SD Gashapon Senshi Forte 10

Today's entry into the department of overdue reviews will be Gashapon Warrior Senshi Forte part 10. This set of figures was released in August 2019 and distributed both in capsules and blind boxes. It follows the annoying practice of grouping figures in four, meaning that for each four boxes you will get one each of the first three and then the A or the B version of the last figure.

Unless you want to pick up full 12-piece boxes I usually find eBay sellers in Hong Kong to be the best place online if you want to buy full sets of Senshi Forte figures as Japanese sellers tend to be quite pricey in comparison.
  

F066 : ZGMF-X13A Providence Gundam

The first figure in the set is the mighty Providence from the finale in Mobile Suit Gundam SEED yet it still isn't interesting enough to get to sit on the front the booklet apparently. Pfft...

Originally designed as a bulky close combat suit with heavy armor it also sports a massive beam rifle and a composite armed shield system on the left arm (sadly with no beam saber effect parts). When Rau Le Creuset was assigned as its pilot it was also converted to field a DRAGOON remote weapon pod system and this large backpack gives the machine its very unique profile.

Notice that this figure only comes with two optional left hands, since the left arm is absorbed into the composite shield system.

It is nice to see the Providence return to the SD line since its last appearance was back in the SD Full Color Custom era back in 2008. Rau Le Creuset really needs more love in the figure world. Enough with the Char Aznables already, give me Le Creuset in flight suit. MegaHouse, are you listening? :)

Here the Providence poses next to versions from SD Full Colour Stage 47 (released 2004) and Gundam Converge SP07 (from August 2016).

   

F067 : RX-78NT-1 Gundam NT-1 "Alex"

I feel like it was only yesterday that I reviewed the Alex for Converge #17 and indeed that figure and this one are only four months apart. I am honestly a bit surprised that it hasn't yet made it into the Mobile Suit Ensemble line-up as well.

I'm not going go too hard on the Alex here but it really could use some more colour applications. The original design benefits from a lot of smaller details that unfortunately tend to disappear in figures such as this one. I considered going over its leg exhaust ports with yellow and black but couldn't be bothered right at this time. The worst omission out of the box is the exposed Gatling Cannon which is also simply plain white.

The Alex comes with two gear options. You have its classic BOWA XBR-L beam rifle as well as an optional underarm which comes with a raised 90mm Gatling Cannon. There is of course also the nice shield which has the Alex logo carved into it but you'll have to fill it out carefully yourself if you actually want it to show. My Alex also came with a significant manufacturing flaw. The pegs on the backpack were completely out of proportion like they had melted out of a mold or something and I had to get to work with a knife to hack them down to size. Unfortunately I had already sold off the second Alex figure I purchased so I don't know if this is something commonly seen or if I was just unlucky.

Here the Senshi Forte Alex poses next to the older Gatling equipped figure from Gashapon Warrior NEXT 18, released in 2014. Notice how that figure has parts molded in gray for the cannons. A modular design with optional cannon components would have worked so well with this figure but would probably also have pushed the Alex out of the budget constraints.

   

F068 : MS-06FZ Zaku II Kai

Just like in Converge, the Alex is teamed up against the Zaku II Kai, its final opponent in the 0080 War in the Pocket miniseries. Designed under the Zeonic United Maintenance Plan the Zaku II Kai features several system upgrades and parts standardization features. It will sometimes appear with an alternate head sculpt based on aesthetics from the German World War II-era Stahlhelm although this figure only comes with the traditional and rather sleek looking Zaku-style head.

The Zaku II Kai figure has an attractive two-tone green armor with just enough colour applications here and there to make it fare so much better than the Alex. if I were to modify this figure it would primarily be painting the blade of the Heat Hawk in a bright yellow.

The Zaku comes with two gear options; the MMP-80 machine gun and the previously mentioned Heat Hawk axe-style weapon. Senshi Forte volume eleven will be the first set in this series to also release a box set with accessories for the figures in the wave. Had such a box existed for this volume I guess we would have found a Stahlhelm head in there and perhaps also a beam saber for the Alex, the Zaku II Kai's worst nightmare...

