Last year I predicted the updated Neo Zeong figure the most useless Converge release of 2019 and so far it is still holding on to its position admirably, with half a year's worth of news out by now. While I have a kind of love-hate relationship with Converge Redefinition it is true that the figures that come out of this series are generally very solid but oh so pricey, and they rarely offer anything new.
The CORE version of the Neo Zeong released in January 2019 with a Premium Bandai price tag of a whopping ¥7000. And for me, well I spent ¥8000 to acquire one from Mandarake. Not my proudest moment.
The original Neo Zeong figure was a retail release (EX 15) originally out in March 2017 with a price tag of ¥3500. A parts option set including the Psyco Ring and a couple of optional arms were also released in parallel as a P-Bandai deal for an additional ¥2000. So while the original Neo Zeong was already stupid expensive the new CORE deal raises the price about 50%.
The best thing about the CORE reissue of the Neo Zeong is that the entire figure is now shipped in a single box. Notice how little the dimensions have shifted on the new CORE box compared to the EX 15 variant and it easily manages to store everything including the parts that came with the option set.
The box is jam packed with shiny metallic red-painted pieces. I have to say, I really like the overall build composition of the Neo Zeong, it feels just like an oversized Converge figure should. There is no convoluted assembly here, just big chunky pieces that go together easily. However, metal coated pegs such as these sometimes do a poor job of fitting and staying together.
If you have built any of the metallic or transparent Converge figures before you should know what to expect here. Several pegs did not fit in their slots, the components of the Sinanju themselves are very loose fits in particular and have a tendency to fall off if you stare at them for too long. I'd consider gluing the Sinanju parts together although I will not rush to any such actions for an ¥8000 purchase. :)
I have to be honest though; as annoying as I find the simple CORE re-releases this thing looks absolutely amazing. The two-tone colour scheme between the darker Neo Zeong mobile armor and the brighter Sinanju mobile suit work better here than on the original figure and the extra decals are just about the right amount.
I am not going to cover the basics of the Neo Zeong figure design, as everything stays the same as the original figure. For further reading the original reviews of the
EX 15 and the
Option Parts Set are here.
One thing I find confusing is why the Neo Zeong CORE figure has not been numbered. Maybe it was considered too over the top to be considered part of the regular CORE series itself. Or perhaps this is the missing CORE 016 release that lost its number for some reason.
Overall, the Converge CORE Neo Zeong reissue is pretty amazing in its own right, but I can't help but think it remains the most useless Converge purchase to date. It is not like you want to keep both of the figures up and about in your collection as they take up a tremendous amount of space. Most likely I will end up dismantling the shiny metallic version and keep it pristine in its box and let my old figure soldier on in the field, we shall see. Naturally, unless you think the Neo Zeong is the most amazing design out there, only the most completist Converge collectors would be crazy enough to spend any money on this abomination.
No comments:
Post a Comment