SH Figuarts ShinkenGold

Height: 14cm

Articulation: 37 total points - Triple-jointed neck, mid torso joint, waist joint; 9 points each arm: Universal joint shoulder, upper arm swivel, double hinge elbow, universal wrist joint plus wrist ball joint; 7 points each leg: Double jointed hip, thigh swivel, double hinge knee, ball joint ankle, toe hinge.

Colors: Molded dark blue, pale yellow; Painted gold, dark blue, red, white, black, silver, royal blue (Ika Origami only), bronze (Ebi Origami only), light metallic blue (Sakanamaru only), green (Origamis only), skintone (Kuroko only)

Accessories: Ika Origami, Ebi Origami, Sakanamaru + scabbard, partially sheathed Sakanamaru, fully sheathed Sakanamaru, Sushi Disc, Dai Goyo lantern + jitte, extra hands x5; Kuroko bonus figure (first Japanese release only)

Release Data: Released in Japan in March of 2011 at a retail price of ¥3500; Released via Toys R Us and toysrus.com in the US starting in late September 2010 for US$34.99.

Author: ExVee

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When watching Shinkenger originally, it tended to idle at boring. The problem mostly was that since it was something of a samurai drama deal, all the characters were made to treat the situation with varying degrees of serious determination. The sixth member threw that idea out, and was a refreshing dose of wacky personality that changed how everyone else behaved and adjusted the tone just enough that it was much easier to stick with the rest of the series. So yes, ShinkenGold sticks out in my mind pretty distinctly as the thing that made me able to enjoy Shinkenger. And so as it was among the first sentai representatives in the predominantly Masked Rider SH Figuarts series, this figure has been drawing my attention for a while. And there's a fair relevance here, since Toys R Us is offering Gold and ShinkenRed currently in the US. Even considering the Power Rangers Samurai factor, it becomes no less bizarre to imagine going to a Toys R Us location and finding Figuarts on a shelf. However, my figure today is a Japanese released version, though the only seeming difference between them is the absence of the Kuroko first-run premium figurine. And should ShinkenGold get a second production run in Japan (some retailers still haven't sold through all their first supply even now several months later) that would also be without the Kuroko, so the playing field is very level here.


The Figure

SH Figuarts is a line focused on articulation primarily, and physical accuracy to the costumes in question as a close second. With Rider designs, you still get very superhero builds thanks to the costumes having a good bit of armor involved. ShinkenGold on the other hand looks like a skinny guy in a tight suit. Which is actually slightly inaccurate, since the stunt performer in the ShinkenGold suit was a bit thicker around the middle than the average Japanese suit actor. If you could ignore the cuts and gaps for articulation all around the body, the overall appearance is very close to what you see in the shows, something I've never before seen accomplished on an articulated Ranger action figure.

Ranger suits are necessarily less detailed on average than a Rider, so ShinkenGold has a much simpler appearance. But there's no lack for the details the costume does possess. Important and typically overlooked things like the style of the gloves and boots (previously referenced and done right in Super Legends Green Ranger) are correctly realized, and even include things like wrinkling around the ankles and seam lines added along the fingers to make the boots and gloves look like real articles of clothing. Sadly the separation between ankle and foot to accommodate the ankle joints will often make the boots look more like legwarmers. There's a ridge on the back of the torso to emulate where the suit's zipper would be, and the helmet has the small air vents on either side. In maybe the most clever move in the detailing, the seam left from gluing the front and back halves of the head together is placed so it can be "hidden" as the seam on the costume's helmet. So while you can see there's not as much in terms of complex detail, it's made up for by painstaking attention to some of the smallest characteristics of a seemingly simple fabric suit. And that's to say nothing of the intentional design elements of the suit, which are equally well executed.

In terms of color, that's been handled well too. There's no areas I can see that are lacking required paint work, and the paint is all done clean and evenly, at least to my eye. We'll see how it looks once I get the camera involved! I am noticing that on the sharp edges of the helmet, some of the white paint has worn a little. Besides that, I do worry about some of the joints, given that in places painted parts are rubbing against painted parts, but so far the paint seems to be hanging in there very well. The only deco complaint I have is that the gold paint on here seems to have a greenish tint to it that's a bit more visible than I'd really like. ShinkenGold's costume had a sort of pale gold color, and this may simply be how they chose to emulate that characteristic here, but it just looks off. Maybe it's to do with the fluorescent lighting I'm working with, too. Though it seems like the gold details on GokaiRed are similarly tinted, so there may be a bigger problem at work.

