In general, a license to produce Black Tri-Stars figures should be one of the more cost effective figure investments in the Gundam universe. The trio seems to appeal to a very wide audience and figures tend to be in somewhat short supply. Bandai and FusionWorks decided to surf that wave and so created this special CORE set for us. The number is given as 26 on the Bandai Shokugan blog but as is common this is not printed anywhere on the actual box for some reason.
As a Premium Bandai product only, the set was shipped in April 2021 just in front of Converge #21 which would contain a Black Tri-Stars Zaku I figure of its own. Priced at ¥5610 this quickly climbed on the secondary market and by the time I was quick enough to grab a set the price had risen to ¥8500 which is bloody crazy when you think about it.
The figures come in an interesting set of bags labelled 1-1 through 1-3 for the Zakus and 2-1 through 2-3 for the Doms. This is something you see in Bandai's other figure ranges from time to time but I don't recall encountering it in Converge before.
MS-06R-1A Zaku II High Mobility Type (Black Tri-Stars Custom)
Here is the basic Black Tri-Star High Mobility Zaku II of which there are two, units 02 and 06. This figure first appeared in February 2019 as part of Converge #14 (albeit in Commander Type form) in the colours of ace pilots Johnny Ridden and Shin Matsunaga. Apart from the Tri-Star colour scheme we can see some superfluous (Real-type style I guess) markings including tiny number markings on the knees. The paintjob is a bit sloppy in places, the violet for example is spilling over on the front skirts on all of these figures, hardly something you would expect from a figure marketed as having an extra nice finish. Notice the three different weapon types on display here from a total of four.
At least Bandai are being generous with the equipment in this box. Each machine receives four weapon choices meaning you can elect to display a completely free combination of Zaku Machine Gun, Heat Hawk, Zaku Bazooka or Giant Bazooka. Practically this also means that if some accessories have been bent or similar you will have enough to replace them. I even went so far as to re-equip the one of the old High Mobility Zaku II's with the Giant Bazooka since I don't like the diminutive profile of the new Zaku Bazooka sculpt. I really would have liked an optional left holding hand to enable dual wielding or just further variation in general.
Gaia's machine is the only one to come with a slot for a commander antenna, else it is similar to the other figures. I had to smile at the fact that Bandai places a piece of cardboard in the bag's antenna slot to protect it from bending and the first thing I see is that the antenna has found its way outside the edge of that cardboard protection already (you can see it in the bags photo above). Not so funny is the poor painting accuracy on the front skirt which is a bit of an eyesore even for me.
As most of the other rebooted Zeon figures the High Mobility Zaku II is shorter than its predecessor. I happen to think that the original figure (first seen in December 2012 as part of Converge volume 9) is rather excellent even with today's Converge standards, especially that shiny metallic coating on the thrusters. This seems like another missed opportunity for the CORE figures.
Thanks to the CORE package all ace pilots can now fly in style with the 360mm Bazooka. Flanking Gaia here are Johnny Ridden (left) and Shin Matsunaga (right), both from Converge #14. Funny, it feels like that set came out only yesterday but it is already two and a half years ago.
The pegs on the new arms are ever so slightly wider than on the original High Mobility Type Zaku II (Converge 56, vol 9, released in 2012 that is). The images above show how far I was able to insert the new arms into the old figure before it protested. While you can force them in you do risk damaging the figure permanently and so I wouldn't normally recommend messing with it unless you have a special customization in mind (in which case anything goes anyway). The old arm won't sit in the new figure's socket without falling out. The difference at the wrist level is even more pronounced and is a non-starter unless you modify the parts.
MS-09 Dom (Black Tri-Stars Custom)
The second gang in the box is the Tri-Stars again after they got their upgrade into sexy MS-09 Doms. The bog-standard Dom figure in Converge #13 does an accurate job of representing the production machines that the Tri-Stars flew in the television series, I guess this set is based on either Real Type or MSV-style art. I recognize the unit numbers 12, 25 and 60 from the machines released by FusionWorks in the Ultimate Operation line back in 2004). These figures are very stylish but again I have to dock points for a sloppy paint job. Unit 12 has burns from a light beam weapon on its left arm and again the painting on the front skirt looks absolutely terrible on unit 25. Either I was very unlucky with my set or this whole batch has some real issues.
The weapon selection is not quite as generous here with only two types, although you get nice option parts for turning the right hand into a clenched fist which looks great. Since hands are sculpted directly onto the Dom's weapons this means that you can forget about any dual wielding or sharing weapons with the other Tri-Star machines out there.
Ortega (12), Gaia (25) and Mash (60) ready for business. The activated Heat Saber looks absolutely fantastic and with three in the box you can always donate one to another of your other Dom figures for some extra variation.
The new Dom breaks the curse of small Zeon figures and is actually taller than the old figure from 2011. I really like the old Dom figures but the new family really blows them out of the water. Seen here are the basic MS-09 Dom (Converge volume 5, November 2011), MS-09R Rick Dom (Converge volume 10, April 2013) and the latest generation.
Reboot Doms from left to right: The basic Dom (which is what the Tri-Stars would really fly) from Converge #13 (December 2018), the Real-Type colour variant (Converge CORE November 2019), the Black Tri-Stars Custom and a MS-09R-2 Rick Dom II from Converge #20. I can't wait for the Rick Dom II in a green "Colony Attack" pattern and we are still waiting for Char's MS-09RS which I am starting to wonder if we will ever see again.
