Gundam Collection DX3 box opening

I recently got my hands on some Gundam Collection boxes and thought it could be an amusing diversion here on the blog. These 1/400 scale soft PVC figures were a hot commodity some 20 years ago but nowadays they are becoming harder to find on the second-hand market, especially if you are looking for the rarer items. Each set features a healthy number of figures and the key gimmick is that many if not most of them are made available in different versions, typically with different unit markings or weapon choices. I still have a couple of gaps in the DX3 line and so maybe I can get lucky and find one of the missing items this way.


Broadly speaking there are three groups of retail Gundam Collection series. The first collection consists of ten waves released between 2002 and 2004. They were followed by the NEO line between 2005 and 2006 which is basically an extension of the original ten. Then there was also the DX line which as the name implies focused on larger and more elaborate designs that couldn't be accomplished on the regular budget.


There are nine DX-sets released in tandem with the original series from 2004 onwards until the last set in 2010. DX3 here was released in November 2005 according to HobbyLink Japan and this distribution-style counter-top box includes nine blind-box figures. With an original retail MSRP of 294 yen the prices haven't really increased that much on the Japanese secondary market (avoid being overcharged on sites like eBay) but supply can be a bit of a hassle. I bought this particular box for ¥4000 which makes it reasonably expensive as far as Gundam Collection boxes go.


Let's take a closer look at the figures in this set. DX3 especially showcases the Endless Waltz versions of the Wing Gundam family but as you can see there are also half a dozen large Universal Century machines included as well as the Devil Gundam from G. Every figure bar Heavyarms and the Tallgeese III has an alternate variant. The set also features a secret figure which in this case is simply a recolouring of the Asshimar pair in the dark livery as seen in Green Divers.


Blind-box purchases such as this one are really nothing different from picking up trading card game booster packs. The boxes in this particular box were all sealed but the larger package is not, so there is always a chance that the contents have been shall we say... curated, by the seller. While the second-hand seller could be operating in good faith the previous owner may have re-seeded boxes with duds etc. In this particular case however it appears the contents were genuinely untouched and the boxes contained inside were sorted alphabetically which is something you see a lot in Bandai boxes like these.

AX3 - BX3 - DX3
FX3 - EX3 - IX3
JX3 - KX3 - MX3

The arrangement in the box looked like in the above diagram, with figure AX3 situated to the left of the backrow and MX3 down in the right corner towards the front and so on. I did find it odd that the EX3 figure appears to have switched places with FX3 but there could well be a packaging reason for this that I am not aware of. Long story short it appears we are getting a genuine experience here.


Before we start let's just take a tour around the sides of the individual blind box itself. The graphic design is very similar to the larger distribution box. Will I manage to find the Sandrock without its cloak, the Perfect Zeong with psycommu hands activated or the Gaplant with a beam saber?




Here we have the three figures that make up the back row of the box. from left to right we have the Wing Zero armed with buster rifles sitting on its odd space-themed clear base which doesn't match the other Gundams in the set. It is followed by the Deathscythe with one of its wings folded and Altron there with its odd Dragon Fang extended. It also carries are very bendy Twin Beam Trident. Notice how the shapes of these bases are intended to be posed in a semi-circle as seen on the box cover.


The middle row consists of the Tallgeese III and the Sandrock with Shawl (damnit!) and the mighty Gaplant without the beam saber (damnit again!). The Gaplant figure can be displayed without the large booster unit but its base is not really suited for it since the figure would sit directly at the edge of one of the sides which looks a bit odd. Unfortunately Bandai never made the Gaplant in regular standing configuration for the 1/400 line but you can find a suitable replacement in the Mini Figure Selection Plus figure line which is very similar in size (actually, I'm not sure that you can actually find that one either because it is also 20 years old at this point...).


