Mobile Suit Ensemble Part 04

With Ensemble Part 04 we set the time machine for the autumn of 2017. It was the fourth regular release since the series' inception in December 2016 it was indeed a busy introductory year for Ensemble with a total of seven releases. Well, unless you count Bandai's plan of doing three regular sets and four EX figures in the first four months of 2020 alone...

One of these planned releases that I recently caught wind of is a planned reissue of Part 04 as 4.5, a pattern that keeps repeating itself in Ensemble already. So I figured since I am always late with the reviews perhaps this look at Part 04 could be of use to those pondering a purchase of Part 4.5

Ensemble Part 04 was a regular figure set comprised of five capsules (or as seen here, randomized cardboard boxes) containing three different mobile suits, a support vehicle option (well, of sorts) and an equipment pack with assorted gear for the figures in the set. Released in October 2017 the capsules had the basic Ensemble price point of ¥500.



018 : RX-93 Nu Gundam

I guess you can say that after two years the Nu Gundam figure has become something of a rarity. It tends to command a considerably higher price on the secondhand market compared to most Ensemble figures. In fact, when I picked up a second copy in the end of 2018 I ended up having to pay ¥1500 for it.

The RX-93 is one of those figures that come with a suite of gear options. As such the basic figure is pretty disappointing in that it only features a beam rifle and shield. The Nu Gundam's normally attractive white and black beam rifle is of course all black here in Ensemble.

Even at its most basic the Nu Gundam is still an attractive mobile suit. While the figure in the pictures above has quite a bit of panel lining and some painted thrusters the basic figure looks pretty good just out of the box. It will be interesting to see just what Bandai plans to do with its "Marking Plus" version when 4.5 hits the marketplace. My guess is it will feature some metallic colour upgrades or possibly a basic pearl colour body rather than actually adding more detail.



019 : Booster Bed

Alright, just what in the world is going on here? I know that the Nu Gundam has a Heavy Weapons Type variant in the MSV line, but has there ever been a thing called a Booster Bed? I did a bit of investigation and found out that yes indeed the Booster Bed was featured in a 2012 super deformed kit of the FA-93HWS but is there actually any lore connected to this thing?


The way the story goes Anaheim Electronics did plan the Heavy Weapons suite for the RX-93 but they never got around to actually develop it since the Nu Gundam disappeared before the project could start. I guess we'll never know if there was also a concept for storing all the upgrade components on a sleigh like this but let's just say I have my doubts.

Regardless of grounding in lore or not, the Booster Bed is a pretty cool idea and certainly more fun than just a bunch of Nu Gundam option parts in a bag. It seems the design is not really completed though as the thing can't really stand up on its own. An ubiquitous Assault Kingdom action base component comes to the rescue.

Of course, the Booster Bed figure is all about converting the RX-93 into the FA-93HWS Nu Gundam Heavy Weapons Type MSV design. And boy, does it do this with flying colours. Just look at this thing...

The Booster Bed option parts does not include the Fin Funnels that you see here but all the other additional armor upgrades, shoulder launchers, improved shield and beam rifle. Bandai really hit it out of the park with this one.

My only complaint towards the Booster Bed figure itself is that it doesn't have any interesting action base included (well, it doesn't include any at all for that matter...). The action base problem is a major flaw in the entire Ensemble figure line and effectively nullifies all the effort that went into fully articulating them. It was the same failure that led to Universal Unit being a bit of a flop in my opinion.



020 : MS-18E Kämpfer

The Kämpfer is one of those mobile suit evergreens and instant classics although it only has a brief appearance in the War in the Pocket miniseries where it ends up getting shot up to pieces after taking on the Gundam NT-1 Alex. Wherever Bandai goes it usually won't take that long before it pops up and here we have it in slot number twenty.

The Kämpfer is perhaps best known for - except for its cool German name - a lot of gear options. And just like with the Nu Gundam we only get some of the very basics here, two shotguns to be exact.

The Ensemble Kämpfer figure looks great out of the box although Bandai didn't bother with painting its many thrusters save for a pair on the front torso. I had my work cut out for me to highlight these on my Kämpfer squad and while this would be something Bandai should fix on the upcoming "Marking Plus" version I'd be highly surprised if that actually happens. More likely we will get some random number slapped on it, or perhaps even a Cyclops Corps decal.



021 : RX-124 Gundam TR-6 Woundwort

The third and last Mobile Suit in this set is a real wildcard choice. Ensemble was pretty big on Advance of Zeta designs for a stage in its development and we were fortunate to get a pretty impressive range of mobile suits and mobile armors from this era.


