Super Best DX Kamen Rider Den-O Henshin Belt (2013)

Den-O’s belt defaults to Sword Form’s red light for errant swipes instead of doing a Plat Form henshin and the clips on the Rider pass are translucent and terrifying. Thankfully, you don’t need to open the pass for it to work. One side of the strap is fixed to the belt but you can simply disassemble it for modding or achieving a clean display piece.

The problems can be overcome or forgiven and like the Chalice Rouzer the act of henshining is pure kinetic joy. When it comes to (mostly) self-contained old-school belts there’s few I recommend more.

Comparisons—and how to access the Charge and Up sound without the Keitaros phone—can be found below the cut.

3½ Gleeful Motions out of 5

The Robert E. Howard Collection

You may not have heard the name Robert Ervin Howard before, but the chances are good that thanks to Arnold Schwarzenegger’s career you've heard of his most famous creation; Howard created Conan the Barbarian.
His stories of high adventure set in fantastical worlds appeared in numerous pulp magazines during his short lifetime, most notably in Weird Tales.
Much from that era has been forgotten or lost, but many of Howard's characters endure, enjoying a success in both print and on screen that he sadly never saw. He died in 1936 by his own hand, aged just thirty.

Films on In a Nutshell:
01. Conan the Barbarian (1982)
02. Conan the Destroyer (1984)
03. Red Sonja (1985)
04. Kull the Conqueror (1997)
05. Solomon Kane (2009)
06. Conan the Barbarian (2011)

Souchaku Henshin Kamen Rider Kuuga SeriesSet No. 6 — Ultimate Form (2000)

Figuarts find their origins in the Souchaku Henshin line. These figures come packaged missing significant portions of their armor and it’s usually included via diecast panels and hinged chest pieces. Being an earlier release, Kuuga utilizes some plastic pieces that have lost their elasticity over time or never fit well. I can’t say which with any confidence. However, I can say that at the time of this edit, they are nearly 20 years old and are not sticky or degrading in any way. Win!

The shrunken head is the best likeness I’ve seen in the line and the show’s rudimentary CGI actually makes its size accurate! Golden versions of Kuuga’s weapons are included, even if he never used them in Ultimate Form. There’s even a stand, backdrop, and mostly static Go-Gadaru-Ba figure thrown in!

I absolutely love it and it could never be anyone but Godai.

Comparisons of the various versions can be found below the cut.

4½ Ways for Onodera to Lose the Gegeru out of 5.

The Matrix Collection

Blending sci-fi and action better than most films that came before it (and after) The Matrix managed to sate fans of both camps. It’s a cerebral and oft-times emotional journey that works on a number of levels. Not all of the paths are worth taking, but like a great poet once taught: the difference can sometimes be difficult to discern. Click links below for individual posts:

Films on In a Nutshell:
01. The Matrix (1999)
02. The Matrix Revisited (2001)
03. The Matrix Reloaded (2003)
04. The Animatrix (2003)
03. The Matrix Revolutions (2003)

Books on Nut Ink:
01. The Matrix Comics

Music on Nut Suite:
01. The Matrix Music

Video Games on Nut Load:
01. Enter the Matrix (2003)
02. The Matrix: Path of Neo (2005)

DX Leangle Buckle (2004)

Leangle’s belt fairs a bit better than Blade and Garren’s, but most of that is because of aesthetics and the differences in physicality befitting. The color scheme is rich and beautiful and the only way it could be better is if there were a few small touches of Leangle’s deep green to set it off. You still have to clip in the belt to elicit the standby noise but before that you’re free to slam in the clear plastic card tray the same way Mutsuki does. The motion he uses to open his belt is also more purposeful than the dainty yank with which Kenzaki and Tachibana-san are saddled. If you love Leangle, you’ll likely dig it.

Comparisons of the various versions can be found below the cut.

3 Inevitable Returns out of 5

Candy Toy Ranger Key Set 4: 01-02 — Go-On Gold & Silver (2011)

Candy toy ranger keys are just about as good as their DX brethren. You have to place the logo sticker under the legs and a black filler between the legs, but that’s it. The chests are fully painted. Gold and Silver Senshi suffer a bit from relying on mustard-colored and plain grey plastic, but I’ll take it in this situation. Miu and Hiroto (and Gosei Knight) are good enough for me. Hiroto is available in DX format with Machalcon but that Engine’s size makes shipping prohibitive. There are promotional and candy toy versions of the combined Wings key out there, but that’s for Gokaiger fans, as I personally need these two to be very much separate.

