Bandai Namco Mobile Suit Gundam Narabundesu Zaku

Ever since the end of Gashapon Senshi Forte in 2022 there has been a real vacuum in the Gundam small PVC figure market. Sure, there is still Converge and Ensemble plodding along with a set or two each year among a plethora of expensive re-releases and premium products, but the Gashapon ¥300-500 range is really underserved. The market for Gashapon toys is certainly not dead, the thousands upon thousands of machines I spotted in Osaka alone proved that, but at the same time I'd estimate that less than 1% of the machines catered to the Gundam niche.

We have seen some half-hearted attempts at doing something new in the last couple of years but nothing really seems to stick. Today's item of scrutiny is also a one-off, but should be seen as a bit of light-hearted guest appearance into another established product line.


The Narabundesu product range is a gimmick Gashapon series releasing figures from various different IPs and the pitch is in the name; it literally translates to something like standing in a line. Basically the idea is, you feed the machine enough to get the full set and then display them together in some sort of interesting scene. I have no prior Narabundesu figures and don't expect to see any additional ones, I just mostly picked these up because I was bored of the lull in the small figure market.

Even so, picking these up on the secondary market is not easy. The set released in January and I managed to collect them all over a period of three months. You can see from the above image that most are resold capsule machine toys with the figure in the bottom left corner being a Premium Bandai preorder item from their Gashapon Online service.



MS-06S Zaku II (Char's Custom)


To no one's surprise, the team is lead by Char himself. The figure stands in a fairly relaxed pose with the Zaku Bazooka casually held under arm (in a pose you will never manage to get out of neither Converge or Ensemble...) and his attention is diverted somewhere to the right. The figure is made out of soft PVC and has no articulation. The paintjob is crisp and clean and the sculpting is just what you would expect. You will notice nub marks at the top of the heads of all of these figures, this was perhaps not the best design but overall it is a really minor complaint. This figure has everything I would like out of a Gashapon PVC Gundam figure but for some reason we have to make do with hard plastic mini-kits these days.




MS-06S Zaku II Commander Type


Next in line we have a regular commander taking the hand off the trigger to point something in the distance out. You'd think they have cameras and HUDs for these things but hey, the pose is great and perfect for setting up a little scene for the other figures to congregate around. The nub mark on this figure is probably the worst of the bunch, I may have to do something about it. I also considered painting the mouth filter black which is something I often do on the Ensemble counterparts but for some reason I don't really like tampering with pre-painted PVC figures like that.




MS-06F Zaku II (A)


There are three mass-production units in the fire team, figure "A" here has his Zaku Machine gun in the ready position in anticipation of any trouble. This figure is the most conventional looking of the bunch I suppose. I didn't point it out on the Char figure but the hand colour is separated nicely from the weapon handle. The trigger guard area is now hollow, something you often see on smaller Zaku figures although Converge sometimes surprises you but then the material is usually not PVC either.




MS-06F Zaku II (B)


Team Member "B" is deploying his Zaku Bazooka in a nice dual handed fashion that once again, would make any Converge or Ensemble figure blush with envy. It simply isn't possible for small articulated Gundam figures to hold their weapons in any interesting way which is why I prefer these pre-sculpted static type figures that are only limited by the artist's imagination. Rather than shipping a figure with multiple accessories I much prefer a group of different figures each equipping a different item as seen in this set. I refuse to believe that this would not be a successful set-up for a Gundam figure range. Imagine a group of GM Snipers in different poses with visors up and down for example.




MS-06F Zaku II (C)


Our last team member is kneeling down with his machine gun and you can also sport the leg-mounted missile pods that we usually see on Ground Type Zaku J-variant. The weapon seems a bit cumbersome to use, let's hope he has not fire-linked those two pods because a firing solution right now would cause him to get sooo much sand into the launcher. All of the figures in this set have a hollow section underneath their feet but for this figure the right foot really should have been filled up and had some detail applied into it. Still, this figure shows what is possible when you are working with statue type sculpts rather than fancy but ultimately clumsy articulation like Gashapon Senshi Forte or Mobile Suit Ensemble. I think it is a shame that this format is not popular enough for Bandai to cater to it.