The actual Woundwort design with its giant hips and weird backward facing feet isn't exactly what I would call an attractive design but the Ensemble figure is a nice representation of it. I also think the toned down proportions on the Ensemble figure look better than the real thing.

You'll need to put this figure on an action base though otherwise it will just look silly. I just noticed by the way that one of its feet fell out during the photo-shoot. Consider using glue for these tiny and sometimes annoying components.

The regular Ensemble line has given us the TR-1 Hazel, the TR-6 Hyzenthlay II and the TR-6 Woundwort by now. Many further options also exist once you start messing about with the EX figures (which I will probably get around to any year now...). The Woundwort figure from this volume will soon be released in official Titans navy blue colour as part of volume 4.5 and will most likely be the only really interesting figure to come out of that set.



022 : Equipment Set for part 04

The equipment set for this volume features gear choices for the Nu Gundam and the Kämpfer. Not that anything is really needed for the Woundwort (the only thing I can think of is a sub-arm unit) so I guess that makes sense.

The equipment set for this volume is primarily aimed at the Kämpfer but also comes with the "missing" signature gear you would have expected to find in the Nu Gundam box. This time the kit does not include the generic clear beam saber that I have started to get used to.

The Nu Gundam finally gets its Fin Funnels and a Bazooka which fits either in hand or attached to the backpack. There is of course also the Premium Bandai dual Fin Funnel set which was released as an accessory pack on its own which we will take a look at eventually in a separate review as well.

The Kämpfer gains two 360mm Giant Bazookas, a pair of Sturmfaust missiles and the improvised Chain Mine assembly. This gives you a lot of customization options for it and encourages squad building.

I think Ensemble is at its very best when you can pick up several figures of the same mobile suit and equip them differently. The Kämpfer joins rank with other impressive Ensemble figures such as the Stark Jegan and the Geara Doga.



Conclusion

Ensemble Part 04 is a competently executed entry into the Mobile Suit Ensemble figure series and contains some of the better figures released in the line. If you missed it the first time around you will have an opportunity with the scheduled release of Part 4.5 later this spring.

Gundam Converge CORE : RX-0 Unicorn Gundam 03 Phenex (Destroy Mode) (Narrative ver.)

This is one of those figures that kept slipping out of my hands last year. I don't know how many times I added it into my cart only for the item to sell out immediately. Finally, in late December, someone was sleeping on their watch and I was able to snag a copy for myself.

The Phenex comes in a typical CORE black box of about the same size as a regular Converge figure. As a P-Bandai exclusive it shipped in February 2019 and had a preorder price of ¥2500. By December the price had climbed a bit and I ended up paying ¥3500 for mine.

This is one of those smaller CORE type figures which are quite similar to the regular figure line. It comes with a bit more flair in the form of special paint and some exclusive parts but as you can see it is a pretty barebones figure coming with a beam rifle only.

Unit 03 carries two Armed Armor DE shields as its primary equipment and they come mounted on special pegs on the mobile suit's backpack. Each shield has a long tail-like stabilizer made from softer plastic which still maintains a specially shape. While they are designed to go together with the figure's action base you shouldn't have any issue posing the figure without the base if you so choose.

Notice the elbow peg holes on both arms for where the traditional Armed Armor shields of units 01 and 02 will normally go. You cannot put these golden shields there since they feature no pegs. The holes are basically there because the original Unicorn mold has been reused I suppose. Every time I see them I keep wishing for Bandai and FW to design some shiny beam tonfas that we could attach there to our various Unicorns for great effect...

The Phenex has been released once before in August 2016 using the old Unicorn sculpt as a Gundam Front Tokyo exclusive. The old figure is absolutely surpassed by the newcomer in most regards although I do prefer the gaze of the older figure where the eyes aren't completely obscured by the suit's brow.

There isn't really a whole lot to say about this figure so I'll keep the review short. If you enjoy the design of the Phenex and haven't yet picked it up I can easily recommend it although it will be a bit painful to locate one.

Mobile Suit Ensemble Part 11

Well, we haven't done one of these reviews in a while. I'm so behind on the latest sets all over the Bandai output but at least by now I have managed to fill out some of the glaring gaps from last year's releases. As the Winter Solstice has come and gone I also hope we might be seeing more sunny days as the winter progresses. Today we are going to skip forward to Ensemble Part 11 which was released already back in September last year. We'll get to Part 10 eventually as well which is now over half a year old already. I initially missed out completely on that wave but now they are sitting and staring at me from their capsules at least.

For this review I have used two sets of part 11 capsules which is in my opinion the ideal amount you would want to buy. This will enable you to build the three main mobile suits of the set as well as two separately designated variants plus a Gouf with a different weapons loadout. There are no real mass-production machines to hunt in this set so if you like to build everything one of the 10-Boxes that Bandai put out should be perfect.
   