Comparisons of the various versions can be found below the cut.

4 Haughty Walkaways out of 5

DX T2 Joker Memory (2010)

Possessing a deluxe version of the T2 Joker memory is an expensive proposition. The original release came with the Rider Goods Collection 2010 mook (magazine/book). It makes you feel like you’re looking through a Sears Wish Book for W merchandise. The other version is a Complete Selection Modification item that was issued around the time of the CSM Fang Memory and Lost Driver. It has a sparkly sticker and arguably better sound quality but it does the same thing: spouts the names of the 26 T2 memories and gives an accurate henshin for Kamen Rider Joker without the pauses normally programmed in for Philip’s memories.

If you absolutely must, just look for the gashapon in Set 5 or the Gaia Memory Complete Selection 2 set. Those sets are routinely sold piecemeal. Plus, Shoutarou uses the regular Joker Memory to henshin alone, post-movie, anyway. You'll have to live with the pauses, yeah, but there is an undeniable veritas to """settling""" for what you likely already have.

3 Options Not Really Worth Considering out of 5

The Kaijū Collection

Kaijū eiga (often shortened to kaijū in the West) is a Japanese term for what are essentially giant monster movies. More often than not it’s an actor in a rubber suit laying waste to amazingly detailed scale model towns, but the best have an important subtext that explores deeper concerns.
The most famous is Toho’s Gojira/Godzilla, affectionately called King of the Monsters, but there’s more than just Godzilla in the pantheon, so if you're interested in the merits of the genre don't stop there:

Genre Films on In a Nutshell:
01. Godzilla (1954—)
02. Rodan (1956—)
03. Mothra ((1961—)
04. Gamera (1965—)
05. Daimajin I, Daimajin II, Daimajin III (1966)
06. The X from Outer Space (1967)
07. Daigoro vs. Goliath (1971)
08. Attack of the Super Monsters (1982)

Films influenced by the genre on In a Nutshell:
01. The Host (2006)
02. Cloverfield (2008)
03. Pacific Rim (2013)

TV Series on Nut Box:
01. Daimajin Kanon (2010)

Comics on Nut Ink:
01. Godzilla

The Silent Hill Collection

Psychologically and morally complex urban explorers who find their way into the titular town are inevitably ferried down one (or both) of two twisted paths. Those seeking truth and atonement occasionally sidestep becoming part of Alessa Gillespie or The Order’s machinations but a few are not so lucky.

The town’s incarnations have manifested themselves in the realms of film and comics in addition to the foundational games and iconic music composed by Akira Yamaoka (and Daniel Licht).

Games on Nut Load:
00. Silent Hill Origins (2007)
01. Silent Hill (1999)
02. Silent Hill 2 (2001) + (ALT Vers.)
03. Silent Hill 3 (2003)
04. Silent Hill 4: The Room (2004)
05. Silent Hill Homecoming (2008)
06. Silent Hill Downpour (2012)
07. Silent Hill Shattered Memories (2009) (a reinvisioning of 01)
08. Soundless Mountain II (2008) (a worthy fan-made homage)

Music on Nut Suite:
01. Daniel Licht / Silent Hill Downpour (Original Soundtrack) (2012)
02. Various Artists / Silent Hill Downpour: Radio Songs (2012)

Comic Mini-series on Nut Ink:
01. Silent Hill — Past Life (2010)
02. Silent Hill Downpour — Anne’s Story (2014)

Films on In a Nutshell:
01. Silent Hill (2006)
02. Silent Hill: Revelation (2012)

Films, TV, and Literature that have influenced the Silent Hill games:

01. Jacob's Ladder (1990) (appropriately vaunted Godfather of the series)
02. 1408 (2007)

03. Blue Velvet (1986)

04. Carrie (1976)

05. The Cell (2000)

06. Con Air (1997)

07. Kindergarten Cop (1990)

08. Lost Highway (1997)
09. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)

10. Session 9 (2001)

11. The Shining (1980)
12. The Walking Dead (1936)

13. The Wicker Man (1973)
14. The Wizard of Oz (1939)

15. Twin Peaks | Season 1 (1990) | Season 2 (1990-91) | Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (1992)

16. The Dune Collection
17. The Tempest (c.1610-11)

Engine Gattai Series 07 — Engine Toripter (2008)

I have always loved Toripter. It’s partially because of his personality (as sampled on the included Engine Soul) and partly because his rotors are engineered well enough that I can overlook the fact that he has great difficulty in pantomiming his drawing back of Jetras’s bow. You can unlatch the lid to his Engine Soul compartment to get him bending towards it, at least. You do have to rotate him forward to spin his rotors when attached to Engine-Oh or as part of Seikuu-Oh, too.

