Sometimes they just run their logical course; I don't think anybody was really counting on more FFR figures after 2009. Sometimes they just mutate into another line, like how in 2002 Sôchaku-Henshin essentially became R&M, then went back to Sôchaku-Henshin again a few years later (and eventually became Figuarts.) Or the Rider Hero Series and the Hyper Detail figures, which have seen more rebrandings than just about anything. Sometimes, you get a new line that actually finds success and sticks around for a while, or is just a really great on-off idea, and sadly gets axed before its time.
I'm going to mainly focus on the latter category for this list, with my own five favorite Rider toy lines that aren't around any more, though they really ought to be. Plus, some runners-up!
Honorable Mention: Rider Kaijin Series
The standard soft-vinyl versions of the Riders have been around forever, recently going through a rebranding and becoming the Legend Rider Series figures during 2009/most of 2010. The OOO guys have kind of gone off an done their own thing, dropping the Ganbaride card and all, but the major change from RHS (losing the boxes in favor of being sold loose or in bags, like the Ultra Kaiju Series) has stuck.
While nearly every Rider has been made by now, with the baddies it's a different story. Since 2000, there's been a good spread, but after making plenty of Grongi and Orphenochs, a few great classic villains, some Unknown and Undead and a bunch of Mirror Monsters... 2006 basically had squat. Things got a little better after that, but this is still a line that really could use a shot in the arm. Lately it seems to be on Exclusive Life Support. You could get Peacock Undead and Ucaworm, but only if you sent away for them. The upcoming Greeed figures are a good sign though, that at least somebody knows the facts: Rider villain toys do sell.
Honorable Mention: Soul of Sofubi
The super-duper RHS upgrades were going great for a time, though wound up being a victim of collateral damage courtesy of Kamen Rider THE NEXT. No really, do you remember those pricey boxed versions of Rider 1, 2 & V3 (plus 1 & 2 in the style of the first movie.) They were okay, but it was the Lawson-exclusive set that had what everybody really wanted. A nice last gasp, but still the last one. Considering the rate they came out at prior to that, and the selection (Riders! Other Toei Heroes! Uh... more Riders!) We likely won't see any more of these, which is a shame, because there's a Skyrider-shaped gap in my collection. And no BLACK or RX, which I cannot believe.
Honorable Mention: Motion Revive
One of the "Candy Toy" sets that most are probably familiar with, because they rocked. Sadly seemed to have retired though, right before Decade oddly. I mean, if ever there was a time to have a toy line with various Heisei Riders. I'm gonna blame Narutaki for that one. This almost made the top 5, but truth be told since nearly everyone in them has or will eventually be made into a Figuarts, I decided to spotlight some older favorites. So on with the list.
5. Minna No Advent: Kamen Rider (Heisei Rider Edition)
What:
A 10-day advent calendar with Heisei-Rider themed goodies!
When:
2010
Why:
If you grew up in my house, you'd know that the Christmas Countdown Calendars are a big deal. For years my dad would painstakingly design, illustrate and create a new one (eventually using Photoshop which, in those days, resulted in computer-crashingly huge files.) Filled with all sorts of Tokusatsu goodies, as this was in the days before I could do online shopping and getting stuff from Japan was always a big deal. Many a High Grade set came from those calendars. So when Bandai announced that last spring that they were coming out with their own mini-countdown calendar of sorts, I was pumped.
Now, to be fair, this is one line that's still so recent it's hard to conclusively call it "discontinued"... but I'm not getting my hopes up. It's been almost a year with not a peep about any more. The initial wave (Heisei Kamen Rider and classic Gundam) was pretty promising, though clearly it didn't take off. The almost $30 price tag probably wasn't too enticing, and not surprisingly these languished on shelves before being clearanced off (they're about 10 bucks on Amazon.jp currently.) Not to mention that if you're not familiar with the whole concept of advent calendars, it probably just seems weird. You just wanna open the box and get the thing already!
And it's too bad, because really, this was a pretty cool idea. I can only really comment on the Rider calendar (which I bought a couple of when they were cheap) but I like it a ton. Contained within are a key chain, cell phone strap, charm, stickers, tatoo sticker, magnet, pin, and several mini-figures. There's multiple varieties and you never know what you're going to get (well, you do if you've already opened one since the prizes are always in the same place, but the actual kind you get is randomized.)
For the more discerning buyer who wants a billion joints and every accessory possible, it might seem like something to skip. But if you just want some goofy little Rider-themed trinkets, you couldn't do much better. It all comes in a nice, well-designed box and everything can fit back in where it came, so it's economical if nothing else.
Perhaps most frustrating to me is that this is clearly labeled as being the "Heisei Rider Edition" which means that, yup, they were probably planning one for the older guys, that we will now never see. @#$%!
How To Bring It Back:
Either bump up the number of prizes or lower the price. I think that was the real problem with the first bunch. A full-month 30-door set for 30 bucks? Now you're talking.
As for the prizes themselves, I love what we got, but a good way to lure in more buyers would be to have more must-have items. Ganbaride cards, a Gaia Memory, a Core Medal!? Or maybe do a whole calendar of S.H.F. accessory pieces everybody would covet. The possibilities are basically endless.
