Hello everyone, this is Funasen.
Today marks the start of the lottery for the event venue pick-up version of "CSM DOUBLE DRIVER (ver.1.5)," as well as the release date of Product Details.

So, the information below has been released!


First of all, please be aware that this is not a product to be shipped by PREMIUM BANDAI, but a lottery sale for items to be picked up at the venue of "THE HENSHIN COMPLETE SELECTION MODIFICATION EXHIBITION vol.1" to be held on December 7th and 8th.
If you are unable to attend the venue, please wait for the regular made-to-order products that will be sold after this lottery sale.

In this blog, I would like to explain the specifications of this product in detail.

As we announced in our previous blog, this is a product concept in which the audio specifications remain unchanged, and only some of the exterior specifications have been changed.
Basically, this was planned to be a reprint of the hard-to-find first edition DOUBLE DRIVER for those who have recently become aware of the CSM series, but since we were going to reprint it anyway, we wanted to add a bit more to the original product, so we tried making it into ver.1.5 and made the following changes.

Change 1: The center buckle can be separated!



Shotaro mutters, "Let's go, Philip," and quickly pulls out DOUBLE DRIVER.
Now you can finally recreate that sequence!
A new unlock button has been added to the belt connection part on the left hip, so you can remove the belt by pinching and pulling it.
(※The DX version can also be removed by pulling it hard, but that wasn't the specification.)

I think this is the most desired feature of this product.
By the way, the belt removal points have different shapes on the left and right sides of the buckle, but they are the same shape as the prop, so there is no mistake in keeping with this design.


Change 2: The back of the belt has been changed from genuine leather to nylon.



For this reissue, the back of the belt has been changed from genuine leather like the first edition to nylon.
This is to create a sense of unity within the series, in line with the standard format for all figures since KABUTOZECTER, which is made of nylon.
Even when it was made from genuine leather, we ended up using nylon straps to adjust the length.
When wrapping it short, the nylon belt stretches inwards when folded over, so we decided to use nylon belts entirely, which also has the advantage of being able to attach a "belt loop" to hold the nylon together.


Change 3: Change the paint color of DOUBLE DRIVER body!



Compared to the first DOUBLE DRIVER, the colour has been changed to silver and gold, and the grooves that were left unpainted last time have been painted black, giving it an appearance closer to the prop.
Opinions may differ about the use of dirty paint, but we decided not to use it this time.
There are two reasons for this. First, the prop did not have any noticeable dirt paint in the first place.
Another reason is that dirty painting is extremely difficult to control from a production standpoint.
During the manufacturing process, it is possible to apply dirt paint to concave surfaces and grooves, but it is very difficult to apply it over convex surfaces.
I think that among users, there are widely varying standards for what constitutes a dirty paint job and what is considered a defect.
Since we can't fully control that, we decided to cancel it this time.

Change 4: Gaia Memory has been changed to look more like the prop!





I believe this is also a feature that has been requested, but the Gaia Memory buttons will finally be silver!
The prop is silver, but in the first release it remained in the molded color just like the DX version, so we took this opportunity to correct it.
The silver is a molded color because if it was painted, it would rub against the inside of DOUBLE DRIVER and wear off when transformed multiple times.
Please understand this. *Updated 11/18/2019: The silver buttons have been changed to painted.
Instead? Well, I put a darker color on the recessed part of the memory terminal, just like the prop.

For "Cyclone Memory" and "Luna Memory", the molding color has been changed to be closer to the prop color.
In particular, the Luna Memory has been changed from a slightly orange color in the DX version to a completely yellow color.

We've also updated the sticker design, slightly increasing the overall scale to match the prop, and changed the text in the background so that it's just as clear as the prop.
Regarding the holo stickers, the images shown are prototypes in the development stage and will differ from the actual holo. Currently, the holo is made up of aligned dots, but in reality, it will be made up of irregularly-spaced circles, just like the prop.
*Updated 11/18/2019: The hologram on the sticker on the reservation page has been updated to the latest image.

These are the changes to the product.


Finally, I want to talk about price.
The first DOUBLE DRIVER was priced at 10,000 yen excluding tax.
The price this time is 15,000 yen excluding tax.

Six years have now passed since the first series was released, and the manufacturing costs of toys have continued to change, with the costs of materials, labor costs at production factories, and so on. There are so many changes that it would be impossible to count them all.
It is also becoming difficult to maintain the price of this DOUBLE DRIVER at the time.
For products with high unit prices like the CSM series, the extent of the impact is large and the price increase appears large even when viewed proportionally, but even under the current circumstances we have managed to put together a tight squeeze.
We would appreciate your understanding.

Another product being compared is the "DX DOUBLE DRIVER," released at the end of last year as ver. 20th, which had a price of 7,500 yen excluding tax. However, this product is actually priced at an extremely low price compared to current costs, and is actually a product with very little profit for our company.
This decision was made taking into consideration the balance with other ver. 20th products, and it makes for a very good deal in terms of cost.

Although I have written a lot of excuses this time, it is realistically difficult to re-sell the first edition DOUBLE DRIVER, which has received so many requests, and I wrote this in the hope that you will understand that we are offering it in this form.


That's all for today's blog.
The next update will be next week on Monday, October 21st.


Well then!