S.H. Figuarts Kamen Rider Gattack (Original Release) Gallery

Change, Stag Beetle!

We're trying something a little new this month at TokuNation. Or rather, something old. As the S.H. Figuarts line continues to change and improve we're seeing a lot of figures getting the Renewal or Shinkocchou Seihou treatment. Recently we took a look at the original release of Kuuga Ultimate Form, in anticipation of his S.S. release. Well today we're going to take a look at another older release that's about to be made obsolete by his S.S. replacement, S.H. Figuarts Kamen Rider Gattack!

Pacakging
Dating back to 2008, Kamen Rider Gattack hails from the era of the gray box. It would be some time before figuats packaging would really get creative so Gattack has the same sort of generic looking packaging as figures would for the next several years through the line. Monotone with a single gray scale image of the actual show suit on the front, and a sampling of stock photography on the back, Gattack was pretty standard for the time.

Main Figure
Perhaps one of the more divisive series in the franchise, Kamen Rider Kabuto struck a chord with just as many fans as it generally infuriated. For the first real time since Ryuki we had a wide cast of riders all with their own motives and abilities running amok. And depending on how you liked the show, their handling was great or awful. Many could argue the real star of the show was Gattack himself rather than Kabuto, and I'd tend to agree. But the divisiveness of the series carried right on over to the lineup of figuarts produced from it. Kabuto has the distinction of being one of the most complete S.H. Figuarts lineups ever. Nearly every rider from the show and it's summer film were created aside from the one-note Bright Troopers, Hyper Gattack, and the masked forms of all the riders. But the figures that were produced also have plenty of faults.

Kamen Rider Gattack was actually the 4th release in the Kabuto line (preceded by Punch & Kickhopper, and Kabuto). But the issues of those first releases weren't resolved by his time, nor really at any point with this series. For starters the Kabuto riders all feature a pretty similar and basic body. Just like any rider series the suits tend to share common elements especially in shows like Ryuki, Kabuto, Den-O, Gaim, etc. Lots of parts reuse. And maybe that's part of the problem for the original Kabuto figuarts. They all have one glaring flaw, bowed legs. Inexplicably most of them have legs that bow inward near the knee giving them a rather awkward stance when in an upright position. The legs themselves are also pretty spindly. But at this time rider figuarts were generally smaller and closer to Shouchaku Henshin in design and style anyway. In 2008 terms this was still a decent figure.

Speaking of Souchaku Henshin the Kabuto riders featured something prominently carried over from it, die cast parts. Not only are the feet still the old style diecast, but so are the hip/thigh & shin panels. But where the legs meet the body we sadly get a pretty ugly breaking up of the sculpted in body lines. The much more modern Shinkocchou Seihou Kabuto fixes the hip & leg issues after all these years, but these older release all carry these traits. Overall this line had some pretty lanky proportions that put many people off from buying them way back when.

The upper body is at least painted in a great metallic blue that seems to have fared much better over time than say, Kamen Rider Knight Survive. The gold highlights on the undersides of the armors pitifully dull and incorrect. Sadly the head is a swing and miss in terms of proportionality and sculpt, and functionality as well. Thanks to the neck cufff it can't really lean back properly. For the time it was great but looking at it now the head's a little too narrow and oblong. On top of this Gattacks arms can look rather puny just like his legs, they can't really assume natural looking poses very easily. Likewise Gattack's shoulder pads are kind of a mess. They hinge up just enough to be useful but they do look a little silly with the plugs molded in for his included weapon. When the Gattack Double Caliburs are attacked the shoulders do nothing to help get them out of the way of his face. But that's probably more a problem of the suit design in general than this figure's personal shortcoming.

Sadly not a terribly serviceable figure after these 8 years. Undoubtedly passable for the time he was made, along with the rest of that line, Kamen Rider Gattack has not aged well. His design and execution just leave a lot to be desired. He's had a home in my collection for these 8 years but I'm ready to trade up to his Shinkocchou Seihou successor now.

Accessories
As is the case with many releases from this period, Gattack doesn't come with much:

2 - sets of additional hands. 1 set of splayed open hands, 1 set for holding his included weapons.

1 - Gattack Double Calibur set. These combining shotels are normally stored on his shoulders when not in use though he can be often seen without them at all. When attached they tend to make it hard to get cool poses out of the arm simply because they push your focus away from his body and often times get in the way of his face. He can use them individually like short swords or combine them into scissor like mandibles for use with his Rider Cutting finisher.

Final Thoughts
That's it but honestly that's not unexpected for this figures' age. 8 years ago this was the standard of the line. With the upcoming Shinkocchou Seihou releases of Gattack, the original becomes pretty obviously outclassed. Unlike our recent look at Kuuga Ultimate ahead of his own renewal, Gattack just doesn't fit in very well with newer figures either Ss you can see with him next to S.S. Kabuto, the original Gattack lacks the bulk and style to stand up to today's releases. If you're on a budget and would like to pick up an original S.H. Figuarts Kamen Rider Gattack up (maybe buy mine, please?) then he may be the way to go. But if you want a truly great representation of the character in your collection, then go for next months Shinkocchou Seihou Gattack.

FYI for those interested, this is my first gallery entry in an extensive look back at the entire original Kabuto line of S.H. Figuarts. I'll be back next month with more riders from that series. We're basically going to be doing all of them over the next couple months. I hope you enjoy!

Part 2

So is that zectrooper Hydra Bob's distant Japanese cousin Zectrooper Taro?
Okay, jokes aside I regret not buying this looking back.
But the price was too steep so I had to go Eeyore complete with Peter Cullen voice.
I know there is a 2.0 version coming out but still this ain't that bad IMO.

While he does look bad compared to SS Kabuto, I think he looks pretty nice, all things considered. Maybe that's cause I've never handled a figuart, but I like him.

I've got the Shinokocchou Seihou release on order for next month, but on a budget, the original is totally a workable alternative.

He's fairly decent for an 8 year old release, he just don't stack up to the incredible engineering present in modern releases. The S.S. release uses the incredible base body that the new Kabuto had and I can't deny that that is one of my favorite body types.