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.