S.H. Figuarts Shinkocchou Seihou Kamen Rider Skull Gallery

"Now, count up your sins."


When the city of Fuuto faced it's darkest hour a hard boiled detective named Soukichi Narumi defended it as it's first hero, Kamen Rider Skull! Creating a legacy that would live on in his protege Kamen Rider W, Skull set the example for what it truly meant to be a hero in this city. Now Bandai have set a new standard for what it means to be a collector. Truly apologizing for the shortcomings of an older figure. The original Kamen Rider Skull & subsequent Skull Crystal release were made from the same flawed mold that the original Kamen Rider W and it's various repaints were. Plagued by QC issues, improper proportions, a non-functioning driver, and all the rest. Now all these years later Bandai have rectified all these issues and more with S.H. Figuarts Shinkocchou Seihou Kamen Rider Skull! Let's dive in to see just how much of an improvement it really is.

** This gallery is split across the first 3 posts of this thread. Part 1 is a basic breakdown of Skull, part 2 is the Skull Magnum & Skull Crystal, part 3 is group shots & further accessories.

Pacakaging
That standard slipcover packaging of Shinkocchou Seihou returns again. You've seen it numerous times before. Skull's colors and theme fit it very well. But ultimately it's still a rather bland type of packaging.

Main Figure
As with the previous line of Kamen Rider W figuarts, this new Seihou line relies heavily on repaints. Skull is basically W with a new head and accessories, and obviously a fresh coat of paint. But that means we know what to expect when it comes to this releases. As with W, that's excellence. Feel free to peruse my review below, but it will be very similar in wording to my W review.

While I've never been the biggest fans of the Kamen Rider W TV Series and related films, I've been astonished thus far by this revitalized line of S.H. Figuarts. Shinkocchou Seihou W was the renewal fans deserved for years, Seihou Accel was likewise light years beyond the original figure. Now I'm happy to report that Kamen Rider Skull has similarly blown it's original counterpart out of the water. The W body type has easily been my favorite in the Seihou line, it just really checks off all the boxes for what collectors have demanded for years. It's taken a long time to get back to this point, but it's been worth the wait.

At the end of it's lifespan my original Skull figuart was certainly showing it's age. Incredibly weak hip joints made it reliant on a Tamashii Stage, easily scratched black paint made damage very apparent and easy to happen. The imperfect match of the hat material with the heads paint resulted in horrendous defects. It was plagued by many problems. This go around however we have the excellent Seihou W body. For the majority of my review you'll see this figure in the configuration of accessories that to me, presents the perfect Skull, but you have 3 options really:

Skull Crystal - Using the included Crystal head with the undamaged fedora recreate his appearance in Movie War Core. A film which documented Soukichi Narumi's earliest adventure as the incomplete Skull Crystal. I included a handful of shots with the crystal head during the mid section of the gallery, but it's honestly difficult to differentiate them from the others when he has the hat on so my apologies.

Skull - The standard appearance Narumi uses. Most notably seen in flashbacks thanks to the Begins Night portion of Movie Wars 2010, and the Skull: Message for W sequence in Movie War Core. This standard appearance is how he is most often depicted in media though the damaged fedora is sometimes seen interchangeably as well. This look is also the standard appearance of the A.R. World Skull seen at the end of Movie Wars 2010. Most of this gallery displays this form.

Imposter/Dopant Skull - seen in Movie Wars 2010, this impostor looks identical to the original Skull but is seen wearing the torn fedora. One which Shotaro has held dear since Skulls' death during the Begins Night incident. I saved shots of that for near the end of the gallery before reverting to the standard look.

With all that out of the way I just want to touch a bit on the functionality of the figure. I won't spend a ton of time on it because the articulation is identical to Seihou W. Fantastic ankles and toe bends, really nice knees that look like a natural expansion of the costume akin to real fabric stretching, same for the hips. The legs are very tight on this release compared to What and in thinking it has something to do with the paint. Unsure of that though. As with W, Skull features an intricately detailed sculpt with appropriate paint apps for his Lost Driver, and it's entirely functional.We have an open slot for any to-scale Gaia Memory to be inserted. I find the fit very loose for the Skull Memory in the driver, but otherwise I still love it. Be careful not to lose it, it's very tiny.

