Gundam Converge Movie Visual Selection

Aaahh.. Summer, that special season of pushing out beach-themed alt art cards or naughty bikini-skins for your Gacha-game characters - complete with social media controversy and drama. For its part, Converge treads a different path; the path of rehashing. Maybe some of the development team is on holiday and you just want a reasonably simple launch without too much hassle. That green UC Selection was pretty cool for example, should we do something like that again? Or how about a trip to Jaburo? Oh wait... we did that last year? Well, don't sweat it, I have an idea...


I imagine it went something like this:

"How about we make a set of figures with slightly different colours?"
-You mean Real Types? Didn't we just do that recently?
"No, no, no, this is completely different... this is the perfect movie tie-in!
-You are talking about Operation Jaburo again, aren't you? We did that last year...
"My man, check this out... I lowered the brightness a bit and slightly altered the hue...
-You've just painted the Gundam blue.
"I give you the MOVIE POSTER VISUAL SELECTION!"
-This is it? I don't know man...
"We should be able to crank these suckers out in three weeks!
-Hmm... Whatever, you've sold me. Let's get to work.

Is this the most uninspired set of Converge figures to ever be released? What's for next year; the Converge Backlight Selection featuring black silhouettes of famous scenes of Gundams standing in front explosions?


Whatever you might think of it, the Visual Selection set blasted its way onto the retail shelves in September 2024. The set sports seven different figures that come in standard size boxes so you don't have to buy the whole thing if there is just one or two figures that interest you. I imagine there must be lots of leftover Goggs clogging the shelves in Japan.


All the figures in this set are Converge #Sharp veterans returning with a slight twist to their colour palette. There may be some minor alterations in packaging or sculpts that I am not immediately aware of but for all intents and purposes we are simply recycling figures here. I do think the selection is quite interesting, there is a good number of mass-production suits here but I find it a bit odd that both the Zaku II and Z'Gok are red. I think a green Zaku II would have lightened up the palette a bit. We really could have used a GM too.



RX-78-2 Gundam (Movie I ver.)


The set is lead by a Real Type Colour Gundam with a slight modification to its colour scheme. The palette is toned down even for a real type and the white sections are slightly yellow instead.


The figure has the usual loadout of a beam rifle or bazooka to choose from. Only the right hand is able to hold on to a weapon. To equip the bazooka you first remove the handlebar, insert it into the hand from below and then reattach the rest of the weapon.


The bazooka when not equipped attaches to a slot on the back skirt. You also have a peg hole in the centre of the backpack which allows you to store the shield there when not in use.


There is a surprising amount of Real Type Gundams in Converge by now. The front row shows the two first generation figures, the first one from the original 2012 Operation Jaburo box set, and then the Art of Gundam exhibit special olive-colour version from 2014. The latter figure also has a couple of extra markings, a portent of things to come in the CORE line. The back row shows the #Sharp-era Real Types; the leftmost figure is kind of an update on the Art of Gundam theme and hails from the CORE Real Type 5-pack from late 2019, the middle figure is the updated Operation Jaburo figure with camouflage base from 2023 and on the right we have the new figure.






MS-06S Zaku II (Char's Custom) (Movie I ver.)


Next up is Char's Zaku II in a darkened brownish red shade. The figure is based on the Converge #09 resculpt of the Zaku II from 2018 which is slightly smaller than your average Converge figure which is a tad bit annoying.


This figure also has two weapon options; you get to choose between a Zaku Machine Gun or a Zaku Bazooka. There are some later #Sharp Zaku II figures with additional weapon options but at least we don't get the tiny bazooka that cropped up later with High Mobility units and the Shin Matsunaga box set.


In the old days, Char's Zaku II was a really hard to find figure but there are quite a lot of options by now. The top row shows Commander Types from the #Sharp-era and the bottom row various variants of the original sculpt which is slightly taller and in my opinion more menacing looking.






MS-09 Dom (Movie II ver.)


The Dom is up next and rather than being a darker version of itself this one is leaning into the red theme of this set and borders on pink. Even the handle of the heat sword is painted in this pinkish colour.


