SD Gundam Full Color Custom 04

With this review we're back digging in the SD figure history again, and this will be another first for the blog. The SD Full Color Custom series is the successor to the long running SD Gundam Full Color series which ended its long run in early 2006. With over 400 figures released during a near ten year period Bandai apparently felt the need to reinvent themselves and so chucked the word Custom on at the end, reset the counter to zero and began pumping out figures again.

Jokes aside the FullColor Custom figure range is just that, more customizable. Where many of the original figures were little more than statues the Custom series made it easier to swap gear and even body parts between figures opening up the playability factor a notch. The proportions were also altered and many of the Custom figures have ended up looking quite different from their ancestors, typically being flatter and wider in their disposition, or flattened like pancakes if you will.

Another interesting gimmick of the series is how the figures would now come in lots of ten, and each volume would have two different styles of booklet. The first five figures of a set would have a booklet that highlighted those five, while the trailing five got a revised booklet of their own. This practice was later done away with (excessive cost cutting I would imagine) and replaced with a common booklet, although this set has two as you can see in the introduction above. Full Color Custom figures are still readily available on the secondhand market but this is the type of figure you would typically find half complete in a random lot for next to nothing. In this case however I was fortunate enough to pick up this complete set from Mandarake for a mere ¥800.
   

031 : GAT-X105+AQM/E-X03 Launcher Strike Gundam

The initial figure of this set is perhaps also the least remarkable of the lot. Yep, it is another version of the Strike Gundam, here with its Launcher Striker pack. This version of the figure comes with the launcher attached to its backpack and although it looks as if it is able to be removed and placed in the figure's hand (it does have a typical SD handle on it after all) mine refuses to budge and I don't dare pulling any harder for fear of damaging the backpack.

There is actually a previous version of this figure (from SD Gundam Full Color Stage 39) with the Launcher in hand in a really dynamic pose which is the figure I will go after instead, so I will be content to leave the weapon on the rack for now. Another interesting gimmick of this figure is that it has a peg hole on top of its left shoulder, presumably to attach the Sword Striker shoulder pad (or any other gear of your choice really). I don't have that particular figure either (from Full Color Custom 05) so I can't test it right now.

Here the Launcher Strike poses with some of its brethren from the SD Full Color figure range. The look of this figure matches up with the previous figures really nicely.
   

032 : GAT-X102 Duel Gundam (Assault Shroud)

The next entry in the Earth Federation GAT-series is the Duel Gundam, here with its Assault Shroud gear upgrade manufactured by Z.A.F.T. after having taken control of the unit. The look of this figure is quite bulky and blocky when you compare it to previous versions of the figure and is a good example of what the Full Color Custom range is often about.

The figure comes loaded up with beam rifle and shield in hand, as well as a massive rail gun and a shoulder mounted missile pod. The missile pod doesn't really look that great, the orange coloured front lid of the launcher kind of resembles a dual cannon due to its oversized hinges.

Here the Assault Shroud Duel (far right) poses with some of its friends from SD Gundam Full Color and the recently released Duel from Senshi Forte 08. As you can see, the version from the original Full Color series (center right) is a much sleeker design and in my experience the better choice.
   

033 : GAT-X103 Buster Gundam

We get the third figure from the GAT-series in this collection as well, the Buster Gundam. You can find the remaining two, the Blitz and the Aegis, featured already in Full Color Custom 01 and 02 respectively.

This version of the Buster Gundam has a couple of nice gimmicks to it. Its two weapons, the beam rifle and gun launcher can be held in either hand or attached to the backpack.

Of course you can also combine the two weapons to create the devastating anti-armor shotgun which of course is ridiculously large for such a tiny SD figure so if you were to hold it in both hands the entire torso would be obscured. :)

Again you can see just how bulky and blocky the design of the Buster from Full Color Custom is when compared to its predecessor from Full Color Stage 39 (left). Both are now superceeded by the awesome Buster from Senshi Forte 07 (right).
   

034 : FFMH-Y101 Eternal

Next up we have capital ship in this slot. It is the Eternal, the pink Cadillac to end all wars, loaded with the two METEOR units for the Freedom and Justice Gundams. As you can see from the pictures my figure is a bit warped, something not uncommon when it comes to sleeker figure designs in this Gashapon series.

The figure does not come with any stand but you can always cobble something together from parts for other Gashapon or Shokugan figures.

Just like the Minerva above, the Eternal has also been featured in the original SD Full Color range in Stage 44. I don't have that particular figure but based on the two Minervas, I would wager that the original figure might be slightly smaller and probably also of slightly different colour.
   