068 : GX-9900 Gundam X

The poster pony for this set is the Gundam X from the After War Gundam X series. While it is a great looking mobile suit I have my reservations about how Ensemble just tends to pop in lead mobile suits of various shows without fleshing out the line-up. After War has a ton of awesome looking mobile suits that I would love to see (and they have never been made into figure form in any shape, scale or form). At this point all we have is the X as well as its evolution the Double X as well as a set of the Gundam Virsago and Ashtaron as very expensive EX-figures. Unfortunately I have yet to build either of them but I will get around to it eventually...

By the way, notice the updated and slightly smaller runners used for the joints that now come with Ensemble figures and which were introduced with Part 10. I guess this was the first attempt to allow for more elaborate figures to fit inside the capsules but now Bandai will eventually had to upgrade the capsule size once volume 13 lands since the figures in that set will just not fit inside anymore.

While the Gundam X has appeared in several figure series recently I never feel quite confident how the parts are supposed to go. The online build instructions for this volume could have added a couple of images for this basic figure as well in my opinion. Here you see it anyway with its large Satellite Cannon stowed on the back and the solar panels for the system folded. The cannon does look a bit silly with its large handle sticking out like a sore thumb. If you get two figures like I mentioned above you could consider chopping the handle bar off one of them if the cannon is only going to sit on its back anyway.

And here we have the same Gundam with its Satellite System deployed. I actually struggled with trying to figure out if there is a clever method to actually hook up the gun with the generator system (just like on the figures released in Converge and Universal Unit) but since I found no build instructions pointing to this I just assumed they were not intended to. Considering the very limited articulation (and man, these new joints are so tight) it was probably difficult to accomplish. The grey part on the tip of the cannon itself is intended to be moved forward by plugging it into a different peg hole but I kept it where it is to help straighten out the bent cannon component (both of my figures had this problem, so much for capsule figures).

This is my best attempt at trying to hook up the Satellite Cannon to its system...

Both the recent Gundam X figures from Converge #15 (released September 2019) and Universal Unit 2 (October 2016) feature Satellite Cannons that attach directly to the Solar System. But what is up with the alignment of the panels on the Converge figure? I'm telling you, I really would have liked some build instructions for this thing...
   

069 : MSN-00100 Hyaku-Shiki

My favourite figure from this set is the Hyaku-Shiki. While I may be a bit tired of seeing it in every other figure series there is just something nice about colourful figures and a metallic golden colour figure is sure to stand out.

The Ensemble Hyaku-Shiki figure is relatively bare bones. It comes with a beam rifle only and while it has its nice markings on both shoulders the lack of the bright red detail detracts a bit from the look of it. So much so that I had to apply some red paint myself just like on the older Geara Doga figures. I probably should have dabbled with the missing red detail on the back pack and beam rifle as well but I couldn't really be bothered since I am sure I would just mess those up. I also highlighted some of the hard to see detail with black marker pen as per usual.

I really like the look of this figure but there is something about its face that bothers me, the eyes just look so dull and lifeless. Perhaps they should have been given a slightly darker colour. Overall though a nice figure which will become great once we get to the option parts further down.
   

070 : MS-07B Gouf

The third and last mobile suit in this set is a real vintage classic; the -1979 Gouf. This figure also has a very vivid colour scheme which I really enjoy and it makes it immediately recognizable on either battlefield or collector shelf.

The Gouf figure comes with a couple of gear choices in the box. You have the heat rod which attaches to the elbow peg hole making it fully optional, as well as a five-finger launcher hand as an option part for the left hand. The fact that this option hand is fully painted whereas the standardized hands of all Ensemble figures are just a dull black doesn't exactly do the figure any favours.

Notice the slightly bent shield and commander antenna on this figure. These components are made using soft plastic while the spikes on the shoulders are the traditional rigid plastic that does not bend (and which is of course fragile instead). The figure also has the standard monoeye sitting on a circle that you can rotate by opening up the head.

Here the Ensemble Gouf poses next to the updated Gouf figure from Converge #12 released in October 2018. The Ensemble figure actually resembles the aesthetics of the original Converge Gouf from 2011 quite a bit. I much prefer this look and feel to the in my opinion far too cartoony looking Zeonic suits that have been pumped out through Converge as of late.
   

071 : Mega Bazooka Launcher / MSR-00100S Hyaku-Shiki Kai Mass Production Type parts

The fourth figure in an Ensemble set is traditionally a vehicle or equipment of sorts and this time Bandai are giving us the Mega Bazooka Launcher used by both the Z Gundam and the Hyaku-Shiki in the Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam series. This is a pretty lackluster thing to get so I guess to spice things up a bit Bandai were also kind enough to include some option parts which allows us to rebuild the Hyaku-Shiki figure into its Mobile Suit Variation mass production type.

