Gundam Converge : RX-78-02 Gundam (The Origin IV Advance Screening Promo Item)

One of last year's more elusive Converge figures is perhaps also one of the least interesting ones. Continuing with the movie tie-ins, Bandai again features a special promotional figure for ticket holders of the advance screening of the latest part of The Origin saga anime, which premiered on November 19th. Since it is not a retail item this means you'll need to find someone who is willing to give up theirs.

So far, I have only seen this figure pop up on the second hand market twice myself. First in a Japanese webshop for ¥5000, that one sold out before I could even consider ordering it. Next one appeared on eBay, again from Japan, with an asking price of $25.00 plus shipping, which I grabbed immediately. The box had taken a bit of a beating but otherwise the figure was pristine.

Included with the figure I also got some Gundam The Origin part IV flyers. I would assume they were all part of the same prerelease kit but I don't have any actual facts pointing toward it.

Talking about the figure itself, as you can see we are dealing with a minor conversion of the Origin version RX-78-02 Gundam which we saw as a regular figure in June last year (Converge #03, figure number 132). It has been given some shiny metallic coloring on all its components, and the base is replaced with a custom "The Origin" base.

Yup, just a bog standard RX-78-02 here. Wouldn't it have been cool if they included say a translucent beam saber?

Whether you prefer the regular figure or the promo item will come down to personal preference. While I am not that hyped on metallic coats myself it does make the standard figure look a bit plain in comparison.

And here we have the two main Origin combatants. Char's Zaku II was a similar promo item for the Origin part III movie (review available here).

One weird and somewhat unfortunate thing about the new promo figure is that the peg on the base which is used to snap the figure in place has been move forward when compared to the standard RX-78-02 figure. I don't know why they did this, it makes the figure stand with its toes over the text and leaves a lot of space behind the figure, making it seem unbalance.

Below you can see the two regular Converge The Origin figures next to their metallic promo versions. It is a nice line up but the RX-78-2 fatigue is rather strong with me now.

I would be surprised if the demand for this figure is that high. Apart from frustrated completist collectors I don't really see the appeal here for the more casual Converge lovers. The regular figure is just as good and your money is probably spent better elsewhere. Having said that, if you really want this figure, be prepared to look around and strike quickly once you find it.