The latest Shokugan news...

Bandai recently unveiled their latest Shokugan figure series which is due to hit the shelves in April next year. With a name only a mother can love, I think that Mobility Joint Gundam has a bit of an uphill battle from the start. What we are looking here is a complete replacement for the slot previously championed for a short while by my beloved MicroWars series. These blocky and stubby figures continue to blur the line between figures and kits. Actually, at this point I think it is safe to say that these are not even figures but simplified model kits.


As you can see from the concept designs the figures are taking more than a cue from the concurrent Gframe "figure" series where you will get the basic mobile suit (or armor) in one box and its option parts in a complementary box (referred to as the "EX" set). They are priced at ¥590 per box meaning a complete figure will set you back about ¥1200 yen. Sure, you get quite a number of accessories for some of these figures but at a price more than twice as expensive as the average Converge, Ensemble (or even MicroWars) figure just how much desire will you have to army build? You'll likely end up with a lot of unused accessories collecting dust in a zip-lock bag for most of the time (don't ask me how I know this...).


Joint Mobi... Mobility Joint figures (man, the name just will not stick) are said to have an approximate size of about 70mm height and 50mm width which will put them quite near to their closest counterparts from the MicroWars range. Since MJG will not feature open cockpits or pilots they appear much slender but perhaps, just perhaps, they can augment the dead MicroWars line-up to some extent (although I have a feeling Bandai will mainly recycle the same old suits once more in the end).


While I don't particularly enjoy the way Gundam figure collecting has turned into some kind of model kit hobby I don't want to give the designers a hard time about it either, because we are aware of the realities faced by the entire industry in 2021. On the other hand, if I wanted to spend time building and painting model kits I wouldn't be into the Shokugan figures to begin with.


Meanwhile, the fast expanding Gframe series is also getting a reboot. After an impressive release schedule the series is taking a breather until February next year when the first "full armor" figures will begin bombarding the collectors again. Not being a Gframe addict myself the way I understand it is the new GframeFA figures will feature armor plating that covers also the back of the figures. The series is being reset to volume 01 and appears to continue the four figures per wave pace, with each mobile suit divided between an "armor set" (containing the armor parts and a static frame) and a "frame set" (with the articulated inner frame). The regular figures are being upped in price from ¥500 to ¥590, again totaling almost ¥1200 for a complete figure. Pretty rough if you ask me.


Wow, they sure are pushing the FA brand hard. The first EX set and P-Bandai exclusive will release in late Q1, and those sets will cost ¥3900 each. There also appears to be some sort of raffle going on where Japanese customers can battle for a Phase Shift Down variant of the Strike Gundam. My wallet sighs of relief that I stayed out of this money sink of a figure series.


On an end note we have also seen the full line-up for Converge Plus #03. The line-up looks pretty nice with a good collection of suits and mobile armors but the equipment pack is a bit of a joke. I have questioned this business practice before but it seems to make even less sense for Gundam Converge. I wish they would just up the price a couple of 100 yen per figure and get rid of the whole spreading parts around hassle that has already infected Ensemble and more recently Senshi Forte. In other news, the red Neo Zeong is getting a reissue (complete with the option parts set) so this is a good opportunity for collectors who missed out on it the first time. The price of the original Neo Zeong is holding up remarkably well on the secondary market so for ¥5500 it is a bit of a steal. The Neo Zeong should hit the shelves inMarch next year so start saving up. Also in the works is a Converge CORE variant of the Unicorn Perfectability so we can look forward to a bit of Unicorn milking as well.