The Reboots Collection

Some films didn't fit comfortably under the Remakes heading and are best described as Reboots. It's usually undertaken because the studio had run the original series into the ground but still wants to milk it, so they make it shiny and new with actors and actresses that are more appealing to a younger audience. (We're probably all thinking it, so I'll go ahead and say it: sometimes it means that men/women are hired based on looks rather than talent.)

There might be some duplication of titles that are currently in the Remakes post. That's because they're either confusingly both or I've not personally seen them and can't make a judgement call on where they belong. I'm happy to take advice and/or suggestions from folks, either in relation to "add this title," or "remove that one, prick!" Sincere thanks to anyone that contributes.

S.H. Figuarts Yellow Buster (2013)

I did not reinforce Bandai for making incomplete teams. I purchased this after Sentai Figuarts were dead in the water, on SEVERE clearance. The only person who benefited from this purchase was me.

The most premium of Yokos is pretty fantastic. The joints are tight and smooth. The ball joints on the wrists look and feel robust, unlike some subsequent Figuarts. I never had a huge problem with the Shinkengers' shoulders, but I have to admit that these are glorious in comparison. No gaps and no fiddling with floating parts. Her skirt is two overlapping pieces and even though the articulation suffers slightly in comparison, entirely removing the need to bisect her to change out for abysmal looking broken-up skirt pieces is more than a fair trade-off. Sometimes her head looks a bit squished and sometimes it doesn't. The arm joints are black, not yellow and silver, but those are moving parts and were going to be inaccurate one way or the other. Black is a prominent part of the color-scheme and they don't look out of place, to me, at a glance.

Overall, she's brilliant. With Sentai Figuarts, it's beyond the point of voting with your wallet. Vote with your heart from what was actually released.

Further details are below the cut.

4 Musings About Whether or Not A Houdini Damashii Would Fit on Her out of 5

NECA Cult Classics: Series 7: Beetlejuice (2008)

Seven inches of plastic that's SFW, unlike the character it represents; i.e. the titular ghost with the most as portrayed by Michael Keaton in the Beetlejuice (1988) movie. (There’s also a larger eighteen inch model available.) Besides the weird hairline, the face sculpt has some detail and looks decent in profile.

The best joints are in the neck and shoulders. The shoulder pins allow for the arms to be lifted, lowered or swivelled forwards and backwards to various degrees. The head can be spun around and tilted to look slightly up or down.

Elsewhere, his feet swivel 360 degrees at the line where hem meets boot top; it's very odd. There are holes on the underside but he comes with no stand.
His elbows and hands do the same 360 degree swivel motion as the feet.

The package includes a trio of accessories: two snakes and a copy of The Handbook for the Recently Deceased, all to scale. The snakes aren't bendable, but can be stuck inside his coat for shits and giggles. The book rested on an open palm turned upwards (as pictured) is the only way he can hold it.

2½ black and white candy stripes out of 5

Go-Busters Premium Logo Pin Badge (2012)

To my knowledge, there were only ever two premium items produced for Go-Busters, specifically. There's a few Ranger Key sets that include some of the characters, of course. I picked this up because, if I recall correctly, it set me back the exact same amount as the MBAF set. The scant benefits of loving an infinitely underrated series, I suppose~ Given what I got it for, I had no problem whatsoever with actually utilizing it. It was on my belovéd hoodie for a decent while and I even wore it to a job interview. I've been very pleased with it. It's a quality pin with a massive screw-on cap(?), so it won't be coming off of whatever you put it on, without a glorious fight.

