Arrived in the mail today!



Kaettekita Samurai Sentai Shinkenger Tokubetsu Maku (Limited Edition)

"Thanks" to Toei's perfect new strategy of bundling the Annual Chouzetsu with the special DVD from Shinkenger onwards, I almost couldn't collect it because it was simply too expensive (approximately S$90.33).

*(For those wondering, Chouzetsu can be referred to as a complete illustrated guide for the series, or a mini-encyclopedia)

Luckily, Play-Asia had a very good offer of S$51.43 which is why I was able to order it and add to my collection that started with Boukenger. Now, I will probably do the same and wait for the one for Goseiger (which is again bundled with the special DVD releasing in June) to get a special offer.

Pre-Ordered S.H. Figuarts GokaiRed

S.H. Figuarts GokaiRed with Gokai-Oh Steering Wheel (First Press Limited Bonus Item); Releasing in September 2011.



It is definitely not hard to see that Bandai Japan had this planned all along. After the success of the Shinkenger lineup and the current craze over Gokaiger, this will never go wrong.

I did contemplating not pre-ordering this one as it will be a regular release like ShinkenRed. However with Ng's Collections closing down in August, I feel that it might be harder to track this one down especially when Dollz Inc is a little out of the way and stocks have been rather unstable. Therefore, it would be much easier to just pre-order instead of going up and down all the time to check whether it has arrived.

Regarding the recent announcement over the availability of the First Press Bonus Steering Wheel possibly limited to the Japanese Market only, I e-mailed La Tendo and they confirmed it will come together with the Bandai Asia release as well. So I decided to pre-order with them and paid a deposit of S$20.00 (full amount S$50.40).

Oh well, I'm still a little skeptical about the Steering Wheel because other online stores stated that their distributors have confirmed it will not be available for the Bandai Asia version. Contradicting right?

More Gokaiger Stuff!

Finally, the long-awaited stocks have arrived!

Gokai Machine Series 02: DX PatStriker (Dekaranger) - S$40.00



I believed that most people would agree that the DX Magi-Dragon was a rather bad design. DX PatStriker, on the other hand, proved to be rather interesting.

When the catalog images first appeared, I thought that the redesign for PatStriker was rather unflattering as well. Although the actual Magi-Dragon toy did turned out better than expectation, the whole design concept was still rather awkward. PatStriker, however, was not the case... Besides being smaller and a little more flat than expected, I find it quite aesthetically pleasing with the red metallic paint and gold chrome wheels.

The lights and sounds are well-done as usual (per Bandai Japan's standards). There are 3 dedicated sounds for PatStriker, one for summoning, one for combining and one for the finishing move. Overall, a very neat toy.

Gokai Machine Series 03: DX GaoLion (Gaoranger/Shinkenger) - S$65.00



Unlike the first two auxiliary mecha, GaoLion actually resembled it's original design the most because in the show, it's supposed to be the same GaoLion. There's no explanation for the sudden change of appearance though, but it's Super Sentai where a lot of things don't make sense.

Since Lion was a recurring theme for many animal-based seasons, the designers decided to combine the elements of both Gaoranger and Shinkenger into one. I think it's very smart and convenient at the same time - the GaoLion's body is actually the Rekka Daizantou and the tail doubles as the Samurai Helmet for Gokai-Oh.

For Gao-GokaiOh, it's fairly simple to achieve the GaoKentaurus look for tribute, so there's nothing much to review on. The only complain is that the girls always get shafted for new combinations, which has happened for many seasons. So basically, Gokai Trailer and Gokai Marine are now useless pieces again.

Due to Shinkenger's ultra-popular status, the design for Shinken-GokaiOh is the most special compared to the first 3 where GokaiOh's main look is retained. This time, GokaiOh gets a new Samurai Helmet and legs from GaoLion, dropping the treasure chest concept as well as leaving out Yellow and Pink from the transformation once again. The Rekka Daizantou is much smaller in toy form compared to the show, so it looks rather funny. LoL! To be show-accurate, you probably need the DX version from the Shinkenger toyline... I just prefer to pose it with the Naginata Gokai-Ken because it looks more badass.

Lastly, GaoLion also has 3 dedicated sounds similar to PatStriker: One Roar, One Summon and One Samurai. Overall, a very neat toy too.

Bandai Quality Control

For some reason, the quality control for Bandai Asia has slipped significantly?

The flaps on GaoLion are reportedly loose on the right side and rather sensitive to touch. I had to make some effort to ensure that the flaps are closed properly every time. Apparently, many others also have this issue and it affects the Japanese versions as well.

Candy Toy Ranger Key Series 01: GokaiRed - S$5.00



Bought this for fun from Robo Robo and it's the last piece. Too bad, I missed out on GokaiBlue... Didn't expect Gerald to get them from Japan since he don't deal with Candy Toy in the past. Screw Yamakawa for getting from bad to worse since Go-Onger.

When I opened it, I was kinda surprised by the plastic quality - It is almost the same as the DX version. The only main difference was that the black portion between the legs is now a sticker instead of paint. In fact, I feel that the paint application on the body is better than the DX version. Just compare the Gokaiger Emblem.

Funny how all the Ranger Keys are selling at 200 yen but differ so much in terms of quality. The DX and Candy versions are better choices compared to the Gashapon version which rely on stickers for the body details.

Then again, Singapore also didn't get the Gashapon Ranger Keys because Sheng Tai Toys screwed up as well.

The Gold Samurai

Ah, the exact debut and then the Gold Ranger joining the Samurai Rangers.

