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.
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| 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.
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