Gundam Converge #Plus 02

I guess we can say that the big happening for Converge in 2021 is that Bandai decided to branch out the brand even further. With the #Plus series Bandai are attempting to move beyond the confines of the EX and CORE lines, bringing larger and a bit more elaborate figures into retail and obviously trying to keep the prices as modest as possible. The first set of four figures emerged in January and are now being "price-corrected" by introducing the dreaded equipment set practice which has polluted Ensemble for so long.

While there have been a couple of extravagant P-Bandai option parts sets before, Bandai is now bringing this questionable practice into retail Converge. The idea is of course to lure you to buy the complete set. I wonder just ow many casual customers Bandai have left at this point, I can well imagine the frustration of trying to buy singles over the counter only to discover you will have to pay up 2000 yen just to get that extra bazooka or worse still, someone came and bought a single The-O and the equipment set removing the accessories for the other figures from the market. It is a horrid practice and anything but consumer friendly.

Although I was able to secure enough singles shortly after release I noticed that the price hikes on the secondary market seem pretty bad. The Bandai MSRP is ¥990 but here were Mandarake selling the main figures for ¥1600 per unit with the The-O fetching ¥2000. I actually later saw them doing everyone a favour by breaking up the equipment set and selling each figure with its respective accessories which I found a really sensible approach.



+005 : RX-93-v2 Hi-Nu Gundam (FA-93HWS Heavy Weapons Equipment)


Volume two opens up with a really familiar face, I feel like I have been following the Hi-Nu around for the past months already. It wasn't that long ago since the base Gundam debuted in Converge Sharp and it only just visited Ensemble twice this year so forgive me for feeling a bit blasé. The figure on display here uses the Heavy Weapons Suite first seen with the regular RX-93 which translates to beefed up body armor, additional thrusters as well as a massive rifle and shield. Everything is married together with the wings from the basic machine which gives the suit a busy appearance. While it didn't really come out in my photos the colour of the blue sections are shifting into violet and is decidedly different from what you would expect.


Yeah, I am sure you noticed it too. What the hell is up with this paint job? Good job killing all my enthusiasm for this figure right out of the gate. No bells and whistles will save this unit apart from buying a new figure and saying a prayer. Buyer beware!


FusionWorks came up with quite a lot of accessories for the Heavy Weapons Hi-Nu, some are hidden in the equipment pack and so we will return to them. You do however get the essentials in this box, the rifle and shield together with the wing binders (and attached booster tanks) are all you need really.


The FA-93 HWS (CORE 004, released January 2016) compared to the new Converge Plus Hi-NU with HWS parts. The old figure wins on all fronts as far as I am concerned. And what the hell is up with the shoulder mounted launchers on the Hi-Nu figure? The more I look at this figure the more annoyed I get. Let's just move on to the next...





+006 : MSA-0011[Bst] S-Gundam Booster Unit Type


With the Booster Unit S-Gundam from Ensemble still fresh in mind I honestly didn't expect a whole lot from this figure but how wrong I was. This figure has all the hallmarks of a great Converge figure. Strong colours with a lot of detail make me happy (though there are some missed paintjobs here and there it is nothing as bad as the Hi-Nu) and the base is simple and non-intrusive. Converge already had a fine pedigree when it comes to S Gundam variations and this figure does not betray them.


As for accessories you have to make do with the base mobile armor here. There are no two ways about it; you really need to grab the equipment pack if you aim to buy this figure. The missing beam smart gun and booster tanks are absolutely essential and take the figure to the next level.




+007 : PMX-003 The-O


We have seen the nasty pyramid head once before in Converge (in a twin-pack with the Z Gundam in 2015) but I was really looking forward to the update since I thought the original figure lacked a little in size. The new figure offers a suitable improvement in size and has most of the artistic features intact, but goes for a more glossy yellow finish than the older figure. I think a little bit of extra care could have been added by painting in some additional detail, most of the figure looks a bit flat. Not sure I want to mess with the figure but I did consider painting the many thrusters along the feet and skirts for starters.


Most of the accessories have been hidden away in the equipment pack. The mobile suit itself comes with its enormous signature beam rifle which snaps together from two parts to allow the hand to hold the grip which is a nice touch.




+008 : ZMT-S33S Gottrlatan


Just like the previous Converge #Plus set, it was the Zanscare machine that attracted most of my interest. It is great seeing these being slowly added to Converge although I am still hoping for a couple of the lesser machines as regular retail figures. Having said that, with a height of only 16 meters I was a bit perplexed why Bandai decided to make a Plus-size figure out of it, effectively making it taller than many of its bigger counterparts. The answer lies in the accessories.


The Gottrlatan comes with its everyday beam rifle and a folded up mega beam cannon on the back. If it was me, I would honestly have been quite content with the figure if it had shown up like this as a regular retail figure.


Converge now musters three Zanscare machines, the Zanspine from Converge #19 (released in June last year), the Rig Contio from #Plus01 and the new Gottrlatan. I hope Bandai continues to add to the line-up through the Converge #Plus program. Here they are seen together with the yellow Gedlav and monster Zanneck from mobile Suit Ensemble, both of which display quite well with the Converge gang.