We have no weapon options for the Dom and the right hand is attached directly to the giant bazooka, but at least the colour separation is good. There were later versions of the Dom that could also equip the Heat Sword but here you are limited to sticking it on the back or not. The peg is shaped and attaches to the figure at a predetermined fixed angle.


We have eight versions of the MS-09 Dom in Converge by now, not counting Rick Dom variants which would increase the number further. Pinky here from the Visual Selection is posing together with the three multi-weapon Black Tri-Star customs from CORE 026, jealously noticing their improved design. The front row has the original sculpt from Converge Volume 5 (November 2011) and its brighter Operation Jaburo variant from 2012, followed by the first #Sharp-era MS-09 (Volume #13, released December 2018) and the re-colour from the 2019 CORE Real Type box set.






MSM-07S Z'Gok (Char's Custom) (Movie II ver.)


The Jaburo feeling is very strong with this set, and the Z'Gok is perhaps the biggest instigator. Figure-wise this is the least novel of the Visual Selection re-colourings, it is very similar to the previous released. The easiest way to tell it apart from the other Z'Gok figures is that the chest-mounted cockpit hatch is not painted white.


The #Sharp Z'Gok has a funky transparent window-section in front of its mono-eye which takes some getting used to but at least it did away with the individual claws that you had to cut from a sprue and attach to the arms one by one, claws that will fall out very soon and disappear in a rug unless you glue them in place.


Real quick, can you spot the Visual Selection figure here? The difference between the three top-row figures really isn't very pronounced at all. Here we have the Visual Selection figure on the left, followed by the 2023 Jaburo-colour version with camouflage base in the middle and on the right the standard retail figure from Converge #15 (released in May 2019). The front row shows the original sculpt as seen in the Converge Volume 3 (June 2011) and in Operation Jaburo box set-colours from December 2012.






MSM-03 Gogg (Movie II ver.)


I was really surprised to see the Gogg making an appearance in a set like this but hey, it is clearly visible on the Soldier of Sorrow poster up there, in glorious brown colour. I kind of like this colour swap but I was less happy with the imperfect joints for the arms that do not necessarily want to attach to the shoulders or rotate as freely as they should.


We have no gear options for the Gogg of course but the arms feature articulation both at the shoulder and arm, giving you an unusual amount of posing options. As always, be careful when handling stiff joints or you risk twisting the pegs rather than forcing them out.


It is not hard to tell which figure is the new one in this lot. Here it poses with two yellow-brown cousins from the original and #Sharp-era Converge retail series, released in Converge Volume 7 (May 2012) and Converge #16 (August 2019) respectively.






MS-07B Gouf (Movie II ver.)


The #Converge #Sharp-version of the Gouf is a real treat, offering several weapon options and a great menacing sculpt. The Movie Poster version is simply a darker blue version of the original figure with yellow highlights turned orange.


Look at that range of accessories! You can choose between the heat rod or the heat sword for the right hand, and the left hand can be replaced with the five-finger machine gun-variant. Be careful not to lose the antenna, I'd consider gluing it in place.


At the back we have the original retail Gouf from Converge #12 (October 2018), the awesome green and yellow Real Type-version from the CORE Real Type-II box set (February 2023) and the new Visual Selection figure. The front row shows the old school Gouf all the way back from Converge Volume 2 with figure number 12 (released January 2011) and its darker Operation Jaburo variant from the 2012 box-set.






RX-78-2 Gundam (Movie II Poster Colour ver.)


In the last slot we have the most controversial figure of the lot. Someone in the Bandai development department had a wild idea and then they just decided to run with it. "Hey guys, did you ever notice that the Gundam is kind of blue there in the background on that movie poster? Why don't we make a blue metallic single colour figure and theme a set around it?". I have a feeling opinions on this thing might be pretty varied but hey, at least it is a really unique thing. For the moment... :)


The components and features of this figure are exactly the same as the real type-colour variant figure that opened up this set, so you can always mix and match components to come up with some design of your own. Overall, this sculpt is the first #Sharp-era version of the RX-78 an while it has some wonky proportions it is a really solid design with some neat equipment customization choices. Much better than the dual-wielding RX-78 that followed in Converge #22, a figure that looks fantastic but that can rarely stand up even when pegged to its base.


