Ahhh... finally! Ever since I first laid eyes on Bandai's announcement regarding its upcoming Shokugan candy toy series "MicroWars" I have been waiting with baited breath. Visiting Bangkok in March I finally found a shop that was going to import the series and ordered two boxes off the bat, deciding to go all in on this one.
MicroWars is a new and really gimmicky figure series which emphasizes on the word
toy in candy toy. All the figures released or announced thus far come with tiny articulated pilot minis that can be inserted into the mobile suits and vehicles. I have been lamenting the lack of Gundam-related soldier figurines for a long time and I guess this is as close as we will get.
The first volume (of what I expected to be a short-lived experiment) of MicroWars was released in February and the figures come with the same recommended price point as Gundam Converge figures, that is ¥500 per unit. The 10-boxes I picked up in Thailand were priced at 1600 baht each, so as usual it hurts for a bit to buy candy toys but you kind of forget it quickly, kind of like a visit to the dentist...
The figure distribution has been shaken up a little in this set. While you would expect to get two of each in a 10-box this only holds true for the Gundam and the two tanks. The mass production Zaku II is upped to three per box at the expense of Char's Zaku II of which there is only one per box, making it significantly rarer than the others. Personally I don't mind this and I wouldn't have had any issue with the Gundam being reduced to one as well, bumping up the room for more tanks or Zakus.
As I opened up the first figure box and saw the plastic runners and sticker sheets I had a very strong flashback to the Universal Unit figure series and lots some of my enthusiasm like a fizzling balloon. Fortunately though, the parts count and assembly isn't really something to fuss about here, you will have no trouble putting the figures together. As you can see from the above schematic, the articulation is limited to crude ball joints which offer a little bit of turning and wiggling room, but you will get no bending knees or elbows which is a little bit disappointing.
01 : RX-78-2 Gundam
First figure out is of course the ol' RX-78. It is a decent looking chap but you will have to get used to a new form of deformation, as the dimensions of MicroWars figures look unlike anything else. As is often common with Shokugan and Gashapon figures of this type it has a decent paintjob on the front of its torso but it quickly becomes very bland once you start moving out to the limbs. Even worse, when you turn it around you will notice that plastic hasn't even been spared to cover up its hollow legs; it is the Universal Unit G-Bit figure all over again... dreadful!
The second Universal Unit feature that I was happy not having to deal with for quite some time is the reliance on stickers. While the shield is (surprisingly) painted in decorative red and yellow, the feet are completely white and so you get wrap around stickers for them instead. If I were you I wouldn't bother with those and get to work with a marker pen instead, which is what I did. You also get a V-fin sticker for the torso and a tiny pinkish read square sticker for the head camera which is a real pain to apply inside its deep socket. Surprisingly, no sticker is supplied for the beam rifle sight; I may end up putting some acrylic paint there eventually. Other than that I took a small black marker pen to bring out some more detail on the head, but I didn't feel like messing with panel lining.
The Gundam comes with two accessories only; the beam rifle and the see through-shield. I think it would have been nice to get at the very least a toothpick style beam saber as well. Notice also that no pilot figure is not included with the Gundam figure - you will need to get the Type 61 MBT for that.
Here we see the gimmick which is what MicroWars is really all about. With the figures having very limited articulation, they do open up nicely and the hinge is firm and stays in place when opened without any trouble. The cockpit actually has a little bit of detail inside it and the instrument panel can be tilted outward to make it easier to place a pilot figure inside. This is so cheesy and entertaining at the same time, I just love it! I may end up painting the inside of the torso in a matte gray or so to make it stand out better.
Here you can see the size of the MicroWars Gundam figure together with a traditional super deformed Gundam from Gashapon Warrior DASH as well as a 1:220 scale RX-78 from Universal Unit. I haven't yet decided what to do with the three spare RX-78s that I ended up with from the boxes, perhaps I will have them converted to Realtype, G3 or Casval paintjobs in the future; we shall see how the MicroWars collection goes forward first.
02 : Type 61 MBT
The Earth Federation line-up is bound to expand with three new units in volume two but for now the only company for the Gundam is the Type 61 main battle tank. Hopelessly outdated in a fight against mobile suits it is nevertheless a really cool looking miniature and it also comes bundled with three pilot figures, one white and two orange so a 10-box of this series will net you with six pilots and four vehicles.
The Type 61 tank is a much smaller figure than the Gundam but makes up for it with a lot of playable features. The paintjob is also rather limited. Everything is a flat gray except for the tracks and wheels which are instead molded in a silvery metallic colour.
While the wheels and tracks are completely static the articulation allows you to rotate the turret 360 degrees and raise and lower each gun barrel separately. The commander cupola hatch opens and closes neatly and the top-mounted machine gun can also rotate around as needed. I ended up putting some colour on the driver's viewports and on the machine gun.
The tanks are easily my favourite feature of MicroWars and a big reason for me deciding to pick up two boxes. I can't wait to see the hover trucks promised us in volume two.
