A prototype of Space Sheriff Gavan in S.H.Figuarts, part of the premium Shinkocchou Seihou line, is back in the display case at the Tamashii Nations Store Tokyo, inside the Live Action Figure Expo 2026. Its return restarted an argument collectors had already been having. The Japanese collector @mini4crazy stopped in Akihabara, photographed the figure and posted a correction diagram on X. He credits the helmet with real progress over earlier showings. The visor known as the laser scope, he says, still sits out of place.
In the montage, the upper half of the helmet has changed a great deal since the figure first appeared. The strip of lights across the visor is what bothers him, seated at an odd angle and apparently tipped upward. He says the earlier revision pushed that assembly wider to the sides and read better than what is on display now. He has drawn up fixes before, which is why the post carries the label of a second correction attempt.
In that drawing he suggests the part may have been mounted tilted forward and up. The laser scope sets where the helmet appears to be looking, so a few degrees off changes the entire expression of the face.
What leaves room for that kind of guesswork is the status of the piece, which has no confirmed release. It sits in the case as a reference exhibit, the sankou shutten label Japanese shows use for prototypes with no product announcement attached, and it has held that status since its debut at Tamashii Nation 2025 in November. Bandai Spirits puts figures out in that state to measure reaction, and the run of helmet revisions suggests public feedback is reaching the design team.
Speaking to HOBBY Watch during the expo, the development team laid out the main technical change in this version. Older Gavan figures, both the Chogokin and the original S.H.Figuarts, used heavily mirrored chrome paint apps. The Shinkocchou prototype trades that chrome for a flatter metallic silver, and the team said it is still calibrating the exact tone of that silver before the design is locked.
Shinkocchou Seihou sits at the top of the S.H.Figuarts range, and the name points to sculpting outward from the skeleton, with the body built around bone structure and the silhouette it produces. That approach is what gives weight to the Gavan pose with both fists held in front of the chest. HOBBY Watch singles out the articulation: elbows that bend deep, hips with more travel than the sculpt suggests, and ankles that move freely. The accordion ribbing at the knees and feet, a signature of the suit, sits among the details collectors want to see done right.
Gavan premiered in 1982 as the first Metal Hero and opened a line Toei continued with Sharivan in 1983 and Shaider in 1984, before moving on to Juspion, Spielban, Metalder and Jiraiya. The metallic shine that gave the genre its name came from the costume itself, coated by vacuum metallization, and the suit ran so heavy and so hot that it capped how long each take could last. Kenji Ohba played the space cop Retsu Ichijouji, a stunt performer trained at the Japan Action Club who had already worked as Battle Kenya and DenziBlue and handled most of his own action. The transformation sequence, known as jouchaku, showed the Combat Suit laid onto his body by a beam from the mothership Dol in 0.05 seconds, and the visor collectors are arguing about is that helmet's laser scope.
The prototype turns up in a busy stretch for the character. Toei has been airing Chou Uchuu Keiji Gavan Infinity since February 2026, the first title under PROJECT R.E.D. and the occupant of the broadcast slot Super Sentai used to hold, with a movie set for July 24, 2026 alongside Kamen Rider Zeztz. The Shinkocchou figure still has no price and no release window. What @mini4crazy wants, and says plainly, is a next revision that gets the laser scope right before the piece reaches preorder.