The head on the Zaku has a pretty ugly seam running all around its forehead. This is of course to allow access to the cylinder on which the monoeye is painted, allowing you to reposition it.

It can get rather expensive to army build Senshi Forte figures but this time I was lucky enough in finding a couple of singles for the Zaku II. Notice the tweaked shoulder types on some of the figures above.
   

F069 : MS-18E Kämpfer (Shotgun ver.)

The last two slots in this set are also dedicated to a mobile suit from the War in the Pocket series; the Providence Gundam really had to fight its way into this set. First out we have the Kämpfer A-type figure. Presumably, every other Kämpfer figure will be of the A-type, the others of type B.

Man, I just painted up a whole lot of thrusters on the Ensemble Kämpfers and here are a whole lot of them again... maybe another time. At least we got the white bands on the shoulder spike and the antenna. However, if you really want this figure to pop you should go to the trouble of painting up all the yellow exhaust ports that litter the arms and legs of this machine.

The A-type Kämpfer figure comes with two shotguns and a pair of Sturmfaust disposable rockets. One of the guns has its stock folded while the other is extended. ideally, you'll want to put the folded version on the mobile suit's back skirt when not in use. The Sturmfausts aren't really designed to be hand held but there are slots for them on the figure's legs.
   

F070 : MS-18E Kämpfer (Bazooka ver.)

Since the two Kämpfer figures are really only different in the equipment they field we proceed straight into the Kämpfer B-type figure. Indeed, these accessories would have been thrown into an equipment set box if Senshi forte followed the Mobile Suit Ensemble concept.

The Kämpfer B-type figure comes with three new weapons for the Kämpfer. Two 360mm Giant Bazookas and the odd "Chain Mine" assembly, which consists of a pearly band of mines on a cable that can latch onto surfaces. Bandai really loves this accessory but honestly I would have preferred a translucent beam saber any day. :)

The main "problem" I have with the B-type Kämpfer is that there is no way for it to carry the two bazookas on its backpack. Pretty much every other Kämpfer figure can do this and the money would have been better spent there than one the gimmicky chain mine thingy...

The chain mines go into the hands as any regular weapon but although the plastic is of the softer bendy type you can't really do anything interesting with them.

Here we have the Kämpfer with a couple of its friends from Gashapon Warrior NEXT 18 and NEXT SP04 (with the spiffy metallic gear) as well as the really compact figure from FW SD Gundam Neo 3. Notice how they all neatly store their bazookas on their backs.

   

Conclusion

Overall Gashapon Warrior Senshi Forte 10 is a damned fine set in a proven line of excellent figures. We will soon see volume eleven hit the shelves in March but from then on we don't really know exactly what Bandai are going to do next. Part 11 will supposedly feature the revised joint system and standardized hands (like Ensemble does them) so say goodbye to anything other than black hands from now on. Senshi Forte 11 will also feature a wholly new base system which will be a type of modular shelving system. Honestly I won't be sad to see the current stands going although I hope the new figures will continue to be compatible with them.

The latest Gundam Converge news...

My goodness... is someone in the Aznable family having a birthday in August? Like a zap of lightning from a clear blue sky, Bandai and FusionWorks suddenly drop not one but two Converge CORE sets dedicated to Zeon superstar Char Aznable.

CORE 022 is a four figure set lining up four mobile suits all piloted by Char under one flag or alias or another. Each figure is a reissue of recently modernized and released Converge figures with some additional markings slapped on to them. The Hyaku Shiki and the Sazabi get metallic coats and no less than three of the figures get unique accessories. Here come the Heat Hawk for the Zaku II, the Beam Naginata for the Gelgoog and the Beam Saber for the Hyaku-Shiki. That is all fine and dandy but the production model Zaku and Gelgoog figures should have received these accessories already at their original release...

CORE 023 is another two figure reissue set but here we are talking repaints; the new RX-78 figure has already been repainted in Real Type colours and here we get a red machine for Casval himself; as seen in the Mobile Suit Gundam: Gihren's Greed game. I don't know if the Core Fighter is also present in that series or not but we do get a spiffy looking red machine to go with it anyway. I'm sure many collectors would have loved to see a Core Fighter in the traditional colours outside of the very rare Operation V set, who knows maybe it will also be reissued further down the line.