But you could simply have a nice statue or figurine of ShinkenGold and have all those elements covered. Figuarts are about articulation too, and ShinkenGold is no exception there. I'm tempted to compare to Marvel Legends for what this is like on a general level. And really, I suppose Figuarts are kind of like Marvel Legends for tokusatsu so the comparison is appropriate. You can see in the detailed listing at the start of the review that there is a respectable array of jointing all over the figure. The execution is typically just as impressive.

The shoulders particularly are well thought out, since the joint has a sort of sleeve around it to help keep the general shape of the torso consistent regardless of arm position, and make sure that the colors stay placed correctly. The sleeves also help to hide some of the uglier bits of the double shoulder joint and close up the socket gap that would be left from the ball joint end in the torso. Very much a cosmetic consideration, and it doesn't feel like it hinders arm movement at all. The elbow hinges fold to a very natural looking V, and the surprisingly complex wrist joint allows for complete movement in any direction and ball joints are involved only to simplify hand switching. The only thing that stands out as lacking in the arm build is the absence of a standard cut bicep swivel. Instead, the Shinkenger body was made to try and hide that at the end of the shoulder joint so the joint wouldn't upset the appearance of the upper arm. It might have been a good choice, except that it renders the swivel in question almost useless in the way the top of the upper arm is angled so it and the shoulder joint sleeve can hide all of that jointing. It seems like this has been corrected in the Gokaiger body style, but the Shinkengers are stuck with the one bad choice marring an otherwise good articulation model.

The torso is pleasantly surprising. But first the neck. The neck itself appears a bit on the long side, but in trade, you get a pretty wide range of movement. It's jointed at both ends, and involves a Robot Damashii style hinge and ball joint combo at the base of the head. The figure can get to all kinds of positions, not the least of which include looking nearly straight up or down without moving the torso at all. The obvious mid-torso joint is ...obvious. And there's not a lot of extent of movement to be had from it. You can turn to either side a little ways, but for purposes of ab crunch it's effectively useless. Between that and how it affects the appearance of the torso, I think that could be one joint on the figure I'd just as easily do without. What is much better is the waist joint. Its presence is not even obvious just glancing over the figure. Which is all the more amazing for the fantastic range of motion it offers. Bending forward, backward, even to the sides a little, plus rotation. And the waist rotation actually works out really well. The belt can move with the torso, helping to hide where the torso would obviously protrude in the wrong directions as so many figures are afflicted with.

As I understand, ShinkenGold's hip joints are more like a style used mostly in earlier figures, where the hip ball joints are themselves hinged, and let the legs drop away from the pelvis. The intent of this is to increase the maximum range of motion available for the hips. While that does work here, the usefulness may be limited if you don't have any Tamashii Stages. And those Robot Damashiis ended up breaking all of mine. Still, the potential is there. It's even possible to get a foot up past the figure's head without changing the body position much. It just can't be made to balance that way without help. The thigh swivel works a little better than the attempted bicep swivel, in part because the hips don't have a version of that joint cover like the shoulders. The thigh is still cut at a sharp upward angle though, so it may take some fine adjustments to keep that edge from catching on ShinkenGold's butt. The knees work with the same effectiveness as the elbows, and the ankles are simple ball joints, but it's enough to get some pretty good movement out of them. The joints aren't super tight though, which is part of why I figure I can't balance the figure on one foot. There's also the hinged toe, which honestly I don't find much practical use for. It can help make kneeling or crouching more real looking, possibly, but mostly you're likely to forget it's there.

What matters in a Figuarts is how well all that articulation can be used, and there's little problem putting those joints to work to get ShinkenGold into expressive, and natural looking poses. I've found ShinkenGold to even go beyond my experience with posing figures in terms of the kind of things that are possible. After writing about what little use could be had for the toe hinge, I decided to give it a good test and now have ShinkenGold in an unsupported and very natural looking squat supported just by those hinged toes. It'll definitely be easier to demonstrate in the gallery where you can actually see the sorts of things that are possible. My only warning is that I found there to be a bit of learning curve and at first it took time to really tune in the poses, but after that it seemed to just come through completely naturally when I knew how to make the figure move. It's really amazing and a testament to the design of the figure when you can imagine a pose that a person could assume and are able to make the figure convincingly emulate it. It's an experience that I've never been able to completely have up until now with the kinds of figure lines I've always stuck with. If the bicep swivel was more traditional, I think this figure could come very close to even crossing its arms - a rare accomplishment for any action figure. But even so, there are many, many poses possible even with the arm construction that's present.