035 : ZGMF-X56S/b Sword Impulse Gundam

Out of all the Gundam designs that came out of the Cosmic Era I'd argue none is more forgettable than the Impulse Gundam. It was a completely derivative design, borrowing all its design elements from the Strike Gundam. On top of that it had a completely ridiculous delivery method, being shot out of its carrier in four parts designed to combine in mid air in the middle of a firefight. One beautifully aimed shot from the Buster's launcher taking out one of the components and that would be all she wrote. The Impulse would fit into a Saturday Morning cartoon such as Mask at best...

However, the one saving grace of the Impulse is its Sword Impulse Mode, which is damned attractive. The red colour helps set it apart from other Gundam designs and the large dual blade is cream on top.

The Sword Impulse Gundam figure has the same backpack gimmick as we saw on the Buster in this set. You can wield its two blades in either hand or store them on a rack on the figure's back. It does not appear to be possible to combine the two into a single weapon though.

The good news are that the Sword Impulse has already been released with a combined blade as seen here on the Full Color Stage 54 version of the mobile suit. These two are the only SD depictions of this mobile suit as far as I know.
   

036 : ZGMF-1001/M Blaze ZAKU Phantom (Heine Westenfluss Custom)

Continuing with the SEED Destiny era designs we also have one of the improved ZAKU Warrior machines present, the stark orange-painted Blaze ZAKU of most underused SEED Destiny actor Takanori Nishikawa. Some fans have speculated that Heine's early demise was a method to keep voice actor cost down, while personally I think that if you are flying into a combat zone on a bright orange steed you are practically screaming "hit me!" on all open frequencies...

While I don't generally like the idea of putting UC design into SEED (which the Destiny team just loved) the ZAKU Warrior family is really nice looking, and Heine's machine is one of the more appealing ones. It comes armed with a beam assault rifle (which incidentally closely resembles a Zaku II Machine Gun) and an EX-M Blaze Wizard backpack which features dual thrusters for increased mobility as well as a pair of Firebee missile launchers. Other Blaze ZAKU SD figures available are those of Rey Za Burrel (white) and Dearka Elsmann (black).

Heine's Blaze ZAKU Phantom was also released in SD Full Color Stage 60. That version of the figure comes in a much darker orange tone and its Blaze Wizard pack is light grey. It also holds on to its rifle with both hands.

There are quite a lot of ZAKU Warrior figures in the SD figure ranges although they can be pretty hard to find these days.
   

037 : GAT-02L2 Dark Dagger L

Next up we have another mass production type mobile suit from SEED Destiny, although the Dark Dagger is something of a limited run special forces-type of suit. According to the Gundam Wiki, its only difference from the mass production Dagger L is its paint scheme, which seems a bit unlikely.

This Dark Dagger figure is also armed with a replaceable backpack, the Doppelhorn Striker Pack, which is a pair or recoilless rifles. The design has its origins in the I.W.S.P. and is also employed by the GAT-04 Windam. It also holds a Mk39 Low-recoil Cannon in its hand for some added damage.

Thanks to their small size, Bandai have not shied away from doing quite the number mass production suits in the SD format. Above we can see a Strike Dagger (missing its shield), the Dagger L, the Dark Dagger L and a Windam. There are also figures for the Gunbarrel Dagger and the Jet Dagger L which I have so far not been able to source.
   

038 : ZGMF-X88S Gaia Gundam

The next entry is also the most gimmicky figure of this set, the Gaia Gundam of SEED Destiny which is at the first look is so easy for me to confuse with either the Blitz or the Raider Gundams. It is a transforming design which can turn into a four-legged winged beast, much like the love child of the BuCUE and an ancient Egyptian Sphinx.

The Gaia Gundam is a very black design and it really doesn't do this SD figure any favours. The detail is having a hard time to stand out and the end result is a very bland and average looking mini.

To convert the Gaia into its mobile armor mode you remove the head and plonk the backpack into its place. Then you strip the figure of its rifle and shield and lean it forward. It is not particularly interesting looking as it now has even less detail. In my opinion they would have been better off making two separate sculpts for the MS and the MA mode...
   

039 : ZGMF-X88S Gaia Gundam (Andrew Waltfeld Custom)

To my great excitement, the least interesting figure in this set has been given a colour swap as well. Replacing the jet black with very plastic looking orange we can now also bring Andrew Waltfeld's custom orange Gaia Gundam into the battle. Well, it at least has a little more colour but on the whole it still looks kind of bland.

