Gundam Converge : Narrative Blu-Ray Deluxe Edition

As if chasing the reglar retail and premium items wasn't hard enough, the dedicated Converge collector also has to deal with some more troublesome categories. We have items sold exclusively in e.g. 7-Eleven stores, items released and sold exclusively at certain fairs or exhibitions for example. Some of these were even "overseas" items released by Bandai's Asia Division in Hong Kong, which served up a bit of poetic justice to Japanese collectors who hade to chase after stuff abroad for once. Then we have the most frustrating category of items, the promotional "not for sale" items. These are items bundled with preorders of cinema tickets as part of a premium package which might also include promotional printed material for example.

 

Do you remember Mobile Suit Gundam Narrative? This film premiered in late 2018 and was a sort of sequel to Unicorn. There was quite a buzz around it back then and we saw a number of nice figures released in the Converge line during 2019. Since then, things have been dead quiet, and there I was hoping for a Gustav Karl release which never came...

 

The original Converge RX-9/B figure was released in Converge #14 in February 2019 and this pearl metal colour figure followed in May with the Narrative Blu-Ray Disc release. I don't know if any other promo stuff was also included at the time, since I picked up this figure as seen here on the secondary market. It was a pricy sucker too. I've seen it for sale maybe three or four times in the one and a half years it took me to find it and I to shell out ¥10000 for the pleasure of owning one. The Blu-Ray package itself cost ¥12800 so people who collect film and don't care about figures stand to get a good discount if they are willing to part with them.

 

As you can see the components in the pack are the exact same ones that you will fnd with the retail figure, here it is all about bling. Notice also the printed logo on the base of course.

 

Besides from being gifted a really boring name the Narrative Gundam is a good looking machine with more than a few likenesses to the classic RX-0 Unicorn. The painting of this figure is also great with a lot of fancy detail going on. I especially like the red colour apps on the lower half of the torso, something that Bandai could easily have skipped to save themselves a bit of trouble. The B-Packs equipment isn't the most exciting loadout but it at least helps to give the machine a unique looking profile.

 

This side-by-side with the retail figure from Converge #14 shows clearly the overall pearl colour finish which also helps to bring out the sculpting detail. Is it worth throwing away a crazy amount of money to obtain? Of course not. The basic retail figures are always excellent and usually also more colour accurate than fancy reissues. Continue building your base Converge collection instead of going after pointless items like these. This also reminds me of the metallic colour version of the RX-104FF Penelope which was shipped to customers in November; that is going to be a nightmare all by itself...