Accessories

-Origami

The Origami are the "Zords" of Shinkenger, and normally exist in small scale for ease of handling. ShinkenGold comes with his two personal Origami: Ika/Squid and Ebi/Lobster. In accessory form, neither of these do or are meant to really do anything, other than Ika's tripod base being able to rotate. Had this been a larger set, inclusion of a prop aquarium to store the Origami in might have been nice. Also show accurate. (yes, really)

Detailing and paint on these has been done well. The gold paint on Ebi looks a lot more solidly gold than ShinkenGold got, and the deco is very detailed. From obvious things like the green eye dots to the much more subtle like the partially hidden DaiKaiOh face sticking out behind the lobster head, the very clean edges between the alternating fields of gold and bronze on the back, and the top edge of a Secret Disc exposed under the lobster head.

Ika is less fancy looking in comparison, but no less attention was paid to it. Being much smaller too Ika doesn't have as much room for details physically, but everything needed to make it look accurate to its bigger counterparts has been sculpted in place, right down to the folded Secret Disc on the back. Ika is slightly deceptive, though. While there doesn't appear to be much sculpted on to the normally viewed surfaces, try turning it over and find dozens of suction cup details sculpted to the bottom of each of the five (...wait, what?) tentacles. It took me a while to even notice those were there, and I'll probably never get over those cases of intricate detail being sculpted in surfaces you'd never think to look at, or especially on surfaces the toy will be standing on.

Ika is sadly one of the very, very few places in the whole package with some marred paint work, but even then nothing super obvious, and otherwise its paint is all very well done. Especially so given that Ika is completely painted white over a darker base plastic color! And in fact, that aspect helps a bit, since it makes the suction cups all stand out a little more sharply. ...once you realize they're there, anyway.


-Dai Goyo

In Shinkenger, Dai Goyo was inspired by ShinkenGold's memories of watching old Samurai movies with guards carrying jittes and paper lanterns. ...so he made a robot that turns in to a paper lantern and jitte. You'd have to watch Shinkenger, but believe me it makes sense for the character.

Dai Goyo is represented here in two parts, as the lantern and jitte. These are just as well detailed as the Origami. While less apparent on the lantern, there are still elements that stand out like the connector ports on the sides where the jitte would make Dai Goyo's arms on the original toy, plus sockets on the base formed from the would-be legs, and the thumb trigger above the handle. Much less obvious is a tiny, tiny sculpted Shiba family crest sculpted on what would be Dai Goyo's head. Actually, that's one failing of this piece, since even in small form like this Dai Goyo usually had his head raised and would interact with the Shinkengers. This piece does not offer that option at all. Another thing the large toy can do is shoot Secret Discs - while obviously this accessory can't do that, the slot is still represented, and the Sushi Disc this figure comes with can be wedged in to give the appearance of shooting. The lantern also has the Kanji for samurai sculpted in and painted on. Clearly from the same school as Dorifuto-chan. The jitte is a bit sparse for complex detail sculpting, but what's there is impressive. Such as how intricately sculpted the hand-ends of it are, with distinctly separate individual segments to each finger. I can't say I'd have necessarily noticed or cared if they'd taken the smooth "mitten" approach with this. And to file in the useless detail category, the hands can freely swivel. I have to assume it's a side effect of how the piece had to be made, since there is no practical cause at all to have this otherwise.

The paint work is good, though the light red of the lantern in some spots has obvious bleed through from the blue plastic beneath. I am surprised not just that they made the effort to paint that tiny Shiba crest, but that it didn't blob out in to the surrounding space in the process. Easily one of the tiniest yet most accurate paint applications I've seen on a mass production toy.


-Sakanamaru Set

The Sakanamaru, styled after a sushi knife and meant to look like a fish when sheathed, is represented by four pieces here. First is a fully stowed Sakanamaru, with a peg to attach to the back of ShinkenGold's belt. It's the only one of the set that can be stored like that, and is about one-third of the length of the next shortest piece.

Next is a full-length Sakanamaru and scabbard with the Sakanamaru partially drawn from it. This is because in Shinkenger, Gold was portrayed as practicing a form of Iaido, and quickly drawing and resheathing the sword between strikes. So this piece would be for posing where ShinkenGold is getting ready for an attack. It's the longest overall of the various Sakanamaru parts.