With all this Char Aznable spectacle I'm sure a lot of you are wondering where Char's MS-09RS Rick Dom is hanging around. My guess is we will eventually see it pop up again as well, bundled with the Gundam figure in G3 colours. But before they can do that, FusionWorks must first get around to modifying the new MS-09 Dom figure into a Rick Dom (which is maybe not that far away now that they are working through the War in the Pocket era figures in the regular waves).

Both these sets look really neat and I am sure they will be really popular. Preorder is available here and here and both sets are scheduled for delivery in August.

The latest MS Ensemble news...

So, after quite the hiatus on the Gashapon Blog we get not one but two posts about Ensemble. Basically we learn that the embargo on pictures of volume 13 has been lifted so here comes the images that everybody have already seen about the S-Gundam and the Xeku Eins. As we already discussed earlier, this set will only feature three mobile suits out of which two will come in oversized 75mm capsules. The support fighter or vehicle which usually accompanies an Ensemble set is scrapped and replaced with the booster pack for the Ex-S Gundam. This set is going to leave you with quite a lot of unused option parts.

The full line-up for volume 14 has now also been revealed. The set is sort of a continuation of the idea behind part 13. We have the Wing Gundam (from the TV series) coming in an oversized capsule and it will also be possible to transform it into Bird Mode. Next up is the Zeta Plus with the red headcam from Unicorn, as Bandai likes to point out. Maybe we will see the blue version in a 14.5 set tey hint, but I can't really see what else they could do with this set except "Marking Plus ver." figures of the others so... um... no thanks. The third figure is the AGE-1 and it will receive two of its notable G-Wear packs which transform it into either the AGE-1T Titus or the AGE-1S Spallow. Pretty nifty. Again, these will replace the slot normally assigned to a support craft.

Stay tuned for more news in March about the Gashapon Warrior line as well as something that Google Translate refers to as "Luminous Warrior"... come again? Here is the quote:

ガシャポン戦士・ルミナス関連はそれぞれ新弾が発売される3月以降に情報を出していく予定です。

Mobile Suit Gundam MicroWars 3

Bandai's MicroWars figure line is one of the more intriguing concepts in the Gundam mini figure marketplace. Centered around their gimmick of emulating pilot and machine, the series has a strong focus on mixing up mobile suits with vehicles of all shapes and sizes as well as fully articulated pilot figurines. While the figures themselves are a bit on the dull side they simultaneously also offer a level of playability that we usually do not see in this area. I initially thought that the line was a flop and would be dead in the water come this third set but we already have three more sets lined up for the first half of 2020, volume four having already been released a few weeks ago.

MicroWars volume three was released in October last year and the figures are distributed in 10-boxes evenly spread between the various figures, something which was not the case when the series originally launched. I myself purchased a total of two boxes worth over two months time, picking them up piece by piece on average paying ¥500 per figure.
   

01 : RX-93 Nu Gundam

With MicroWars 3 the series is taking its first step outside of U.C. 0079 territory and I honestly don't know how I feel about that. At least we are still focusing on the E.F.S.F. vs. various Zeonic factions and I would hope they continue to milk this era properly before venturing elsewhere. I don't think there are a lot of vehicles in the other series that you could branch into (unless you are going full on Mobile Suit Gundam SEED which would have been awesome but we all know that isn't going to happen...).

I have to say, I'm not a big fan of putting the RX-93 in MicroWars. This is such an elaborate design and the end result we got here is pretty mediocre to say the least. There is an awful lot of white on this figure and I wasn't in the mood to try and correct it, I feel I have had more than enough of that working on the Ensemble and Universal Unit figures so this is a pretty half-hearted attempt. I mean come on, they didn't even paint the backpack.

