Gundam Converge : SP Qubeley

Alright, this will be a quick review of one of the latest special packages for the Gundam Converge line. The reason for this is that the recent SP04 pack which was reviewed just a short few scrolls down on this blog featured the grand-daddy white Qubeley which is the base for these repainted figures in this set, and there really isn't that much to say about these without going back into repetition.

Anyway, some saga first. The Qubeley is at home in the Gundam ZZ series, and the two Mk-II:s featured in this pack are refined versions of it, piloted by ace pilots Elpeo Ple and Ple Two respectively. The third figure in this set is the beefed up AMX-004G mass-production variant. It now feels pretty safe to say that we have maxed out our Qubeley army for the Converge line.

The Qubeley pack comes in the typical box type in use with all the previous Converge SP sets. The figures come separated in half a dozen plastic bags and of course features the iconic bubble gum as well.

The two Mk-II figures are simple repaints of the original white Qubeley figure from SP04. The repaints replace the plain white with nice glossy colours in red and blue/purple. The third figure comes in a base grey colour scheme and features several redesigned parts which makes it the most interesting figure of the lot.

As you can see in the above picture, the red and blue Mk-II:s feature the exact same properties as the original white figure. The arms rotate at the shoulder and the hands in their sockets. The helmets are fixed forward but the eyes can be repositioned slightly within to give an impression of the Qubeley looking to either side. The articulation doesn't differ from the grey mass production type which shares the same articulation properties.

As for the redesign of the AMX-004G Mass Production type, you can see the differing head shape, hands and larger skirt funnel in these side by side comparisons. There is just something about the mass production type which gives it a mosquito type of face, but I like its more menacing look as compared to the standard Qubeley which looks a bit silly.

There are a couple of glitches shared with the original white figure. Basically the skirt funnel has a tendency to fall off if you touch it. The shoulder binder constructs are also a bit loose, if you touch them they will often reposition themselves. So, in spite of these figures being very massive and sturdy they need to held in a proper way to avoid frustration. Another thing I noticed is that the glossy paint jobs on the blue and the red figures made their arm-, hand- and binder sockets slightly cramped and requiring a bit more force to plug together as compared to the original white figure. And although you can fiddle around a bit with recombining parts of different Qubeleys into something new, the grey mass production figure surprisingly doesn't have the same size of its shoulder and wrist pegs, meaning it will be difficult to kit for example the Mk-II with the closed fists of the AMX-004G.

Qubeley family: The white AMX-004 Qubeley from Converge SP04, with the blue and red AMX-004 Mk-IIs and grey AMX-004G Mass Production type from the SP Qubeley pack.

All in all, there is not much more to say about this set, it is three similar looking figures without any optional equipment or weapons, and without any designated enemy to duel. I thought it was a pretty low mark for the Gundam Converge SP series and hope they will come up with something more sharp in the future. Unless you have a fetish about the Qubeley this package is for serious collectors only.