The other premium item? A real camera strap for the Ichigan Buster. For years, CS Toys had at least one in stock, but they/it seem(s) to have sold. I can't believe someone actually paid ¥6000‎ o_O

4 Fashion Statements Actually Worth Making out of 5

Gosei Pink / Megaforce Pink Ranger Figure (2012)

The regular figure of Eri / Emma that BoA released is pretty swell. It stands like a champ, unlike her Super iteration. Also unlike that figure, this one comes with a screen-relevant card: her change card! The generic Headder on the Gosei Blaster is actually round and mushy enough to pass for all of theirs, except Mouné's. The Skick Shot may be completely white (take some pink and gold Sharpies to it), but it can combine with the others' weapons via friction and good will. If you need an articulated Eri or Emma, I definitely recommend this one. Even if I initially got it to match Yoko's Figuart, I quite fancy it on its own merits.

4 Sudden Realizations That She's Holding A Victory Charge Card out of 5

Go-Busters Buddyroid Hero Series 03:Usada Lettuce (2012)

The nice thing about Usada's R2-D2-esque design is that all of his articulated figures have the two points necessary to create the one pose of which he is capable. I.e.,  'arm' and head swivels. This one is lacking a bit of paint, but the visage of his associated Buster Machine is fully detailed, including the eyes. It comprises his back, if you don't know, which makes it all the more impressive that it's given proper treatment. I of course recommend his Super Sound Buddyroid over this, but if you're an even more absolute stickler for matching figures than I am, and have the Busters' Hero Vinyls, this will absolutely scratch that itch to satiation.

This line also has Nick, Gorisaki, and J. Their paint suffers a bit more than Usada's.

RH-03 out of 5 (Yes, I will do that whenever possible~)

Gashapon Ghost Eyecon Set 08: Kamen Rider Gaim (2016)

An explanation of the Eyecons can be found in Neg's first Ghost related post. I'll add only that they're approx 55mm in diameter, about the size of a small mandarin fruit or one of Henry Rollins' testicles [unverified claim]. It seems like they might comfortably take a knock or two and not fall to pieces; i.e. drop it on carpet and it should be fine, but drop it on concrete and there'll be tears.
The Gaim version, as featured in episode three of KR Ghost: Legendary! Riders' Souls! (2016), has an orange coloured iris, referencing Gaim's Orange Arms form. The other three sides are as you'd expect, with the number being R15.

For someone who really enjoyed Gaim and unashamedly likes clicky-clicky buttons (me on both counts), it's a fun and manageable addition to the shelf.

3½ grateful nods to Neg out of 5

The Remakes Collection

They suck, right? Mostly they do, but not always. In some cases your preference will depend upon which version you saw first. In others, there'll be a clear winner and only a fool would try to argue otherwise, which is not the same thing as loving something for personal reasons.

Below the cut is a list of films that are reviewed here on In a Nutshell and a few TV Miniseries that are reviewed over on Nut Box. The original/first version is on the left, with the remake/subsequent version(s) following. I'm not going to make a distinction between 'actual' remake and 'adapted from same source'. I'm sure I've missed some. Don't be shy. Point them out.

Neg's Tokusatsu Gimmick Collection

Gimmicks are the (usually) tiny trinkets of meaning found in most tokusatsu toylines. They’re designed to empty your wallet while seemingly filling your heart. Toei invariably justifies them narratively and emotionally, in worthy series, while Bandai inevitably packages them with gigantic hunks of plastic adult collectors would otherwise avoid like the plague, for all series.

Toku giveth and it taketh away (your money).

Rider
These nuts contain information and/or comparisons between tiers either above or below the cut.

          1. Rouze Cards (Blade)
                   A. DX cards
                   B. Rouze Card Archives (Premium)

          2. Fuestles (Kiva)
                   A. DX (Candy Toys discussed)

          3. Gaia Memories (W) 
                   A. DX
                   B. Gashapon
                   C. Candy Toy
                   D. Premium

Sentai

          1. Souls (Go-Onger) 

                   A. Engine Souls 

                           i.  Candy Toy

                           ii. DX

                   B. Change Souls

                           i.  DX

                   C. Special Souls 

                           i.  DX

                           ii. Gunpei Soul

         
          2. Hiden Discs (Shinkenger) 

                   A. Candy and Gashapon

                   B. DX

          3. Gosei Cards (Goseiger) 

                   A. Dice-O Cards (retail released cards discussed) 

                   B. Datas Hyper cards

                   C. Additional details are shared here. 

          4. Ranger Keys (Gokaiger) 

                   A. DX (Gashapons discussed) 

                   B. Candy Toy

                   C. Additional details are shared here.

Bandai of America Equivalents are linked below the cut.