He’s coming off as problematic, but as someone who displays mecha as opposed to actually playing with them, and as a fan of the character, I’m just not THAT concerned.

Comparisons between the various versions are below the cut.

4 Big Brothers To Everyone out of 5

DANNY ELFMAN'S MUSIC FROM THE FILMS OF TIM BURTON @ The Orpheum Theatre, Vancouver, B.C. 11/23/2013

Being a fan for nearly 30 years of film-maker Tim Burton and composer Danny Elfman's dark & quirky collaborations made this Vancouver Symphony Orchestra concert a very special night for me.  The show covered the duo's 15 feature length films that they had done together up to that time with newly arranged suites by Elfman while displaying artwork from Burton projected upon a large screen behind the orchestra.  John Mauceri waved the baton for this performance and he was perfectly suited for the job after his work on Elfman's 2005 work, Serenada Schizophrana.  10 year old boy soprano Noah Skarsgard did a wonderful job as did talented solo violinist  Dale Barlthrop, who made it hard to keep your eyes off with his enthusiastic performances.
I don't have a bucket list but if I did, I can scratch hearing live performances of Edward Scissorhands' Ice Dance, Batman's Descent into Mystery and the Mars Attacks! Main Titles off that list now.

5 breakfast machines out of 5

Ranger Key Set 06 — Go-Onger (2011)

Consider this a review of every DX Ranger Key set, because they’re all similar in quality and function. They won’t call out their colors in either Mobirates but they will elicit the proper color in the Gokai Saber. Don’t buy keys for that, though. They’re the most accurately scaled figures we will ever get for placing next to DX mecha. It’s not perfect, but damn it feels good. Their chest details are fully painted and they made a decent amount of teams in DX format, especially those which fell within the previous decade. The only rub is you’ll have to hope they made candy toy versions of the Sixths you need, because gashapon keys have chest stickers that peel.

The availability of DX keys can be found below the cut.

4½ Only Because Sixth, Separate Faction, and Special Senshi Should Have Been Included out of 5

The Ray Bradbury Collection

Bradbury’s books and short stories are magical things. They’re nourishment for the hearts and souls of millions of readers the world over. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said about many of the film adaptations of those same works. There are many reasons why that is, but I don’t have space to go into them. I can provide a list of the reviews that are currently on the Nuts, though:

Books on Nut Ink:
01. Ray Bradbury Books and Comics

Films on In a Nutshell:
01. It Came from Outer Space (1953)
02. The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953)
03. Fahrenheit 451 (1966)
04. The Illustrated Man (1969)
05. The Electric Grandmother (1982)
06. Something Wicked This Way Comes (1983)
07. The Halloween Tree (1993)
08. The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit (1998)
09. A Sound of Thunder (2005)

TV Series on Nut Box:
01. The Martian Chronicles (1980)

Video Games on Nut Load:
01. Fahrenheit 451 (1984)

Engine Gattai Series 09 — Engine Jum-bowhale (2008)

Overall, Jum-bowhale is rather clumsy in terms of pure physicality. His jet mode is used to condense him down into his box and even if it was only used once, it’s still a great addition. Seikuu-Oh's wings taper up and back necessitating a huge amount of shelf space for the combination. Its feet are completely unchanged, as its legs are simply the split rear half of the plane. Though, they manage to evoke a pair of pilot pants, to my eyes, anyway. While there’s a lot of visual unruliness present, it’s somehow fitting for this strange group of Sixths Separate Faction Senshi. G9 predictably makes Jum-bowhale the wingpack (good times) and shoves Jetras and Toripter onto the shoulders. Mo’ arms, mo’ problems.

Comparisons between the various versions are below the cut.

3 Professors into Rear Entry out of 5