SHF Kamen Rider Drive Type Speed

Review by siningy

As the titular protagonist of the 16^th Heisei-era Rider series, Shinnosuke Tomari is a detective of the Special Investigative Unit who transforms Kamen Rider Drive using the Drive Driver. This year’s annual Rider gimmick is the Shift Car which grants the Rider unique tire powers when inserted into the Shift Brace.

Bandai has switched to a new, smaller box style with the Drive Figuarts that I’m rather fond of. The packaging is simple and saves quite a lot of space compared to the standard box size. As a first release bonus, The Max Flare tire and effect parts were included as a first release bonus, much to the outrage of the community. It is a bit of a dick move on Bandai’s part for not including the parts in the packaging, but this also isn’t a problem if and when Drive ever gets rereleased. As far as I know, every current SHF Drive is a first release and includes the bonus parts. The packaging is neat, and along with future bonus releases, color coded to the Tire type. Also included in Drive’s box is a beautiful pamphlet showing off the upcoming and very expensive SHF Tridoron. It’s printed on glossy paper and rather reminiscent of car brochures from a dealership.

Compared to previous SHF releases, Drive is pretty bare bones. The Drive box only contains the figure itself, and 3 pairs of hands. It’s annoying that the Handle Ken is included with Type Wild instead, but the gimmick toy line did the same thing so it’s slightly understandable. I’m more irritated that because Type Wild will include the sword and sword holding hands, Type Speed does not have any hands that can be used to hold various 1/12 accessories I have. I do plan on getting Type Wild, but having to wait a few more months before I can take some pictures I had planned kind of sucks. The bonus parts include the Max Flare tire, faceplate, and flipped up Max Flare Shift Car for the Shift Brace. Also included are two flame effect parts that are identical to the Tamashii Flame Effects set but in a nice gradient color.

Kamen Rider Type Speed looks incredible and is a fairly accurate representation of the actual suit. I’m kind of impressed Bandai was able to keep the tire change gimmick intact. The Drive Driver is removable to replace the faceplate according to the Shift Car attached. The Shift Speed Shift Car is attached to the Shift Brace while Shift Max Flare, Funky Spike and Midnight Shadow are attached to the Shift Car holder. I’m really grateful that Bandai included the extra Shift Cars to attach to the holder, but also kind of pisses me off that Bandai couldn’t be bother to include closed Lockseeds for Pine and Mango arms. Come on Bandai…Gaim’s got a Lockseed holder with no Lockseeds. $#@%@$.

In Type Max Flare, Drive is equipped with a new chest tire, Drive Driver faceplate and shift brace car. When unattached, the Max Flare tire can attach to normal Tamashii stands or the upcoming Tridoron. Max Flare splits into two halves to attach to Drive, with the wheel piece actually being compatible with the Type Speed tire, though you will have some gold parts that show through.

SHF Kamen Rider Drive Type Speed is another fantastic entry in Bandai’s Figuarts line featuring a wonderful sculpt and articulation. Compared to the Gaim Figuarts, Drive actually has better articulation due to the lack of the bulky fruit armor. My only complaints come have nothing to do with the figure itself and more to do with how Bandai decided to handle the accessories but none of that should take away from how great the figure is. At around 30 dollars with the AmiAmi discount, Drive is still a pretty fantastic deal for a SH Figuarts.

It would be great if I had some hands so he could ride this bike…

I actually lost this Lockseed over a year ago and randomly found it again nowhere near where it had ever been.

“By my deeds, I honor him, V8”

I ignored this warning for a few weeks so I could take a picture with Drive before I took care of it.