On the three front seats we have three of the really heavy figures, their boxes weigh around twice as much as the smaller Endless Waltz figures and so it would be easy to tell the two groups apart if you bought them in store. I am curious if shopkeepers would allow customers to just pick up any box they like back in the day. Anyway, from left to right we find the heavy Xamel artillery unit from Stardust Memory, the Perfect Zeong (very much with its hands still on, damnit!) and the alternative semi-secret version of the Devil Gundam with that huge face instead of legs. That last figure is worth a fair it actually, maybe 1500-2000 yen or so. It is useless to me however as I already have one...

Anyway, so that box-opening was a bit of a fiasco for me. Most of these will be sold on, I might keep the Xamel and the Gaplant but the rest will stay in their bags. The most interesting item here turned out to be the cardboard box itself. Since I won't be opening these particular figures I have included images of the DX3 family from the checklist posted elsewhere on the blog. No new entries added this time, unfortunately. :)

SD Gundam Full Color DX

While the SD Full Color series was busy doing its own thing and churning out multiple waves in 2004 Bandai also managed to crank out a couple of deluxe sets in parallel. The DX moniker is a common denominator among various product ranges and at least as far as Gundam figures are concerned, tends to crop up as a series is starting to wind down a little bit. DX content usually takes things to a whole new level that you simply cannot justify within the established budget of a traditional Gashapon or Shokugan range and so they are released a bit on the side. The Full Color DX retail price was twice as high as for the regular figure, a mighty ¥200 instead of ¥100. It was released sometime in the first half of 2004 I believe and so would put it somewhere around the same era as Stage 46-49.


There are five different figures to collect in this set and while all of them have indeed been released previously as traditional SD Full Color figures these versions have been amped up quite a bit not just in size and each also features an adorable little miniature pilot companion figure.



RX-78-2 Gundam + Amuro Ray


There always has to be an RX-78, doesn't it? Now while this figure might not be the most exciting of the lot it has a lot of features that go together with the G-Fighter figure but hey, at least Bandai have given it a full range of weapons to choose from. Both hands are also holding hands giving you a lot of options to mix things up. You can also take advantage of the peg on the back-skirt for some storage options there.


Have you ever seen a figure with a head-attachment such as this before? The reason this particular Gundam looks so weird in its proportions is because it will come apart in various combinations to synergize with the G-P.A.R.T.S. components from the G-Fighter and it required a couple of unusual engineering options on this front.





G-Fighter + Sayla Mass


The G-Fighter figure looks very traditional as far as these things go and is a decent looking figure in its own right. The colour applications have been applied where they should but Bandai generally does not take shortcuts when it comes to painting up the G-P.A.R.T.S. figures in my experience. Let's take a look at its transformation options below. Notice that you will need components from the RX-78-2 Gundam figure for each of them.





RX-78-2 Gundam + B-Parts


The G-Fighter figure is basically two halves attached onto a base plate with treads. The front section is referred to as the A-Parts section and the rear makes up the B-Parts segment. This awkwardly fused together configuration makes use of the B-Parts of the fighter craft and replaces the legs of the RX-78 to form this classic hideous thing. The clear stand you see on display here is borrowed from another basic SD Full Color figure that happens to include one; no stand is included with this figure. So much for DX I guess.


Bandai released the Gundam-B combo as a separate figure a couple of years earlier in Stage 28. The 2001 figure has its own dedicated flight stand (awkward...) and has a special neck section that allows the figure to see where it is going unlike our DX combination here which just stares down on the ground. The OG figure is clearly the better pick of the two.




G-Bull


Now that we have removed the B-Parts from the G-Fighter figure we will instead slot in the Gundam's main torso into the empty space (and this is why the head sits on two pegs instead of one). The little red part that attaches to the lower end of the torso is an option part that ships with the G-Fighter and that is not used in its standalone configuration. I guess this works but it isn't much to look at really.


A smaller G-Bull was released in January 2002 as part of Full Color Stage 30 and I guess here we can argue that the DX figure looks a bit more interesting. The older figure receives a G-Sky companion in Stage 31 and combines together with it in different ways similar to the DX figure (I covered it briefly in the Stage 31 review here).