+009 : Option Parts Set


While the contents of this box might not look like much this is where all the magic takes place. Unlike the equipment sets in Ensemble that are usually heavily weighed against a particular figure Bandai have been certain to hide away useful components for all the mobile suits in the wave in this box.


Bonus points are awarded for the inclusion of the two-sided instruction leaflet because as you can see we have a fairly complex set-up for being Converge here, with optional hands for three of the figures. As a result of putting everything in one box Bandai had to tag them and leave them on tiny numbered sprues.


The Heavy Weapon Hi-Nu gets two new weapons. We have a nicely painted bazooka which requires one of the new hands so you are restricted to right hand use only. You can also opt to store the bazooka on the back but this just comes off looking bizarre although it is a nice gesture.


Even more unique is the set of sub-arms that attaches to the front skirt and allows the Hi-Nu to wield a pair of extra beam sabers. The beam sabers themselves have some swiveling articulation and the blades have a nice deep translucent blue colour. Still, this is stuff that just ends up in the box because I don't think the pose is very convincing. I would much have preferred a common hand held beam saber to be honest.


Overall I think the Converge Hi-Nu FWS comes off as a bit anemic, in my opinion it suffers from the large head syndrome of many recent Converge figures. Compared here to the Ensemble variant they come off as night and day.


With the missing Beam Smart Gun (and a necessary hand-switch) and back-mounted booster tanks the S Gundam feels complete. A pity that the rifle is slightly bent. Notice the additional power coupling that links the rifle together with the booster unit and also provides some extra stability for the figure (and effectively locking the arm in place in the process).


Bigger isn't always better. The Converge S Booster outclasses the Ensemble figure save for the beefy shoulders on the Ensemble figure that look really great. The profile of the Ensemble figure is also very flat compared to the lively feel of the Converge figure. This is definitely my favourite of the set.


I mentioned the S Gundam family earlier. Here we have basic S Gundam from the old Converge series as it appears as basic retail figure (Converge 13, released December 2013), in red colour from the Deep Striker set (EX 03, June 2014) and the nice patterned blue from CORE 002 (August 2015).


Posing together with some of the large related mobile armors; the Zeta Plus C1 Hummingbird (EX 04 from April 2015) and the PLAN303E Deep Striker (here in its CORE metal color version from May 2017).


Next up we have The-O which gets no less than four beautiful beam sabers with yellow painted hilts. Two of the sabers can go into the optional hands included in the equipment set while the other two are intended for the two sub-arms that attach to the front skirt. I noticed that the fit for the sub arms are very tight and so didn't push the sabers any further tan absolute minimum, to avoid any paint from being scratched off. I quickly felt a pang of frustration return as this seemed like another wasted effort. I'm sure I could dig into the sub arms with a knife but I don't feel like I should have to do this on a simple 2000 yen candy toy. I kept one saber and the rest will go unused into the box (unless they can be repurposed by some of my other Converge figures...).


Here you can see the two PMX-003 figures side by side. The early figure might be smaller but I think it captures the essence of Converge better than the new figure. I especially appreciate the extra black details on the old figure, the new figure may have a more detailed sculpt but the old figure certainly has a lot of character.


With the teased Palace-Athene for Converge #Plus03 Paptimus' PMX series will soon be fully realized in Converge form (yeah, unless you count that weird PMX-004 Titania). The Bolinoak will be the only figure in standard retail form and could really do with a size-upgrade. It would be nice to see other large machines like the Byarlant, Geymalk and Döven Wolf coming back in larger Plus-size form.


The final accessory is also without a doubt the most complex one. I don't think we have ever had the same accessory appear in two sizes for a Converge figure but that is exactly what happened here. We have the smaller non-functional piece that ships with the figure and the large fully articulated thing in the equipment set. It does seem a bit wasteful if you ask me but whatever. Let's see it in action:


Yes, that's right, the mega beam cannon can actually transform. The main unit slides forward on two arms to come to rest in front of the chest of the mobile suit. You will naturally have to temporarily remove the head to accomplish this. Lastly you take the little translucent green HUD and put it back into place at a 90 degree angle. The whole thing is bizarre and fascinating at the same time. At first I toyed with the idea of purchasing two Gottrlatan figures and display one in each mode, but frankly I prefer the figure with the cannon stored on its back. Man, I am seriously not getting the full potential out of my #Plus machines, can I just have cool looking mobile suits without all these extra bells and whistles? (The Anchor Gundam says hello from the future...)


Once again a quick side by side of the Zanspine, Rig-Conto and Gottrlatan. I seriously hope to be able to add more machines to this line-up, a task for which Converge #Plus seems perfectly suited.




Conclusion

Overall, Converge #Plus02 is a bit of a mixed bag. While I of course enjoy each figure and the job that went into them just as much as normal there were a number of hassles that dragged my impression down. Paint issues and ill-fitting accessories would be the biggest gripes on this list, together with the advent of the Option Parts Set in itself. I find that a lame sales tactic that adds unnecessary hurdles for collectors (it is already hard work enough trying to source a set from abroad). If you are on a budget I'd say go for the S Gundam (with the Option Parts Set) first and go from there.