Friday 24 January 2020

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.


2 comments:

  1. Where can i avail this one?.. i cant find it elsewhere..

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    Replies
    1. This is a very rare figure so you'll need to monitor the secondary market over time. Once you find it prepare to act fast since it tends to sell out more or less immediately.

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