SD Gundam Full Color Stage 51

The SD Full Color jubilee 50th set was an All-Gundam affair - mostly featuring lame reissues - and so it seems even Bandai were bored of Gundams at that point. Enter volume 51, a Zaku variation set! The concept alone makes this one of my favourite sets and the execution isn't half bad either with mostly new sculpts and rare mobile suit choices.


This ten-piece set was released in August 2004, that's fifty one sets released in less than seven years! It seems to me this must have been the golden era of Gashapon, the sheer number of figures produced must be staggering. This means you can still stumble on unopened figure sets even today, twenty years down the line.


At this point in time however, it seems the series must have begun its decline. While many of the figures in this set aren't that rare they are not nearly as common as the figures in the earlier stages like, say, volumes 15-30. The price on the secondhand market seems to reflect this somewhat, still at ¥1500 for the full set they remain rather cheap if you can get your hands on them. I have picked up several singles from this set in used toy markets but finding a full set like this must be considered a bit unusual.




322 : MS-06S Zaku II (Char's Custom) (transparent colour ver.)


While the set contains mostly new figures it opens up with a trio of reanimated designs that return in astral clear colour versions. First out we have Char's Zaku II wielding a bazooka. I really like how they have gone for a solid look of the weapon while the rest of the figure has this ghost-like appearance. The later clear colour version figures that came out of SD Full Color Custom don't hold a candle to these guys in my opinion.


The sculpt of this figure goes back all the way to the very first wave of SD figures, Stage 1, released in October 1997. That particular figure was also reissued (under the stage name v1.1) in the reissue set Stage 10. Interestingly, none of the more refined versions of Char's Zaku feature the bazooka, going exclusively for machine guns.




323 : MS-06F Zaku II (transparent colour ver.)


The next ancient warrior is the mass-production type Zaku, armed with a machine gun, and looking confusingly tasty like some ambitious Japanese jelly candy. I really like the two different shades of green, just like how Char's machine had two distinct types of red. As far as clear colour figures go, this is the gold standard.


This figure also hails from Stage 1 but there are plenty of modernized variants to supplant it. The original SD figures are quite large and chunky compared to the later releases which compensated for increased complexity and articulation with smaller and leaner bodyparts.




324 : MS-05 Zaku I (transparent colour ver.)


The last of the transparent trio is a classic Zaku I brawler, destined never to get to hold a machine gun or knuckle shield. Unlike the Zaku II figures the Zaku I is all single colour green with painted on blue accents which looks quite nice I must say. The sculpt itself is not particularly exciting but it is what it is I guess.


Yep, you guessed it, the Zaku I is also from SD Gundam Full Color Stage 1. Together with the mass production-type Zaku II it was reissued as version 1.1 in the massive 12-figure Stage 17 reissue set.





325 : MS-06R-1A Zaku II High Mobility Type (Black Tri-Stars Custom) (Ver.2.0)


Alright, so moving on to what is new in this wave we start with an updated variant of the High Mobility Type Zaku for the Tri-Stars team. The new figure features additional colours and gets two different weapons to play with, a bazooka or a machine gun. Shame that there isn't a third figure with a heat hawk. Interestingly the two machines in the original Full Color line are the only tri-Star representations we have in the entire line-up, so they haven't been available in super-deformed form for fifteen years at this point.


Here we have a trio with the 1.0 version figure from Stage 18 (July, 2000) in the middle. It would have been nifty if the first generation figure had featured a Commander Type antenna.




326 : MS-06F-2 Zaku II F-2 Type


On the topic of rarities, here is something as unusual as a Zaku II F-2 Type, featured in Stardust Memory. It is an incremental upgrade of the bog-standard MS-06F. The machine here appears to be modelled after Neuen Bitter's custom commander machine although the colour scheme resembles a common machine. Notice the rocket boosters and spare machine gun ammo-drum on the back.




327 : MS-11 Act Zaku


Another incredibly rare face is the Act Zaku, a mobile suit variation from the MS-X line-up. It too is an upgrade of the basic MS-06F although the changes here are more drastic and fundamentally alter how the suit operates, giving it vastly increased mobility. It is a shame that we don't get to see this mobile suit in figure form more often. As far as I am aware, ignoring model kits this is the only Act Zaku figure ever made. The suit seems like a perfect figure for series like Converge, small, compact and colourful - low-hanging fruit rather than going for obscure and outlandish Crossbone designs...




328 : AMX-011 Zaku III


Apart from its name I don't think you can classify the Zaku III as a variation of the classic machine, this is for all intents and purposes a completely new machine. Considerably larger and heavier it also makes use of advanced beam weaponry. It features briefly in Mobile Suit ZZ Gundam together with its main rival, the Döven Wolf, which bested it in trials.


Just like its buddy, the Custom AMX-011C from Stage 14 (released February 2000) the Zaku III has never been reissued in SD form.




329 : MSN-01 Psycommu Test High Mobility Type Zaku II


The MSN-01 is the intermediate step between the early MS-06Z Psycommu System Zaku and the well-known MSN-02 Zeong. While the MS-06Z was a pretty conventional looking machine its development foregoes legs and introduces the ten-finger beam cannon salute. The prototype ultimately convinced the designers that the Zaku was not up to the task and development of the much larger Zeong commenced in its place. The Psycommu Zaku type is a really unique looking design that is sadly rare in figure form. The MegaHouse Chess Piece Collection has a nice to-scale representation of it but otherwise it is slim pickings in the figure world. It seems like an obvious contender for the Converge Plus range so I haven't yet given up hope on seeing it in Converge form.




330 : MS-06V Zaku Tank


The Zaku Tank is an unholy merger of the torso of a mass-production Zaku II and the main body of a Magella Attack Tank. Not a military specification per see but rather a Frankensteinian invention at the front line the Zaku Tank saw various duties supporting the main forces with whatever tasks they could. Multiple variations exist apparently also with Zaku I torsos, although all Bandai figures you will ever come across are standardized around the Zaku II.


The SD range of course has a Magella Attack Tank of its own, although it wasn't released until Stage 41 (May 2003). The Zaku Tank figure also comes with an option part. You can remove the two cisterns from the back and replace them with what is supposedly a crane-type assembly, resembling that mounted on the MS-06V-6 Green Macaque, seen here in its Gashapon HG MS form from 2001.




331 : MS-06K Zaku Cannon


The Zaku Cannon loosely resembles the RX-77-2 Guncannon and other similar designs like the GM Cannon or the odd Gelgoog and Dom Cannon variants. Its backmounted 180mm cannon allows it to back up combat units from a distance although it also features short range weapons like the two "Big Gun" handheld dual rocket launchers.




Conclusion

This is a fantastic range of figures that offers up a wide selection of Zaku-types for the Zeon-oriented collector. It is such a shame that so many of these designs haven't been properly realized in larger scales. I do hope that Converge, Ensemble and Senshi Forte take it upon themselves to spread some love to at least a few of these suits that SD fans get to enjoy already.