Gundanium Gateway: SD Gashapon Warrior NEXT Premier 02

It may not look like much on the outside, but this black box is filled to the brim with really unique figurines for the old Gashapon Warrior NEXT super deformed line. In fact, there are several more or less known boxsets for both Gashapon Warrior NEXT and DASH that appear in this type of unremarkable packaging. Unless you know what you are looking for you would be unlikely to pay any special attention to one if you found it in a second hand shop. And even if you did know about it, it would likely be very expensive and so you would skip right past it anyway.

Thanks to the marvels of automatic translation we can discover that the text on the box simply says Gashapon Warrior NEXT Premier 02 exclusive to Premium Bandai as well as the year 2013. Hardly a lot to go on there, even if you do speak the language. If you open the box however things will become a bit clearer. Here we have a massive set of eight Advance of Zeta mobile suit and armor designs, some of them really, really unique and exclusive to this set. The set appeared at the end of 2013 and was sold at a premium price of ¥4935. I've picked up a couple of boxes during 2018 and 2019 and paid between ¥4500 and ¥6000 for them.

01 : RX-124 Gundam TR-6 [Hyzenthlay II-Rah]

I will go through the figures in the sequence they have been numbered on the P-Bandai page, where they are for some reason numbered just like in a regular set. There is no such numbering visible inside the package itself however.

Anyway, our first figure is this RX-124 Gundam TR-6 [Hyzenthlay II-Rah] or as it is also known, the TR-6 [Advanced Woundwort Ex]. This is an evolution of the RX-124 Gundam TR-6 [Hyzenthlay II] decked out with G-Parts. The figure itself seems to be missing a lot of said G-Parts however, it basically looks like a slightly altered sculpt of the TR-6 [Hyzenthlay II] with one additional Long Blade Rifle.

This figure is one of only a couple in this box that comes with a small stand. These are standardized for most SD figures and can be used by all the regular NEXT and DASH figures as you see fit. We'll do a couple more comparisons with this figure once we look at some of the others in this box so let's push on.

02 : RX-121-3C Gundam TR-1 [Hyzenthlay]

The Gundam TR-1 [Hyzenthlay] is supposedly the final evolution in the Hazel development project. It takes components from the TR-6 we just looked at as well as from the RX-121-2A Gundam TR-1 [Advanced Hazel]. The Advanced Hazel is yet to be featured in any of the super deformed Gashapon figure lines unfortunately.

We can recognize one of the TR-6's Long Blade Rifles as well as a pair of Beam Cannons on the Gundam's shoulders. The rest of the mobile suit is a more traditional type of Gundam unlike the TR-6 which is a transforming behemoth.

This figure is pretty basic when compared to your average Gashapon Warrior NEXT figure. It's main recognizable feature is that bizarre angel-like golden coloured V-Fin stand-in which covers the greater part of its forehead.

Comparison of the TR-1 [Hyzenthlay] and the TR-6 [Hyzenthlay II-Rah] from this set. The similarities and differences are easy to see when posed next to each other although not always as apparent if you happen to stumble on a single figure.

03 : RX-121-3C Gundam TR-1 [Hyzenthlay] (Official Color)

Next up is a colour variation of the TR-1 [Hyzenthlay] in the traditional Titans Navy Blue colour. Bandai tends to release both white and blue figures once they get around to the Advance of Zeta designs. This figure isn't exactly the same as the white version but it comes really close.

Notice the two tone colour scheme of the figure, which is reminiscent of the old RX-178 Gundam Mk-II colour scheme also used by the Titans. There is actually a blue Gundam Mk-II in the Gashapon Warrior NEXT line however I have so far not been able to source one for the collection.

Although the Hazels usually have a couple of weapon options this figure comes with the same signature Long Blade Rifle as the white version.

The two RX-121-3C Gundam TR-1s of this set. They sculpts are pretty much the same except for the designs of the V-Fins on the head.

04 : NRX-044(R) Prototype Asshimar TR-3 [Kehaar] (Space Type)

Alright... enough with the Hazels, let's take a look at the main prize of this package (at least as far as I am concerned). I am a huge fan of the NRX-044 Asshimar design and so ever since I first learnt about the Kehaar being a part of this set I had been searching fruitlessly for it for a couple of years before finally striking gold.

Oh my.... just look at this slick beast. The Kehaar prototype is pretty much a legless NRX-044 Asshimar that has been decked out with extra boosters for deployment in zero gravity. The suit retains transformation into mobile armor mode but the Space Type MA looks very different. Where the regular Asshimar transforms into a doughnut shaped form the Space Type instead resembles a flying jellyfish racing forward with its big beam rifle sticking out of its center. Sadly we have no such representation of this mode in this box set; that would have been some real icing on the Kehaar cake.

The TR-3 Space Type was eventually developed into a new form which drops the (R) from its designation and simply becomes the NRX-044 Prototype Asshimar TR-3 [Kehaar]. That version receives new legs with upgraded thermonuclear thrusters which greatly increase its performance and allows it to operate within atmosphere again. Again, it would have been cool to get some option parts for such a variant but at least we can find a beautiful representation of that machine in the 1:400 Gundam Collection range (yes, I built a squadron of those...).

Posing with some super deformed NRX-044 Asshimars from SD Gundam Full Color and FW SD Gundam NEO. I also replaced the base with a transparent one.