Candy Toy Ghost Eyecon Set 1: Musashi (2015)

By pressing the button on the right side of Ghost Eyecons, you can flip through four images: An iris, its specific number or letter (here, 01), the facial design of the form it grants, and the symbol of its hissatsu. If you have open shelves, or pets that have free reign around your collection, these may become a cleaning issue given their lenses. I had to open every candy toy and gashapon Eyecon I received to remove detritus from inside, right out of the box (or bag). The biggest issue I had was with Musashi, however: the stickers were printed off-center. I was able to fix them, but it wasn't fun, or particularly safe.

In gashapon and candy toy Eyecons, those stickers (and the ones up top) are flat, not glittery and holographic like the DXs'. The print quality isn’t fantastic, either. The QC issues and the print quality are bad enough, but at this point I find the idea of the gimmick itself quite silly. Of course it has a lot to do with what I feel about what happened with the show after the first arc.

A list of the availability of DX Eyecons is below the cut.

They Had 1 Last Shot and They Blew It out of 5

The Ace Attorney Collection

The Gyakuten Saiban/Ace Attorney series spins the incredibly simple (and perhaps initially off-putting) concept of donning the well-tailored blazers of defense attorneys (and sometimes prosecutors) into something much more. The morality of these stalwart advocates, and the judicial system itself, is inevitably placed under the microscope, but it is done through the lens of its impact on those who entrust their lives to these men and women—characters that are often as hilarious as they are endearing and relatable.

The Phoenix Arc of the progenitorial gaming series has been covered completely on our sister site, Nut Load.

1.) Ace Attorney: Phoenix Wright
2.) Ace Attorney: Phoenix Wright — Justice for All
3.) Ace Attorney: Phoenix Wright — Trials and Tribulations

Opinions on the music from the same era can be found on Nut Suite.

1.) Gyakuten Saiban Sound Box
2.) Gyakuten Saiban Meets Orchestra
3.) Gyakuten Saiban Meets Jazz Soul

The film has been tackled, here.

Neg's Rider and Sentai Figure Omnibus Collection

Over time, my collecting philosophy has come to center on one ideal: having physical representations of the characters most important to me. Hard drives will fail and files will become harder to find, but if I take care of my toy collection, it should outlive its delicate, intangible source material; it will be there to remind me of all I have learned from tokusatsu.

As Rider is very individualistic in nature, I am perfectly content picking and choosing which I want on my shelves. Conversely, because of the collective nature of Sentai, I endeavor to have my teams as complete as they possibly can be.

Above the cut, I will link to examples of popular categories of figures on the market, as I’ve provided summary material within these particular nuts. Below it, I will strive to relay as much information as I personally possess about viable options for matching teams and the availability of various Riders and their forms.

Vinyl Hero Figures - pragmatically static; good for those focused on shelves,
                                       not play.

Sofubi Hero Figures - smaller vinyl figures. Some characters and forms are
                                      'exclusive' to this line.

Ranger Keys - attempting to become the (premium priced) standard for Sentai.

Souchaku Henshins - Forebears of Figuarts. Decently articulated with
                                       removable armor.

Figuarts - The current standard of articulation and detail at the 1:12 scale.

S.I.C.s - Stylized takes on Rider designs.

American Figures - Sometimes America does what Japan won’t. 
                                    Don’t front on Bandai of America.

Gimmicks - Easily utilized in place of figures for series that have them for 
                      every character.

Self-Defined Representations - Sometimes you have to assign 
                                                           meaning to/create for yourself what the 
                                                           world simply will not.