Full Color Stage 43 was released in August 2003 and borrows its title from the Mobile Suit Gundam SEED episode with the same name (episode 22, which aired in March that same year) but there is more going on here than the title suggests, with several new faces from the Universal Century.
As with many of the Full Color sets from this later era these figures can be a bit tricky to find nowadays. The one exception to this is the two Z.A.F.T. aquatic suits which I have been able to find a decent supply of in the second-hand shops primarily. I picked up a full set last year from Mandarake for ¥800 so as usual with most SD figures the prices aren't the factor that makes them scarce.
Early Full Color figures are mainly statues but at this point in their development most would feature several moving parts or accessories. This also means you are more likely to encourage figures with missing components when shopping second-hand so paying attention is important as sellers (or previous owners) often don't mind swapping out parts left and right (something that is a real headache with the Full Color Custom figures in particular).
263 : GAT-X105 Strike Gundam (Ver.3.0)
Gundam SEED premiered in SD Full Color Stage 36 and here it appears for the fifth time in less than a year's time. The first version is armed with a beam rifle the second the Armor Schneider close combat knife and here it features the bazooka option which enables the Strike a long range weapon that does not drain its energy while also offering a potent bite when used underwater. It is an attractive figure carried mostly by its beautiful shield. I have considered painting in some black detail on its shoulders several times, which would enhance the look even more.
264 : UMF-5 ZnO
Z.A.F.T. deploys a handful of different amphibious mobile suits of which the ZnO is the main assault model. The design has a little bit of Z'Gok in it but mostly resembles a slouching Ogre with very menacing claws. I think the Full Color figure captures its spirit well even though its size is not as menacing as it would normally be compared to the average Gundam. The ZnO returns in Full Color Custom 16 (released in March 2008) a set that I have so far not managed to find a single figure from (which is a bit frustrating). The easiest recognition feature however, is that the new figure's eye is looking to the right instead of to the left as seen here.
265 : UMF-4A GOOhn
The GOOhn is a tall and bulky suit and as such suffers a bit in the super deformed format. This particular figure is a simple statue but you don't really need much more from it. I have noticed that this particular figure is molded from one of those types of plastics that which age begin to release sticky oil. The same thing goes to some extent for the ZnO and the Strike Gundam figures. This is thankfully very rare in the SD figure range overall, at least in my experience.
The GOOhn was reissued in the Full Color Custom range in volume 15, released January 2008. The new figure is smaller and has a new colour scheme but more importantly features the basic FCC articulation and weapon holding ability and even comes armed with a... yes, what is it armed with exactly? It looks like some type of harpoon but the suit normally does not make use of any handheld gear, instead relying on a sizable arsenal of torpedoes, darts and a pair of high energy phonon cannons.
266 : RB-79K Ball Type K
No matter how many bells and whistles you put on the Ball it will always remain a Mobile Armor at the lower end of the food chain. The K-model is an upgrade intended for civilian use but this particular unit has been fitted with a dual cannon where a regular military unit would normally use a single 180mm recoilless cannon. The figure is of very high standard and blows the pathetic Gundam Converge variant out of the water and as a bonus it also comes with one of those coveted standardized SD Full Color action bases.
267 : RX-78-4 Gundam Unit 4 "G04"
While the main storyline is very focused on Amuro's RX 78-2 the Gundam extended universe features a large family of interesting variants of which the G3 and perhaps the Full Armor Gundam are the most notable. Two of the more discrete variations started their lives as M-MSV designs and were apparently considered cool enough to feature in both the Encounters in Space game as well as the Side Story: Space to the End of a Flash manga adaptation which I have at least one volume of lying around here somewhere. Unit 4 does everything bigger and better but at the price of eliminating the modular Core Block system. It wields an enormous Mega Beam Launcher hooked up directly to the suit's reactor for additional power. The weapon itself is actually really colourful so it is too bad that we don't get any little detail painted on it at all, I guess painting the beam saber hilts was easier. :)
268 : RX-78-5 Gundam Unit 5 "G05"
Gundam Unit 5 is developed from the same platform as unit 4 although it has a lot of different technology under the hood. Its signature weapon isn't a Mega Beam Launcher but a bizarre 90mm Gatling Cannon fed via belt from its backpack. These two figures are really cool and I wonder if the reason that we do not see them very often has to do with headaches related to sculpting their weapons. The old Gundam Converge Pale Rider features some of the same gear and that thing was a really complicated but sweet design. I am all for Bandai bringing the pair into Converge or why not Ensemble (where they can make one of them impossible to find (like the Astray Red Frame right now...)?
269 : MBF-M1 M1 Astray
Hidden away at the end is one of the most important suits of this particular wave, the main army builder for the Orb Union. This figure routinely gets the can in favour of the much more popular derivative Astray Red Frame. Below it poses with one of the different GINNs as well as the Earth Federation's Strike Dagger. None of these figures are particularly easy to find and when they do pop up in marketplaces they are often not complete.
Conclusion
I find this set especially vital if you are into the Cosmic Century but the Universal Century fans also get a really pleasant trio of unusual figures worthy of seeking out.
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