This version of the figure of course retains the mobile armor transformation gimmick and an all orange head looks even worse than the black one, you'd really have to paint this one up to give it some personality.

Comparing the size of the mobile suit and the mobile armor mode you can see that the MA mode is also a bit underwhelming looking in size. If you really want a Gashapon figure of the Gaia Gundam in its mobile armor mode I can recommend the accurately scaled Gaia from the 1:400 Gundam Collection instead.

The Gaia Gundam is also released in the original SD Gundam Full Color figure series, in both the black and orange versions although they do not transform. While I do not yet have those in my collection I can already now say that their proportions and colours are much better looking.
   

040 : ZGMF-X2000CQGB&S GOUF Crusher

The last figure in this set is a real novelty. The GOUF Crusher is a SEED Destiny MSV design which looks rather amazing in its original proportions and not half bad as an SD figure either. Now here is something for FusionWorks to bring to Converge or why not the next 1:220 figure collection (come on guys, you know you want to).

The GOUF Crusher is a modified ZGMF-X2000 GOUF with close combat in mind. For these purposes it employs the MA-M757 Slayer Whip Heat Rod with Spherical Breaker which looks suspiciously like a Universal Century era MS-07B Gouf whip... On the left arm sits an "impact vise" which looks like it would fit better in a garage toolbox and a winged backpack. As the story goes, the GOUF Crusher lost out to the ZAKU Warrior and never entered production, although the revised GOUF Ignited design later did.
   

Conclusion

The Full Color Custom figure range came out in the days of Mobile Suit Gundam SEED and as a result designs from the Cosmic Era feature heavily in the figure range. This makes it one of the best sources for SEED figure collectors and as this set so accurately shows, there is a myriad of interesting designs in the Cosmic Era and I can't understand why we don't get to see more of them in larger figure series. Unless you area Gundam SEED fan you will find little to enthuse over here, but for freaks like yours truly this set is a solid entry into the collection.

The latest Gashapon news...

On the Gashapon side of things we have a couple of new reveals this week as well. The Senshi Forte line up for volume 10 was previously hinted at containing the Alex and the Zaku II Kai, now we have prototype images of them as well as what appears to be two Kämpfer variations. Actually, it isn't entirely clear to me if there will be an A and a B version of the Kämpfer or if it will get all its accessories in one box, but my bet is on a twin release. If volume ten will contain five figures like the last couple of sets this leaves at least one more secret figure, perhaps the line art below is a clue?

In other news we also have the release of Mobile Suit Ensemble Part 1.5, which is a repaint set of the first retail set. The Gundam and G-Armor will come out in spiffy G3 colours, the Unicorn gets Awake Mode detail and the Zaku II gets some random special markings. All in all it looks to be a nice set although availability of these things tends to be rather tricky. Also hinted at by Bandai is some line art of the Mega Launcher for the Hyaku Shiki, I guess this means we can expect it to pop up in Ensemble soon.

The latest Gundam Converge news...

Well, we knew this was coming... With two Neo Zeong releases already under their belt FusionWorks and Bandai are leveraging the work put into the previous figures and announce the Neo Zeong II from the Narrative Gundam storyline. This will be a two parter just like they did with the original Neo Zeong; you get the basic figure as a retail figure and a couple of extras in the Option Parts Set which will be a Premium Bandai release.

Notice how little effort has gone into improving the old figure. Here was an opportunity for the Zeong to get some cool new accessories like remote controlled fingers or other effect parts but tough luck. The Option Parts Set is the exact same as the one for the original Neo Zeong except they plonked in the torso for the Narrative Gundam which is cool but so much more could have been achieved here. I guess this means you can display one of each once the inevitable metallic color or special markings version pops up half a year later or so... The Neo Zeong II is scheduled for release in September. The basic figure has a suggested price tag of ¥4200 and the parts set is priced at ¥2800.

SD Gashapon Senshi Forte 08

While the Senshi Forte figure line appears to continue its mad tightrope act in the shadow of the executioner's axe it still shows no signs of being scaled back. Volume 09 is scheduled for release in June and we've seen hints of the planned line-up for volume 10. The summer holiday season will see the Alpha Azieru out as a premium figure but beyond this time frame we don't know where the series is bound to go. According to Bandai while the series has been very popular with customers it has also been dipping into the red as far as money matters go. The SD figure designs have finally evolved beyond the point of their own good. What the future holds in store only Bandai knows at this point.