In my opinion this figure is really one of the absolute highlights from the Gashapon Warrior NEXT range. I wish Bandai would continue to look at the many eclectic and downright crazy designs that have come out of both the original and the rebooted Advance of Zeta concepts even though they must be a nightmare to bring into physical form. Mobile Suit Ensemble has done a good job so far with some truly crazy designs.

05 : MSA-099 Rick Dias [Stutzer]

The next figure in this set is also a real highlight for me, truly one of those obscure gems that are unlikely to ever be offered to use in figure form again.

The Stutzer is basically a plain Rick Dias that has been decked out with a really busy option kit. The basic machine remains unchanged but it has received an extra armor suit as well as a new set of back-mounted wing binders. The machine also carries several new missile pods and held in hand is its massive Long Shield Booster, which can attach to the back for increased performance when cruising.

The Stutzer figure consists of several components that can be hard to figure out exactly how to put together; that is until I realized that there were assembly instructions included on the flip side of the leaflet in the box...

Here the figure is seen in its cruising mode. The Long Shield Booster now sits on the figure's back and the frontal armor with missile pods is rotated 90 degrees forward. The thing looks really funky already in its original proportions but in super deformed mode it becomes almost ridiculous.

The Stutzer figure definitely looks the best in its mobile suit form. Here it poses with some traditional RMS-099 Rick Dias figures from SD Gundam Full Color, Gashapon Senshi Forte and Gundam Converge.

06 : ORX-005 Gaplant TR-5 [Hrairoo]

Man... this set just keeps on delivering. I really enjoy so many of the mobile suit designs from Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam and the mighty ORX-005 Gaplant is one of the many highlights from the show.

Here we get the TR-5 evolution of the Gaplant with a Gundam-esque head and what looks like its Hrairoo form with additional G-Parts from the Hazel TR-1's Hrududu II support craft. I can never be really sure with all the many different cross-pollinations and evolutions that go on within the Advance of Zeta Hazel research program.

The figure itself is pretty straightforward. It wouldn't have been terribly hard for Bandai to have resculpted and recoloured it into the base ORX-005 Gaplant as well. Too bad it never appeared in the Gashapon Warrior NEXT or DASH lines. Perhaps it can get a shot at life in the continued Senshi Forte line? Let's just say I won't be holding my breath.

Posing with a pair of Gaplant wingmen from the old SD Gundam Full Color line.

07 : RX-124 Gundam TR-6 [Hyzenthlay II] (Official Color)

Hold on, I thought we were done with the Hazels? Nope, for some reason Bandai gave the fourth and last Hazel iteration in this set figure number 07 so here we go with the TR-6, one more time. You may remember it from the beginning of this review, in its white form. However, where the white version of the figure depicts the TR-6 [Hyzenthlay II-Rah] this blue version represents the TR-6 [Hyzenthlay II]. The difference is that the II-Rah combines with G-parts from the FF-X29A G-Parts [Hrududu II] support craft.

In its original shape the TR-6 is a really tall and slim looking machine but I think even the super deformed version of it here manages to present it in a rather sleek fashion, impressive considering its size restrictions.

The white version of the TR-6 came with two Long Blade Rifles and an action base. The Titans colour blue version of the figure has to make do with one of the rifles and no stand, but you can of course mix and match according to preference here.

Comparison shots of the TR-6 [Hyzenthlay II] together with the white TR-6 [Hyzenthlay II-Rah] and the other blue Hazel in this box; the RX-121-3C Gundam TR-1 [Hyzenthlay].

08 : RMS-154 Barzam (Advance of Zeta ver.)

The last machine in this set is a good old mass production type mobile suit; the RMS-154 Barzam which we also saw getting mass murdered towards the end of Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam. I don't know if there are any technical specification changes between the Barzams that appear in Zeta and Advance of Zeta, but at least the colour scheme is more subdued and in line with the Hazels for the AOZ version seen here.

It might seem a bit odd that the Barzam has been granted an action base as part of its equipment pack. Perhaps this was just a packaging decision since it was the easiest to plonk it into the Barzam bag due to space restrictions. The leaflet included in the box doesn't actually show any mobile suits using these bases, only the Rick Dias [Stutzer] and Asshimar TR-3 [Kehaar] are shown with the bigger bases attached, so perhaps Bandai actually had some other ideas in mind here.

The Barzam comes with an unusual looking Beam Rifle which mainly resembles some kind of Hermit Crab claw. It is supposed to be attached to the side of the mobile suit's right forearm, here it comes with a grip that allows you to simulate this while still holding the weapon in hand.

The Barzam has a Zeonic style monoeye just like the Hizack and the Marasai. The figure itself has a head that can be opened up but where you would normally find a doughnut-shaped circle with an eye painted on it there was only room for a semi-circle inside this head. This gives you the option of having the mobile suit look either left or right at a fixed angle only.

I love my Barzam squad although it is really missing one machine. I hope to be able to pick up a fourth box set sometime in the future. Another interesting idea is the RMS-154 Refined Barzam. It is basically a cross between the regular Barzam and an RX-178 Gundam Mk-II. It should be possible to assemble a decent version of this mobile suit by sticking the Mk-II's arms and legs on this Barzam figure. I still do not own and NEXT Mk-II so I cannot try it out for now.

Conclusion

I don't think I need to spell it out one more time here; the NEXT Premier 02 box is an absolute killer set if you enjoy the Advance of Zeta designs or are just looking for something eye-catching to stand out in your SD figure collection. I cannot praise this set highly enough and can only lament that it is quite difficult to find. if you stumble over a box, prepare for a painful choice of purchasing it or regretting it forever. :)