S.H. Figuarts Kamen Rider Zero Drive Gallery – Toku Toy Box Entry

"Nice Drive!"

The prototype of Proto-Drive arrives in our latest gallery from Kamen Rider Drive! Originally appearing in the Ghost X Drive Movie Wars Genesis, this form has actually been placed outside Drive continuity now. In a rare announcement from Toei last month, the movie this form hails from was written out of Drive TV cannon. So this form basically has been as well.

In the context of the film though, Shinnosuke & Takeru (Ghost) find themselves trapped 10 years in the past. This form is a pre-cursor even to Kamen Rider Proto-Drive, totally experimental, much more dangerous than Type Speed, and actually less powerful. Only Shinnosuke's experience as the completed Drive in the present allowed him to master this experimental form. With all that in mind please look below to see our full gallery of S.H. Figuarts Kamen Rider Zero Drive!

Packaging
This is the standard Drive Style packaging we've seen with every release in this line. Nothing special here. Though I have to mention it's got one odd feature. The photos of Zero Drive are color shifted to black & white. They aren't accurate to the suit itself at all. It just reminds me of how cheap packaging used to be for older figuarts with gray scale stock photos. The way the colors are altered on the box they make Zero Drive look much more like Proto-Drive than anything. It's just strange.

Main Figure
You've seen me shoot these photos & write this review 3 times previously, there are no surprises here. The Drive Type Speed body is one of my favorite molds out there. But perhaps the only thing left for me to discover about it with this release, is that there was a way to make it unappealing. Zero Drive is probably the most boring interpretation of this mold. Yes there's the always cool looking Archetype Gear/proto-tire that Proto-Drive & Gold Drive are known for, but a fairly boring body color scheme & inconsistent paint apps take away somewhat from this. While it's a solid release that looks good I can't help but find it to be a pretty boring figure overall.

Once again I just want to emphasize that this is still one of my all time favorite S.H. Figuarts bodies. It's a fantastic design, it's just that Zero Drive isn't a particularly exciting re-use of it. He's primarily painted in a glossy black with minor red accents. Just think of his color scheme as sort of an inversion of Type Speed. As mentioned above the paint apps on this release are kind of spotty as well. Primarily on the tire. It looks as though the tire was given a black paint wash to bring out some details, but a layer of red paint was applied much too heavily first before this. So instead of looking like the wash brought details out, it looks like it just wasn't painted well and that plastic is showing through. The "Archetype Gear" as it was know on occasion has some great detailing, but a lot of it is just lost with this release. On a similar topic my Zero Drive had some pretty nasty paint scuffs on the upper right thigh straight out of box which is bothersome.

Like a couple other versions of this mold the Drive Driver features a number of paint apps, including the face/read out. It's the standard Type Speed "S" seen on Drive & Proto-Drive's drivers. Physically the driver is unchanged from the other versions & like them it's removable. The face of the driver itself can be removed exposing the cylindrical part that displays Mr. Belt's facial expression & technically Tire Koukans. From the ground up this figure was designed for cross compatibility with Shift Car/Tire sets. However the Proto/Archetype tire deviates from Type Speed at this juncture. It can be removed, but often times not without some degree of effort and the possibility of damage. The basic structure of his body would allow for it, but the tire has been secured together with locking tabs on either end that can be a bit scary to unplug. In some cases they're even glued together. I've tried to take mine apart, but I'm also not terribly interested in damaging my figure to use a gimmick this form never had. In the brief number of appearances that Zero Drive made it never once used another Shift Car, and that's because at the time of it's creation, 10 years in the past, there were no other Shift Cars but the one used to access this form.

The Shift Brace on the left wrist is identical to a normal one with the (removeable) Speed Prototype Shift Car present. There is actually also a Shift Car holster on the right hip like on Type Speed & Proto Drive. It can accommodate any of the standard non-flipped shift cars in the line, though none are included here.

Last but not least I want to talk about Zero Drive's head. Which is again, the Type Speed head just done in all black. Unlike Proto-Drive, which actually is the successor to this form, Zero Drive has the same type of spoiler present on the Type Speed helmet. Whic kind of creates a weird design gap between the three of these forms. But perhaps it's good this form is no longer cannon as well. While this head looks good in these colors, and the compound eyes still pop really well, I can't help but feel that this version doesn't really wow me.

Accessories

4 - sets of additional hands. 2 of these sets are repaints of those that came with Type Wild & Type Technic, allowing this figure to use the Handle Sword & Door Gun.

Sadly, that's it. Zero Drive doesn't come with anything else at all. Which is probably the biggest disappointment of all. This is the least impressive Drive release so far visually, but it also lacks any meaningful accessories to set it apart from it's predecessors. Seeing as it includes hands to hold the Handle Sword & Door Gun, I don't see why they couldn't have been included with it as well. As is you'll have to borrow them from your Type Technic & Wild. Frankly anything other than just hands would have made this a more worthwhile release.

Final Thoughts
While undoubtedly Kamen Rider Drive has managed to be not only one of my favorite Rider franchises, but also one of my favorite figuarts lines, this release falls very short of the high bar set by the line. The Drive Type Speed body is a fantastic mold and has wowed me every time. This release managed to disappoint me though. The form itself is another excuse to repaint the Type Speed suit for an easy movie form, and I recognize that that logic played into this figure's release too. But they really could have done something to make this figure more worthwhile to collectors. I still love Drive and I own everything from it, but this one left a bad taste in my mouth. But luckily we still have Mach Chaser & Super Evolved Heart to look forward to next year!!

Part 2
- Tridoron
- Handle Sword & Door Gun
- Ghost

i need it!! ������

I would love to get this guy! I just can't get enough of Drive figures, doesn't even matter if they are a repaint of Drive himself. Think my favorite thing about this repaint is the all red tire sash, awesome.

Yeah I don't know why, but I feel like the suit looks better to me than the figure. Admittedly though Zero Drive was just a weird concept and after it's initial reveal I kind of forgot about it.

The figure looks nice. I was never a fan of this movie, personally. I love KR Drive, but just something about the story with Ghost irked me.

I've been holding off on watching Drive, since I'm a big W fan and Neo-heisei person, I want to save it for after I've seen more of other seasons. I really love the design of the Drive suits though, strange non-canon form or not. Has Toei ever actually gone out of their way to declare anything else non-canon? Regardless, nice figure!

I don't know anything about this form since I still don't feel like watching the movie where it appears, but it is a nice looking repaint that works well in Figuarts form.

But as far as black Drive's go I prefer Proto Drive, even though Zero Drive has a red tire which balances the color scheme out nicely where Proto Drive just has a black one which blends in with the torso too much.

It’s also a shame that this is another black form, we need pink and blue Drive repaints to make us a Drive Sentai

Looks cool but boo-urns for including more hands than it's original deco.

I completely missed the announcement that the film was written out of continuity. That's very interesting and a little surprising that they'd have to say that... Although I can't say I blame them, it kind of made no sense for either show.

Yeah this form is boring. I also love the Type Speed body, but have thought that since its reveal. Probably because we already saw Proto Drive which did the black repaint much more nicely.

So kind of glad I didn't want to go all in on Drive because this is really kind of a hard sell. Bad movie, boring form...