Today's review look into the retail side of the figure series, this eight set of figures were pumped out both as the boxed figures you see here and as capsule toys in Gashapon machines. The set released all the way back in January this year with suggested prices of ¥300 per figure. This low figure price is also the curse and perhaps bane of the Senshi Forte series. Bear in mind that the original SD FullColor figures started out at ¥100, the NEXT series brought them up to ¥200 and the DASH figures reached ¥300. Perhaps if Senshi Forte would have been allowed to climb into the ¥400 range it would not have looked so grim right now.

I usually pick up my Senshi Forte figures piecemeal but for this review I was also able to grab a 12-box from Mandarake. I was really curious to see what the distribution between the different figures would be. As you may recall, the Senshi Forte line started out with six figures per set. When they hit part 04 a seventh figure was added then it went back to six again. Starting at volume seven however the count was reduced to five.

I was kind of fretting that this set would follow the nasty habit of three sets of four, where the last figure would either be the A or B colour version of the GuAIZ, thus leaving these at a greater rarity. However I found that the figures were all equally distributed in twos, and then there were two extras of one of them. In this case it was the Duel Gundam, so I ended up with two of each except the Duel which got four. The distribution looked like this:

Row 1: Freedom Gundam / GuAIZ (gray)
Row 2: Freedom Gundam / GuAIZ (gray)
Row 3: Command Gundam / Duel Gundam
Row 4: Command Gundam / Duel Gundam
Row 5: GuAIZ (green) / Duel Gundam
Row 6: GuAIZ (green) / Duel Gundam

If you also purchased a box I would be interested to know if your box followed a similar pattern. Anyway, enough blabbering, on to the figures themselves:
  

F049 : ZGMF-X10A Freedom Gundam

The first figure in this set, which is also the poster boy for the box, is in my opinion also the least interesting. Not that it is a bad figure in anyway, it is just not up to the level of the rest of the figures in this set. The Freedom is also one of those figures we see time and again, often accompanied by the Aile Strike. It kind of rubs me the wrong way that the Aegis and the Justice are allowed to be forgotten just as often.

The Senshi Forte version of this figure comes armed with its signature beam rifle and a pair of option parts for its hip mounted railguns. The latter two can be parts swapped with the stowed guns and fit on tiny little pegs on the figure's hips. These pegs aren't very sturdy and they tend to want to bend when you attach the guns so the result may a bit wild, with the barrels pointing in wildly different directions.

The wing binder components are also articulated. Each wing binder section contains three pieces where the two outer wing components are pegged onto the center piece. I had massive trouble with moving these on my figure and again it feels like the pegs aren't super sturdy so I refrained from messing with the wings on my figure. A bit unfortunate in my opinion as the wings are supposed to open like you can see on the box cover.

It is a fine figure I guess, if you sit on a spare Duel Gundam you can also consider stealing its beam saber to give Kira a second weapon choice. I think this would have been a better choice than the railguns although it is fun when the designers try out something less common as well.
   

F050 : GAT-X102 Duel Gundam

The Duel Gundam is the third in the line of Earth Alliance prototype suits that has come to Senshi Forte, following the Buster and the Aile Strike from the previous wave. I really like this figure a lot, it just looks so menacing and the proportions are much cleaner than the rather busy Freedom figure. The Duel simply lends it quite well to the super deformed treatment.

The Duel is armed with both its unique looking beam rifle, a translucent beam saber and a delightfully well-painted shield. I really like it when the figures are allowed to get an extra accessory or two; it just opens up many possibilities for customization and weapon trading with other figures.

Somewhat surprisingly I found that that Duel Gundam is not nearly as common in super deformed format as its Assault Shroud version. While the Shroud is of course also a great design I enjoy the clean lines of the Duel as well.

After digging through my collection I found a Duel Gundam from SD FullColor Stage 36 (which for some reason was released with a red shield) and a couple of Assault Shroud versions from SD FullColor Stage 41 and SD FullColor Custom 04 respectively.
   

F051 : SDV-04 Command Gundam

Now, here is where things are starting to get really interesting. One of the aspects of the Senshi Forte retail sets is that we have always got a SD Gundam anime or manga character figure trailing at the end of the set. Up until this point it has been mainly Musha Gundam variations, but here is a brand new face armed with a plethora of modern era weaponry. Together with the Knight Gundam and the Musha Gundam, the Command Gundam is one of the mainstays of the SD Command Senki series and the figure itself is a mix between the Full Armor Gundam and a wild parody on American Gung-Hoism.

