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.