I quite like Antonio (Steven Skyler) and his fake Spanish accent because he brings life (and entertaining moments) to the all wooden team (I'm referring to the acting). While Skyler's acting wasn't all stellar but I enjoyed his over-the-top expressions. Yes, Hector (Mike) is the better actor out of the core 5 but he wasn't given much chance to shine in the last couple of episodes.

After all, Antonio was made to mimic that of his Japanese counterpart, Genta, but the difference this time is that I like Antonio a lot better than Genta. ShinkenGold was too crazy for my liking, and if you did notice, his stuntman was too "over-sized" which looked really awkward.

However, I would like to point out the fact that Saban and Bandai have been too cheap with regards to his Samurai Morpher since they couldn't use the Sushi-Changer. You can clearly see in the show that they used the crappy plastic toy instead of making a more professional prop! The only difference would be that the screen is "digitized"... but this is just one minor complain.

Moving on, Antonio's Mega Mode is sparkly as well! Other than that, the Mega Blade is kinda expected. In case you are wondering why the Gold Ranger's Mega Mode Helmet isn't redesigned, it's probably because he was a new addition to the team (not enough time to redesign along with the production) when the show got picked up by Saban again.

Originally, the core 5 were already pre-designed by Bandai (to create the MMPR Movie feel?) possibly for new toy releases despite Disney's not supporting the show after MMPR Reversioned. Do note that these are all just speculations by the fans, but early versions of the Samurai toy website had images of Jason, Billy and Tommy in the Auto-Morphin Red, Blue and Green Samurai Ranger prototypes. Well...

The Gold Samurai Ranger will appear in the next episode...

After "Jayden's Challenge" (Episode 10), the next episode of Power Rangers Samurai "Unexpected Arrival" will feature the appearance of the Gold Samurai Ranger, Antonio. Also, online TV guides have listed another 2 additional episodes all premiering in May.

From the synopsis, they are straight adaptations of Shinkenger Acts 17-19 which means that 4 episodes (13-16) from Shinkenger will be skipped...

Below is a review of what happened in the Shinkenger episodes and the possible reasons for skipping them:

Act 13: Heavy Cry

This was the girls' focus episode for Pink and Yellow. The monster of the week resorted to stealing parents by replacing their children with white dummies (mannequins), so that the heavy cries of the children could flood the Sanzu River fast. Therefore, Pink and Yellow took on the role of babysitting the abandoned children, as well as fighting the monster when it managed to paralyze the male Shinkengers by attaching the similar red dummies on them.



Obviously, this episode would be skipped because the concept was rather weird for American audiences. Plus, there are a lot of scenes which are kinda obscene with the dummies (see the above screenshot). Hence, to adapt the episode would involved a lot of re-shooting and focus on female rangers was never a priority in PR.

Act 14: Foreign Samurai

A foreigner by the name of Richard Brown approaches ShinkenBlue and begs him to teach him the path of a Samurai, which resulted in a comic relief episode. However, Richard Brown was able to inspire ShinkenBlue to defeat the monster of the week when it overpowered all the other Shinkengers.



Now, this would be a great episode to tie-in with Bulk and Spike's "Samurai Training" therefore, I am not sure why it was skipped. Perhaps, this will appear in later episodes because PR has shuffled adaptation orders in the past as well.

Act 15: Imposter, Genuine, Big Catch

Chiaki (ShinkenGreen) gets frustrated at his own incompetence and runs off during a training. During an attack, the monster of the week changes his appearance and posed as Chiaki in attempt to divide the Shinkengers. It is up to Chiaki to turn the events around and save the day by mastering the "Shirahadori".



This would have been a fun episode but it probably would have conflicted with Mike's development as he was nowhere as playful as Chiaki, kinda like when "Forest for the Trees" (Episode 8) was adapted.

Act 16: Kuroko Power

ShinkenBlue, Green and Yellow realized the help that the Kurokos (stage hands in black) rendered behind the scenes so that they can concentrate on defeating the enemy.



Needless to say, there are no "Kurokos" in Samurai so this episode is redundant anyway.

To end off, more episodes would probably be skipped over as well since the total episode count for Samurai is only 40 episodes compared to Shinkenger's 49. Therefore, it is only natural to not adapt everything, unless Saban is going to follow Disney's route to squeeze 2 episodes into 1 like Mystic Force.

Returned Mobirates

So I returned the DX Mobirates back to Uncle Ng today; nothing much interesting at CSC though.

S.H. Figuarts ShinkenGold

Since I was at VivoCity, I figured why not go CSC to take a look as well?

Things over at Japan are still pretty bad (which indirectly affected Bandai Asia), so I wasn't expecting any new stocks for Gokaiger. Nothing new for Gokaiger but seeing the S.H. Figuarts ShinkenGold (with Kuroko) was a surprise.

The price was a little more steep at S$60.00 compared to ShinkenRed earlier though. The only justification would be the more detailed accessories but ShinkenRed had the Rekka Daizantou which needed more plastic. LoL.

As there were only 3 sets left, I originally intended to request Uncle Ng to reserve one for me so that I can return the Mobirates in exchange for it another day...



However, the uncle told me to take it first instead! He explained that nowadays he is afraid to reserve items for customers, in case his wife becomes annoyed at the huge number of reserved items and takes them all out again to sell. Apparently, S$60 wasn't exactly a big sum to him so he trusted me for it, which he equated to taking out S$10-100k bank loans!

So I took the ShinkenGold first and promised him to return the Mobirates on Sunday; however he was quite relaxed and told me to take my time!