Rather than digging out every variant of the RX-78 I decided to showcase blue here together with two other themes for the #Sharp-era RX-78. Basically you can opt for classic white (exemplified here by the first retail design from Converge #08, released in October 2017) and the real Type-colour version from 2019 we saw before. We still don't have a G-3 colour version of this figure and I wouldn't mind if Bandai decided to produce one.






Conclusion

So what is the verdict of the oddball Movie Visual Selection set? Well, the premise is kind of ludicrous, you probably have most of these figures in your collection already and so you can safely give it a pass. On the other hand this is a good opportunity for more recent collectors to find versions of some really classic Mobile Suit Gundam suits and I always enjoy hitting the basic retail line and not having to pay through the nose for Premium Bandai-offerings.

Gundam Converge #25

For a blog that started out dedicated to Gundam Converge we sure don't see these guys around these parts as often as I would like. In part this is due to the branching out to cover all sorts of Gashapon and Shokugan ranges, but also because the Converge experience of 2024 is very different from how it used to be. While there are still a fair amount of releases in a single year, the frequency of reissues (especially as price-hiked Converge Redefinition exclusives) is quite high. Another reason is the difficulty in actually obtaining the figures that do come out. Case in point here, volume #25.


This set released back in May 2024 and it was only last week that I finally managed to complete the set after Quess had been playing hide and seek with me for the longest time. I picked up four of the figures almost immediately upon release but the Strike Freedom (naturally) was giving me a lot of pain, always selling out within minutes of me spotting one. When I had finally secured one it the red Jagd Doga was nowhere to be seen, dancing around with a big [Sold Out] tag underneath its product photo. Well, they are finally here and good to go for review!


There has been a recent trend of sticking Converge figures in two separate plastic bags but this time around everyone except the Strike Freedom figure can manage with just one bag.



291 : ZGMF/A-262B Strike Freedom Gundam Type II


I haven't even watched SEED Freedom yet and already I am starting to be a bit sick of seeing its winged suits. Converge continues to milk the main trio with the Strike Type II following the Rising Freedom and the Immortal Justice. I am curious how the three will interact in the show, it seems logical that this would be the last legs and final form of the continuously upgrade Freedom Gundam before being traded in for a new Rising Freedom but you never know, the Strike Freedom came into Destiny and eclipsed the Destiny Gundam after all. :)

So, what to say about the figure then? Well, it sure looks like the Strike Freedom. I guess there are some subtle changes that I should pick up on but without a direct comparison I am at a loss. What I do notice however is that leaning head to the left. The grey neck piece it attaches to does not fit properly into its socket. I tried removing it to examine this further but it simply won't budge. I am not sure if it is glued in place or not and didn't want to tear it at it risking damage during the review process but I might come back to revisit it later.


There are a couple of surprises in this box. Besides my initial surprise of seeing those tiny wings I did not expect the figure to come with optional hands and fully painted bream rifles. Look at those two stunners! A lot of the budget on #Sharp 25 was spent on this figure.


Here we have the figure again with guns deployed. Despite all of its splendour and sprawling colours the figure still looks a bit underwhelming, I guess it is those tiny wings that does it. Well, don't worry, Bandai has the solution in store for us.


Gundam Converge freedom Gundam Evolution from left to right: The OG X10A Freedom from 8 (released October 2012), the benchmark X20A Strike Freedom from #Sharp 04 (released October 2016) and the new Type II from #Sharp 25. Notice how the new figure has grown taller by a fair bit, I wish Converge would stick to a scale and be done with it.


And here we have the SEED Freedom trio from Converge #24 and #25 respectively. Notice how the Strike Type II dwarves the other two figures, presumably because the other figures have much larger wings that need to fit in the box. This really irks me, according to the monster manu... the Gundam Fact Files the difference in size should be negligible. i get flashback to the recent Mobile Suit Ensemble Impulse Gundam figure which had markedly different proportions compared to the Ensemble standard.