The rockets in the launcher box have been painted with acrylic orange, the rest of the figure is shown as-is out of the box.

Now here is a figure where Bandai spared no expense. Just look at all the wild accessories for this figure. Three different weapon choices, an over the shoulder slung rocket launcher and elaborate helmet add-ons for targeting.

As you can expect, the huge rocket launcher has a tendency to want to list, and in fact drag the figure with it when placed on the stand. This can be mitigated by rotating the base to better support the figure's center of mass. Notice also the two right feet in the parts shot above. I didn't notice at the time and subsequently had to break out one of my duplicates to get a proper left foot. Parts packaging mistakes such as these are very rare for Gashapon and Shokugan figures although it has happened to me once or twice before.

It is possible that the Command Gundam will be the final SD character release of the entire Senshi Forte line. Hopefully the line can continue to grow even in the event that the series is replaced by a new figure series.
   

F052 : ZGMF-600 GuAIZ

Alright, here is where things are starting to get really interesting for me. I was really disappointed that I wasn't able to build up a nice unit of GINNs from Senshi Forte part 07 but I had better luck with volume 08. However, I did end up having to purchase a couple of full sets just to get to the precious GuAIZ figures although the other duplicates weren't completely useless as we shall see.

I love mobile suits with base colours other than white, and the grunt-style GuAIZ comes in a sexy olive green with some paints in various bright colours and rounding the design off with a sexy monoeye. I like dual eyes and V-fins as much as the next guy but the monoeye designs always tend to grab and hold my interest.

The GuAIZ or "Gates" as it would typically be pronounced has an interesting background. It was originally submitted as an entry into the Gundam SEED Mecha Contest 2002 and went on to relieve the GINNs and DINNs in the niche of getting constantly beaten up by Raider, Forbidden and Calamity as Gundam SEED drew towards its close. It has a lot in common also with the CGUE and seems to borrow a lot of design elements from it.

For army builder suits to really shine you typically want some gear options and the Senshi Forte GuAIZ figure is woefully weak in this regard. In fact it only comes with a single beam rifle and its composite shield which is supposed to feature two beam saber-like claws which are sadly not present here. You can however replace the left and right arms if you want to fiddle around with making the gunner left-handed or maybe ditching the shields completely if you have more than one figure.

The GuAIZ is also a rather uncommon bird in the Super Deformed format. I have a couple from SD FullColor Stage 45 as seen above. There are also three variants in the FullColor Custom line, one green with its beam claw extended, one in the gray commander colours and one GuAIZ-R.
   

F053 : ZGMF-600 GuAIZ (Commander Colours)

The last figure is of course the colour-swap version of the GuAIZ in what is normally referred to as commander colours. I don't really know if any commanders other than Rau le Creuset have been seen sporting this livery (which is for all intents and purposes basically the same style as the colours of his CGUE).

There are no parts or gear changes between the two GuAIZ figures, it would have livened it up if one figure would have come with a beam rifle and the other a beam shield.

Being a monoeye design the Senshi Forte GuAIZ figure retains the commonly seen rotating eye gimmick. The eye sits on a black painted disc which can be repositioned within the head to emulate the eye looking to the left and right. As usual I think that gazing to the side looks a bit goofy, you'd probably just want to rotate the head instead for a better pose.

Due to the figure's massive arms the rifle will not slide all the way down into the figure's hand. It looks a little bit clumsy but it is what it is. So, what did I do with all the extra Duel Gundam figures I got in my 12-box? Well, you guessed it. I ransacked the lot and converted the sabers into beam claws for the GuAIZ's composite shield. It is not a perfect fit since the claw is supposed to be a bit curved but the colour is very close to the real thing and I think this looks really cool. Yzak Joule will not be happy when I tell him...

I am really happy that Senshi Forte allowed us such a fine line of army builder figures from Mobile Suit Gundam SEED. Of course you can always hope for more but this is such a great feature for me, one of my personal highlights out of the entire Senshi Forte series.

I doubt we will see any more Mobile Suit Gundam SEED figures in this format for some time now, but the Senshi Forte line has done a really good job thus far.

So, in conclusion I think that Senshi Forte part 08 is an excellent figure series and as such pretty much par for the course as far as Senshi Forte is concerned. If you enjoy super-deformed Gundam figures I dare say that Senshi Forte is currently the best out there on the market, giving also larger figures such as Mobile Suit Ensemble and Converge a bit of a run for their money. Heartily recommended!