Gundam Converge EX 22 : MRX-010 Psyco Gundam Mk-II

Released in tandem with Converge #11 is also the latest EX figure, the extra large Psycho Gundam Mk-II. This behemoth is one of many designs that we have seen creeping into Converge from the Mobile Suit ZZ Gundam, a line of figures that had been forgotten for much too long.

The Mark 2 is very similar to the previously released Psycho Gundam. Not only do they have a very similar look and feel about them, but both figures are able to transform into their respective mobile armor modes. To this end I of course insisted on purchasing two figures. Bandai has priced the Mark 2 at ¥2950 but I was able to pick up two of them for only ¥2000 each from Mandarake who had apparently got their hands on a large quantity of them. The price now seems to have stabilized around ¥3000.

The box is absolutely crammed full with parts bags, I doubt I would even be able to get them back inside without making the box bulge out of shape. How do they do this?

On first inspection this seems a very straightforward build but the figure contains quite a bit of intricate engineering features as we shall see.

Mobile Suit Mode

The mobile suit mode is the main mode for this figure and the parts that come in the box have been optimized for simple build. We don't need to do much more than slapping together two pieces of body and attaching legs, arms and a few additional components to complete the figure. The only challenge comes from some of the pegs which do not fit that well into their respective sockets.

When the Mark-II is completed there will be a few leftover parts as seen to the right in the assembly picture above.

The completed Psyco Gundam Mk-II stands about nine and a half centimeters tall, which is roughly the same height as some of the other recent Converge EX figures like the Devil Gundam and the Queen Mansa. It has a very striking colour scheme and several shiny metallic details in silver and gold.

The shiny red eyes are almost hidden underneath the big brow although some of the silver trim can be seen giving it a very menacing look. The articulation has been improved over the first Psyco Gundam figure. Where the original Psyco Gundam figure had square slots for its arms (and so could only have the arms in 90 degree angles) the Mk-II now comes with standard circular slots which opens up for more custom posing. The head can barely turn in between the tight shoulder pauldrons but the hands rotate freely at the wrists (although one of these joints was so tight on my figure that I dared not turn the hand for fear of twisting the plastic).

Standing side by side with the original MRX-009 Psyco Gundam the relation between the two Converge figures can clearly be seen.

Mobile Armor Mode

The Psyco Gundams can parts transform into what is known as fortress mode. While transforming mobile suits in the Mobile Suit Zeta era typically transform into streamlined high speed fighters the Psycos instead turtle up into very blocky flying bunkers with tiny little wings sticking out from the sides for no particular reason.

The conversion from mobile suit to mobile fortress mode is quite complex and the instruction leaflet can be a bit overwhelming at first. You basically have to disassemble the arms and legs, remove some components from the upper torso and replace the hip section, even the shield comes apart to form multi-part wings.

This is no small feat on FusionWorks' part, I think they have done a tremendous job on parts transforming this figure even though I wouldn't want to ever pull the mobile armor mode back into mobile suit mode again. Hence I got two figures...

In its mobile fortress mode the Psyco Gundam comes together very nicely with not too many visible pegs or slots although the hole for the shield on the right arm is a little bit annoying. The clear stand which is included with the figure propels it up from the ground giving that nice floating effect which makes it that much more formidable looking.

Again next to the Mobile Fortress mode of the original Psyco Gundam. The two designs resemble each other very strongly and at the same time look quite different still. I love the tall head of the Mk-II although the beefy shields looked better on the Mk-I.

If you were a fan of the original Psyco Gundam figure you will no doubt already have grabbed or put this figure on your purchasing list. I think this is one of the more interesting looking EX figures also for more casual collectors and I love that it has the same chunky and sturdy feel as a normal Converge figure. Too many of the Converge EX figures have gone down the road of hard plastic and model kit complexity, this figure captures the essence of Converge just perfectly.

Stay tuned for a separate review of the Mk-II option set which is sold separately as a Premium Bandai item (but of course...).

Gundam Converge #11

Converge #11 arrived in the end of June and consists of a killer selection of mobile suits, at least if you are a big fan of New Mobile Report Gundam Wing (or as one reviewer so aptly put it, pretty boys with problems). This set contains four never before seen mobile suit choices for Converge and two upgrades of previous figures. The figures retail for about ¥500 and I picked up a full set for ¥3000 which was a bit higher than I would have expected.

Notice that both the Guntank and the Döven Wolf come with pieces on runners, something you do not see very often in Converge.