03 : MS-06S Zaku II (Char's Custom)
Switching sides now, the rest of the set in this box is dedicated to the Principality of Zeon. The Spacers can enjoy four mobile suits out of which one belongs to Commander Char himself. Again the torso comes in an attractive three colour paint scheme and the monoeye is not a sticker but prepainted with a nice metallic pink. Stickers are however included for you to put some black colour on the feet and knees. Again I say ditch the stickers and get to work with a black marker pen. Do the elbows and the mouth filter while you are at it.
The backside of the Zaku II looks just as horrible as that of the Gundam. I'm afraid you won't get it to look nice unless you are up to filling out the legs with green stuff or something to that effect.
Char's Zaku II comes with three accessories. You have two weapon options which can go into either hand; a 280mm Zaku Bazooka or the infamous Heat Hawk axe-type weapon. Notice how the handlebar on the bazooka is not painted. You will want to paint the tip of the handle black which will improve the look of the weapon when held in the hand. You also want to paint the blade of the Heat Hawk either a dark black or warm yellow depending on if you want to see it activated or not.
The MicroWars Zaku II also has a moving monoeye, however the range of movement is for some unknown reason limited to a very narrow field of vision. Notice the tap on the front side of the black disc which holds the monoeye. It is designed to fit into a very limited slot inside the head, limiting the field of vision much more than on your average figure. If this bothers you, you can always get rid of the tap as it serves no particular purpose other than to restrict movement.
The Zaku II has the same type of hinged torso which opens up to allow for a pilot figure to climb inside. Again the instrument dashboard can be folded forward and down to make access easier. As with the Gundam, you need to get a Magella Attack tank to get your hands on the Commander Char minifigure to sit inside.
04 : MS-06F Zaku II
The MicroWars mass production type Zaku II is for all intents and purposes a simple colour swap of the Commander Type machine wielded by Char. Both machines come with two optional head pieces including the Commander Type fin or not. Only the weapons loadout differs slightly, as we shall see.
As evident from the pictures I have given my mass production Zakus the same type of black marker touch up as for the Commander Char machine. Considering that I picked up two 10-boxes I have ended up with six figures which really opens up for army building although the pilot figures do not really keep up in the same number.
As mentioned above there is a slight difference in the weapon loadout among the two Zaku figures. While Char's unit comes with the 280mm Zaku Bazooka the mass production type switches it out for a Zaku Machine Gun instead. Both feature the same Heat Hawk close range weapon. You can steal the Bazooka from Char if you want (and give him a Machine Gun in return), just paint that handlebar black first to avoid a bit of red colour poking out.
It is really fun to army build with the Zaku II and if MicroWars ever takes off and becomes popular these will be pretty sought after. Volume 2 will feature the E.F.F. GM mobile suit which I hope will be made available in the same number as the Zaku although I have my suspicions it won't since there will also be a Ground Type Gundam in that set.
To throw in some more comparisons for MicroWars you can here see the Zaku II next to its kindred from Gundam Converge (left) and Mobile Suit Ensemble (right).
05 : HT-01B Magella Attack
The last figure in this first and excellent line-up is a tank option also for the Zeonic forces, their bizarre and lovely Magella Attack Tank. This figure is the only one in the lot which comes with all the parts ready to snap together and like the E.F.F. tank it also holds all the Zeonic pilot crew; one red and two green pilot figures.
The tank is very green save for the wheels and tracks which are metallic silver and the driver's cupola which has a nice gradient pattern of shiny blue metallic coating.
The two tank figures are the ones with the best articulation in this set. The Magella Attack Tank can swivel its turret and elevate the barrel extensively. Even the Gatling canon turret at the front is allowed to swivel slightly.
While no stand is included with this figure you can easily separate the turret from the rest of the tank to mimic the odd survivability feature that sees the turret turn into a lousy fighter jet.
Let's do some more comparisons; here the MicroWars Magella Tank teams up with the ones from Converge (left) and Gashapon HG MS (center).
The army building aspect of this figure series is great and you can do so many cool displays and dioramas with the contents provided here. Once volume 2 hits the shops in July this will be even greater and I hope the series will be allowed to live on a bit longer.
Minifigures
I should throw in a couple of words about the pilot mini figures before we go. These are after all one of the absolute highlights to come out of the Gashapon and Shokugan toylines as far as I am concerned. As you can see below they are incredibly delicate but do a reasonable job of holding together. Pay close attention when you attach the head to the shoulders, the peg at the neck is so thin that you almost break it when snapping the head onto it.
Notice how the figures differ between the Earth Federation and the Principality of Zeon. In fact, even the head sculpts between Commander Char and the bog standard Zeonic pilot differs here. I may have some of these painted further down the line but I think they are pretty good just out of the box as well.
Unless you are a real stickler for scale you will find that the pilot minifigures go well with many different Gundam figure series. Here Kamille and Quattro hang out with Astonaige's engineering team aboard the Argama for example.
Conclusion
As you can tell I am really pleased with my first foray into the MicroWars figure series and I hope the series will be allowed to prosper but at the same time I realize that it will be a tough sell to many Gundam collectors out there. There are also only so many vehicles available to choose from in the Gundam Universe but I'll keep my fingers crossed for a good run before the series retires. Stay tuned for volume 2 later this summer.
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