The second Converge Plus set is about to go up but let's do some old school SD figures first because I love these guys. Stage 9 takes us back to the summer of 1999 and the SD figure line had been going for a little bit longer than a year and a half at this point.
There are two stages of figures in the early SD Full Color family that stand out from the others since they recycle figures. The Z'Gok, Zock and Byg-Zam present here make their return as "Version 1.1" figures in Stage 17. As far as I know there is no real difference between them. I have picked up a number of these figures loose on various second hand markets and now I have this verified Stage 9 set. So far I have not noticed any difference between these and the loose minis I already owned but until I can find a sealed Stage 17 set I will not be able to completely confirm it.
Assembly shouldn't pose too much of an issue here. The loose arms typically come in small plastic bags inside the already small bags holding the figures within the capsules (because Japanese consumers like compartmentalized packaging more than anything).
Here is a nice bonus, the paper cardback which would sit on the Gashapon machine itself. There is actually a secondary market for this type of items and they are pretty hard to obtain (and you will usually need a quick trigger finger because they tend to sell fast). Notice the price tag of 100 yen for the figures and how the mobile suits are not lined up in the same order as in the booklet.
050 : RX-78-2 Gundam (Ver.6.0)
As the single representative for the Earth Federation in this set, the Gundam sure has his work cut out for him. This sixth incarnation of the figure comes without a shield and instead has both hands on the beam rifle. As seen in the parts photo above the left hand has a handlebar which is slid into an indention on the underside of the rifle.
051 : MSM-10 Zock
The Zock is still overlooked in the Converge line which is a shame since I would love to see a tall EX figure representation of it. I like the sideways looking eye on this figure and you can rotate the left arm freely. You will notice a pattern among all the Zeon figures in this set - only the forward facing area of the head has had the monoeye section filled out with black. Since you have everything sculpted you can fill out these areas yourself with black marker pen or paint which should improve the looks even further. What you see in this review is the level of prepainting done at the factory only.
The Zock is a heavy mobile suit and with its 24 meters it is a bit on the tiny side. I would have preferred if it was a couple of millimeters taller at least than the Gundam figure for that nice psychological effect. Here it poses with some contemporary underwater machines from the SD line; the Acguy and Gogg can both be found in Stage 3.
052 : MSM-07 Z'Gok
While not really evident in my pictures the Z'Gok figure is not light blue and black but more like light blue and a very dark green. The eye however is not painted red which is a bit lame. At first I thought my figure might have been exposed to sun or suffering from old age but all my other Z'Goks look the same.
Interestingly, Char's custom red Z'Gok Type S (from Stage 3) has a completely different sculpt. Considering how both Char's machines was reissued in Stage 10 and the Mass Production Type in Stage 17 they missed a trick where they could have reversed the colours on the reissues to create two different sculpts of each.
053 : MS-07B Gouf (Ver 2.0)
Just like the Gundam figure in this stage the Gouf figure is designed with a very specific pose in mind. The left arm is sculpted directly onto the chest and when the right arm is place in front of it it creates the illusion that both hands are holding the red glowing heat sword, well at least it is trying to.
Unlike the first version of the Gouf (right) this figure does not use a shield. Notice the modernized and colour changed Gouf 3.0 figure which comes from Stage 26 released two years later (left). There are more variants out there that I do not own; version 4 for example also uses a heat sword which is painted in the more often seen yellow style.
054 : MS-06F Zaku II (Ver 2.0)
The first Zaku II came with a Zaku machine gun so it seems fitting that this machine has the heat axe. The arm allows for some interesting variations where you can choose to use the attack pose or not. Look at that nice red monoeye by the way, is there any reason why this couldn't be painted on to the Z'Gok figure in this set?
The early SD Full Color Zaku IIs are both large and rather cartoony compared to later sculpts that are shorter and more refined. The colouring on later figures is also toned down into various olive green variants. Here we see the version two (left), together with the version one (with the machine gun) and a Zaku II Ground Type armed with a Magella Attack Cannon (from Stage 2).
055 : MA-08 Byg-Zam
Finally we have papa chicken, the monstrous mobile armor that mostly resembles an angry ostrich. The SD incarnation has a little extra height compared to the other mobile suits and this is a nice way to represent its size. The figure itself is kind of static and just like the Zock it will benefit a great deal from painting in the missing black areas that circle its head.
The Byg-Zam posing together with some of its contemporary mobile armor friends. We have the Adzam from Stage 38, the Braw-Bro from Stage 40 and the Elmeth from Stage 4.
Conclusion
This set is perfect for those who want to build up the One Year War Zeonic army. I have noticed that some of these figures tend to crop up quite often on the second-hand market and have of course been abusing this opportunity to the fullest extent to army build. If you are looking to buy these figures you will probably run into them quite easily in random lots that also find their way to eBay from time to time.
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