A really nice display of mobile suits here, although the Döven Wolf looks out of scale with the others, a fate that was bestowed on the Geymalk and the Gazus only recently as well. It seems Neo Zeon is our new Titans team, which also contained several shorter figures.

182 : XXXG-00W0 Wing Gundam Zero (EW)

The first figure of the set however, is larger than ever before. Someone at FusionWorks really has a soft spot for the Wing Gundam - this is the third iteration of it released in the past year or so. And as much as I was underwhelmed by its announcement I must confess that it looks pretty striking.

The Wing has indeed been allowed to grow taller. Why is it that the meaty Neo Zeon mobile suits aren't designed to be this tall? Madness...

The Wing Gundam is the only figure in this set that comes with an optional left hand. While the right hand is an open hand into which one of its twin Buster Rifles can be attached, the left hand is instead a clenched fist. Instead we get an optional left hand onto which the left hand as been permanently attached.

It seems odd that Bandai designed different carrying methods for each arm but they both although a tightly clenched right first would have been a welcome accessory as well (for every Converge figure in fact...). Alright, let's move on to some Wing Gundam comparisons for there are now many...

The Wing Gundam Zero (EW) was first released in Converge vol. 10 (April 2013). A brighter colour version appeared in the Converge Selection set in May 2017 and the new sculpt also reuses those brighter colours.

The Converge reboot has now seen three of the four Wing Gundam versions released, only the original version 01W Wing is missing. From left to right: Wing Gundam (EW), Wing Gundam Zero and Wing Gundam Zero (EW).

The full Converge Wing Gundam family also includes the original 01W Wing Gundam figure in two colour variations.

As much as I like to harp on the Wing Gundam being a boring mobile suit choice the figure sure is one of the best versions of it released so far. Will Converge return to Wing and also do the fourth and last version of the Wing Gundam? Somehow I doubt it, as it is pretty similar to its Wing Gundam Zero predecessor.

183 : XXXG-01S2 Altron Gundam (EW)

Finally another ally for the Wing, we hadn't seen one since Converge #07 and I wondered if the Deathscythe and the Heavyarms were going to be everything, but we now can look forward to completing the Endless Waltz Gundam line-up once the Sandrock Kai arrives in Converge #12 which is scheduled for October.

Here we are looking at the Altron Gundam though, with its odd retractable dragon claws and large fancy trident. Altron/Nataku/Shenlong may be the least interesting of the Gundams in Wing but I really dig the colour scheme on this figure. It has a very unique green and lime green over white, with spiffy yellow and red highlights. A real feast for the eye, and I can temporarily forget about the annoying character that pilots it. It also looks a million times better than the Altron featured in the original television series.

The Converge Altron Gundam comes with a two-piece Beam Trident, each attaches to the right hand giving the illusion of a long staff. The trident cannot be attached to the left hand which is completely solid, so any ideas of doing a dual wield sai-pose like your average Hollywood Ninja is unfortunately not possible. The two extendable Dragon Fang weapons are of course also not deployable.

I will refrain from doing a Wing Gundam team line-up and save that for volume twelve, because it is hot and I am lazy to dig the figures out...

184 : RX-75 Guntank

Another familiar face and the last of the Project V machines to get a facelift since the Converge reboot is the Guntank. This sad excuse for a weapon keeps getting a lot of figure love although I cannot fathom exactly why. I'd rather see the beautiful Core Fighter that they shipped with the White Base in its place...

I must say though, the new Guntank is looking pretty on the money. It looks more like a vehicle and less like a mascot in this release. On the other hand we are now losing all the markings that Bandai and FusionWorks have slowly been adding to it with each iteration, a clear step back to entry level which is disappointing but something to be expected.

The Guntank figure is the first of the new Converge figures to come on a base without a peg, meaning it is not attached to it like all the other figures. This is takes some getting used to every time I pick it up only for the base to remain on the table. I would there were issues with drilling a hole through the tracks since it would go through both a black and a blue plastic later perhaps. Notice also that the antennas come on a runner from which they should be carefully removed.

Here we compare the original Guntank (volume one, released November 2010) with the Converge #11 version.

Converge Guntank inventory. To the far left we have the Early Type Guntank from Converge vol. 19 (released June 2015) and from there on we see the evolution of the basic figure as it went through four different iterations before we got the reoot version (far right). First we have the basic Guntank from volume 01, followed by the metallic painted figure from the Operation Jaburo boxset. Next up is the Guntank form the 7-Eleven "Selection V" set (October 2014) with RX-75 emblem on the chest and lastly the Guntank from the CORE003 multipack which introduces some additional stripes on the chest. Only the Operation Jaburo figure features metallic grey paint. Not pictured here is the second CORE Guntank from the White Base package.