Between Converge #21 and the CORE set we certainly got a massive injection of Tri-Stars into the Converge collection. I really do hope Bandai continues to milk all these figures now that they have gone through the trouble of resculpting them. It would be great to see more aces like Ramba Ral's Zaku I, Anavel Gato's Gelgoog or Gabby Hazard's High Mobility Type Zaku II to name a few. A lot of the legwork has been done and most of the building blocks are in place!
Conclusion
I do have some mixed feelings about this release. Being a Black Tri-Stars Custom set it of course won me over from the start but the hefty price on the secondary market paired with the questionable paint-job is a bad combination. While I would have enjoyed some added flexibility such as sharing weapons between machines or allowing dual wield I don't really expect those things from a Converge figure but it is nice to be pleasantly surprised sometimes. It is hard to say if the price will continue to rise or if it will drop a little as the novelty wears off and availability increases on the used market. My advice if you really want it is to pay up now rather than hope for a better price down the line but I could of course be wrong.
Do the weapons fit on the arms of the original Black Zaku in part 09?
ReplyDeleteNot really, unless you want to permanently modify the parts. I have updated the review to reflect this.
DeleteSorry I didn't mean replace the entire arm, can't you simply put the hand+plus+axe widget or hand+cum+machine+gun into the old wrist socket? Nevermind the giant bazooka. Ditto the accessories with the Dom and the 'old' (Part 8? I forget) Rick Doms?
DeleteI tested both techniques. The last image shows the different sized wrist pegs, that is a complete non-starter without parts-modification.
DeleteDo the weapons also fit on the Zakus in #21? That would be a great army builder
ReplyDeleteThe weapons are apparently not intended to cross over between mobile suits. The Dom, Zaku I and Zaku II each has its own sized pegs and sockets to connect the hands to the arms. It seems like a missed opportunity but Converge was never big on standardizing (for better or worse, look at how Senshi Forte was bastardized when the hands were standardized across the board).
DeleteUnderstood, thanks for checking. What about simply placing the Black Zaku big and small bazookas into the hand 'holes' already in the Zaku I? Not swapping actual hands, as would be required by the machine gun and heat hawk. I thought this would be possible given that you seemed to have just slotted the bazooka into the red and white high mobility Zaku IIs.
DeleteThere is a very slight size-difference between the handlebars; the Zaku I bazooka will fit into the hand of the II, but not the other way around (at this point I cannot exclude possible manufacturing variations). I recall breaking one of the Zaku I machine guns just trying to get it all the way down into its intended hand so caution is advised.
DeleteThat's very helpful, albeit unfortunate! But the big and small bazooka both fit onto the Shin Matsunaga and Johnny Ridden Zakus? So NEITHER of the black tri star Zaku II bazookas fit on to the Zaku I?
DeleteThat is correct, sir. The tiny-zooka has the same slightly thicker handlebar as well as two additional grips that you'd need to cut away to mount it on the Zaku I. Having said that, if you are looking for a permanent alteration it is a relatively small adjustment with knife or glue depending on which direction you are going.
DeleteIn general, unless Converge figures are variants of the same sculpt or bundled as gimmicks (compare the Shrike Team box-set for example) they are not intended to mix up and will often feature completely different hand set-ups. Sometimes the weapon is molded onto the hand either in its enitrety or in part, peg sizes can vary in shape and size and sometimes it just works.
Concerning the questions raised above regarding retro-fitting the accessories on to other retail line-up figures, how about the boring Zaku I's from the original line-up? (Part 8 I believe?) The one that came with no accessories whatsoever, it also has a Black Tri Stars SP version and a Bourjanon "Revive" version. Wondering if we can use the spare accessories here to deck those out.
ReplyDeleteThe short answer is that they are not designed with this in mind. Bringing a knife and glue (and maybe some paint) will open up the possibilities. You can see an experiment with the old and the new Zaku I figures here:
Deletehttps://gundaniumgateway.blogspot.com/2021/07/gundam-converge-21.html
Do any of the gear (Zaku or Dom) fit on the Rick Dom II in Converge #20? Either the weapons themselves and/or the ones attached to the hands.
ReplyDeleteAs mentioned above they are not designed to be compatible with each other. You may have better success with one weapon than another. The Dom and RDII hand peg sizes are a closer match than with the Zakus for example. For weapons molded onto hands, also consider that all hand sculpts are different and some also have different colours. Assume you will need to modify or glue to make it work.
DeleteActually I did some testing. Interestingly, the Rick Dom II in Converge #20 is probably the ONLY Zeon suit that can seamlessly equip ALL the accessories in this package (big bazooka, zaku bazooka, machine gun + hand, axe + hand, heat rod) with no modification or brute force. Moreover it already has dark grey / black-ish hands so colors are consistent. The Rick Dom II has slightly bulkier hands than the Zaku so the accessories that are pre-sculpted into hands (machine gun + axe) might look inconsistent with the Rick Dom II's left hand but it's far from obvious. The Rick Dom II itself, oddly enough, has one of the biggest hands out there, with a very large hole, which can accommodate most accessories with no cramming or modification. The heat rod will look a bit odd since the pre-sculpted hand is purple. Other than that, the only issue with this setup is that these accessories won't necessarily be "canon" as the Rick Dom II will unlikely to have wielded these.
Delete