Kamen Rider, Kamen Rider Drive, Reviews

Review: DX Drive Driver & Shift Brace (Kamen Rider Drive)

DX Drive Driver & Shift Brace
October, 2014 – ¥7,800

P1080345

Shinnosuke Tomari uses the Drive Driver in conjunction with the Shift Brace to transform into Kamen Rider Drive! However, unlike most Henshin Belts, the Drive Driver is actually a sentient intelligence known as Belt-san! The Drive Driver was released in October, 2014 when the show premiered. The set includes the Drive Driver, the Shift Brace, Shift Speed Shift Car, and Shift Max Flare Shift Car, all for around ¥7,800 give or take, depending on where you order. The Drive Driver takes a page out of the ToQ Changer playbook by using the Shift Brace as a reader using the same rail and button system the ToQ Ressha do. Via infrared communication, the Shift Brace sends the signal of what Shift Car is inserted to the Drive Driver, which announces the Type Kamen Rider Drive has transformed into. Shift Speed enables Drive to become Type Speed. Shift Max Flare lets Drive exchange the tire on his suit to a new one, called Tire Koukan. The Max Flare Tire lets him attack with a devastating fire attack! You can also Shift Up by shifting the Shift Car additional times, or initiate the Full Throttle attack by pressing the button on the Shift Brace.

The Shift Cars are a nice size, being quite a bit bigger than I anticipated. The flip to convert them into Lever Mode is really fluid, and is a lot of fun to do. The sounds take a bit of getting used to, but the different tunes for each Shift Car are unique and interesting. Addiitonally, the entire motif of the belt is really awesome, and I love the seat belt look the actual belt straps and latches have. The key turning to initiate each function can be a little time consuming, but adds to the motif and looks pretty neat. Overall, I really dig what the toy has to offer, and with the few Shift Cars I’ve got thus far, the belt is really interesting and fun to tinker with. I can’t wait to see what else we have in store for the future. If you like the show this far, or have a soft spot for cars, this is definitely a toy worth taking a look at.

3 thoughts on “Review: DX Drive Driver & Shift Brace (Kamen Rider Drive)”

  1. how big is the belt strap? I am considering reviewing this & I don’t know if I can fairly (I don’t want to modify the strap any)

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