Size Comparison


The Narabundesu Zaku figures are pretty much exactly 5 centimetres tall when standing upright and you can see how they compare to some of the near-scale figures series already released. The recent Capsule Index figures (represented by the SEED Z'Gok on the left there) is the closes match for style and size, even though they come on clear bases so ideally you would want to put your Zakus on something similar if you were to pose them together. The Gashapon NEXT, DASH and Senshi Forte era figures are represented by the Dom here and as you can see not ideally posed together. On the right we have the larger cousins from Gundam Converge and the good old MicroWars line.





Conclusion

All things considered, this little Narabundesu set is a fun distraction that offers some limited play-value but it suffers from not having any playmates. I don't know if Bandai plan for Gundam to revisit the Narabundesu line, perhaps we could see a White Base group at most. There are actually two other sets that I am aware of but they don't look anything like these. One set has a very stylized Future Pavillion Gundam and a couple of Haro variants and the second set is also just a collection of differently coloured Haro balls.

Bandai Mobility Joint Gundam Volume 10

I mentioned it before but I was pretty sure that Mobility Joint would fold after a couple of releases in 2022 and yet here they releasing the twelfth standard figure wave four years later. The Joke is on me I guess. As for volume 12 that is going to take a long time to gather, I am still trying to get a full set of eleven but I did have volume ten ready to go and it looked the most interesting among the sets I have yet to assemble. Volume 10 was released in August last year and so everyone will have moved on from it by now except me. Time to dig in!


I suppose it would have made more sense to begin with volume nine since that is the first of two volumes dedicated to Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam (and a little bit of ZZ too) but hey, I didn't feel like it and the Rick Dias figures in this set are really calling out to me. While the set features eight different boxes you will have to pick up a couple of duplicates if you intend to build the different variations without having to parts swap back and forth which is something I generally do not recommend. I had stocked up with no less than 20 boxes to complete this review and I still feel like I could have used a couple more so maybe this helps explain why I keep dragging my feet to build and review them.


Every time there is a new Mobility Joint series release I face the same question; just how many boxes are you supposed to buy? Somehow I always end up with leftovers no matter how much I study in advance, in part because Bandai loves to spread components through multiple boxes and in part because resellers like to bundle figures as they see fit (which of course is not always the correct method). This time I did reasonably well although I ended up with a couple of EX Parts sets than I really didn't have any use for. Thanks Bandai.





01 : MSZ-010 ZZ Gundam (Core Top)


The intended highlight of this volume is the mighty ZZ Gundam which is so large that it must be split up into two different boxes, featuring the top half and bottom half respectively. While I am not entirely convinced of this necessity I never expect Bandai not to make life troublesome for the collector. This box sports the "Core Top" fighter module of the ZZ Gundam and as you can see it isn't much too look at.

The large beam rifle somehow acts like the cockpit while the various fins on the arms are deployed as stabilizers. There are no rear thrusters at all and the peg which normally links the upper and lower torso parts is sticking out in a very unsightly manner. Since Bandai does not expect you to really want to own a Core Top module they also do not including any type of base for it, you will have to construct something freehand if you would like to display it as such.


The anatomy of the figure becomes easier to spot when viewed from above; you can clearly see where the arms, legs and head are intended to go. You no doubt also notice that it is a bit of a pain to line up all the components symmetrically which is why the figure looks a bit janky but I couldn't really be bothered to try and make a perfect silhouette. Handling the Mobility Joint figures isn't always as simple as you would like it to be.