The sculpt of the new Guntank is a nice improvement over the old figure and I have a bad feeling that we will be seeing new CORE versions with additional markings in the future...

185 : AMX-014 Döven Wolf

This is the figure I was most interested in this round since it is a really spectacular and one of a kind design. The Converge version mostly does it justice although I can't help but feel that it is a little tiny. The Döven Wolf stands 22 meters tall so I think we could have got a little more height on it.

As you can see on the images the sculpt is really detailed and full of interesting twists and turns. The head and eye also looks suitably menacing although I am less impressed by its beam rifle which looks much too wimpy. This weapon should be huuuge and stick out just as much as the rifles for some of the other figures in this set. Mass-produced mobile suits aren't getting much love here it seems.

The tiny little pieces that come with this figure means you should consider gluing them permanently to the head. The antennas do seem to stay in their sockets so far but I will most likely end up gluing them. And speaking of tiny pieces, that beam rifle is a disgrace, it even looks more formidable on the box cover. : )

186 : OZ-13MSX1 Vayeate

Back in the old days of Converge we would have a sixth figure in each set coming with a hidden secret variant. Bandai and FW have now thankfully moved away from that practice so we can get the Vayeate and the Mercurius easily without hustling for secret stuff. I really like variants of the same mobile suit and in my opinion Bandai should do this more often, adding two similar suits at the end of the set, maximizing the use of the molds and the drawings.

The Vayeate is an OZ experimental mobile suit designed to be an assault unit focusing its strengths entirely into the attacker role, whereas its companion Mercurius was geared to specialize in defense. A pretty dumb design concept but it makes for fun figures to collect I guess...

The Vayeate comes with a tiny little antenna that keeps falling out of its intended hole constantly so I had to glue it in place before it decided to sneak away permanently. The other main accessory of the figure is the heavy Beam Cannon and its associated power source which clip nicely into two holes on the figures shoulders.

On closer inspection you will find that the Beam Cannon can be removed from its storage rack and inserted into the figure's hand. The handle is a separate piece so as to allow the rifle to sit in the figure's right hand.

Looking pretty intimidating there, Sir. Why couldn't the Döven Wolf get something amazing like this? The Vayeate figure looks awesome in both its configurations but I think I prefer the weapon stowed on the back, it simply stands out among all the Converge figures holding their rifles permanently in their hands.

187 : OZ-13MSX2 Mercurius

Last of the lot is of course the Vayeate tandem player, the Mercurius. This mobile suit is loaded up with five "Planet Defensors" stored on each shoulder as well as the "Crash Shield", which is just a larger disc. The Defensors can scatter and form an energy barrier while the larger shield had a beam saber of its own. The mobile suit also has a Beam Gun for close-up defense.

I really like the design of both the Vayeate and the Mercurius, and they have been well converted into Converge mode. The Mercurius in particular is absolutely loaded with fun stuff so I will not chastise the developers for not including a beam saber effect part for the crash shield. This however would be a suitable thing for customization.

There are a couple of peculiar design choices for this figure. First the Crash Shield has been molded directly onto the right hand. As a consequence, FusionWorks decided to put the Beam Gun in the figure's left hand. I can't remember exactly how it appeared in the anime (Noooo... I do not want to watch it again) but I am really happy that we got both of these accessories.

The Oz family of mobile suits is growing slowly but at least now we have four members of the team. Not holding my breath for the mass-produced suits appearing anytime soon.

Vayeate and Mercurius are very rare figures. The only other representations I know of are a pair in the Robot Spirits series as well as these two released in SD Warrior DASH 07 in 2016.

Now that we have several of the main Oz mobile suits one can only hope that Gundam Wing will continue to be represented in Converge once the Sandrock figure has been out. It is strange how spread out they are. The Leo and the Taurus have been released as a 1/400 figures, the Virgo only as a super deformed Gashapon and the Aries has not been released at all.

Conclusion

Overall, Converge #11 is another great set of figures for your collection. This set seems to focus mainly on expanding various factions which probably means it is more interesting for completist collectors than casual Gundam fans. Apart from some minor paint app issues here and there and the occasional part needing glue this set is just as awesome as we have come to expect Converge to be. Definitely recommended.