292 : MDE262S Proud Defender


Well, the reason the Freedom can afford to skimp a bit on its wings is because it is getting a separate box dedicated to them. Technically this is a craft of its own, but with about as much reason to exist as a backpack to a figure. Think of it kind of like the FXA-05D G-Defenser for the Mark II or the 0 Raiser for the 00 or one of those Striker Pack Skygraspers from SEED. Hurry up and bring me my gear already! (I might be completely wrong here but I would be very surprised if the Proud Defender has a bigger role to play). As a figure, there is not a whole lot to say, you can prop it up there on its little stand and tilt the wings around two axis. One of the two joints on my figure was nearly broken out of the box, be careful as the plastic is really thin around there.


As you can see, there is not a whole lot going here. The Proud Defender brings one additional weapon option for the Strike Type II, a giant Katana named "Futsunomitama" because of course you can't have a Samurai in space without a sword. I already managed to spoil a few things form myself when looking up its name in the Gundam wiki so I will refrain from adding more information here... meh. The sword clips into a tight holder on the right side of the armour's dorsal spine.






291+292 : ZGMF/A-262PD-P Mighty Strike Freedom Gundam


The main gimmick of #Sharp 25 is of course how the Strike Freedom Type II and Proud Defender figures combine. Now I have absolutely no reason to whinge about tiny wings as this suit is going all the extra mile. Wow, look at that thing, colour me impressed! It is no coincidence that the Converge Strike Freedom figure is priced around ¥2200 on the secondary market when the other figures in the set go for around ¥800-¥1000. I have myself toyed with the idea of getting a second pair of figures but for now have decided to make do with just the Mighty Strike combination.


Oh... my... days. This thing is on fire! Each wing consists of three main sections, the golden middle section swing out about half and the front section all the way up. You can also tilt the wings in two dimensions using the (fragile) joints at the back. The wings can be swept backwards and can be tilted upwards from the pose seen here. Notice the Type II now wielding the Katana as well.


Let's do a little Converge Freedom wing comparison; the Freedom Gundam from SP 07 (August 2016), the retail X20 Strike Freedom from #Sharp 04 and the Mighty Strike. There are a couple of additional versions out there and let's not forget that the retail Strike Freedom can put on a pair of massive Wings of Light, but I still think this is an interesting comparison.






293 : XXXG-01W Wing Gundam (TV Series ver.)


Bandai's strategy for the After Colony-Era Gundam figures seems to be to sneak one in here and there and they rarely venture outside of this comfort zone. I almost couldn't believe my eyes when the Vayeate and Mercurius popped up but it seems to be impossible to get any of the mass-production types to graze Converge. I sighed when I saw yet another Wing Gundam enter the fray, but I guess they actually found a variant they hadn't upgraded to #Sharp standard yet. I don't have a whole lot to say about this figure, it looks somewhat basic compared to the sprawling figures seen in this set, it is crazy to think that the Wing Gundam would be one of the least remarkable releases in a set but here we are.


I guess part of the Wing's fail to stand out is those small wings folded up really neat at the back. Granted, it is is not easy to follow up the Mighty Gundam wingspan but this almost feels like a pre-sharp era figure. I have to give high marks for the smooth paint job on the shield though, that is a fine thin red line indeed. One way to increase its appeal would be to add some more colours to its Buster Rifle, which should sing in violet and yellow. They just proved their ability to pull it off on the Strike Freedom figure above.


The television-series Wing first appeared in Converge volume 15 (released June 2014, just after the set with the Jagd Dogas in fact) and return in a "limited color" painted version in a special set called Converge Selection 02, released in December 2017. The variant is the one on the left there with a lighter blue colour and golden paint applications in place of yellow. I don't know... I think all three figures look a bit dull and uninspired if I am being honest.


The completionists out there will be happy to find all four variants of the Wing Gundam in the #Sharp line-up now. Seen here from left to right are the TV Version Wing Zero (Sharp #09, January 2018), TV version Wing (this set, #Sharp 25), the Endless Waltz version Wing Zero (Sharp #11, June 2018) and the EW version Wing (Sharp #06, April 2017). I can understand why we had to wait for this final version for as long as we did, the competition in this pageant is really tough.






