tamashii Web Shop sitting underneath Yuuki's name. Yuuki I guess is the first SHF with a two-layered plastic tray because of the accessories that came with it.

Yuuki is a mash between Gaoh, Den-O Vega and Strike form. The shoulders are based from Gaoh while the legs are from Den-O. His compound eyes have some similarities with Strike Form, less the bug-eye details underneath the black translucent visor. The paint apps all over Yuuki is pretty fair because there are of matching palettes. The combination of these colors are common but these highlight the personality of Yuuki even more. What ticks me off is the red scarf for Hijack Form and the gold version for Skull Form. Both have extended parts which protrude annoyingly in front. You can try to fold since they are soft plastics but it is a matter of great patience in order to accomplish this. Moreover, the scarves look like plates when placed over Yuuki's shoulder. Its mechanical arms is a nice touch with fingers that can open and close. Its joints for the mechanical arm is tight which bring delight to anyone who possess this toy.

Yuuki includes a hell of accessories. He has two pairs of hands (closed fist and open). Holding hands are already the default hands to hold the weapons. There is also an extra arm to interchange with the mechanical arm for Skull Form. Two scarves as mentioned earlier are for Hijack and Skull form. A Savage Gasher and a Ghost Imagin sword are also included. The Savage Gasher is a combination of two DenGashers mashed together so it looks like an axe and a sword. During its release, this is the most badass weapon you'll see. The Ghost Imagin sword is a neatly done mold with black and silver paint apps that provides an illusion that this is die cast than soft plastic. Another accessory is his plain white whip. I would have the whip painted with black stripes to imitate what it actually looks like on the movie, check the box for reference. He also comes with DenGasher holders and separate Gasher pieces to complete his look. Last accessory in his arsenal is what I call the Inception Top (not the actual name).

Transforming from Hijack to Skull form is quite easy by just swapping the pieces together. But be careful on its head piece since there are small parts that are easy to loose. Once gone, it's gone forever and you'll just have an expensive incomplete figure in your possession.

Anyways, since I mentioned already that this figure is one of the earlier exclusive releases, there will be missed paint apps such as his whip and on the head. Other downside of this figure is the leg articulation which is hindered by the extended skirt pieces. This problem has been resolved and you can see the improvements in SHF Super Sentai female figures. Despite all that, I understand why this is one of the sought after rare SHF figures to date, like Strike Form before its trilogy release. Check out the video review below for other details.