Why the Kamen Rider Gaim Toy Line is So Grape

Being a Kamen Rider fan for many years, I’m no stranger to the fact that the franchise is just one big toy commercial. However, to succeed in its endeavor to sell toys, both the show and the toys need to be good in their own right and play off each other’s strengths and unique characteristics. On top of that, in order to keep the long-time fans buying, innovations and improvements must be made to keep things fresh and updated.

In my opinion, the 2013/2014 Kamen Rider series, Kamen Rider Gaim, is a phenomenal show. Whether you love it or hate it, we can’t deny the fact that it took the series to new heights and took a concept as silly-sounding as Fruit Samurai and turned it into something serious, epic and mature – a series full of intrigue, twists and high-stakes that even non-Kamen Rider fans could enjoy. Hardly surprising, if you ask me, considering it was written by none other than Urobuchi Gen, famous for his other works including Saya no Uta, Psycho-Pass, Fate/Zero and Puella Magi Madoka Magica. Yes, that Urobuchi Gen.

However, I don’t think that the show’s success can solely account for the 390% increase in toy sales and a total revenue of 10 billion yen over the course of the series run. No. If you ask me, the toys had a part to play as well. In this article, we’ll be taking a look at various aspects of both the show and the toy line to see why it’s just so ingenious.

WARNING! There are spoilers for the show within this post! While there aren’t any plot spoilers, the various forms and abilities for a number of the Riders are discussed!

Actar’s Acquisitions – November 2014

Another so quickly? Yup.

Actar’s Acquisitions – July, August, September and October 2014

Loot posts have now officially become the obligatory “I’m not dead yet!” posts! The days become busier and busier as I approach the second semester of my final year in University. But enough about that, let’s get on to the merchandise!

Everything after the jump!

Actar’s Acquisitions Update! – March, April, May and June 2014

A quadruple month update is finally here! Venture forth into the longer than usual update post as I share with you the stuff I got and my opinions on them! As I don’t really want to flood the front page with a barrage of pictures, do click on the button below to view the post in its entirety.

Transformers 4: Age of Extinction Acquisitions!

TF4 toys are finally here! After following TF news for half a year and getting sneak peaks from various events, they are finally released in stores!

Actar’s Acquisitions – February 2014

It’s the grand and glorious revival of the acquisitions posts! I haven’t done one of these in ages and I really do want to get these back up and running. If anything, it will be an easy way to keep my blog afloat in these troubled waters of other commitments. Despite me not posting them, I have been taking pictures and diligently taking records of all the stuff I’ve been purchasing for the past year and a half (more or less) and I do hope to put them all into one ginormous loot post sometime in the very near future.

2013 Japan Trip Highlights and Acquisitions!

In a brilliant attempt to circumvent me running out of steam doing a day-by-day recount of my trip, this time, I’ll be writing just one post featuring only the juicy bits – Akihabara, Comiket (doujins) and more!

I’ll organize this post by sections that go in chronological order. At the end of the recount, will be a section that is dedicated to all the acquisitions that I got during my trip.

Without further ado, here we go!

(Warning! Image intensive and somewhat NSFW. Also, the changing aspect ratio of the pictures is due to the fact that a number of them were taken with different cameras.)