I'm still amazed at how well the torso is designed as well. When I initially handled Seihou W, I thought that figure's torso was all one piece until I realized the upper body could move. It just looks that good in hand. This figure can pull off most any pose you recall the character making, and looks absolutely perfect while doing so. Maybe my only gripe with the articulation is the scarf/muffler. The neck piece hit's skulls chin just the right way to nix movement in some cases. This is exacerbated by the fact that the actually poseable part of the scarf has to be inserted through a hole on the neck, effectively locking the other part of the scarf in place. But this is a minor concern. This is 100% a fantastic figure. W has so far been the absolute best of the best for the Shinkocchou Seihou sub-line. In the coming months we'll be getting Eternal, and I very much welcome that despite my distaste of the character.

While it's not relevant now, when I bought my Seihou Skull I got very unlucky in that it had two standard left fists. I can safely say I've never gotten a figuart with an error like this before. So I had to return it to get another one. It's a minor issue, but one I couldn't stand to keep my first purchase over.

Accessories

5 - sets of hands. This is pretty much any and everything you need. Weapon hands, pointing, bike riding. The works. Bravo on that.

1 - Skull Gaia Memory. As with W's memories this thing is tiny and easily lost. Mine doesn't slot into the Lost Driver very securely but it works well with the Maximum Drive slot as well as the Skull Magnum.

1 - Skull Magnum. A nice update to the sidearm that came with the original Skull releases. This one however is functional. It can operate in the standard Magnum mode, but can also accept a Gaia Memory for Maximum Drive.

1 - Fedora. Standard undamaged fedora worn by Soukichi Narumi before his death. Worn in both of his forms as Skull & Skull Crystal.

1 - Torn Fedora. A memento for Shotaro, it's the last thing he keeps to remind him of his Boss. This version of the fedora, or rather a copy of it, was also worn by the Impostor Skull in Movie Wars 2010.

1 - Scarf/Muffler. A standard naturally resting one for static poses.

1 - Scarf/Muffler (ruffled). As implied, this ones a bit larger and more unfurled for windswept poses. Though I have to say the difference between the two is minimal. I wish they were a bit more different like Seihou W's 2 scarves.

1 - Crystal Skull. A swap out for Skull's regular head, this represents Soukichi's incomplete nature in his first adventure as a Kamen Rider SKull Crystal. Featured exclusively in the Skull flashbacks of Movie War Core, this form was basically originated just to sell a re-release of the original Skull figuart. This go around Bandai have re-engineered the swap out head feature dramatically. Making the head to separate halves which peg together around the central base of the neck, it's a very sturdy and secure system.

1 - W Driver (dummy). This non-functional version of the W Driver is really just meant as a show piece for the final accessory.

1 - W Case. Designed to hold the dummy version of the driver, this briefcase is seen at the beginning of the series when Skull retrieves it and then passes it along to Shotaro. It has slots for 6 Gaia Memories as well. While the only ones released thus far are those included with W, Accel, & Skull, it's only a matter of time before we see more to use with this case.

As you can see, Bandai have gone the distance including every single relevant accessory possible for Skull. Any and everything they possibly could. This release is pretty much peak accessories. Would I have like a Skull Rider Kick effect part? Sure. But as is this is pretty well perfection.

Final Thoughts
I have to say I'm impressed. This sub-line has really won me over with it's premium styling and engineering anyway, but this is a very very nice release. Complete with any accessory you can think of, and utilizing a fantastic mold we've already seen once before, I have nothing but the highest regard for S.H. Figuarts Shinkocchou Seihou Kamen Rider Skull. I'm more excited than ever to handle the next release in this line, Kamen Rider Eternal!

Part 2
- Skull Magnum
- Skull Crystal
- Maximum Drive

Part 3
- W Driver & Case
- Fedora(s)
- Impostor Skull
- Hardboilder (original) compatability
- Group Shots

You didn't include a picture of any Gaia Memories in the briefcase, and this was probably a very good idea on your part. I experimentally tried the Skull Memory to see if it would fit... and it does, but too well: I've been unable to remove it from the case since.

Great shots of a great suit, if only the character wasent a jacksss

I am very disappointed Den-O. Where's the Rider? All I see is Ghost Jackson Damashii
In all seriousness, Skull's elegant yet cool design translated well!

Great photos. I can't wait to own this figuart because I love Skull.

Oh man this figure looks incredible. One of the many original releases I have been unable to get, and now kinda glad as this release is out. Plus it comes with every thing he would need which you needed to buy two separate figures to do in the original