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under Power Rangers, Toy Fair

The hype for the 25th Anniversary of Power Rangers will have to wait – at least from Bandai America. We reported on Twitter last week (follow us @TokuNation on Twitter!) that Bandai America did not have an exhibitor booth for the upcoming Toy Fair 2018 event held at the end of February. That information is readily available for everyone by browsing through the exhibitor list at the Toy Fair New York City website. They do have a meeting room registered to them so we held back on posting a news story until we reached out to Bandai America regarding their Toy Fair New York City plans.

Well, we reached out and got a response.

Bandai America will not have an exhibitor booth at this year’s Toy Fair 2018. No marketing or media representatives will be traveling to the tradeshow this year. The only representatives from Bandai America that will be in attendance are sales representatives. Here is the response we received:

Thank you for reaching out to Bandai. We will not be hosting a booth on the floor of New York Toy Fair this year. You can find images and descriptions of our key items on the official New York Toy Fair Press site. Thanks! -Bandai

This will undoubtedly come as a disappointment to many fans who were hoping to kick off the 25th Anniversary of Power Rangers with excitement and anticipation. Whether or not Bandai America has new product at the show at all is unknown and perhaps other outlets will receive the courtesy to report on those products. We do know some of the products making their way out this year thanks to Bandai UK‘s exhibitor booth at the Toy Fair 2018 London event. You can find those updates by clicking here, here and here.

While this may be discouraging to collectors and adult fans we do hope you will exercise patience before passing judgement on the year itself as a whole. Our friends at Saban Brands have assured us there is so much more to come in terms of the 25th Anniversary of Power Rangers. After all, Toy Fair is a tradeshow not meant for collectors and press coverage akin to San Diego Comic Con or New York Comic Con.

We will continue to update you as news and information trickles out from this year’s Toy Fair, especially from other licensees of the Power Rangers brand.

under Power Rangers

NOTE: The list of closures includes Babies’R’Us stores but are not specifically notated in the list provided. Please check the address of the store(s) closing in your area to determine if it is a Toys’R’Us, Babies’R’Us, or a combination location.

We all knew this was coming. And at times like this it’s best to just rip off the bandaid rather than make it slow and painful. Toys’R’Us announced today through court filings regarding it’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy that it will close 182 stores across the United States.

If you haven’t been following the story regarding Toys’R’Us and it’s ongoing bankruptcy issues, the holiday season was not a strong one for the embattled retailer. Overall sales for the classic toy store were down anywhere from 10% to 20% of projections which helped lead to the decision to cut ties with under-performing stores or stores with unfavorable leases.

As if a punch to your gut wasn’t enough – these are labeled as “initial” closings. Some of these stores may be turned in to Babies’R’Us and Toys’R’Us combo stores while other stores may end up on the chopping block as well. There is a slight chance that a few of the stores listed for closure will remain open if leases with landowners can be restructured.

How does this have any relation to a website about tokusatsu, you ask? Bandai America has partnered with Toys’R’Us to be their primary exclusive retailer option, where the Power Rangers Legacy line first premiered and has continued to offer exclusive offerings (namely every Megazord released thus far). One of the primary reasons for the Toys’R’Us Chapter 11 bankruptcy was due to the fact that Toys’R’Us was unable to pay the toy companies (especially Mattel and Hasbro) for the product that they ordered to carry in their stores. That inability to pay caused less than projected profit numbers for toy companies in Q4 of 2017. Some fans speculate that the lack of any new Power Rangers Legacy Megazords (looking at you, Legacy Shogun Megazord) is due to the fact Toys’R’Us is currently involved in these Chapter 11 bankruptcy dealings. Hopefully we will have more information on that specific item, and future Legacy Megazord items, at next month’s Toy Fair New York City.

For a full list of stores closing in the United States, please click “Read More”. For our friends in Canada, there are currently no plans to close any Toys’R’Us stores in Canada.

[Read more…]

under General Tokusatsu News

A new full-length trailer for the upcoming Universal Pictures film Pacific Rim: Uprising!

Set ten years after the 2013 fan-favorite original film, Pacific Rim: Uprising stars John Boyega as Jake Pentecost– son of Pacific Rim’s Marshall Stacker Pentecost- who must unite the next generation of Jaeger robot pilots when the monstrous Kaiju return from beyond the Breach.

Pacific Rim: Uprising comes out on March 23, 2018! Don’t miss out on this amazing action film!

under Kamen Rider

Similar to last years’ Kamen Rider Snipe Episode Zero mini-series, Kamen Rider Build will be giving the same treatment to none other than Night Rogue!

