This Week in Toku Toys [4/3 to 4/9]

This Week in Toku Toys, the Zyuoh Cube mini line sees some new releases and more Gashapon Ghost Eyecons are on the horizon.

Hello there TokuNet readers, Brian here! I’m often referred to as the resident toy guru here, so I figured it was about time I shared a little bit of that knowledge each and every week with all of our readers. “This Week in Toku Toys” is a new article series where I’ll be giving a sneak peek at the Bandai Tokusatsu toys set to debut this week. I plan on covering Bandai items, Candy Toy items, Tamashii Nations items, as well as the newest Premium Bandai items that debuted over the previous week. The first article of the month will also include the Gashapon items set to debut over the course of the month as well. I keep a sharp eye on release dates as part of my job, so I hope you all find this new series useful for all your collecting needs.

Bandai Retail

This week is pretty light on the Tokusatsu related releases. The only items on Bandai’s agenda are a continuation of the Zyuoh Cube mini series. Each Zyuoh Cube mini release contains a small Zyuoh Cube that can unfold inside out to transform into a simplified version of that Cube Animal. Also included with the small cube is a small figurine of that Cube Animal’s respective Zyuohger. These figures are near identical to the small figures included with the DX Zyuoh Changer, but feature some painted suit details.

Eagle, Shark, and Lion released last month, leaving Elephant, Tiger, and Gorilla to be April’s expansion on the line. It’s worth noting that the Zyuoh Changer did not include a figure of Zyuoh Gorilla. This is the first time this figure is seeing a release. While these small Zyuoh Cubes don’t combine, they make simple little desk toys for those collectors on a tight budget. Each Zyuoh Cube mini retails for around ¥560.

Bandai Gashapon

While the Ghost Eyecon gimmick is dwindling down in the main toy line as the series hits the halfway point, the Gashapon Ghost Eyecon line shows no signs of stopping. While there is nothing new to release, Bandai wants to make sure everyone can secure all 15 Ghost Eyecons.

Debuting in April in Gashapon machines across Japan is Gashapon Ghost Eyecon 11. Unlike previous sets that contained only two to three Ghost Eyecons and their respective rare metallic versions, Ghost Eyecon 11 contains ten total Ghost Eyecons with one additional rare version.

Gashapon Ghost Eyecon 11 is set to include Musashi, Robin Hood, Newton, Beethoven, Billy the Kid, Benkei, Ryoma, Goemon, and Drive Ghost Eyecons, as well as the rare metallic version of the Drive Ghost Eyecon. While nine of the Ghost Eyecons are releases in the Gashapon format, this is the first time the Drive Ghost Eyecon (and the metallic version) will be available in Gashapon form.

As a Gashapon item, this has no announced release date, but will hit machines (and online vendors) sometime this month.

Source and Image Source: Bandai Boys’ Toy Page, Bandai Gashapon Ghost Page