Quite a respectable parts count after all and some nice colour applications where I didn't necessarily expect them to be. I have my reservations about this figure though as Bandai skipped on the altered backpack for the Hyaku-Shiki Kai, presumably going the Mass Production Route to keep costs down. Let's just take a moment to admire some of the amazing designs to have come out of the Hyaku-Shiki design:

From left to right we have the MSN-001 Delta Gundam prototype design, the MSN-00100 Hyaku Shiki itself, the MSR-00100 Hyaku-Shiki Kai and its slimmed down version the MSR-00100S Hyaku-Shiki Kai Mass Production Type followed by the two divine looking MSK-100S Land Combat Hyaku Shiki Kai and FA-00100S Full Armor Hyaku Shiki Kai.

I am not going to talk too much about the Mega Bazooka launcher. It does what it is supposed to and even has a little bit of parts swapping going on to display it either in operation or in compact mode as it is being launched into the battlefield from the Argama. It does lack a peg and holding hand of sorts like on the old Converge figure which enabled that figure to hold the launcher upright which looked pretty cool, the Ensemble figure here is just having the launcher lean onto its arm and shoulder which to be honest kinda sucks.

The Hyaku-Shiki Kai is a redesigned Hyaku-Shiki with increased mobility through an upgraded flight pack. It also features several redesigned bodyparts of which the shoulders and an elongated head are available to use in the Ensemble set. This is rounded up by a shoulder mounted Gatling Beam Cannon of which the figure can equip two if you have a spare one lying around. Since the high performance flight pack is not included with neither the Mass Production Model nor the the actual figure it looks kind of bare bones in my opinion.

I prefer to put the original Hyaku-Shiki binder pack onto the figure anyway, it just looks incomplete without one...

Actually, I like my Hyaku-Shiki Kai figure to go all-in. And since I have two Mega Launcher packs that also meant that I had access to a second shoulder cannon. Alright! I of course keep the old wing binder back pack which helps frame the stowed beam rifle and clay bazooka on its back. I really love what they did with the Kai option parts, just a bit of a shame that Bandai didn't go the extra mile putting in the wing binder set for the Kai as well.
   

072 : Ensemble Part 11 Equipment Set / GX-9900-DV Gundam X Divider option parts

Imagine being a kid again, having saved up some of your lunch money to go buy a Gashapon after school. You plonk that ¥500 in and out comes a back of components instead of a figure. Ensemble is just mean that way...

While the equipment set for part 11 is really all about the Gundam X-Divider there is actually a token thing for everyone in here. Let's scroll through the less interesting pieces in rapid succession first.

The Gouf gets its second signature weapon, the Heat Sword. It looks really dreary in all gray just like all the other miserable beam sabers and heat hawks that we get in these packs. I ended up painting mine which certainly changes things for the better (see the last picture of the review).

The Hyaku-Shiki gets its other well recognizable weapon the Clay Bazooka. If we ever get to see a Rick Dias in Ensemble this will come in useful for that mobile suit as well. Come to think of it; it really is time we saw some more interesting suits from the Zeta era. So far we only have the Z Gundam, the Mk-II with its Defenser and the Hyaku-Shiki.

The Gundam X itself gets an interesting looking beam saber, which actually features a fully painted hilt. Ensemble beam sabers are usually just simple translucent toothpicks but here a little bit more effort has been put into it. I wish it was molded in translucent green plastic as I know that if I attempt to paint it myself it will look absolutely horrible. The beam sabers in Ensemble basically just suck.

The star of the equipment parts set is the X-Divider component set. It replaces the entire Satellite Cannon system with a completely redesigned backpack (you know, something like I would have wanted for the Hyaku-Shiki Kai just a minute ago...), the revised Beam Rifle and the new Divider shield which doubles as an eighteen barreled beam-rifle because why not?

The Divider Shield can be assembled in either opened or closed mode and also features extra bits that allow you to store it on the Gundam's backpack. This equipment pack is great if you like the Gundam X and you'd do well to pick up two Gundam X figures just so you can display the alternate configurations next to each other.

The Gundam X Divider from Ensemble next to its older cousin from Converge #15 released in May 2019. Notice the metallic paint apps on the Converge figure's beam rifle. One can always dream for it to spill over into Ensemble, right?
  

Conclusion

Overall I think Ensemble Part 11 is a really neat and well engineered set with a great choice of mobile suits. I especially like that you can pick up a full box and put everything inside to good use and not feel like you just end up with a bunch of unwanted items that you need to get rid of.