294 : MSN-03 Jagd Doga (Gyunei Guss Custom)


While revised sculpt figures generally do not interest me that much there are some old Converge figures that definitely needed an upgrade and the Jagd Dogas were definitely among them. The #Sharp reissues are complete overhauls sporting an upgraded size, superb sculpt proportions and improved paint applications. I do think that the antenna on Guss' machine is a bit tall in comparison to the rest of the figure, a problem that exists with some of my favourite suits also in the old era (Barzam and Asshimar, I'm looking at you). Overall though, a marked improvement.


Each Doga comes with its own signature weapon. Apart from the sixpack of remote-controlled funnel-type weapons split up on each shoulder it also sports the iconic shield and a beam assault rifle. The shield does lack the red colour applications that would take the figure to the next level however, and I am tempted to try and paint them in myself.


The new Jagd Doga is a fairly large Converge figure, not quite reaching the Mobile Suit Ensemble figure in size but it sure is bulkier. The now 10-year old original Converge figure (volume 14, released April 2014) seems almost like a child in comparison. The colours have been swapped around as well; the new figure drops the golden detail for yellow and the turquoise blue is now almost green, a change that seems to have been a bit excessive.






295 : MSN-03 Jagd Doga (Quess Paraya Custom)


It is hard not to like the appearance of these two angry birds, the suits are similar but have very different paint schemes and a couple of cosmetic differences such as the antenna size, Quess' machine almost looks to be wearing a 19th century pickle-head helmet. I like how the funnels remain painted yellow, standing out better against the rest of the suit but the shield is still needing those four red circles to keep me fully happy. Look also at all the exposed metal and wiring on the upper body, a real treat for the eye.


Quess' machine comes with a unique hand-held weapon, a four-barrelled Mega Gatling Gun. The sculpt of this weapon is really crisp to look at.


Both Dogas feature a tiltable mono-eye. You can access it by pulling out the face guard, it sits on a little peg and can be turned left or right. I also had to take out the face plate to be able to insert the antennas properly, the large antenna on Guss' machine protested quite a bit, it appears paint had clogged up the peg hole a bit and I had to widen it before the antenna finally settled in.


Just like with the other figure, the colours used on Quess' Doga in Converge and Ensemble has shifted from release to release, I really like the darker red chosen for the #Sharp version the best. Notice also how the proportions of the hands and arms have been corrected and how the shoulders and legs have been upsized. This is great!






296 : RB-79 Ball (Twin set)


Lately, Converge has been leaving the last slot for vehicles and mobile armours and I'm all for it. In this wave we are getting a revised sculpt of the Ball Type mobile armour with two units sitting on a base with two differently sized arms. The arms are supposed to lean forward but you may as well put them hanging out the other side or mix it up a little. If you get two figures you can create one pair sitting on the short arms and the other on the long, I like this mix- and match opportunity. The new sculpt of the Ball has a smaller "eyes" and arms and a much more distinct cannon, it is pretty impressive how detailed the sculpts are these days. My figures came with slightly bent arms, I guess this will be luck of the draw.


I was thinking that it could have been cool to see two different types of Balls in this box. The closest relative is the Type-C Ball which has a mostly similar body and sports arms with twin sub-arms up front. I would definitely have been willing to look the other way if only the arms had been changed. There are many other cool Ball types in different colours that I wouldn't mind seeing in Converge either.


Side-by-side with a pair of first generation Converge Balls from volume 8 (first released October 2012, reissued in volume 18 in March 2015) and the colour swap RB-79K wannabe also from Revival Selection 18. While the old base has swinging arms and allowed for a bit more flexibility in posing I much prefer the new stand.


There are many Ball Figures in the Gashapon/Shokugan pool, here you can see a couple of select ones including the Strategy of Gundam 1/350 scale figure, a Ball Type K and basic RB-79 from Gashapon Warrior NEXT and an orange Ball Type K from SD Gundam Full Color Stage 43.






Conclusion

There are no two ways about it; I may have had to wait for this set for quite some time but the killer content within made it worth the while. I know I moan and whinge about Converge a fair bit, but let's not forget that it is primarily its retail series that delivers the best bang for your buck. You can build an amazing Converge collection without ever having to seek out those expensive CORE and P-Bandai exclusives. These figures were sold in Japan for around ¥700 á piece, you simply can't go wrong with a price-tag like that. Looking forward to #Sharp 26 which is releasing this November (see you around somewhere next year I guess...).