Recently I was lucky enough to snag one of these beauties still sealed at a pretty decent price with the Toei Hero Net Survive decks off Y!J with the help of a great friend.
Upon receiving it, I'd have to say the packaging for the V buckle is very tastefully done. A simple white box with a shiny silver KR Ryuki logo and Dragreder on the front and the Bandai logo in a matte silver in the lower right corner surrounded by a heavy duty clear plastic sleeve over the whole thing.
The Toei Hero Net packaging was very similar exchanging a matte gold for the silver and minus the sleeve.
The front of the V buckle's packaging is also a flap that when opened reveals this:
After removing the styrofoam from the box as well as an exorbitant amount of plastic from every piece in the box, this was the end result:
Each deck is very sturdy and made in injection molded plastic in Bandai's best effort to color match each of the riders' decks from Ryuki and aside from Ryuki and Scissors, no two decks are the same color.
Along with the V buckle, came a really nice 14 page booklet containing an interview with the actor that played Shinji Kido as well as messages from the designer, producer, action director, etc. Also inside is a very well laid out set of instructions nicely illustrated in line art of how to put together the V buckle and also a few pics of each deck next to it's rider. I didn't take the time to scan each page but if anyone is REALLY interested I can do so at a later time.
The V buckle is very nice, both sturdy and pretty.
The V buckle itself is pretty heavy. The exterior of the main section is die cast metal, with transparent domes for both the red light and the blue dome to the side.
All the interior parts as well as the red button to the side are made of injection molded plastic and the buckle takes 2 AAA batteries. The belt attached is made of thick leather with snaps all around to adjust from a 70cm - 105cm waist or roughly 26" to 42".
The side ports would be my only complaint. Actually owning a prop V buckle myself, the side ports to the CS belt are a little small as far as the side slopes and bottom lip go. Other than that they are constructed to go over each snap smoothly on the belt and the inaccuracies don't detract whatsoever from the over all look. After all the only person that would notice some of these details is probably me.
The rear buckle is a little odd but works pretty well once you get the feel for it. And despite the look, it doesn't quite fit together like a car seat belt, it's slightly jiggly when inserting each piece together but has a firm snap when finally combined. The large button does help to make removal of the belt quite easy which is a plus if you don't want to damage your expensive toy when you actually decide to wear it.
Now onto what you all are REALLY interested to see: decks and cards.
Like I said before about the construction of the deck, it's not cheap fabrication. Each deck's base is coated in a matte top coat while the symbol and side elements are semi-glossy. Each rider's symbol is raised in 3D fashion and that really makes it stand apart from it's toy brethren. All cards are printed on the usual cardstock, written in english and slightly larger than any other Ryuki advent card available out there. Another plus is that there is not a gawky Kamen Rider Ryuki logo in the middle of the back of each card like there are on the toy cards. The cards fit snugly, but not too snugly into the deck and each deck has a sort of slant right at the opening that helps removal of each card. The CS V buckle comes with 82 Advent cards total.
On a side note, one thing of interest is that Bandai included a small sheet of clear square decals with both the V buckle and Survive deck set that go over the corners of each deck to both protect the edges from wear while inserting it into the V buckle but also not to detract from the look as a solid colored decal might.
The deck slides smoothly into the V buckle and secures with a very dull yet sturdy feeling snap. Power switch located on the rear of the V buckle's main section is not too difficult to get to while wearing the belt and the V buckle only comes with three sounds: Powering on, inserting the deck, and removing a card. The sound is very clear and loud enough to hear but not so loud you'll wake the neighbors 2 houses over. It's all you really need as far as sounds go.
Later on, when I'm feeling a bit more up to it, I'll scan each card as well as the back of one and some of you might or might not have noticed that I did NOT photo the blank Ryuki's sword vent, Return vent, Contract, or Seal cards. I'm saving these for the CS Ryuki deck I just made a deal for from another fine RB member that I will be converting into a blank Ryuki deck.
Overall not a bad purchase in my eyes and it's a very nice piece to have in the collection.
On a scale of 1 to 10, I'd rate it as follows:
Packaging: 9.5 because all the little plastic bags were annoying
Construction: 9.5 and only because of the side vent inaccuracy
Sounds: 9 because after pulling out card after card, it gets a little annoying as well
Role playability: 10
Price: Retail I would give a 9, aftermarket 7 due to the high desirability and premiums auctions draw
Overall score: 9.25
If you can afford one and have the chance to do so, I would say don't hesitate but if you are like me and want a better deal than that wait patiently and a good auction or personal sale will come along.
I know I could have given a much harsher review going over details and what not in an extreme way, but given how hard Bandai has tried to appease the adult fan base of Ryuki, I thought I'd give them a little break.
I apologize now if my photos are not up to par for some people on the board.
Also, feel free to ask any questions if you need and later on I'll do a side by side comparison of the CS V buckle to an actual prop V buckle, deck, and cards.
