Gundam Converge 7-11 Selection

This time we will take a closer look at one of the more odd sets of figures to appear in the Gundam Converge line. Ten months down the line, in September 2011 to be precise, after three regular figure sets had been released there appeared a special set geared for sales in Japanese 7-11 shops. The set contained a selection of four repackaged figures from the previous three lines as well as two brand new repaint versions which were given the brand new numbers 19 and 20 in the Converge series. It is primarily these two figures that we will inspect in this review.

The entire 7-11 Selection set contains the six figures displayed in the image above, and are the following:

02 : RX-77-2 Guncannon (a repackaging from Gundam Converge volume one)
03 : RX-75 Guntank (a repackaging from Gundam Converge volume one)
11 : MS-06 Zaku II (a repackaging from Gundam Converge volume two)
12 : MS-07B Gouf (a repackaging from Gundam Converge volume two)
19 : RX-178 Gundam Mk-II (A.E.U.G) - A brand new version of this figure, unique to this set
20 : MSM-07 Z'Gok - A brand new version of this figure, unique to this set

As you can clearly see, the 7-11 set goes straight for the roots of Gundam and the really iconic old figures. Since the four repackaged figures are identical to their original counterparts (save for the boxes which now contain a small promotional leaflet and feature slightly different images of other figures on the back cover) these four will not be discussed here. Instead we'll dive into figures 19 and 20.

Above you can see the component sets for the two new figures. They come with the same old chewing gums as the original figures but also feature a small four page leaflet which shows the figures released so far in the Converge line.

19 : The first of the two unique figures is the RX-178 Gundam Mk-II (A.E.U.G), flying the white colour of the Anti Earth Union Group. This is a colour variation of figure 15 which was painted blue in the Titans colour scheme. The equipment of the two is the same (although the Titans figure also has a secret variant which comes armed with a bazooka).

20 : The other unique figure is the MSM-07 Z'Gok in a blue repaint of Char's red version which originally appeared in Converge volume 3 as figure number 18 (I think this must be the first time a regular army builder unit is more rare than a custom Char machine). Again you need to assemble its claws which can be something of a pain if you don't have suitable tools to smoothen the pieces after you take them off the plastic runner

Looking at the bigger picture, the RX-178 mark two Gundam has now been released three times (four if you count the secret version of figure fifteen) in slightly different configurations. As you can see above, the bulkier A.E.U.G. version which appeared in Converge volume 7 (released May 2012) now also features the hyper bazooka and omits the bendable wrap-around headpiece. The later version was also remolded to make it combine with figure 41, the G-Defenser flyer.

As for Z'Goks, well there is a whole lot of them by now. Apart from the experimental MSM-07E Z'Gok (figure 60 from Converge volume 10) there have been four colour variations of the standard MSM-07 figure. Char's figure appeared as mentioned previously in volume 3, then came the 7-11 repaint and two years later the recently released olive coloured Zeon Remnants version (figure 73, Converge volume 12). Char's red version was also reissued in the Operation Jaburo multipack (released December 2012) which updates its look with a metal-style paint job. Colour apart, the Z'Goks are identical in all other aspects.

Whether you wish hunt down these two 7-11 exclusives is up to you of course, but beware that they are hard to find and when they do pop up are often priced prohibitvely expensive. The best bet is is probably trying to find them in a Japanese second hand shop, which is not exactly an easy thing for all of us who live in the rest of the world.