Mobile Suit Ensemble EX 31 : ZGMF-X20A Strike Freedom Gundam

The latter half of 2021 saw Bandai releasing a slew of SEED-themed premium EX figures and the retail sets also had some guest appearances in volumes 18 and 19 including the impossibly hard to find ZAKU Warrior and frustratingly rare Astray Red Frame. The availability of the EX figures on the secondary market hasn't been much better. The Strike Freedom Gundam figure for example, was delivered to customers in September and it is only now that I have managed to get my hands on one.


Truth be told I hesitated a bit on actually going ahead with the purchase. The latest EX figures are obscenely expensive for what they are, and I already decided to skip the ridiculous Astray Red Frame Power Loader. Not only is the figure very expensive but its excessive size also takes a toll on my available space. The Strike Freedom isn't much better in the financial department but at least it is manageable in size. :)


The Strike Freedom figure originally sold for about ¥5000 and is currently sitting around ¥8000 on the secondhand market. As you can see from this image you don't necessarily get a whole lot of stuff for that money so you better be sure you make an informed purchasing decision.


Sure, it looks like a lot of parts when you lay everything out but as you can see about half of it is spent on effect parts or basing. Well let's put this sucker together and take it through the paces.


There really is no excuse but sometimes I find myself not being able to quickly distinguish between the Freedom and the Strike Freedom. Bandai makes the task easier with the gold-coloured inner frame components which add a bit of personality to the figure. The paint job is pretty similar to a regular retail figure, perhaps with the odd extra painted detail here and there, such as the red tips on the railguns or the blue vents on the sides of the shoulders. I have to admit the multitude of colours on this thing look great.


The Ensemble Strike Freedom ships with half a dozen weapon choices as laid out here. We have a pair of attractively painted MA-M21KF High Energy Beam Rifles as well as a combination piece where the two rifles are combined into a Long Range Rifle. We also have two MA-M02G Beam Sabers which can also be combined into a dual blade as used also on the base Freedom Gundam (or the Infinite Justice for that matter). The sabers are all tragically of clear plastic retail standard. Bandai you were doing such a good job on the rifles; couldn't the sabers have been molded in translucent blue color too? Especially when you consider the fact that we even have translucent blue effect parts in this very box. Massive points deduction here.


The two hand held Beam Rifles almost disappear in the colourful array of the mobile suit itself. You may have noticed that the handles are rectangular but still fit the standard sized Ensemble hands. This is due to a storage gimmick where the weapons can be attached to the skirt armor as we shall see below.


The two MMI-M15E Xiphias type Railguns are mounted directly onto the sides of the skirt armor. the two halves hang down like a gunslinger's pistols when not in use and each half can be rotated 90 degrees to deploy the weapons, much less finicky than the similar gear on the older Freedom Gundam design.


Here the two Beam Rifles are combined into a Long Beam Rifle which does wonders for the figure's stability when not using an action base. The large wings are quite heavy and while you can rotate them backwards 90 degrees that is going to make a support mandatory.


The Beam Sabers are pretty much like your average toothpicks found in the retail equipment sets. I imagine you can paint them with a very thinly mixed paint to get a translucent style yourself but that is way beyond my skill level. I don't understand why Bandai has to be so stingy on coloured beam sabers they love wasting resources on useless translucent effect parts (the enormous triangle for the Assault-Buster Gundam comes to mind...).


The combined beam saber consists of two parts that are pegged together. This makes it easy to equip. While the selection of accessories is good I do wish the figure would also have included a pair of open expressive hands, seeing as how they are not the same colour as your average Ensemble hands.


I mentioned it briefly before and here you can see the two Beam Rifles attached to the side skirts with the two Rail Guns stowed on the back. The skirt itself has four rectangular pegs that are compatible with both types of weapons so you can customize it to your preference. Neat!


The two MX2200 Beam Shields that are attached to the forearms are similar to those we see on the League Militaire suits and can be displayed in either active or inactive mode. Just like the wings they sure don't make it easy to pose the figure without pieces constantly falling off. By the way notice ow they are molded in translucent blue? Just saying...


If you are familiar with this page you know that I rarely bother with the Mobile Suit Ensemble bases because I usually find them quite hideous and the Strike Freedom has the same features. The base is enormous and rigid, and only supports the figure in the most basic way. The bases have been the Achilles heel of the Ensemble series since the beginning and I have harped about it enough by now I think...


Much like the Newtype-controlled Bits, and Funnels in the Universal century, SEED also features remote-controlled weapons mounted on some of the most intimidating machines. The Strike Freedom features eight EQFU-3X Super DRAGOON Mobile Weapon Wings, each armed with a powerful Beam Assault Cannon. While these things fly around freely in-universe the Ensemble versions can be detached from the wings and attached to (wait for it...) translucent blue effect parts that feature nice little flames shooting out of them as they zap at the enemy. Two types of effect parts are provided, as seen above. These can be placed in a pattern of your choice using the many holes on the action bases but just like the mobile suit itself they are stuck at a horizontal angle which shows the limitations of the base once more.


Here we have the Strike Freedom up on the base with all the Super DRAGOONS out and about. The Gundam is only resting casually on top of the base. The action base fit is very snug and the risk of breaking the peg much too large for me wanting to risk attaching the figure fully. I won't be using this base after the review anyway, as I think the DRAGOONS look better on the wings (though I have to admit the blue electric effect they went for here does look pretty cool).


The Strike Freedom figure is also compatible with the Ensemble EX14B METEOR System originally developed for the Freedom Gundam. While I do have one in my collection I don't want to fiddle with Freedom already attached to it, so here is an excerpt from the build instructions showing how you can stow the Strike Freedom's wings on top of the METEOR and then attach the figure to the METEOR system. Notice how the already large action base of the Strike Freedom is intended to slot inside the base of the METEOR. Completely crazy if you ask me, but props to the designers for coming up with the solution.


Lastly I also want to point out that I have no idea why we got two spare sets of inner frame components (hand and leg joints) as well as duplicate skirt armor but they are accounted for in the inventory list so it is not a mistake. I suppose the frame components may have been added as backups in case you would need to replace a lost or damaged component.


Side by side comparison of the Ensemble ZGMF-X10A Freedom Gundam (here in the GCP color variant) and ZGMF-X20A Strike Freedom. Ensemble figures are normally the same height so this difference really stands out. It was actually the Freedom Gundam figure that pioneered the revised inner frame design in use here on the Strike Freedom. The other day I also just received my first wave 20 figures and noticed that they have kept parts of this revised frame design as well. Now I am really curious to see if the latest figures are indeed taller across the board.



Conclusion

Overall I think that if you like the Strike Freedom Gundam you will be really pleased with this figure. However its current price is really way more than I feel comfortable paying for it (and you can field three platoons of Jegans for the same price). I should also point out the Wings of Light effect parts set which is also available and features shiny translucent components for the Strike Freedom and Destiny Gundam figures which will eat away further on your budget if you wish to go all-in. Personally I think if you already own the Freedom Gundam figure your money can be put into better use elsewhere.