I think as kids we must have some sort of wonderfully effective built-in ability take it all in and then sort of 'filter' out the boring talk and condense things down to the pure action stuff. Of course when the show is almost 50/50 action, like most classic Kamen Rider shows, that makes for more rewarding veiwing - at least from a kid (and kid-at-heart) standpoint.
The Bigfoot episodes are a rare treat on 6MDM in that there is so much screen time dedicated to Austin and the Sasquatch and the dramatics between the two; probably why they are among the most highly-regarded episodes of the entire series. The first Death Probe encounter has maybe 10 solid minutes of action spread over a 1hr 40min, 2-part episode! Man, that's a LOT of exposition and talking heads to screen out for a paltry handful of inventive, genuinely cool "fight" scenes between Col. Austin and that weirdo tank/space probe thingy. Still, the show has its good spy elements too, for those who like that sort of thing, but I agree that there should have been a lot more bionic exploits in a show that centered around a bionic man. The robot (Maskatron) shows, FemBot crossovers with Bionic Woman, and Bigfoot were the obvious highlights.
I'm still glad to own them, though. It's fun watching them with my friend's young kids. They laugh at some of the "action" but they still end up getting hooked on the bionic aspects and the fact that this is a "real" guy who could more or less be anybody. It's even more real to them nowadays what with "bionic" prosthetics in use in our everyday society. There are a couple of bonus feature segments regarding the advancement of these replacement parts from high-concept back when the show was first pitched, to real-world items in use today. 6MDM predicted several things pretty closely, which is pretty neat. Obviously, they still have quite a ways to go as far as total integration using brain-control of the limbs and invasive attachment for a "permanent" replacement. Also, they'll likely never be able to achieve (or at least make openly available) bionic limbs with super-normal "Steve Austin-level" abilities. ...but hey, it's still fun to imagine, even in today's high-tech world.
For many who are leery of the high-dollar price, it might be smarter to resist temptation and wait until the series hits retail stores, then hold off a little longer and snag a decent used set in good condition through Amazon or eBay.
