Unifive Universal Century All Gundam Key Holder (Bandai Museum Limited)

This review is a little follow-up to yesterday's All Gundam Keyholder set which featured various incarnations of the RX-78 as well as the RX-79[G]. This particular item is a variation on one of the figures found in that set, and was made available as a Bandai Museum exclusive item. Just like how some items are sold through the Gundam Café shops today. To quote a few lines from the Wikipedia article on the museum:

 

"The Omocha no Machi Bandai Museum is a museum devoted to Bandai characters located in Mibu, Shimotsuga District, Tochigi, Japan. It opened on July 19, 2003 as the Bandai Museum at Matsudo, Chiba. It was closed on August 31, 2006 and moved to Mibu, Tochigi on April 28, 2007, where it features exhibits on Ultraman, Gundam, Godzilla, Super Sentai, and a Gundam-themed cafe along with various shops attached to the museum."

 

Looking at this particular figure's barcode and ST markings it does not look like it was released at the same time as the retail figures. I don't know if this figure was released in tandem with other figures but I do know that there exists at least one additional Bandai Museum exclusive in this figure line, that one being a Casval Custom version of the Full Armor Gundam which I sadly do not own.

 

The packaging is as you can see rather Spartan; a slip of paper and a crumpled plastic bag. Here is the figure with its metal strap before it being permanently removed.

 

The RX-78/C.A. is a variation of the RX-78 developed by Neo Zeon for the personal use of Casval Rem Deikun, better known as Char Aznable. The suit was featured in Gihren's Greed, one of those turn-based strategy games I never got to play. The figure itself has a nice paint scheme with some really fine markings on the shield, which drastically ups the detail level compared to the basic figure (which carries no text markings). Being a keyring figure, the material is soft, durable and somewhat bendy plastic.

 

There isn't a whole lot to say about the figure really, what you see is what you get. Here it poses next to the original retail version from the Universal Century All Gundam Key Holder set which was also released in 2004.

 

Here is an expanded family view togeter with the RX-78 versions from that retail set. I wouldn't be surprised if there are even more variations released of this figure; a Real Type-colour version would seem quite likely for example.

 

One thing I didn't discuss in detail in the previous review is the actual size of these keyring figures. Here is a comparison shot of some figures in nearby scales. From left to right we see:

- Casval's Gundam in 1:400 scale from the Gundam Collection figure series.

- A unique olive green-themed RX-78 from the Gundam Gsight 1:350 figure collection.

- The dual bazooka wielding figure from this particular review.

- A classic coloured RX-78-2 with weathering from the Strategy of Gundam 1:300 series.

- A non-scale Zaku II from the long-running Gashapon HG figure series, which is somewhere around 1:285.

- Another white RX-78-2 with even more weathering from the Banpresto MTSS 1:250 collection.

- Lastly a 1:220 scale RX-78/C.A. - here from the Bandai Hybrid Mobile Suit Selection series.

I don't have a whole lot more to say about this figure except that it is a great addition to your keyring figure collection, should you happen to stumble on it. I don't know exactly how rare it is, considering that the ordinary retail figures are pretty damn hard to find to begin with. Gashapon second-hand stores are probably your best bet. Good luck with the hunting. :)