Finally is a pair of separate Sakanamaru and scabbard. Their sizes are consistent with that of the individual portions of the partial-draw piece, so that's nice consistency. The Sakanamaru cannot be sheathed in this scabbard, surely for structural reasons. The plastic couldn't be thick enough to support the walls of the scabbard and have room for the blade to fit easily, unless they inflated the size of the scabbard.

All of the pieces are made from a pretty rigid plastic. So warping the blades isn't an issue, but snapping is possible, so take care. And there's also some sharp pointy bits involved, so, uh, watch out for your eyes too. Oh, and it's worth noting the tiny storage Sakanamaru has a shaped peg so it can only attach one way, and it seats in there pretty snugly, too.

ShinkenGold comes with a Sushi Disc, which is meant to attach to the Sakanamaru. It has to be, really, since someone neglected to add a Sushi Changer accessory to this set. It's just a simple red disc, with a tiny sticker on one side to emulate the pattern on the Sushi Disc that comes with the Sushi Changer toy. This can actually fit on to all of the Sakanamaru variations, even the tiny storage one. It's really tricky to get the sides all lined up between sword and disc so that it'll safely slide down on the octagonal block above the grip. On the other hand, once you do get it lined up and on there, it's firmly on there and you have absolutely no need to worry over it coming off and being lost. The snugness of the fit does make me worry some about if it might wear the silver paint off the swords, though.


-Extra Hands

The figure comes with two pairs of hands besides the fists attached in package, plus one additional right hand. First is a pair of relaxed open hands. Not really good for holding anything, but could be used to pose supporting the jitte or maybe carrying an Origami or something. Next is regular gripping hands to use with the swords, jitte, and lamp. These hands snugly hold on to each of these accessories, and don't require much in the way of worrisome bending of fingers to fit most of them. The left gripping hand can also just manage to hold the Sushi Disc, though not super securely. It's possible that leaving the lantern or other thick handled piece in that hand for a long time may stretch open the fingers to where it can't grab the disc anymore. The extra right hand is another gripping hand, but this time set at an angle so as to point weapons more forward. It'll work okay for the jitte, but is especially meant to fit the grip of the sword, which it does very well.

The hands attach to the wrist by a ball joint at the end of a swivel hinge. It's easier than I expected to be able to change hands. In the past I've found trying to mount hands on joints that themselves can move to be an exercise of some frustration, but it's a smooth process in this case.


-Kuroko

This was a premium to encourage people to go ahead and order the first release of the Shinkenger figures. Mind, in Japan there has only been the one release of ShinkenGold so far, and those are not difficult to find at retail still, Kuroko and all.

This is an unposeable statue of a Kuroko in a kneeling position, as they would be seen doing after setting the stage up for the Shinkengers to transform and roll-call. The sculpting is done well, with lots of realistic folds, creases and drapings to show that it's looser fabric than ShinkenGold's Ranger suit. True to the name, it's mostly painted in black, except for the hands, neck and sides of the head where skin tone is visible. I believe the Kuroko may be at a slightly smaller scale than ShinkenGold also, based on comparing the length of the limbs between them.

On the other hand, Kuroko are supposed to not be noticed anyway, so maybe we can just ignore that?

Oh, and the box the Kuroko comes in has instructions for cutting two panels off and folding them in to one of the Shiba family banners used in Shinkenger. Though I have no interest in cutting up my boxes for that.


Closing Remarks

I've heard for a long time how Figuarts were really fantastic action figures, and this is definitely living up to the reputation! ShinkenGold is Excellent and is easily one of the best action figures I've picked up since the high point of Gundam several years ago. If not for the badly planned bicep swivel I'm not sure I could level any real complaint against the design of the figure. I regret the lack of any kind of Sushi Changer accessory besides the implication of one in the belt holder, but that's also comparatively minor given how many extra pieces this does come with.

Figuarts are pretty expensive to get from Japan, and especially with the current exchange rate it's easy to spend over $50 for one figure. A limited number of Figuarts are starting to be distributed through a number of channels in the US by Bluefin Tamashii, however. While these aren't cheap by any stretch, the prices are less and you also won't be compounding matters with overseas shipping. Toys R Us is offering the Shinkenger Figuarts for $35 each before taxes, or shipping costs in the case of the website. I ended up paying $35 for this ShinkenGold, and that feels just about right to me, even if it hadn't included the Kuroko figure. If you're used to importing Japanese toys, the price won't be a problem for you. And if you're wanting to get your first Figuarts, once Toys R Us gets more stores stocking these and restocks their website, it'll be your lowest investment to try a new toyline. But I don't think you'll be disappointed either way.

-ExVee