MegaHouse Chess Piece Collection : Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam - The Black Gundam

The Chess Piece Collection brand is one of those concepts recycled across multiple intellectual properties. Besides Mobile Suit Gundam I know that MegaHouse has also put out similar figures for Naruto, Dragonball, Kamen Rider, One Piece and a few others. The Gundam-themed sets mainly occurred between 2002 and 2005 and are focused around the original television series, Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam and SEED/SEED Destiny. There is also a single set for Stardust Memory and one with Mobile Suit Variations.


Selected for review today is the first of a total of four waves focusing on designs from the Zeta series. While the set takes its name from the initial episode this does not reflect the selection of mobile suits. The set appeared some time in 2003 (the second wave is advertised as being released in October in the accompanying booklet). The individual figures have a suggested retail price of ¥380 which in 2003 could be compared to ¥200 for the slightly larger HG MS Gashapons, ¥190 for either a Gundam Collection 1:400 figure or a 1:300 Gsight figure, or ¥100 for a tiny SD mini.


While I have been collecting the Chess Piece Collection very slowly over the years (these suckers can be quite hard to find) I had a bit of a breakthrough when I stumbled on a complete set at Mandarake (where else..?). I was really surprised to discover that the figures in this set were not only available in two paint style variations, but the set also features a secret figure on top of it. I have no idea how the distribution would be arranged, I'd normally assume that a 12-box will include one of every type with the secret figure replacing perhaps one of the other two "King"-rated figures but this is only a speculation.


Above is a folded out single figure box, which as you can see were sold randomly. I always found it a bit strange that the blue Mk-II on the cover was actually not present in the set but at least now that mystery has an explanation. :)


Since these figures were produced in an era when Bandai could afford both a stylish box and a colour booklet we get a very nice inlay in each box which deludes itself by trying to teach Japanese kids play chess. I imagine the horror of actually trying to find enough figures to create a full chess board, but somehow I doubt that was MegaHouse's real intention at this point in time (There was actually a "Starter Set" sold for ¥4800 by MegaHouse in 2002 which featured a folding board and 32 figures divided in all-white and all-black respectively).



King : RX-178 Gundam Mk-II with Flying Armor


As mentioned above each regular figure in this set as two paint styles; one will be weathered and realistic looking while the other will feature glossy paint. The figures are shown side by side for a direct comparison. At the top of the food chain we have the A.E.U.G. Mk-II on its Flying Armor during atmospheric re-entry on its way to Jaburo. Since the chess figures are designed to stand closely together on a chess board (and also fit in very tight boxes) you will notice that most figures have a very vertical disposition. Smaller vehicles like tanks or spacecraft frequently feature enormously unconvincing flame-style designs as present here. The figures are otherwise well-painted but the awkward poses and scenic backgrounds cut in half take a bit of getting used to.





Queen : NRX-044 Asshimar


The figures in this set alternate between the white and the black team and the second wave of figures switches this around so that the set is led by a black king and a white queen and so on. The colour difference on the two Asshimars is not as apparent as on some of the other figures in the set. The figures are made of soft sturdy plastic as the bent antenna clearly shows although some figures do come with hard and brittle plastic, and it is not unusual to see second hand figures with either missing or broken weapons or bodyparts.





Bishop : RMS-099 Rick Dias


The early production Rick Dias figure is the one standout figure in this set that has a really marked difference between the glossy and weathered look. Notice the crushed city block it is stomping around on. That street light is either the shortest one in the world or covered in massive heaps of rubble.





Knight : RMS-108 Marasai


Ridiculous or not, it only takes a Marasai to make me start collecting a figure series. This is also one of the better figures in this wave with a neutral cliff side in the background. I should point out also that as we get through the ranks of the chess pieces the bases keep getting lower and lower. At some point I would want to remove the pedestals altogether since they don't really add anything of value in my opinion, but I imagine it is going to take a lot of dedication to manage to cut through the glue holding the figures together. If anyone has attempted to do this, I would be curious to hear more about it.





Rook : FXA-05D Defenser


The Defenser spacecraft has a very traditional horizontal look about it and so the chess figure is made to point more or less into the sky to enable it to fit inside the box. The two stub wings actually come in a separate bag of their own and can be attached to the sides of the figure (and can easily be removed again if you wish to store the figure in this box). I bet there are a lot of Defenser out there on the secondhand market missing their wings or having a broken off gun. A fate that has happened to an incredibly large proportion of the Magella Attack Tanks from the early UC 0079 set.





Pawn : RMS-179 GM II


While I have my doubts about the Defenser surviving a fight with a GM II it makes sense to make a mass production machine like the GM the pawn. It is perhaps less inspiring that the pawn for the white team (featured in the second wave of figures) was also a GM II, albeit in A.E.U.G. colours - at least that one is kneeling.





King : RX-178 Gundam Mk-II (Titans Unit 03) (secret)


And speaking of confusion then, the secret figure for this set is the Mk-II in Titans navy blue colours. We see it unarmed just after Kamille has stolen it and is bumbling around in the colony's military base (man, the more I think about the plot in Zeta the more depressed I become). While blue Unit 03 was indeed used by the A.E.U.G. a short while before being painted white I still think it is odd to see this figure on the white team. I don't know if there exists a secret Mk-II figure for the black team but the other three Mk-II's are all on the white side which I think is a bit greedy.