The MicroWars figures follow the design principles from Universal Unit. Instead of prepainted detail they provide you terrible sticker sheets to wrap around curved and angular surfaces and they often do a poor job at that. The Nu Gundam gets black stickers for its feet, a white sticker to put on its chest along with some detail for hatches, logos and even a little green sticker for its chest. Of course the white on the stickers doesn't match the background colour so the logos look absolutely dreadful. There are no stickers for the Fin Funnels at all, I just did some basic black detail and couldn't be bothered to paint the yellow areas. This is not my idea of a good time with a candy toy.

The chest area of course opens up to allow for the UC 0093 era figure of Amuro Ray to climb into the cockpit. The innards of the RX-93 are very cramped and he barely fits in there. The Sazabi follows in volume four and I have a feeling I will feel a lot of the same issues with that figure once I have it in hand. In general I think MicroWars fits perfectly for simplistic figures like the Zaku II and the GM, elaborate designs like the Nu are going to come out a bit disappointing.
   

02 : RB-79 Ball

The "good guys" only get two figures in this set and the second is the classic 0079-era Ball-type mobile armor. Unlike a complex beast like the RX-93 this is as simple as it gets. It is literally a ball sized object with two limp arms that can wiggle a little in their slots. The articulation on the MicroWars figures is typically restricted to this type of ball joint and since arms and legs are often hollowed out (to ease production or save money on plastic?) the figures tend to look the best one viewed from the front anyway.

Just look at those hollowed out claws. Dreadful. The large cannon on the head has only one solid side as well which is pretty ridiculous. If you can look past these issues you at least get a nice metallic coat on the gun and the circular viewport that it has for an eye.

The Ball figure also comes with the token three mini figures for the E.F.S.F. team. Apart from the "old" orange pilot suit we've seen before we also get two new figures with nice metallic painted visors on their helmets. I assume that the figure with the yellow visor is Amuro Ray and the one with a blue visor is most likely Chan Agi (although that's not a very flattering sculpt for her...).

Since the Ball figure does not have to bother with any arms the hatch opens up easily and allows for plenty of space for the pilot inside.

Here the MicroWars Ball poses next to its more accurately proportioned cousin from Assault Kingdom and a Thunderbolt style Ball made by Banpresto for the Ichiban Kuji-lottery. I like how MicroWars figures are compatible with the action bases from Assault Kingdom. This makes it easier to overlook the fact that Bandai were too cheap to include stands for the MicroWars fliers...

One of the best things about MicroWars is building a fleet of units and throwing them into action; here against a wing of Gattles (also from the Ichiban Kuji Thunderbolt line). I am kind of surprised that MicroWars hasn't yet feature the Saberfish or the Gattle spacecraft. Imagine a set with the Guncannon and the Saberfish on one side and the Gelgoog and the Gattle on the other. I would hoard those like no tomorrow...
   

03 : AMS-119 Geara Doga

The last three figures of the set are dedicated to various Zeonic factions. First out is another design from Char's Counterattack; the mass production Geara Doga. I like how we will get some balance once set four comes out. Neo Zeon will get the Sazabi leader suit and Londo Bell will get the Jegan as its own mass-production option. For now though, the fight will be a bit uneven.

Someone clearly spent a lot of effort on designing the Geara Doga. This thing is huge and bulky and makes you wonder how Bandai even managed to stuff it inside the box. It has decent colour applications but just like its Mobile Suit Ensemble cousin I felt the need to put some paint on its exposed arm and leg joints. This is also why the review has been dragging for so long, I didn't want to start painting until I had assembled the complete squad.

Here we have more of those annoying wrap around the foot stickers. I just ignored them as I always do and painted the figure instead. I do wish they would have included a yellow Neo Zeon insignia for the shield though. Even if it wouldn't match the shield colour accurately it would definitely have looked better than if I attempted to paint it myself, so I just left the emblem unpainted. There are no optional Sturmfaust rocket accessories for this figure. Instead some diminutive and hollow versions of these are sculpted directly onto the shield. They look so horrible that not even painting them could have saved them.

The Geara Doga's cockpit is also pretty cramped but not as fiddly as on the RX-93. I had no problem placing the pilots inside them. Notice also the removable "helmet" which allows you to manipulate the facing of the monoeye, which sits on a typical for Shokugan figures rotating black disc.

