We are rapidly approaching the end of 2018 and with it comes a string of planned or already released figures in Converge, Senshi Forte and Mobile Suit Ensemble. Today however, we will do a stroll down Gashapon memory lane with a closer look at Gashapon Warrior DASH 05, one of the fine sets released in this relative short series of figures.
SD Gashapon Warrior DASH 05 was released in February of 2016 and is already proving to be somewhat elusive on the market. It is especially the three Iron Blooded Orphans mobile suits that are tricky to find, you should still be able to locate the Mobile Workers from Gundam The Origin as well as the odd one out, the SD Superiorlander.
The figures in this set were distributed as random Gashapon capsule toys selling at ¥300 per figure. I have purchased mine as a set as well as a couple of loose extras paying about $3-$4 for each. Unless you are in Japan with boots on the ground your best bet of finding these is probably stumbling on a full set from one of the sellers on eBay.
01 : ASW-G-11 Gundam Gusion Rebake
The Gusion Rebake is a sleek machine from Iron Blooded Orphans with oversized shoulders (which store a pair of folded sub-arms) and a massive rear skirt armour. This armour has a dedicated peg on the mobile suit's back but it can also be attached to the left arm and wielded like a traditional shield.
The mobile suit is armed with two optional weapons which can fit into either hand. A 120mm long range rifle and a large halberd for close combat action.
Overall the figure features a nice colour scheme and attractive facial features although these can be a bit hard to spot under all the oversized head armour. I have never seen this figure sold separately and it is probably the most tricky to track down of the ones in this set.
02 : ASW-G-66 Gundam Kimaris
Going up against the Gusion Rebake is the mighty Kimaris operated by
Gjallarhorn. This super deformed figure also sports a nice colour scheme and some really detailed paint applications on its head.
Unlike the Rebake which mustered three accessories the Kimaris has to do with only a combat lance, the
Gungnir, for protection. If the name of Odin's spear strikes familiar it may be that you remember Z.A.F.T. deploying a massive EMP device with the same name in
Gundam SEED.
While the Gusion Rebake has never been seen again or earlier in Gashapon or Shokugan effort there is a rare incarnation of the Kimaris in the short lived Gashapon series Gundam Frame Operation which was retired after only two sets in 2016.
I also find it a bit strange that neither of these two impressive mobile suit designs have made it to Gundam Converge. FW did start an IBO effort early on in the Converge Reboot but it quickly came to a halt after producing a pair of Barbatos and two variations on the Schwalbe Graze. Hopefully we will see a strong comeback and expansion of this line up either here or in one of the current Gashapon series because there is still a lot to do.
03 : EB-06s Graze Commander Type
As impressive as the previous two figures are, it is still the third Iron Blooded Orphans-design that remains my favourite. Not only because it is a no-nonsense design, but also because it is a mass production type that you can army build. It goes hand in hand of course with the regular olive green ground combat type Graze mobile suit which we were treated to in Gashapon Warrior DASH 04.
The Graze Commander Type figure comes armed with a single 120mm combat rifle which seems a little sparse for an army builder where variation is key. At least Gashapon figures can hold weapons in both hands unlike most of their Gundam Converge counterparts which opens up a couple of possibilities.
The other main gimmick of the Graze (also implemented on the grunt type Graze) is the visor that can open up to reveal its Head Sphere Sensor (or replica of a Zeonic monoeye if you are feeling less generous about is design...).
 |
| Gjallarhorn fields three ship units of one Graze Commander Type and two standard Graze mobile suits at the lowest unit level. |
 |
| The current SD Gashapon line-up of Iron Blooded Orphans designs. A good starting point but there is a lot more that can be done... :) |
04 : MW-01 Mobile Worker Late Type (Mash Custom)
After the three initial IBO designs we return to the Universal Century timeline for an encounter with an early Zeonic mobile suit design from The Origin. The Zeonic Mobile Worker is an amalgamation of mobile suit and forklift.
Just to make modellers happy there are a number of variations of the Mobile Worker design. We have the Early Type, the Late Type and the Final Type. Only the Late Type has been modelled in Gashapon form thus far.
This red painted version of the mobile suit was used by the man who would eventually be known as Lieutenant Junior Grade Mash, member of the Black Tri-Stars ace unit. The paintwork on this figure is a bit disappointing considering that there are many details that have been completely ignored and the lower part of the body is just all-red.
The DASH 05 Mobile Worker figures feature no accessories but come with two gimmicks of their own. The head can be opened up to reposition the monoeye in traditional Zeonic fashion and the claw on the right hand can be opened and closed. If you have two Mobile Worker figures you can also toy with replacing the left arm on one of them with a second claw arm from the other to give it a bit of a twist.
05 : MW-01 Mobile Worker Late Type (Ramba Ral Custom)
Figure five in this set is a simple colour variation of the previous, replacing the red colour with blue. This is of course the signature colour of Zeon ace pilot Ramba Ral, also known as the Blue Giant. I have yet to read up on the Origin but was this really a thing back then? Ral can hardly have been a mobile suit combat ace at this point when mobile suit warfare was yet to be conceived but perhaps there is some nice ret-con in Origin that explains it all...
The DASH 05 figure is indeed a simple colour swap of Mash's red one. The two figures share the same lack of accessories and feature the same gimmicks.
The Late Type Mobile Worker has also been released in Gundam Converge and was actually given the honour of appearing in the very first Converge Reboot set. As you can see the two figures have a very different vibe going about them.
06 : Superiorlander
Bandai has been sticking random SD character figures into Gashapon sets for a while now. This time around we get the Superiorlander (or Superior Lander), which hails from the
SD Gundam Gundlander saga. Where the Musha Gundam is inspired by ancient Japan and the Knight Gundam of Feudal Europe the Gundlanders apparently seek their inspiration from the dark ages. Or something to that effect...
I don't know anything about this figure's back story and can only state the obvious here: It is a mobile suit wielding horns, some kind of sword, an Ox-decorated shield and a cape. Because why not?
It is a pretty spectacular design and Bandai have clearly spent a lot of effort on this figure. I wonder if it would have been a more common name with Gundam collectors if only Fumina-chan would have chosen this over that Winning Gundam design...
 |
| Superiorlander from DASH 05 (February 2016) and DASH Real Type Color Ver. 01 (August 2016). |
The Superiorlander has actually also been released as a "real type" colour variation so the figure can't have fared that bad. Of course it is hard to understand what the "Real Type" moniker actually means for something outside of the Universal Time line but there you go; a figure with shiny metallic colour apps and a more subdued colour scheme. Not bad indeed.
So there you have it folks. Gashapon Warrior DASH 05 features six real dark horse designs with no obvious overused high-profile mobile suits stealing the limelight. Although I am really fond of all the figures in this set this one can clearly be skipped by the more casual collectors out there.