4. Kamen Rider Battle
What:
A Candy Toy series with miniature Riders and notable advesaries!
When:
2000~2001
Why:
Candy Toys have recently started getting more love, with the Sentai Mecha ones that, with some additional work, can become faithful recreations of the larger, pricier toys. But I'd be willing to bet there's fans out there who were buying stuff back when Kuuga and Agito were new, and even they don't remember these.
The imaginatively-named line is sort of an offshoot of a similar thing that Ultraman had, though to be honest those figures were (initially) better-painted and a bit more high-quality. These are basically cheap, rubbery little versions of Rider 1, 2, V3, Kuuga, and the Agito crew... and they're freaking great.
Only 3 sets were made, but they covered all the basic Kuuga forms (plus a Rider Kickin' Rising Mighty, and Ultimate in the "BURN" pose.) There were a bunch of Grongi, including N Daguba Zeba back in the days when Daguba toys were few and far between. There were the initial Agito forms, G3 & Gills, plus some Unknown (BOTH Turtle guys!) The classic Rider guys have all since been done in bigger sizes, but I'll always say yes to another Ikadevil figure. Heck, toys of the villains are so rare these days, it's kind of amazing to believe these ever existed.
They're small, they're goofy and I can see why they'd get passed over for bigger, plastic-ier lines, but they're every bit as good as the shows they were inspired by.
Plus they weren't blind-boxed, and everybody likes that.
How To Bring It Back:
Bump up the paint and quality a bit, and they could be the next (little) big thing. I wouldn't even mind if they just stuck to this year's guys, cuz I can always use some figures of the Greeed.
3. Medicom RAH220 (Old-style)
What:
Medicom's smaller, cheaper and more "toylike" line of 1/8-scale figures!
When:
Uh... the late 90's-ish
Why:
Technically, this is one of those lines that reinvented itself rather than flat-out ended. After a few years' break, it came back as RAH220 DX, smaller versions of the 1/6 DX figures Medicom started making back around 2000. While those are great (though sadly, they stopped at Stronger it seems) there's a few things their predecessors really had going for them.
One was the price. Especially back then, when the bigger 1/6 figures were commanding what seemed to be astronomical rates, these were a breath of fresh air. A reasonably good smaller-sized Medicom figure for under $40? Yes please.
Next, the selection of characters. Admittedly, if you're not a Rider fan, you got screwed, but this is Medicom we're talking about. They love them Riders, what can I say. But as far as what we did get, it's pretty magnificent.
While they never got beyond Amazon, the old RAH220 line managed to do all 3 main versions of Rider 1, both version of Rider 2, V3, Riderman, X-Rider, Amazon, a bunch of Shocker Combatants, the Destron Combatant, the original 11 Shocker monsters plus Saboteguron and Zanjio, the original 4 Destron Kaijin, post-resurrection Apollo Geist, and the Kumo-Jujin from Amazon. Phew! Plus a bunch of Kikaider guys.
And yes, they're clunky by today's standards, especially when stacked up against their DX successors. Just as the old 1/6 Medicoms often pale to their DX counterparts, these guys look and feel like a bunch of rusty old Pintos next to a gleaming new Jaguar. But there's still the variety to consider. You think Tokageron will ever get another RAH figure again? And the old-style V3 wins out in the accessory department, even including the V3 Hopper! The flying thing, I mean.
The Apollo Geist, the only RAH version of his second incarnation that I know of, is also arguably one of the best RAH figures ever made. This is especially impressive given the old 220's occasional breakage problems. I apparently am the luckiest man alive in that I've yet to have a QC issue with any Medicom figure that wasn't already used/banged up/damaged... with the exception of these. In fairness though, it was only one of the earliest ones, and some later 220's has sturdier stuff in their bodies.
But the old guys have one more trick up their sleeve. While the boxes for the DX versions are okay, with the flat black backgrounds and clean layout, the older versions range from impressive to heartbreakingly beautiful. I'm not kidding.
With art by the always-talented Sugahara Yoshihito, these things were collectors' items on their own. The Riders always had good box art, but it's the baddies who really blew us all away. If you own one, you know what I'm talking about. The Destron box art was my person favorite, with the Tarot-card theme inspired by episode #43. If you're one of those fans who keeps things in the boxes, you might want to track some of these down, because the boxes themselves are practically worth the price of admission. I also like Kumo-Jujin's Incan-motif box, which is loaded with nods to Geddon monsters.
The old RAH220 eventually died off in part because, and I hate to say this, the Hakaider Squad. No really, the pricey 4-figure Toys 'R Us box set sat on shelves for years, and pretty much every time I've gone to Japan I've seen it at some point. Not having a 220 Kikaider 01 probably had something to do with that. While I do love the DX upgrades, this is one of those times when the "inferior" older versions actually have a lot more merit to them than you'd think, and it's worth remembering.
How To Bring It Back:
Give DX a kickstart and gimme my 220 Skyrider already! Bring back the amazing box art for future releases and come out with some of those Kaijin again. I don't care if they're exclusives, I'm game.
