Gashapon Production - The State of the Union

Today I came across a really interesting entry on the Bandai Gashapon blog. The page has not been updated much lately, its light having been stolen by their Twitter account. However, with this recent entry talking about the next releases in the Gashapon qua Shooters figure series the lead designer decided to spend some time discussing a lot of topics related to Gashapon manufacture in general. If you are familiar with Gashapon you will recognize a lot of the topics and it is interesting to get some insight into the plight of the Gashapon development team and the realities that they deal with in day to day work.

I was considering injecting my own takes on the topics in between the quotes but decided I have beaten that horse long enough in the reviews and so it would be better to let the text speak for itself. The outtakes you will see here are of course machine translated and so can be a bit grating at times but you should have no issues understanding the main gist of it. To read the original blog entry, see here.


The first section of the text follows the immediate introduction of the latest Aqua Shooters figure series but it can be easily applied to figure series like Mobile Suit Ensemble and Gashapon Warrior Senshi Forte. It also explains the bitter fate suffered by discontinued brands like MicroWars and Universal Unit. One word that you will come across often in the translation is "bullet" which here is translated from the Japanese word meaning set or volume, so fifth bullet would be volume five, etc. The highlights in the texts are all the author's own.


If you have read previous announcements for new products you have no doubt seen the almost pleas for people to pre-order the new sets, and this section clearly explains why it is so important. I don't know about you, but I have never pre-ordered any item, preferring to pick things up in the marketplace. One of the major pains with pre-ordering is difficulty of putting together larger orders to combine shipping and the most egregious problem which is the consumer-unfriendly packaging offers. Why would I want to buy a 10-box of Ensemble when it gives me maybe 3-4 duplicate figures I do not want and no duplicates of the figures I would like multiples of?

Anyway, you have heard all of this moaning from me before so let's go on. The original blog went on to talk about further upcoming Aqua Shooters releases here but at the end comes the below deeper insight into the manufacturing situation faced by the Gashapon team today. Most interesting.


This clearly explains the shift from beautifully painted figures to the mini-model kit figures we see nowadays. Personally I wouldn't mind paying higher prices for figures with better pre-painting, since the time and effort needed to tune up everything yourself is not a luxury I have. I haven't even caught up with my Ensemble backlog to begin with... :)

Hope you found this topic as interesting as I did, and apologies to the author in case the translation caused any greater errors but I think we all heard your message. Best wishes to both the Gashapon and the Shokugan teams over at Bandai because even though we harp and moan and bitch and whine all the time we really do like your output, if only it was a little bit easier to actually find and purchase the things you really want.

Gundam Converge vol. 3

Well, well, what do we have here? A little bit of classic Converge history is what. Converge volume 3 is, unsurprisingly, the third wave of figures and it was released in June of 2011. When I got wind of Converge in April 2013 volume 10 was sitting on the store shelves. I quickly delved deeper into this rabbit hole but supply quickly became a bit of an issue. The early sets were quite challenging to find already back then and it took about a year and a half to complete this wave in December 2014. I was really all over the place; eBay, Mandarake, actual second hand shops in both Bangkok and Osaka and even a pair of figures found in a Japanese imports shop in California. Nowadays, collecting Converge is really easy if you have access to Mandarake. Apart from the very latest figures or some of the freak premiums most of the back history seems to be in stock most of the time and for a fraction of what I had to pay in those days.




13 : RX-93 Nu Gundam (Fin Funnels, Beam Rifle)


Volume 3 was the set to introduce the Nu Gundam into the Converge line-up, and it has been a frequent player since then, having appeared in about ten various iterations. it was apparently deemed too costly to include all accessories in the same box (or they knew they were going to get away with milking the customers) so the set contains a "black box" and "white box" for lack of a better name. This was the exact same scheme used for the two RX-93s that popped up in the FusionWorks STANDart series in 2012. The only other basic figure to get a black box design was the 100th anniversary Turn-X figure.


These images showing the parts are really old and were quite dark so the quality is a bit so so. Anyway, as you can see the black box Nu comes with the most "important" gear, a nice dual-colour beam rifle and the signature left shoulder funnels.





14 : RX-93 Nu Gundam (New Hyper Bazooka, Shield)


In the early days, Converge sets used to feature a "secret" version of one of the figures. A rifle would be exchanged for a bazooka, or maybe the colour switched out. The Nu however was deemed important enough to get two slots in the regular set and this white box version completes the load out with the optional bazooka as well as the shield.


It is interesting to note that the Nu Gundam is one of few early Converge figures to come with weapons not sculpted directly onto the hands. The two figures are of course also intended to combine so that you can build a single figure with all the accessories, the bazooka being stored on the back.