There are three main runners in the box and a number of loose items scattered about. The sticker sheet is thankfully not as large as I worried and while they do take a bit of concentration to apply it wasn't all that bad. You will have to be very precise with the eyes as they will otherwise not peek through the face mask, and the white wrap-around stickers 3-4 that go on the sleeves were no fun to apply either - you can see bits of blue peeking through here and there.


Even though I scrutinized the instructions in detail - including translating much of the text as well - I still managed to put together a core top with two chest sections. As the parts photo shows both come attached to the torso section right out of the box. The instructions didn't specifically mention removing one and so I initially thought nothing of it until I realized the mistake. Still, I think the Core Top fighter looks much better with an armoured belly and so I am sticking it onto mine even though it is not canon. :)






02 : MSZ-010 ZZ Gundam (Core Base)


On to the Core Bottom then, it is exactly what you think - the legs and backpack of the Double Zeta. To spice things up a bit we also get the Core Fighter which has a long rear peg that attaches into the lower torso section, creating this flying abomination. As with the Core Top there are no provisions for basing of any kind, this unit is balancing on top of some Assault Kingdom action base pieces and it was a pain to get it to sit still while the camera focused.


The top down image reveals that the backpack is attached to the section where the back skirt normally sits, and the legs are actually upside down. Just as with the previous figure you'll have to fiddle around quite a bit to have everything line up symmetrically which as you can see I didn't manage to do that well. You get the idea, and that's fine.


The contents of the Core Base come on four sprues with the feet and backpack thrown in on the side. Are there really so many parts in these two boxes that Bandai wouldn't have managed to stick everything into a single box? Not really is my estimation but hey, the line has to make its revenue. Still, there was absolutely no need to put the Full Armor components in a third box, two boxes should have been well enough for the ZZ-experience in my opinion.

As for stickers, again they are not that many but most of them are of wrap-around type which is always a bit of a pain. The worst ones are for the Core Fighter, especially the red nose and cockpit section which is a pain to centre properly and you can see some white peeking out in the corners again. I used a red marker pen to fill in those gaps.






01+02 : MSZ-010 ZZ Gundam G-Fortress


You can assemble your Core Top and Base into a couple of different formations. The most obvious one is the G-Fortress which is basically the Core Top attached to the slot where the Core Fighter sat before. I have to say that this thing looks really good. I only have two full sets of the ZZ-parts and so I will not be keeping this assembled but I am tempted to buy a third set to be able to keep one in this configuration (with my reinforced underbelly armour of course...).



01+02 : MSZ-010 ZZ Gundam


Alright, on to the main variant then. You have to do a fair bit of parts-swapping to get here, the most painful of which is to remove the legs and reattach them upside down so do the conversion once or preferably never or you will be wearing the joints out. The figure looks alright but a little too compact and busy in my opinion, everything is just crammed in there and the articulation suffers for it.

The large backpack looks great but also makes the figure very back-heavy, extending the arm forward is a necessity for this thing not to fall over. Bandai should have included a clear piece support to prop up the backpack, it is incredible that this was not included. This figure frustrated me to no end.






03 : AMX-004 Qubeley


Zeta Gundam has several of my favourite mobile suit designs but the Qubeley is definitely not one of them. At least it has a bit of personality I guess... The Mobility Joint representation is a fair attempt I think although it needs more colour. While the stickers and colour apps on the torso are ok and there are enough stickers for both the front and back of the shoulder binders the lower torso and legs are all white. The areas that require pink bands are helpfully recessed into the plastic and so a skilled painted could definitely work wonders on this thing. I considered dabbling with some pink paint myself but thankfully I didn't have any on hand and I couldn't be bothered to go out and buy a tube either. Disaster averted I guess.


One of the neat parts of the Qubeley kit is that it has been give unique expressive hands, not just open hands but Qubeley-style hands. I don't recall seeing this feature on any previous Mobility Joint figure but I could be wrong. Again, not too many stickers on this thing but you have to be really careful when applying the tiny little eyes into their sockets.