Here is the full line-up of the realistically painted figures including the secret Mk-II. The size of the figures is as you can see adapted to be coherent rather than to scale.


Is there also a glossy variant of the secret figure? I don't know, but if it does exist out there I bet it will be a bit of a nightmare to find.



Conclusion

The MegaHouse Chess Piece Figure Collection is extremely gimmicky and not really that suitable for display together with other figure lines. Still, if you enjoy their style you can build up some interesting displays for primarily Zeta, SEED and the One Year War. The figures are not particularly expensive but very rare to come by, especially still in boxes. Your best bet for finding them is in used lots or second hand Gashapon shops.

Too good to be true?

While I usually advice against figure hunting on eBay I just stumbled on the above item and felt I wanted to give you all a valuable heads up; finally those long coveted flimsy Ensemble-stands can be yours. The price will never get better than this. What are you waiting for?

In other news, the Ensemble volume 18 review I was getting geared up to do has hit a massive setback. I have been pixel-hunting the online stores for some time now and I couldn't believe my luck in finally managing to secure not only a full line-up of Part 7.5 but also a completed set of Part 18 figures - including a full squad of ZAKU Warrior suits. Well, it turned out that they were all mislabeled and so now I sit here with half a dozen weapon packs and not a single Warrior for good measure. Some days you just want to put your hat on the shelf and walk out into the sun (if there was one in the sky, that is)...

Banpresto Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Figure Keyholder 5

SEED volume five is the last in a series of Banpresto keyring figure series dedicated to Mobile Suit Gundam SEED although there are also a couple of spin-off sets that followed. Each standard volume contains five figures and mainly focuses on the centerpiece Gundams of the show.


Being keyring figures they are pre-ruined at the factory by having a screw inserted into their skull. The metal ring is then attached to a folded info-card using plastic coated straps. This is the last you will see of these in the review as I always get rid of them.


This set appeared in 2003 and has the Banpresto short code [31777]. I purchased the full set at Mandarake for ¥1500, so the figures aren't very expensive in Japan but appear to be quite popular as they typically sell out quickly.



ZGMF-X10A Freedom Gundam w/METEOR


The Freedom Gundam appears twice in this keyring series. In this second variant it has been shrunk down and geared up with the METEOR weapons platform. This makes the figure very back-heavy and since it was not designed to stand up on its own you will have to prop it up either like I did here or attach it to some kind of base. As you can see, the paint scheme is quite ambitious with a lot of detail. The figures are made of softer plastic and so will typically be slightly deformed.


The scale of the keyring figures in this set is all over the place. The two METEOR equipped Gundams are the tiniest and slot in somewhere in size between the classic SD Full Color era figures (left) and the first modern era Gashapon Warrior NEXT family (right).



ZGMF-X09A Justice Gundam w/METEOR


We have a METEOR-equipped Justice in the set as well, you can find a pair of basic Freedom and Justice figure in volume four. The face paint of the figures in this set is especially good and the Justice really looks like it means business.





GAT-X303 Aegis Gundam (Phase Shift Down)


The Aegis is usually an overlooked suit but someone on the Banpresto design team must have a soft spot for it because this is its third appearance in the series. After an initial release in volume one it returned in volume three wielding two of its beam sabers. Here it is back with the original beam rifle + shield configuration but in the colourless Phase Shift down mode after its energy reserves have been depleted. I don't get why Phase Shift Down is not more common for SEED figures, the gray colour schemes are usually quite good looking, as can be seen here.


Largest of this lot, the Aegis figure is almost big enough to play with the suits from the Gashapon Senshi Forte range.



MBF-M1 M1 Astray


On the topic of rarely seen suits, no SEED suit is more overlooked than the mass production type Astray. I have a really soft spot for this mobile suit although this keyring variant feels a bit anemic. I prefer SD figures to be a bit sturdier looking than this one, but the colouring and attention to detail is great. Trying to army build this figure is doomed to fail, since they are really scarce.


The Astray is about the right size for the Gashapon Warrior NEXT range. Interestingly, as far as I know neither the Strike Rouge or the Akatsuki made it into the keyring series, leaving it all alone to fend for the sovereignty of the Orb Union.



GAT-X370 Raider Gundam


The last figure completes the O.M.N.I.'s second generation trio, the Forbidden and Calamity having been released in volume four. The Raider is about the same scale as the METEOR equipped Gundams making it rather tiny when placed next to the other keyring figures, which is a bit sad. Note that the right wing is a loose component and is a candidate for disappearing. I have brought one such figure home before only to discover it was missing one of its wings.



Conclusion

I really like Banpresto keyring figures of all types and sizes. They are usually painted to a good standard and are made of soft and durable plastic. The SEED Keyholder range is also great for filling gaps in Gashapon NEXT and DASH collections, with several interesting suit types. The main drawback is that they are quite hard to come by.