Gundam Converge EX 20 : NZ-000 Queen Mansa

In the recent Senshi Forte Psyco Gundam review we discussed the "coincidence" of the Psyco Gundam popping up in both the Gundam Converge and Senshi Forte timelines merely a month apart from each other. And both of them also had an ancestor in the Assault Kingdom two years earlier. With the Queen Mansa, Bandai are once again repeating this pattern.

The Gundam Converge Queen Mansa is a retail figure and released on Janaury 29 at a suggested price of ¥3300. It is followed by the Gashapon Senshi Forte Queen Mansa which released on February 24 as a Premium Bandai item costing ¥3500. And again we saw the Queen Mansa as a gigantic Assault Kingdom figure two years earlier. Bandai appear to be trying to squeeze as much money out of these designs as possible.

Inside the box we find about a dozen or so parts, some of which also break down into more components.

Notice how we are not getting any action base or support that clips around the ankles. This is normally par for the course even when the figures have no trouble standing upright by their own accord, this may have been something as simple as a cost cutting maneuver but at least it is not needed here.

The Converge Queen Mansa is a really chunky design with several nice colour applications, often in places where they might not be immediately apparent. There is something very Kshatriya about this design but I think the Queen Mansa is a much better looking machine.

I had to widen the hole inside the right shoulder with a knife to be able to attach the arm. This is not something we are used to in Converge.

Most of the figure is molded in the same hard plastic type as we saw on the Neo Zeong and the Shamblo, which makes for crisp detail and avoids bent antennae and the like but you definitely do not want to drop this thing on the floor.

The one and only gimmick for the Queen Mansa is its two optional beam sabers. The hilts are held in place on the underside of each wing binder when not in use. To equip either beam saber you attach the nice translucent blade and then remove the top of the hilt to allow the optional hand to hold on to it. This is a firm and secure grip, I was almost afraid that the paint would come off the handle.

Due to the limited articulation of the Queen Mansa you don't really want to move the arms around too much, as it will make the wing binders swing with them. The hands also cannot swivel in their wrist sockets so the beam sabers will be pointing straight forward which I think personally looks a bit silly when using both.

The Queen Mansa figure stands approximately 10,5 centimeters tall which is roughly similar to other recent EX figures such as the Psyco Gundam and the Devil Gundam. This is a size that I think works well for extra large figures - imposing and chunky but without causing too much of a storage problem.

Conclusion

All in all the Queen Mansa is a solid entry into the Converge EX series and it fits in nicely with the other figures. While perhaps not an essential purchase due to its high price I still think it is one of the better EX figures out there.

SD Gashapon Senshi Forte EX 02 : MRX-009 Psyco Gundam

In November last year we reviewed the Gundam Converge Psyco Gundam here on the blog so it comes as little surprise to me that we now see (yet) another incarnation of this black mobile suit in Gashapon format. And it is only two years ago since a gigantic one appeared in the Assault Kingdom assortment too.

Although I don't know just exactly how much information swapping is going on between the different development teams (this is something I am really curious to know) my best guess would be that they start out with similar blueprints. Otherwise we would have a much more widespread plethora of mobile suits in the different figure series rather than the same ol' suits popping up again and again.

The Gashapon Senshi Forte variation of the Psyco Gundam is a short and stubby figure which mainly resembles an upscaled standard Senshi Forte figure. The parts count and part types are quite similar to the average Senshi Forte figure, even including the same skeletal structure.

The figure was released in October 2017 (just a month after the Converge counterpart) as a Bandai exclusive and comes with a Premium Bandai price of ¥2500 (the Converge figure had a suggested retail price of ¥2800). Since the mobile suit can transform between mobile suit and mobile armor modes I decided to pick up two copies of this figure to be able to display it in both. I purchased mine from Mandarake where I also had to pay ¥2500 for each one of them.

Mobile Suit Mode

This is the main mode of the figure and you can clearly see its Gashapon Senshi Forte kinship here. Basically it is an upsized SF figure retaining the very same proportions.

The articulation also remains exactly the same as for a regular SF figure. The head and feet sit on ball joints, the shoulders on double ball joints and the arms on bending swivels. The waist and skirts can twist independently of each other as well although the stumpy character design makes articulation a bit limited overall.

The Psyco Gundam comes with no real accessories. Apart from the parts needed to swap it into MA mode and a DODAI Kai atmospheric craft for other mobile suits to use the only other extra is a pair of optional hands.

I moaned about it in the Converge Psyco Gundam review and I will moan about it again here, why no effect parts for the hand or chest beam cannons? It is a nice figure but not EX grade as far as I am concerned.

"Now what!?"

The size and dimensions of the Psyco Gundam feels just right when paired up with the smaller Senshi Forte figures, they go together very well.

Here the Senshi Forte Psyco Gundam poses with its Gundam Converge counterpart. As you can see the two figures don't really have that much in common, as the art direction has taken different routes both regarding colours and sculpting choices. Still, the black and red colours appear to be nearly the same.

Mobile Armor Mode

In its infamous flying tank mode, the Psyco Gundam retracts its head, arms and legs and grows a pair of stubby wings for no particular reason. Clearly this suit has mastered the concept of anti-gravity...

The actual parts conversion involves removing the hands, heads and legs and then replacing the head and leg pieces. Slap on the stumpy wings and you are done:

Interestingly the Psyco Gundam features the same action base peg hole on its groin as the smaller Senshi Forte figures but no stand or action base is included with this figure. This is simply pathetic since a mobile armor is supposed to be flying around. You can try using a stand that comes with a regular Senshi Forte figure but as you can see it is too short for the mobile armor to even lift above the ground.

Attempting to fly using a borrowed stand from a regular Senshi Forte figure is no success...