READ MORE - Kamen Rider Ryuki Complete Selection plus Survive Decks
Upon receiving it, I'd have to say the packaging for the V buckle is very tastefully done. A simple white box with a shiny silver KR Ryuki logo and Dragreder on the front and the Bandai logo in a matte silver in the lower right corner surrounded by a heavy duty clear plastic sleeve over the whole thing.
The Toei Hero Net packaging was very similar exchanging a matte gold for the silver and minus the sleeve.
The front of the V buckle's packaging is also a flap that when opened reveals this:
After removing the styrofoam from the box as well as an exorbitant amount of plastic from every piece in the box, this was the end result:
Each deck is very sturdy and made in injection molded plastic in Bandai's best effort to color match each of the riders' decks from Ryuki and aside from Ryuki and Scissors, no two decks are the same color.
Along with the V buckle, came a really nice 14 page booklet containing an interview with the actor that played Shinji Kido as well as messages from the designer, producer, action director, etc. Also inside is a very well laid out set of instructions nicely illustrated in line art of how to put together the V buckle and also a few pics of each deck next to it's rider. I didn't take the time to scan each page but if anyone is REALLY interested I can do so at a later time.
The V buckle is very nice, both sturdy and pretty.
The V buckle itself is pretty heavy. The exterior of the main section is die cast metal, with transparent domes for both the red light and the blue dome to the side.
All the interior parts as well as the red button to the side are made of injection molded plastic and the buckle takes 2 AAA batteries. The belt attached is made of thick leather with snaps all around to adjust from a 70cm - 105cm waist or roughly 26" to 42".
The side ports would be my only complaint. Actually owning a prop V buckle myself, the side ports to the CS belt are a little small as far as the side slopes and bottom lip go. Other than that they are constructed to go over each snap smoothly on the belt and the inaccuracies don't detract whatsoever from the over all look. After all the only person that would notice some of these details is probably me.
The rear buckle is a little odd but works pretty well once you get the feel for it. And despite the look, it doesn't quite fit together like a car seat belt, it's slightly jiggly when inserting each piece together but has a firm snap when finally combined. The large button does help to make removal of the belt quite easy which is a plus if you don't want to damage your expensive toy when you actually decide to wear it.
Now onto what you all are REALLY interested to see: decks and cards.
Like I said before about the construction of the deck, it's not cheap fabrication. Each deck's base is coated in a matte top coat while the symbol and side elements are semi-glossy. Each rider's symbol is raised in 3D fashion and that really makes it stand apart from it's toy brethren. All cards are printed on the usual cardstock, written in english and slightly larger than any other Ryuki advent card available out there. Another plus is that there is not a gawky Kamen Rider Ryuki logo in the middle of the back of each card like there are on the toy cards. The cards fit snugly, but not too snugly into the deck and each deck has a sort of slant right at the opening that helps removal of each card. The CS V buckle comes with 82 Advent cards total.
On a side note, one thing of interest is that Bandai included a small sheet of clear square decals with both the V buckle and Survive deck set that go over the corners of each deck to both protect the edges from wear while inserting it into the V buckle but also not to detract from the look as a solid colored decal might.
The deck slides smoothly into the V buckle and secures with a very dull yet sturdy feeling snap. Power switch located on the rear of the V buckle's main section is not too difficult to get to while wearing the belt and the V buckle only comes with three sounds: Powering on, inserting the deck, and removing a card. The sound is very clear and loud enough to hear but not so loud you'll wake the neighbors 2 houses over. It's all you really need as far as sounds go.
Later on, when I'm feeling a bit more up to it, I'll scan each card as well as the back of one and some of you might or might not have noticed that I did NOT photo the blank Ryuki's sword vent, Return vent, Contract, or Seal cards. I'm saving these for the CS Ryuki deck I just made a deal for from another fine RB member that I will be converting into a blank Ryuki deck.
Overall not a bad purchase in my eyes and it's a very nice piece to have in the collection.
On a scale of 1 to 10, I'd rate it as follows:
Packaging: 9.5 because all the little plastic bags were annoying
Construction: 9.5 and only because of the side vent inaccuracy
Sounds: 9 because after pulling out card after card, it gets a little annoying as well
Role playability: 10
Price: Retail I would give a 9, aftermarket 7 due to the high desirability and premiums auctions draw
Overall score: 9.25
If you can afford one and have the chance to do so, I would say don't hesitate but if you are like me and want a better deal than that wait patiently and a good auction or personal sale will come along.
I know I could have given a much harsher review going over details and what not in an extreme way, but given how hard Bandai has tried to appease the adult fan base of Ryuki, I thought I'd give them a little break.
I apologize now if my photos are not up to par for some people on the board.
Also, feel free to ask any questions if you need and later on I'll do a side by side comparison of the CS V buckle to an actual prop V buckle, deck, and cards.