Mobile Suit Ensemble Part 10

Bandai's Mobile Suit Ensemble figure series has been on a pretty strong streak as of late. I can't wait to put my hands on volume 13 although whenever that parcel will reach here is now anyone's guess. With shipping options currently down to DHL sourcing figures in Japan is now also akin to threading a needle. Today's review however concerns itself with a set that came out already in July last year. it took me a couple of months to collect all the necessary components and then I just sat on them for a couple of months because yes, that is what happens when I have to assemble stuff...

The photos above show both the Gashapon capsule edition as well as a random box of the cardboard box edition. While I do prefer the boxed editions since there will typically be less component warping the drawback is that you don't get the nice colourful booklets in the boxes so I usually try to get at least one of each type. :)
   

063 : GAT-X105 Strike Gundam

The figure at the front is of course a Gundam and this time we have the very first representative from the Mobile Suit Gundam SEED series. Together with the Freedom Gundam which is an EX figure these are the only mobile suits from the Cosmic Era in ensemble which of course makes me a sad fanboy.

I have added quite a bit of black to the Strike's shoulders, elbows and lower legs and it helps to make an already good looking figure really striking. The yellow paint on the shield is also important. Bandai omitted such important detail on recent figures like the Sazabi and Geara Doga in the MicroWars series for example, and it hurts their appeal a great deal.

Apart from said shield the Strike also comes with its signature 57 mm beam rifle. The figure has some more tricks up its sleeve which we will look at as we continue down the review and we will revisit there again. By the way, notice also the updated sprues for the figure's joints and inner frame that has kind of a rectangular shape about them.

   

064 : RX-0 Unicorn Gundam (Unicorn Mode)

Figure number two is also a Gundam but it didn't get to feature on an Ensemble cover, most likely because it is a pretty bland design. The Unicorn Gundam is easily one of the least eye catching machines with its overall neutral white colour scheme. I guess you could panel line it a lot to bring out its complex armor plating design but bringing in a busy detailed look will also drop some of its distinct personality and appeal. I like it for what it is.

Both the shield and unicorn horn are made from the soft and bendy type of plastic and I unfortunately saw some really bad warping on the two figures I pulled out of their capsules. I moan about it here from time to time on the blog; the Gashapon capsule format is really ill-suited to some types of figures and while Ensemble doesn't suffer as bad as figures like the Gasha Portraits figures no one enjoys a figure that has been significantly bent out of shape.

The Unicorn comes with its least impressive accessory, which is a rather plain beam rifle. We do get some more options in this set but it could really do with a pair of striking red beam tonfas. The Ensemble figures are perfect for them as well; you have a big elbow peg hole where they could easily be plugged in. One of these days I'll try to make some myself...

The Unicorn is now well represented in Mobile Suit Ensemble and its brother unit the Banshee will also get its Unicorn Mode figure in Ensemble Part 13. The only major variant missing now is the Phenex (in either of its variants really) and it wouldn't surprise me to see it pop up as a really expensive EX figure down the line.

  

065 : AMS-129 Geara Zulu

I can't decide which figure in this set is the most appealing to me; the Strike Gundam looks really awesome but then so does a fully decked out Geara Zulu. Being the only mass production suit in this set I was still surprised to see it get such detailed paint applications. Those black and white sleeves were probably rather expensive to apply but man; they really elevate the look of the figure tremendously.

The Geara Zulu is a very successful design upgrade of both the Geara Doga and the Zaku II. It has a very menacing and capable look and the subdued colour scheme also gives it a modern touch. Even ace pilot Angelo Sauper's dark purple machine looks kind of muted when you compare to older machines like the Sazabi or Rezin's Geara Doga. Too bad there isn't an Ensemble figure for it but man, if they ever get around to Ensemble Part 10.5 this set has potential to deliver some really impressive machines. Imagine an Aile Strike Rouge and Sauper's Geara Zulu. Of course, it wouldn't surprise me if Bandai went with some useless Marking Plus version of the Geara Zulu in that scenario instead.

The Geara Doga figure comes with a single accessory beyond its shoulder mounted shield although there is a lot of extra gear in the accessory pack. Here we get only the very odd beam rifle that happens to look like a German World War II-era assault rifle and to make it even more machine gun like the authors thought it was a good idea to make it shoot beam pellets instead of beams whatever that is. I don't see why it couldn't just be a regular beam rifle even though they went with some ancient aesthetic choice for it... We'll return to the Geara Doga when we check out the equipment pack.

The Geara Zulu together with two predecessors; the basic MS-06F Zaku II and the later AMS-119 Geara Doga of Neo Zeonic origin.
   