G-Armor


Finally, we have the large G-Armor air assault thingy. Again, you combine the Gundam's torso with the G-Fighter but this time you stick it in between the A-section and the B-section. To make the thing look even more impressive you also flip the outer section of the G-Parts thrusters backwards to make it look bigger. It works quite well and would definitely look impressive on your shelf next to the other SD Gundam figures.


Side-by-side with the combination figure of the G-Bull and G-Sky figures from Stage 30 and 31 respectively. While the DX figure is bigger and has more colour to it the sleeker shape of the older figures also has an appeal. Ultimately though, the whole G-P.A.R.T.S. thing has been done to death and the thought of having to fiddle with it in Mobility Joint again just makes me sigh.




MSN-02 Perfect Zeong + Char Aznable


Next up we have a tall and well-sculpted Zeong with moving arms and rotating hands. I really like the look of this figure, the head is not so long as on some of the other figures and the legs has lots of interesting detail and paint applications on them. As a bonus, you can balance one or two pilot figurines in the palms of its hands which makes for some additional display options.


The Perfect Zeong is one of the oldest figures in the SD Full Color series and dates back to Stage 5 from September 1998. The basic SD figures were quite large back then but the DX figure still towers above it. I think it is safe to say that the DX figure outclasses it in every measurable category. Another thing I really like about the DX figure is that its monoeye is centred, Zeon figures tend to look better that way I think.





MAN-08 Elmeth + Lalah Sune


The Elmeth is one of those quirky old designs that doesn't really make a whole lot of sense. Bandai have updated the figure in a bid to make it more interesting with three of the craft's twelve Bit-type remote weapons being launched in a cascade of translucent colour. We have some nice colouring on the craft itself as well and you also get to train the two mega particle cannons up or forward as if they were attached to a stationary artillery piece back on Earth.

Recently, I also saw in one of those fan-published SD guide books that the Lalah Sune figure can fit inside the front section of the Elmeth if you remove the top section of the craft. Not sure if that is someone's afterthought or a dedicated playability option as this feature is not depicted in the actual mini-booklet.


Just like the Zeong, the Elmeth is also a really old sculpt originating in Full Color Stage 4 which released in the summer of 1998. Once again you can see that the DX figure is actually deserving of the name, every aspect of it has been updated and tinkered with to make the end result all the more appealing.





MA-08 Byg Zam + Dozle Zabi


Lastly, we go on to the big guns! The Byg Zam is up and it is so large and heavy that its legs barely supports it. A lot of its decorative colouring is the result of a multi-part design, evident in the parts-shot at the start of the review. It isn't the most imposing or aggressive version of the Byg Zam out there, it looks more like a tired old toad but the colouring and detailing is still great.


The Byg Zam first appeared in Full Color Stage 9 and released in June of 1999. The older figure is sturdy and has nice proportions but of course not as pretty when it comes to the colour applications. The old figure only had the two most forward sections of its eye ports painted black while the DX figure at least gets all the forward sections filled in. The sections on the back of the head are left for you to fill in yourself however.





Crew


The pilot figurines are in my opinion the best aspect of the DX series and so it is a shame that only two sets were made. You can find some more crew figurines if you are lucky (and wealthy) enough to pick up the large White Base and Musai play-sets as well as the Minerva from SEED Destiny which followed later. These are quite rare and go for prices around ¥7000 up to ¥15000.




Conclusion

This introductory DX set is a novelty item in the SD Full Color range and is a rare find these days, although not as bad as DX volume 2. Expect it to cost a couple of thousand yen at most, otherwise you are being scalped. Fortunately, all of the craft in this particular set were released in the main Full Color line and so you only really need to go after these if you are a fan of the pilot figurines. Personally, I would have loved for Bandai to just reissue these little simplistic pilot figures in a huge set of 50 different pilots to chase and collect for sure.