No new figure announcements this time, but interesting news nevertheless. For Ensemble, things are not that dramatic. Bandai have adjusted the molds for some of the figures due out in volume eleven. The mold for the Gundam X is updated to cram in its Shield Buster rifle with the figure. Some other accessories have also had materials changes, the X's beam saber will get a white handle and the Clay Bazooka will change from ABS to soft PVC. The entire set has also been rescheduled to be released in September and not November.
Looking good so far.
With Senshi Forte we have finally received confirmation that volume 10 will indeed be the final set of the series. The Bandai development head writes on the Gashapon
blog that the series will not be scrapped but replaced with a new design which will ease assembly and keep figures playable - and I suspect help keeping costs down... While the format is not yet finalized some prototype shots are published on the blog; the influence from Ensemble can clearly be seen.
Up until now the mobile suits have had individually sculpted hands but it looks as if the next generation of figures will get boring standardized hands like the Ensemble figures. Bandai insists however that the format and appearance of the figures is not to change so that they can seamlessly blend with the Senshi Forte figures. Fingers crossed for that. I have to wonder though, if Senshi Forte is revitalized and released as a miniature MS Ensemble line, will Bandai really allow two such Gashapon figure series to live on side by side?
Overall, I think we can expect a bit of a hiatus in the Gashapon SD format after volume 10 while Bandai work out the details for the new line. The series currently goes under a working name of Gashapon Warrior FF.
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