For me the MicroWars Geara Doga brings back a lot of memories from the recent Mobile Suit Ensemble figures. When placing them next to each other I noticed how the Ensemble figures feel solid and heavy in comparison. they also have a much more impressive weapon range of course.

I Bandai would have made at least a commander style helmet option part for the Geara Doga just like they did for the Zaku II. However, I can also see the limitations here as far as costs and just managing to cram everything into a box are concerned. Perhaps we can get an alternate SP version of this figure in the future. I may just end up buying a couple extras and have them repainted in blue and red anyway.
   

04 : MSM-07S Z'Gok (Char's Custom)

Up until now there have always been three different mobile suits in each MicroWars set, something that will change a bit going forward. This time it is Zeon side that gets the upper hand with another classic U.C. 0079 design, Char's own amphibious Z'Gok. This is one of those simplistic designs that lend themselves well to MicroWars, without too many complicated bells and whistles.

While the mobile suit looks ok from the front I have my reservations when viewing it from the back. Just look at all those hollow arms and legs, and even the backpack. At least the claws feel sturdy and are painted to a reasonable standard. It would have been terrible having to use white stickers for the claws.

Ah yes, speaking of stickers. I'm sure the Bandai design team was thankful that the Z'Gok doesn't have any black trimmings on its feet so they directed their cost cutting measures elsewhere. Instead you are given black stickers for four of the six "windows" on the head as well as a couple of other parts that are left unpainted. While you can easily paint up the missing black spots (also paint the torpedo launchers on the head while you are at it) the white area on the chest will give you more grief. The sticker included for this area must be bent over the middle and so does not want to stay on well. Oh dear, it is the Universal Unit Hygogg stickers all over again...

Plenty of space for Char inside the Z'Gok. Notice that white sticker I was talking about, already trying to peel off. Still I like the figure and I'm looking forward to build a squad of aquatic suits to go with it. The blue mass production type will be released as an SP figure in March (and will probably be very expensive to try to army build) but at least you can pick up some Acguys once MicroWars volume five hits the shelves in May.
   

05 : DFA-03 Dopp

I really have to give the Bandai designers credit for keeping the vehicle releases running in MicroWars. The Zeonic vehicle this time around is the strange looking Dopp snubfighter which defies all laws of good design.

The Dopp is a very basic figure but it has been given a very stylish multi-panel cockpit in shiny finish. If you wonder why there is a weird hole in the lower window it is probably due to some cost-cutting manufacturing technique to create the attachment for the pilot's instrument panel.

The Dopp fighter comes with three Zeonic pilots. One is of course Char and he looks just like he did in volume one when he crewed a Zaku II. Then we have a Zeonic airforce/mobile suit pilot for the Dopp Fighter and a Neo Zeon pilot for the Geara Doga.

The Dopp looks really bizarre when the cockpit opens up. I wish the figure had at least a simple optional landing gear, it would have improved the look of a parked Dopp a great deal.

Once again, Assault Kingdom comes to the rescue with its compatible action bases. If you are a MicroWars collector and haven't done so by now, I recommend picking up some of the Assault Kingdom figures that come with clear modular action bases. They add a whole lot of fun.

Here we have the six different figures for volume three again. I have to say, a lot of effort has been put into these and if you want to paint them up (I recommend gluing them into static poses first) they are going to look really stellar. I might try that with a couple of figures further down the line.

Above you can see the total line-up for each team at the time of MicroWars 3's release. We already have a new set out on the shelves and I have a couple of the figures on order already although I am gunning for a few more to build a sizeable Jegan squad.
   

Conclusion

While MicroWars 3 is clearly my least favourite of the three sets I have reviewed so far I still like it a lot as a collection builder. Its main strength is that it continues to build up the forces for each side even though I don't really like the jump into U.C. 0093 (and with volume four we will go all the way to Unicorn...). I also would have really preferred that the Z'Gok in this set was the mass production version and that Char's Custom red figure was relegated to the SP figure set, but I have a feeling that there is a financial decision in there somewhere. That's just how Bandai likes to operate these days it seems.