Another issue with the Qubeley figure is that Bandai provided a pink beam sabre while the "real" thing is yellow. Well, I have plenty of those lying around and here you can see some suggestions. The short transparent weapon with the red handle is from the Converge EX Sinanju I think, the opaque bright yellow stump comes from Gashapon Senshi Forte and the long clear weapon is from the old Assault Kingdom Qubeley. I bought multiples of the latter just to get a couple of additional beam sabers back then. In the end, I think the solid colour accessory from Gashapon Senshi Forte fit Mobility Joint the best and went with that one.






04 : RMS-099 Rick Dias (Quattro Bajeena Custom)


The personal highlight for me in this volume is of course the Rick Dias. Not only do we get two colour choices but even option parts to convert it into a different variant. First things first though, let's look at the basic red figure which is attributed to Quattro Bajeena on the cover but is really also just a late production type. This is exactly the type of figure I like to see from Mobility Joint, it has just the right complexity, a basic colour scheme that looks interesting out of the box and that can be shamelessly bought in bulk. :)

The figure has a low sticker count although a couple of them are fairly large - the red underside of the cockpit and the black shin guards to be specific - I generally don't feel hopeful about these things lasting. Perhaps the day the stickers begin to falter it is time to bin the entire Mobility Joint collection, we shall see in the future.


Assembly of the Rick Dias is very straight forward which is a welcome change from the ZZ Gundam. The main thing lacking in the box is a proper weapon, you will have to take one of the two beam guns from the backpack rack to equip it with something (or buy the EX Parts Set because Bandai hates you). Notice that stickers 5 and 6 are optional choices. The manual helpfully says choose the one you like, but you will want to use the grey chin on the regular Rick Dias and saving the red variant for the Schuzrum Dias so decide the primary configuration before you apply.






05 : RMS-099 Rick Dias (early production type)


The next figure is a simple colour swap of the former. Early production types of the Rick Dias tend to drift between dark blue and black in figure form, the designers never seem to be able to decide on one configuration. For Mobility Joint we get blue which is alright because it adds some life to what would otherwise have been a very dull black figure.


Notice that the sticker sheet for the early production figure is slightly different. Not only is the underside of the cockpit black instead of red but you also only get the single option of a grey sticker to apply to the chin area.






06 : EX Parts for ZZ Gundam


Right, those were the five main mobile suit components of volume ten, the last three boxes are the leftov.... I mean the EX parts sets that will take your figures to the next level. Presumably, at least. First out is the parts set for the ZZ Gundam which will allow you to transform it into the fully armoured type. To be fair, there are quite a number of components in this box so I would argue you get value for money here which is usually not the case with the Mobility Joint EX parts sets.



01+02+06 : FA-010S Full Armor ZZ Gundam


Transforming the ZZ Gundam into the Full Armor counterpart mostly involves clipping additional blue armour plating onto the body although there are some sections where existing parts must also first be removed. The proportions get even more skewed with this armour on, the figure is soon wider than it is tall. The major problem however is that my figure simply cannot stand up. The added weight proved too much for the ankle ball joints, the legs simply bend backward and the figure falls backwards. This is also the reason why you are not getting a photo of its back, it is being propped up by a rather heavy support structure. I find this flaw simply unforgivable.

While individual figures can sometimes behave slightly differently chances are you might have to assemble something of your own to prop up the backpack or maybe glue the balljoints in the feet but who would like to do that for an articulated figure? Bandai, you get a B-Minus for this one as it is not really fit for purpose.


But wait, there's more... We still need to attach that enormous Hyper Mega Cannon. Gee, that is going to work wonders for the figure I'm sure. I was hoping that if I can lean it forward at just the right angle the figure will find the same stability as your average fourth generation fighter jet, balancing on the precipice between falling forwards or backwards. I managed to get the figure to stand upright for a couple of photos but it would soon give out either way. What a colossal disappointment.