066 : FX-550 Skygrasper

The support craft slot for Ensemble Part 10 is dedicated to the FX-550 Skygrasper which has a very 20th century fighter jet look to it. I guess that is why I love it so much, especially compared to all the ugly Core Fighters out there. There is actually a SEED-MSV design for a space-use Skygrasper, known as the FXet-565 Cosmograsper. While that design is also quite beautiful it seems pointless to create a spacecraft based on the design limitations of an atmospheric fighter. Kind of like looking at a ferry and using it as the basis for engineering a train...

I don't know why but for some reason Bandai thought it was a good idea to make a white stand for this white jet as opposed to the clear plastic normally used for the regular figures. However I have plenty of clear stands lying about so I immediately replaced it never to be seen again. The figure also has this little turret behind the cockpit with a beam cannon that can also rotate 360 degrees.

The Skygrasper figure itself is tiny so there is plenty of room to include the Aile Striker pack in here. This is a high-mobility backpack designed for the Strike Gundam and the Skygrasper is supposed to deliver this gear immediately to the battlefield. I don't really buy the whole point of delivering gear upgrades in the middle of a battle but at least it beats cryptic in-flight G-Armor transformations or that horrible practice of sending out the Impulse Gundam in pieces... The Skygrasper can also utilize some of these components itself.

As most readers will know there are two additional packs for the Strike Gundam; the Launcher and Sword Strike packs but these are sadly not available in Mobile Suit Ensemble (unless Bandai decides to do an outrageously expensive Perfect Strike Figure in the P-Bandai line... hell, I'd buy it). It would have been nice to equip the Skygrasper with the Launcher pack and use it to blast a hole in a mobile suit much larger than itself...

  
   
063 + 066 : GAT-X105+AQM/E-X01 Aile Strike Gundam

The main gimmick of Ensemble Part 10 is of course the Aile Strike Gundam combination. The high mobility pack can be easily transferred from the Skygrasper to the Strike Gundam and will not upset the balance of the figure that much.

Damn, that's a fine looking mobile suit. Too bad it has no G Project buddies to mingle with on the shelf. I think the chances of seeing more O.M.N.I. mobile suits in Ensemble are kind of low but who knows.
Purchasing two sets of these figures will allow you to display all the four variants next to each other. If I could find more cheap Skygrasper figures I wouldn't mind building a fighter wing as well. :)

   

067 : Equipment Set for Wave 10

As per tradition, volume ten also includes a common parts set with accessories of more or less specific nature. Some parts will be designed for certain mobile suits while other items may be used by pretty much any Ensemble figure based on your own ideas.

In the component shot above one item, the clear beam saber to the far right, is a generic Ensemble staple accessory and you will find one in most equipment sets. You can use it with whatever figure you prefer.

The Strike Gundam gets two optional weapon choices from its own armory. First we have a pair of really basic looking combat knives, or Armor Schneiders, because of course mobile suit weapons have to feature cool German names. The knives are stored inside the mobile suit's legs but i think it would still have been cool if they had some tiny pegs that allowed them to be stored on the outside of the figure's legs anyway. The second accessory is a very large bazooka that fires conventional rounds. It has no dedicated pegs for storing it on the figure and the four magazines sitting in a star-shaped pattern at the back makes it really difficult for the figure to hold it in any believable fashion. A bit of a missed opportunity here since the weapon looks really good. The Strike normally has access to red beam sabers as well so you could use the one included in this pack as basis for such a conversion.

The Unicorn Gundam has to make do with a single accessory item, its very long Hyper Bazooka. In the pictures above I have armed it with two since I had access to multiple accessory packs. If you want more accessories for the Unicorn you can find more than you will find a boatload of stuff in the two Full Armor Unicorn EX figure packs as well. Still, if Bandai would have included a pair of Beam Tonfas in this pack I would have been very impressed.

The Geara Zulu figure receives the most support from this pack and this also answered some of my initial questions as to why there were these strange holes on the figure's body. The parts-set contains four option parts so you can build a squad to suit your personal needs. There is an optional headpiece with Commander Antenna, a spiked reinforcement that attaches to the left shoulder and allows for some close up fighting, beam rifle energy packs that attach to the front skirts and a Beam Tomahawk weapon for close combat. While the "real" Geara Zulu has access to a wider range of support weapons this will still give you a lot of toys to play with to customize your unit.

 

Conclusion

Mobile Suit Ensemble part 10 is another excellent wave of figures for the collection. Beyond difficulty in locating the figures (I think these should be medium difficulty) I guess the main drawback is that there is nothing for the vintage Universal Century lovers here. The two Unicorn suits will work well together with the Banshee, Kshatriya and Stark Jegan (and we are also promised a Zeta Plus in Part 14). Still no Sinanju on the horizon though. The Strike and Skygrasper for their part form a little appendix in the Ensemble line-up together with the Freedom Gundam and its METEOR support craft. I really do hope Bandai will increase the Cosmic Era representation since this feels a bit thin.