Oh... so it is.... yep, it is one of
those sets again. SP2 hit the vending machines in September of 2008 and the Full Color Custom series was really running on fumes at that point. The last regular set - volume 20 - which came out in August one month earlier only featured two full colour figures with the rest being clear colour figs like the ones on display here. You actually have to go back to volume 16 to find a complete wave of fully painted figures.
These figures don't appear to be particularly sought after. I grabbed a full set from Mandarake last year for ¥800 which is actually down ¥200 from when they were first released. Still, you rarely see these figures so I would have expected them to garner a bit more interest.
This time the set is dominated by dull blue and black figures with a pair of red ones to liven things up a little. I liked these sets a little better when more colours like green or yellow were also used. The figures can also be hard to tell apart without the colour schemes so any extra help is always appreciated.
Like we have seen with the other special colour sets reviewed here on the blog SP2 recycles the same ten bonus parts that are included one per figure with a fixed distribution. You can see the corresponding bonus part laid out next to the respective figure with which it was bundled.
01 : GAT-X105+AQM/E-X01 Aile Strike Gundam (clear blue version)
As with the other clear colour reviews I will speed through these since there isn't a whole lot to say about them. Each figure recycles an existing full-colour sculpt and while they retain all the sculpt detail and moving parts limbs usually do not stick together as well as on the regular figures and it can be hard to make out the detail with the naked eye.
02 : ZGMF-X13A Providence Gundam (clear black version)
As an example of poor joints this Providence Gundam figure has an especially loose left arm. It doesn't matter how hard I force the arm into the socket, the soft plastic bulges and swells and slowly pushes itself out and falls off. While you can generally fix issues like this by gently slimming the peg with a knife it can easily end up with a peg that is too small anyway and so frustration is not far away. :)
03 : GAT-X103AP Verde Buster Gundam (clear black version)
Alright Bandai, you know how
verde means green in Spanish? Maybe let that be a hint about what colour I would have liked to see on this figure. Here was a perfect opportunity to play directly to the figure's character but... fine, let's paint it black.
04 : GAT-X1022 Blu Duel Gundam (clear blue version)
The Verde Buster's partner from the Actaeon Project is the Blu Duel Gundam and look here how nice it shines in blue. Bandai missed an epic opportunity to troll me here by doing it in green. :)
05 : ZGMF-X56S/a Force Impulse Gundam (clear blue version)
The Impulse Gundam is a rather unremarkable mobile suit design and here in single colour mode it becomes even more anonymous. If you pick it up randomly from a shelf you will have to spend considerable brain power to figure out if it is the Strike, Impulse or Akatsuki. That's why the full colour figures are so nice.
06 : GFAS-X1 Destroy Gundam (clear black version)
If you are in to Warhammer 40K you might also see a space marine face in this Destroy Gundam figure. :)
07 : GAT-X105E+AQM/E-X09S Strike Noir Gundam (clear black version)
Aaaah... a black Strike Noir, Bandai got it right again. Just that Verde Buster to annoy me... I have to give the sculptor credit though, the eyes on the various figures have a lot of character and work really well in bringing out some personality even to these single colour minis.
08 : RX-79[G] Gundam Ground Type (clear blue version)
The last three slots of this set belong to the Universal Century era and start off with a nice Ground Type Gundam carrying the smaller machine gun and a large backpack. I like the little peg on the underside of the pack that acts as a support and prevents the figure from toppling over.
09 : MSM-07S Z'Gok (Char's Custom) (clear red version)
No points for originality in making the only two red figures in the set are Char Aznable Customs. It is what it is I guess. Here a simplistic looking Z'Gok after all the elaborate Cosmic Era designs we saw up until this point.
10 : MS-06S Zaku II (Char's Custom) (clear red version)
The last slot also belongs to Char and his legendary Zaku II. Still, there is something weird about the dimensions on this figure, at first glance my brain wants to settle on a Dom until it notices more detail. Once again I think that is why the full colour figures work really well when they are, you know, full colour.
So there you have it folks. I sped through this review to get it out there mainly for the purposes of figure identification. If you enjoy the clear colour SD figures this is a nice set by all means. It would be interesting to see someone paint these up in a mix of traditional colours and leaving some translucent areas, I believe the effect could be quite spectacular.
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