Simply titled Rogue, this new mini-series will focus on Gentoku Himuro with his aide Nariaki Utsumi, as well as Souichi/Blood Stalk making appearances. We can also see from the brief trailer Toei has released that the Kaisers from Heisei Generations Final will make a cameo as well. From the looks of the special it appears we’ll mostly be getting insight into the events of the 10 years which preceded the TV series, including Gentoku’s exposure to Nebula Gas and subsequent assumption of the Night Rogue identity.

Rogue begins with the first Kamen Rider Build Blu-Ray Set which is due for release on March 28th!

under Kamen Rider

As the revitalization of the Showa Era continues from Tamashii Nations, we have one more enemy grunt to add to our collections. Appropriately, following on from the upcoming Renewal of the Shocker Combatman in February is the successor to those very troops. S.H. Figuarts Gel Shocker Combatman!

Gel Shocker was the first organization to succeed the original Shocker in it’s quest for world dominance. Formed by Shocker’s Great Leader, and Geldamn’s General Black, this group culled the ranks of the original Shocker even down to it’s reliable Combatman men. This purge resulted in the introduction of the new Gel Shocker Combatmen who wold menace the Double Riders for some time to come. This new figure is the first instance of Gel Shocker in the figuarts toyline and it looks to be a pretty spectacular release. The Gel Shocker Combatman utilizes the new body enginered for the Renewal Shovcker Combatman and includes both the spiked staff & sword these soldiers were known to use.

The Gel Schocker Combatman will be release in June 2018 as a Tamashii Web Exlcusive for 5400 yen. Be sure to get in touch with your preferred middleman or service in order to secure an order in the near future. Credit to Tendou Toys for sharing this image with us.

under Power Rangers

Tonight a brand new Power Rangers Hyperforce streams live on Twitch.tv! Before the new episode airs, take some time to catch up on last week’s episode, now available for everyone on Hyper RPG‘s YouTube channel! Check out the episode below!

Be sure to catch the brand new episode of Power Rangers Hyperforce at 6pm PST on the Hyper RPG Twitch live stream by clicking here! Power Rangers Hyperforce is a tabletop RPG designed specifically for Power Rangers! In partnership with Saban Brands, Power Rangers Hyperforce is a direct sequel to the fan-favorite Power Rangers Time Force series. Five Time Patrol cadets are tasked with traveling through time to stop the Alliance of Evil! As they continue to travel through time new reveals are made regarding just what the Alliance of Evil is up to! What will happen next? Tune in to a brand new Power Rangers Hyperforce and find out!

Be sure to discuss the latest episode in our discussion thread!

under Kamen Rider

In case you missed it, Bandai’s entry into the Kamen Rider Gaim S.I.C series will be non-other than a hyper-stylized Ichigo(Strawberry) Arms. Since we last saw the prototype proudly on display at the Tamashii Nations Show Room, more info was just released thanks to scans from the latest issue of Figureoh magazine.

S.I.C Kamen Rider Gaim Ichigo Arms will see a July release as a Tamashii Webshop online exclusive priced at 9,180 yen. Stay tuned, and we’ll share more info on this product once the pre-orders for this bad boy drop!

under Power Morphicon, Power Rangers

Announced today by Power Morphicon the cast of Power Rangers Ninja Steel will be in attendance at Power Morphicon 2018 courtesy of Saban Brands! This is your opportunity to meet the current season’s cast with autographs and pictures. As customary, we expect a Power Rangers Super Ninja Steel panel at this year’s show (yet nothing has been announced as of yet) and the current cast to introduce the 2019 Power Rangers cast to the attending crowd.

If you haven’t registered for Power Morphicon 2018 you can do so by clicking here. While you’re doing so, don’t forget to purchase your Power Morphicon 2018 exclusive Legacy 6.5″ Lord Drakkon figure as he will ONLY be available at Power Morphicon 2018!

We will see you at the show!

under Power Rangers, Toy Fair

London Toy Fair 2018 has concluded for the day! But more pictures of the Bandai UK booth have been posted online courtesy Instagram user @SimplePeetDoodles. Check out some more up close pictures of the upcoming Legacy 6.5″ Psycho Rangers as well as the Legacy Zeo Golden Power Staff, Legacy Mastadon Zord, upcoming Power Rangers Zeo and Power Rangers Dino Thunder 6.5″ Legacy figures, and some Pop-Up Power Rangers based on Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.

If any more images show up online we’ll share them with you. Join in our discussion on the forums! Which items are you excited for? Which ones are you NOT excited for? Sound off!

under Kamen Rider

“Super Best Match!”

Time to boost up your Hazard Level with the latest addition to Kamen Rider Build’s henshin gadgets! The DX Hazard Trigger will give Build the ability to assume Rabit Tank Hazard Form and rival the power of the Sclash Drivers. Check out Bandai Japan’s commercial below for a brief look at this upcoming accessory!