2. The Rider Machine
What:
Candy Toy model kits of those things the Riders sometimes use to get places!
When:
1999~2003
Why:
A strong contender for the best Rider Candy Toy series ever. Kicked off in '99, they were basically just small plastic kits of the original Rider bikes with a painted rubbery figure. Rubber pieces for the wheels plus clear parts for the lights, windshields, etc. Snap the pieces together, put some stickers on, and presto. A miniature Rider Machine!
The second set added Kuuga, plus X-Rider, Amazon and Stronger, and that was great as well. But it's with Part 3 where this series really took off. The 3 Agito bikes (plus that crazy Slider mode) might have been a smaller scale than everything that came before, but we didn't mind. They looked great, and that was G3-X on the bike (unlike seemingly every other Guard Chaser toy.) Filling out the set were re-do's of Rider 1 and 2 on the old Cyclone/Cyclone Custom, but with some new twists. Better, whiter plastic (unlike the off-color of the first set.) More paint instead of all the stickers. The figures somehow seemed just a little bit better. I have a lot of Cyclones in my collection, and the The Rider Machine 3 one is among the best.
This level of quality continued with Part 4 & 5, where we got a remake of V3 from the first set. An EX set completed the remakes of the originals with a New Cyclone, plus newer, improved versions of the X-Rider, Amazon and Stronger from Part 2. And then...
Well, 2004 had "The Blade Machine" featuring guys from that series and a similar idea, but it just wasn't the same. The tires were now plastic, the figures all out-of-scale with what had come before. True, that had been the case with some of the earlier ones, but it was usually with good reason (you kind of HAVE to make Jet Sliger a different scale for this to work.) But really, after that, this idea of doing high-quality bike kits kind of faded away.
I can understand why, since these were really only Candy "Toys". They're really small, inexpensive models rather than straight-up toys. They were great for painting up or super-detailing, because the sculpting was all there, and a cheap alternative to those impossible resin cast kits. But for the kid who just wants something they can take out of the box and play with, I can see how it wouldn't sell. And yet, it did, for 5 sets plus a "best-of" kind, making me wonder. Was it perhaps just a timing thing? Around this time we were getting those "Machine Chronicle" Gachapon sets after all.
In my opinion, the motorcycle is one of the most integral parts of Kamen Rider, so take any chance you have to celebrate it. Other heroes happen to drive motorcycles sometimes, but that is part of Rider's DNA. It's a defining aspect. So make all the toys of it you want!
How To Bring It Back:
The old molds are so good, they could just mix a few of them in with some new guys, and maybe market it at a slightly older audience. With the success of those plastic Double models, there's a market for it, I'd say.
Check out the complete line-up here.
1. Rider Kaijin Meikan
What:
A candy toy series with small, fixed-pose figures of Riders & monsters.
When:
2003~2004
Why:
The Meikan (Directory/List) series has been around for years, but it's with the big red guy and his family that it found the most success. There's a whole book about it, no less. By my estimation, every single episode of Ultraman and Ultra Seven has been covered, plus a lot of Ultra Q, Returns, Ace, and beyond.
Comparatively, Rider's had a hard time. While it's true that they do still make Rider Meikan sets (you know that one that had the Shocker Rider scene, the King Dark scene, and the Stronger debuts scene? That was one of 'em) they're much more disorganized than the Ultra ones were. We get a set here or there, but there's no real schedule to them and they tend to be different themes every time. One year it's "bikes", then "famous battles", then "famous scenes, some of which are battles", etc.
Back in '03 though, Bandai attempted to recapture the success of the ongoing Ultra sets with the Rider Kaijin Meikan series. Focusing on the original series, the first set had Rider 1, Rider 2, plus some famous baddies.
If you still don't know what a Meikan is, I'll try to explain. Smaller than a Gachapon figure, but no less detailed, with a display base often showing the monster's name (or episode title) on it. Again, to the articulation 'n accessory-minded buyer, they don't offer much of either. But if you want a kickass little statue that can fit on your desk and will cost you pocket change, they're super. They're also one of the few lines every to pull off both blind-boxing and chase figures because of how they were sold in the cartons. I literally got the chase figure for Part 3 for a few hundred yen, rather than the few thousand the same shop was selling it for loose.
The first Rider Meikan set was great, the next two even better. Alas, they only seemed to do the major players before folding, while Ultraman (and Seven) went the whole 9 yards with "Complete Specials" and "Special Editions". When you've made a toy of Seven's 'Robot Commander' character, you've basically won the race.
Admittedly, you probably have to be an original series fan to really care about this line. But as I am, I do, and I want it back!
How To Bring It Back:
I don't mind that they didn't do every original series guy so much as I just wish they were still doing somebody. V3, X & such would benefit a lot from a line like this since few others will ever do toys of their bad guys, but the Meikan series? I'd bet on it.
With the anniversary year upon us, now's as good a time as ever. I'd even happily take an all-Riders set with newer guys if it meant just kickstarting the line back up again. Igadevil needs his Canary-Cobra figure!
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I think I have a Stronger one from the very last thing you posted. some kind of armadillo kaijin with a baby kaijin? I'd like more of these.
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