Again we have to make a comparison with the Gundam Converge mobile armor mode of the Psyco Gundam. See that nice transparent base? It is pretty unforgivable not putting something similar in the Senshi Forte box.

The art direction and sculpting choices actually differ a bit between the Converge and Senshi Forte figures. Especially noteworthy is the very different head types.

DODAI Kai

The box also includes one extra cool accessory from the Zeta Gundam show, the DODAI Kai. This is another of those mysterious craft that defies gravity but with the Psyco Gundam mobile armor zipping around you, I kind of wonder why the other mobile suits need flying help...

The DODAI Kai comes fully assembled and painted and is ready to go out of the box. It also features the Senshi Forte standard peg hole to allow for it to utilize the standard action bases that come with all common SF figures but it is still lazy of Bandai not to include a base in this box. They good for example have made a multi-part base that would have allowed us to tilt the aspect of the flying DODAI Kai, this was standard in the SD Gundam Warrior NEXT and DASH figure series for years.

The DODAI Kai is a neat accessory for the Psyco Gundam as it allows your SF figures to come face to face with it. I wish there were more of these kinds of accessories readily available as stand alone figures so you could use them for army building purposes.

Conclusion

All in all the Senshi Forte Psyco Gundam has a few shortcomings but it is a really solid Senshi Forte design. if you love the other figures in this series this feels like a no-brainer to add to your collection. While it is a bit pricey it is still not crazy expensive as say the Mobile Suit Ensemble figures although availability will likely become a problem over time.

SD Gundam Impact 02

Today we are going to take a quick look at a novelty for the blog; a set of tiny Gashapon figures from the SD Gundam Impact range. Impact was a very short lived series, producing only five sets of a total of 36 figures released between October 2008 and April 2009. SD Gundam Impact volume 2 was released in November of 2008 and the figures originally sold for ¥100 which was then par for the course for the earlier SD Gundam Full Color and Full Color Custom series.


The set is comprised of seven different figures from wildly different timelines. It is worth pointing out that there is not a single Universal Century mobile suit in this set.


The Impact figures are some of the smallest Gundam Gashapon figures and come in tiny little plastic bags held in random capsules. I purchased a complete set from a vendor in Bangkok's Chinatown paying 500 baht for the lot.


All the SD Impact figures feature a few components only, and in cases where the arms or other parts come off, they normally sit on shaped pegs leaving the figures with pretty much zero articulation.



08 : XXXG-01W Wing Gundam


First out is the Wing Gundam as seen in the original television show. This figure is a good example of what the Impact series is all about. Notice how the figure has a somewhat decent colour application on its chest, face and weapons but that nearly everything else is left unpainted white. Next, notice also how the figure is actually hovering above the ground as exhaust spew out of its backpack and forming a base for the figure to stand upon. The closer you look the more detail you will find in the sculpt but the figure is still pretty uninspiring as is.



09 : OZ-00MS Tallgeese


The rival Tallgeese mobile suit also comes off as very white although in its case it is more closer to the actual design. The tiny proportions make it somewhat comical the way the beam saber is dangerously close to cutting the dober gun in half. Again a dynamic flying pose but also pretty hard to work up much interest in the figure.



10 : ZGMF-X19A Infinite Justice Gundam


The Infinite Justice is one of the more interesting figures in this lot thanks to its striking colour scheme. Here the effect part (that also doubles as an action base) stands out clearly against the base red of the figure which improves the look a bit and the pose is also quite good. I get the feeling these figures could look really awesome with detailed paint applications.



11 : Musha Gundam Mk-II


It took me quite some time to identify this figure, which is featured in one of the many SD Gundam computer and console games; SD Warring States Legend: Group of the Seven Warriors Chapter. The design is loosely based on the RX-178 Gundam Mk-II from the Zeta Gundam show. This figure does not have a dynamic pose but just look at all the detail on its backpack. The basic blue and gold colour scheme isn't that bad but I'd really like to see this figure fully painted.


I don't know much about Musha Gundam evolution but above are a couple of related designs; the original Musha Gundam in Gundam Converge size (EX 05, released May 2015), Musha Gundam Mk-II from Senshi Forte volume 01 (January 2017) and the SD Impact Musha II.



13 : GN-007 Arios Gundam


The Arios Gundam is the follow up to the equally orange-coloured Kyrios from Mobile Suit Gundam 00. This figure looks very basic and suffers from a complete lack of colour on its back, which looks really odd. Certainly one of the less three dimensional and uninteresting figures of this set. A shame since the Arios Gundam is very rarely seen as a figure.



12 : GN-008 Seravee Gundam


The Arios is followed by another Celestial Being design, the Seravee which is for all intents and purposes as souped up Gundam Virtue. It features an unusually detailed backside for an Impact figure but the figure is pretty uninspiring overall anyway.



14 : Knight Gundam


The last figure in the set; the Knight Gundam features an action pose without the use of effect parts. This is I think the best way to do the static Impact figures - the effect part bases merely seem to clog up the overall look. The Knight Gundam has many nice sculpt details and a nicely flowing cape. Easily one of the more interesting figures in the set.


Above you can see the SD Impact Gundam next to some more modern designs which clearly illustrate the ongoing scale and power creep in the Gashapon toys (that goes for Shokugan too I might add). Left to right: Knight Gundam from SD Impact 02 together with a Knight Unicorn Gundam (SD Gundam Warrior NEXT 19, April 2014), another Knight Gundam (Senshi Forte 04, September 2017) and the Knight Gundam from Converge EX06 (May 2015).

All in all, the SD Impact figures aren't a lot to write home about, but they are not entirely without charm. With so many more interesting figures out there though, it is no surprise that Bandai turned their back on Impact after only six months. These are novelty items for completist collectors only, although you can sometimes see them pop up among regular SD Gundam Full Color figures in second hand lots.