Banpresto Ichiban Kuji Figure Collection : Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt - RB-79 Ball

It is time to revisit the Banpresto Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt figure line made for the Ichiban Kuji lottery. I've been picking up some of these figures here and there and today's item is a prize item of class E, which is just above the two F-class items we've looked at previously, the Gattle and the Saberfish. The figures in this set are all a bit compact and deformed not entirely unlike the Converge figures.

The E.F.S.F. Ball type improvised mobile armor stands out from the other figures in this line by coming in a much smaller box. As you can see on the photo below the other Thunderbolt items in this line typically come in quite large boxes since they also contain a huge part of a Space Colony cylinder.

I find it a bit confusing that a figure of class E would be smaller than a class F item not that it really matters. Inside the box you'll find a plastic bag with a couple of compartments similar to a Converge figure. There is also a common assembly instruction which describes assembly of all the figures in this set.

While not containing a section of the Space Colony diorama we instead get a little mascot style item intended for a keychain; what looks like an old transistor radio with a Zeonic emblem on it. There is actually a different version of this box set where the radio mascot is replaced by something that looks like a walkie-talkie, although I have only seen pictures of the thing on the web and not actually for sale somewhere yet.

There's not a whole lot of complexity to this figure, there are only four parts out of which two are the stand. The stand is similar to the ones used by the Gattle and the Saberfish although the stand for the ball is only of half height compared to those. This is a also a somewhat unexpected decision since those stands featured a total of three pieces and I don't see why this figure couldn't have used a similar one.

Anyway, the Thunderbolt version of the Ball looks quite different to the classic style Ball from Mobile Suit Gundam. I don't know the exact reason for this and also haven't seen any of the anime but the Banpresto figure appears to be quite faithful if perhaps a bit heavy on the colour saturation.

The figure doesn't have much in the way of articulation. You can rotate the top-mounted cannon and you can use the figure with or without the stand (it is also compatible with the stands used by the Gattle and Saberfish spacecrafts). There's not a whole lot to say about this figure, it mainly works as a display item.

The Ball figure is actually quite detailed compared to the other two spaceships of this line, containing many more coloured parts and paint applications. Still, the three look great together and I mean to pick up a couple of extras since they aren't particularly expensive although they are somewhat tricky to find.

Unlike the Gattle and the Saberfish I don't think this Ball poses very well with the Converge figures, it is just a bit too large for that purpose. Still, it is a really nice item and as far as I know this is the only figure representation of it.