S.H. Figuarts Mashin Chaser & Midnight Shadow Bonus Gallery

Brake, Up.

Cue the wicked guitar in the background because an incredible figure is officially in the foreground! Having debuted all the way back in Kamen Rider Drive episode 3, the one and only grim reaper of the Roidmudes is finally brought to life in collectors' toy form as S.H. Figuarts Mashin Chaser!

Packaging
S.H. Figuarts Mashin Chaser has followed the lead of Drive Type Speed and other recent releases and gone with a slim style box. Seemingly the new standard for mass retail and even some exclusives going forward, I have little new to say about it. As with Drive the theme of this season carries over well to the new box and it's decorated with some very awesome Mashin Chaser artwork. Aside from that and some stock photos of the figure, there's nothing new to report.

Main Figure
The bulk of this review consists of Mashin Chaser himself, we'll break down accessories a little further below. Chaser is a brand new mold in this fledgling line. If there's any parts sharing with Drive, it's definitely not apparent. But given Mashin Chaser's incredible asymmetry he should be his own unique beast. While Mashin Chaser looks gorgeous let's get something out of the way right now, he doesn't feature a ton of paint apps. Because he doesn't need them. The base figure is primarily black as he should be. Armored components are painted both metallic purple and silver where necessary and the grey piping on his body is molded in the appropriate color from the outset. So while Chaser may not seem to have as many paint applications as other Figuarts, the details are all present.

Back to the asymmetry though, Mashin Chaser is probably one of the more elaborately molded Figuarts ever. Each thigh is unique, both forearms, both shoulders, his chest, head, everything really. While Drive was asymmetrical for different reasons he now seems very much more neat and orderly compared to Chaser. Mashin Chaser is really the embodiment of chaotic elements here compared to Drive. And thankfully the sculpt of the figure has capture this perfectly. The head is by far the most interesting part of the figure. There's just so much techincal detailing put into it that it's astounding. There's a bit of a gap issue through the middle of the head on mine, but otherwise it's fantastic. And those eyes, just some of the best compound eyes I've seen on a rider figuart in recent memory.

By the way those tubes I mentioned above? They're made of an awesomely flexible plastic so you're much less likely to break them. And awesomely they don't impact the figure's range of motion at all. Because of the way the torso tubes are connected to Chaser they run the length of his torso and down to his waist but loop back up and attach to his back. So you don't have a rigid connection to the waist that would hinder movement. Sadly there are 2 things that hinder the arms. The shoulders. Though Mashin Chaser really does have a full range of motion, his shoulders are poorly designed. Though both have ball jointed pads on them the way the shoulders are designed prevents you from lifting the arms up and fully out perpendicular to the body. The shoulders can be pulled down and out but when you try to gend them back and up the sheath around the shoulder impacts the torso. Rather than being able to put his arms in a 90 degree angle you get more of about 80 degrees. So it's a bit hard to create iconic poses with the Break Gunner out to the side. The head is also unencumbered by the pipes on the shoulders, though the collar around the neck can be a pain. Otherwise the figure is incredibly solid, though I have one minor complaint about his back that I describe below in the Tire section.

Accessories
The pickings are a little slim, unless you ordered the 1st release of Mashin Chaser with the 1st run bonus!

1 - Brake Gunner. The trademark weapon of Mashin Chaser, the Break Gunner is scaled down to perfection here. While it's non-functional in the sense that it doesn't have moving parts, the guard on top can be removed to reveal a plug for Shift Cars! So any of Drive's standard non-flipped shift cars can be stolen or "tuned" by Chaser. Though the other half of tuning doesn't quite pan out, see Midnight Shadow Tire below.

3 - Sets of additional hands. Pretty standard fare here. Open hands for menacing stuff, one set to hold the Break Gunner in either hand, and a set of bike riding hands! These are a seriously welcome inclusion as many modern figuarts generally don't include them right off the bat.

1st Run Bonus

1 - Midnight Shadow Tire. Much like the Max Flare Tire the Midnight Shadow Tire, like all others in this line, can break apart into several component. The front and back halves can be clipped onto Kamen Rider Drive's chest or another compatible future release. This allows for a damn near seamless high end version of the Tire Koukan gimmick. The Hub section has a peg hole on the back of it that yes conveniently works with tamashii stage arms, but moreover it's meant to let the tires be used by the upcoming Tridoron! The paint on Midnight Shadow is pretty hit or miss though. It's a really thick grainy paint that they went with, not glossy at all and it feels quite cheap. And sadly it's poorly applied on several parts of my Tire. Connection points are also painted in this way so I'm sure it will flake off with repeated use.

Sadly however Mashin Chaser is incomparable with the Tires as is. There is a removable plug on his back that exposes a port for his upcoming Busou Chaser set, but there's no such connector to use with any of Drive's Tires currently. Unless a part is included with that set. For now I've come up with a quick and dirty solution to at least get the general look of the Tire on Chaser's back. It involves you having an extra Tamashii Stage part but it works quite well. See the images below for a quick how to.

1 - Flipped Midnight Shadow Shift Car. Just like Max Flare, a flipped version for Drive's Shift Brace.

1 - Mr. Belt Shadow read out. Also just as the Flare read out, just pop Mr. Belt off and swap this in to complete the look of Midnight Shadow.

All in all a fantastic selection of accessories for those who actually ordered the first version. If you haven't yet it's still available at most major online retailers that carry S.H. Figuarts!

Final Thoughts
With it's sophomore outing the Kamen Rider Drive line of S.H Figuarts has another solid release. While Mashin Chaser may have a few minor functional issues, it's still a fantastic figure that will look great next to Drive or with any of your other toku baddies. The first run bonus Midnight Shadow Tire is just icing on the deliciously evil cake. It's safe to say that even though following up on Drive Type Speeds excellence is difficult, this has been another nice drive! Next up we'll be taking a look at the S.H. Figuarts Rider Chaser and it's Midnight Shadow Effect Part bonus!

Part 2 with Midnight Shadow!

This post also includes a quick tutorial to give Chaser a temporary tire connector for his back.

That is a great looking figure! So far it looks like I've got everything else Machin Chaser related (66, a 3 3/4 candy box figure, and the TK version) so I might as well go all the way and pick this one up, too. He just looks fantastic! And you're right - the compound eye really stands out. It's probably the only way to get a nice looking eye on him, since the TK one is just painted.

I think I've said this a bunch, elsewhere, but MAN I love this design! Asymmetry all the way!

As I said earlier, this design looks awesome. But should I buy this or the TK version...? Decisions, decisions...

Should I give you the same advise as last time or do you remember? ;D

I remember... but this one looks so cool Kiwami!

It does. But you won't get the E-Circular weapons without buying that ridiculous effect-set and even there the weapons look nothing like they do on the show.

I personally am happy enough with the TK, I don't need this.

I really dislike the shoulder set up on this guy.
The shoulder pads...the motorblock one in particular

It's like you can never have them sitting naturally on the shoulders becuase the connecting joints that allow for them to articulate are just too long.

They are either too far up, too far down or in between and resting too far away from the shoulder.

It's a total nitpick, but a personally annoying one for me. they just don't sit where they do on the actual suit.

So is the premium bandai one just the viral core parts or is it a copy of the figure with the parts? I wanna start get chase but don't wanna get two by mistake.

It's just the accessory set.