If you are familiar with FAZZ figures from other figure series you probably are already familiar with the general pain of getting the hand to line up properly with the cannon handle. In this case it works reasonably well but Bandai didn't even attempt it themselves on the box cover so have fun with that I guess.


All in all I found the Mobility Joint ZZ Gundam experience to be a bit of a disappointment. These figures should have been totems for the other figures to stand around and instead they are pretty much ready for the scrap heap. I'll definitely have to assembly some type of support for them (or toss them in a box and never look back).




07 : EX Parts for Qubeley


Moving on... we have the least impressive box in MJ10 left to open. Ah yes, the Qubeley EX Parts set, what do we get here? A blue ring with ten static funnel weapons. Oh, and there is also a flight stand. It is almost as if Bandai can make supports for the Mobility Joint figures so now they only need to come up with something for the ZZ Gundam as well. Bandai, ow about you toss something into the inevitable FA-010A FAZZ colour variant and I promise to buy some extra boxes for it. Anyway, let's dress up our Qubeley shall we?


Hmm... not too bad I have to admit. I would have preferred transparent support pieces but they would have looked kind of awful anyway so at least the blue colour helps to frame the white figure and make it look more interesting. I wasn't expecting to keep these things attached but hey, I approve and will keep the funnels on. If you were hoping to get a pair of yellow beam sabers in the EX Parts set you are however out of luck I'm afraid.




08 : EX Parts for Rick Dias


The box that really elevates volume ten for me is the little parts set for the Rick Dias crew. Not only does it contain their main weapons but also parts swapping components to convert the mobile suit into the Schuzrum Dias variant, equipped with long range beam weapons in a new set of Gyre Binders.


You get two Clay Bazookas in one box which is really enough to equip two regular Rick Dias figures. You can also opt to store bazookas on the backpack when not in use and they are long enough to also act as supports to prevent the figure from falling over due to the added weight. I don't think the back storage solution is particularly elegant but it is there should you want to use it. The bazookas, of course, are a necessity and one should have been included with each main figure.






RMS-099B Schuzrum Dias


The Schuzrum Dias is mainly intended for the red version of the figure but nothing is stopping you from attaching the gear to the black version if you would like to. In this image I try to outline the differences. In the centre we see the slightly larger rack which the new binders should attach to. On the left side we see the components from the basic Rick Dias that are replaced by option parts from the EX Parts Set.

We have an entirely new back skirt, a commander type headpiece (though I stuck it on all my Schuzrum Dias figures) and feet in a different colour. The set also gives you two of the hoses that attach to the back pack around the sides of the head, the idea being that you could easily switch out one backpack for another.


Here we have the finished result, a decidedly red version compared to the original design. I do think the figure loses a bit of its appeal with the loss of the grey accents but hey, it is not canon (and you could just choose to keep those parts on if you wanted to). Unlike the ZZ Gundam the Rick Dias has a sturdy and bottom-heavy design and so the large binders will not give you any stability issues.


Parts-swapping into alternate configurations has been part of the spirit of the Mobility Joint series ever since its inception and I think that volume ten delivers on this in spades. The figures are however held back a little by not being compatible with any style of action bases and they lose out on many of their posing options as a result. Then again, the articulation tends to be quite limited due to the self-imposed restrictions that come with a deformed appearance. I just wish that I could have got to see the Schuzrum Dias in the old 1/220 STANDart line instead.






Conclusion

To wrap things up then, hmm... where to stand on volume ten? Overall it has a great selection of figures although the ZZ Gundam could have been implemented much better in my opinion. I think that collectors who enjoy painting and kitbashing will find a lot to like here and I would give the set full marks for ambition though not in execution. It would have been nice to do some family photos with the other Zeta-era suits from volume nine but I haven't assembled those yet. There are over twenty boxes sitting and glaring at me and not a single one of them contains a mass-production type mobile suit. Pfff...