Senshi Forte is leading something of an uncharmed life. Premiering in January 2017 we saw four retail sets as well as two EX figures in the first year. 2018 kept up the pace with another four retail sets, three EX figures and an accessory pack. Around 2019 we began to hear more and more talk about the series not making enough profit yet the first eight months saw another four sets and the sixth EX figure. After these initial ten waves everything suddenly became very quiet and we learned that SF was being reworked from the ground up. Returning as some sort of 2.0 the series has since delivered two new retail sets in 2020 as well as the seventh EX figure which is a hold over from the old generation. Wave 13 isn't expected until February next year six months after the previous wave and beyond that I haven't seen any new announcements.
The subject of this review is the mysterious EX 07, a figure that released discreetly somewhere in the middle of the initial C19 scare, supposedly beginning deliveries in March 2020. Being a P-Bandai release the figure sold through their premium program for ¥2970 and it wasn't until October that I stumbled across one. By that time the price had skyrocketed to ¥7000 so it would appear that supply is rather limited.
The Senshi Forte EX figures rarely get very interesting packaging but this must be some sort of record low. While rather stylish you don't really have a clue what is hiding inside the box unless you come prepared. The Shodai Shou Gundam lacks a model designation which is usually your last resort when trying to identify something.
As clearly seen above we are talking old school Senshi Forte here. This figure is from the era with the old stands and individually sculpted hands (and also means your fingers will smart a bit when you assemble it).
Ah yes... assembly. Let's all take a second to enjoy the helpful instructions included with the figure. We have some poor quality black and white pictures which will do a pretty poor job of explaining which pieces go where. Luckily we have a detailed image of how to attach the tail to the Tiger which is I'm sure the biggest hurdle for people to overcome. :)
The Shodai Shou Gundam belongs to the family of cartoon figures that were so common in early Senshi Forte sets, but which Bandai seems to have given up on by now. There were a total of seven figures spread out among the initial seven Senshi Forte retail waves, two additional figures in EX 05 and here we have our tenth and likely final member. These figures did receive a lot of love from the designers and the Shodai Shou is looking very regal with its fantastic colours and attention to detail.
Like all the early Senshi Forte releases the figure comes with two sets of hands, open and closed. The open hands can hold your preferred selection of the four optional weapons; two swords, a spear and some sort of matchlock inspired gun (no idea if it is supposed to fire bullets or beams). The sword sheath is not functional and there is no option part with a sword inside, something we have seen e.g. in Gundam Converge. Two additional static weapons are seen on the back - a tiny quiver and a very traditional-looking Gatling Gun.
According to the deep lore of the SD Sengokuden Musha Shichinin Shuu Hen television series from the late 1980s the Shodai Shou is an army commander of the Gundam Army and apparently also the father of Musha Gundam (seen here in its Senshi Forte 06 version released in June 2018). I have no idea how these things work, check the wikipedia page for the
Warring States Legend series for more nostalgia.
The Shodai Shou Gundam wades knee deep into battle alongside his trusty Tiger companion (which I'm sure has a name but it has so far escaped me). This Blade Liger... er, I mean this Tiger figure is completely static in its pose but we know that we can freely rotate the tail thanks to the great assembly instructions. Not a huge fan of the large peg on its back but it does serve an obvious function of course.
To combine the two figures into the Harimao Special Mode you have to take the Gundam figure apart at the waist and attach the torso to the large peg on the Tiger. I have no idea what happens to the legs in the cartoon but I would assume that they somehow fit inside the Tiger since it would be a tad convenient to leave your legs on the battlefield. This thing just fills me up with so many questions... For me personally I prefer to display the two figures separately, just like I don't really care for the Centaur-style four-legged Knight Gundam option parts.
While the SD character figures are definitely an acquired taste and certainly not for everyone this figure turned out really spectacular. The high price and limited availability means that this will probably only find its way into the collections of the most dedicated followers however. It remains to be seen if the Senshi Forte phenomenon can survive 2021but if it does I hope the designers will return to the Musha-style characters, can't wait to see some of the Zaku-based machines myself.
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