This family line-up shows the two figures from this wave on the left. In the center we have the dual fin funnel variant which was only available in the Operation Revive Premium Edition box set from 2014 (and which has now been superseded by the new Double Fin Funnel Type that was recently featured in Converge #21). Next stands the "fully equipped" version from the first Converge SP 01 box set (released in August 2011) where it was paired with the MSN-04 Sazabi. You could only get the Sazabi in this way until the Converge reboot in 2015. Finally we have a metallic colour version of the Fully Equipped figure which was an "Overseas Only" special released by Bandai Hong Kong in February 2015.





15 : RX-178 Gundam Mk-II (Titans)


With plenty of mobile suits to choose from Bandai could litter the sets with Gundam types and so the next unit is the Mk-II in sharp Titans blue colour. This figure was notoriously difficult to find for a while and I ended up having to pay $36.00 for it when I finally found one. These days you should be able to score one for about ¥1000. Many of the first wave Converge figures have dropped in price quite sharply but I wonder if we just happen to be in that time when a lot of people are liquidating their collections and they will begin to increase in price again.


The Mk-II is specifically Unit 03 and it comes armed with a beam rifle (notice the cheaper single mould for hand + rifle compared to the Nu Gundam figure) a somewhat bland two-colour shield and the unique headband style Vulcan gun pods. The antenna is very prone to falling off and you should definitely consider gluing it in place.





Secret : RX-178 Gundam Mk-II (Titans) (bazooka version)


There are actually two variants of the Mk-II in this set as well. Unlike the Nu Gundam however, this follows the established practice for secret versions. This figure is the Titans Unit 01 armed with a bazooka (a rather bent one in my case...), but it was sold in the exact same box as the rifle equipped Unit 03. This makes the Mk-II figures much rarer than the Nu Gundam since you would only get half as many in each 10-box.


The secret figure has a different right hand holding a hyper bazooka. You also have the Unit 01 marking printed onto the left shoulder which is a nice touch. There is no Unit 02 in this set.


Besides the new Mk-II that was introduced in Converge #07 the old sculpt from volume 3 has also been released in A.E.U.G. colours in the very rare 7-Eleven Converge Selection set from November 2011 and in metallic blue colour as -again- an Overseas Only edition from Bandai Hong Kong as a C-3 Hobby Show special in 2017.





16 : RMS-108 Marasai


The Marasai is the only figure in this set that has not yet seen a re-sculpt in the updated Converge line. It is really baffling because the original figure has always been very hard to find and priced accordingly on the second-hand market. While prices have dropped in the last few years you can still expect to pay around ¥2500-¥3000 for a boxed copy. I have stocked up on a couple for conversion purposes but I still keep my fingers half-crossed that Bandai will at least do a Neo Zeon version at some point in the future.


If you are intending to pick this figure up from the second hand market, be sure to confirm that all of its tiny pieces are intact and included. I have seen figures missing the commander antenna as well as the shoulder peg so pay close attention (and if you own it, consider applying glue).





17 : RGM-79 GM


The trusty ol' GM will be in stores with its updated new sculpt this November. Stylistically it differs quite a bit from this old figure. By the way, look at that beautiful shield with multiple detailed paint apps and a proper face guard. It is a pity that the shield for the Gundam Mk-II in this set isn't up to this standard.


With several fancy Gundam figures in this set the GM gets to balance things out with a less impressive range of accessories. On the other hand, a Beam Spray Gun and a shield will go a long way for this mobile suit and covers the basics.


The GM figure was reissued under the old "Revival Selection" program which was a short-lived attempt at reissuing old Converge figures. It saw a couple of oldies inserted into Converge volumes 16, 17 and 18. The GM even got two versions in that revival, featuring a new beam saber accessory. While you can normally tell the difference between the reissues and the originals these ones are pretty much spot on. The mint-coloured version of the figure comes from the Operation Jaburo box set from 2012.





18 : MSM-07S Z'Gok (Char's Custom)


The poor GM continues to be stalked by a Z'Gok with a particularly mean streak. While the figure looks pretty cool it is impossible not to notice the huge seam running straight through its face. While this was corrected on the modernized figure I still do prefer the artistic style of this old Z'Gok.


The Z'Gok comes with a mini sprue for the six claws that have to be inserted into its hands at the correct angle. This does give you the option of slightly tweaking its grip but you will also quickly learn how easy it is for the figure to lose a claw as you are handling it. I feel I say it a lot in this review but you may want to break out that bottle of glue again.


The original Z'Gok figure (left) was touched up with some metallic finish and darker colours for the Operation Jaburo pack (center). It finally received a more television show-accurate colour palette in the #sharp version from Converge #15 released in 2019.





Conclusion

While FusionWorks were still cutting their teeth with volume 3 they really delivered a super figure set with this wave. The new #sharp era figures may be technically superior but there is a lot of life left in the old era figures which this set clearly illustrates. After a couple of really painful years trying to source these figures without selling a kidney you should now be able to pick them up fairly easily, at least as long as you are willing to order directly from Japan.