I wonder just how many million SD figures have been manufactured to this day; the numbers must be absolutely staggering. The series' bigger brother - the Gashapon HG range - featuring fully-proportioned figures in roughly 1:285 scale has a jubilee box-set with the slogan "Over 100 Million Memorial Edition" and that came out already in 2001, when the HG series had been going for about five years and produced around 100 different figure types. I wish one day someone will write a proper history book about the Bandai Gundam figure-era (and for someone to translate it...).
Today we are looking at one of the Full Color range's releases that came out in the middle of its lifetime. Stage 27 was released in August 2001 in what appears to me to be the most popular eras since figures from the Stages around 20-30 are usually fairly easy to find. Having said that, I would classify this particular set as a little bit more elusive. This particular review set comes from - you guessed it - Mandarake and carried a price tag of ¥800 when I picked it up last year.
A rather straightforward set here as you can see. The most critical component is of course the clear base with its dual ball joint peg.
148 : RX-78-2 Gundam (Ver.10.0)
We have reached the tenth official version of the RX-78 and this time we have a figure holding both hands on the handle of a nice translucent beam saber. The figure has no shield (or support for one) and the backpack has only one beam saber attached to it. The pose is designed for a duel with the Zaku II from this set.
Here we have some of the saber-rattlers from the Gundam family. Top row: Beam Javelin-wielder from Stage 34, a slasher from Stage 36 and a dual-wield from Stage 39. Bottom row: Left hand wave from Stage 3 (or Stage 17 reissue), black hands from Stage 31 and pointy here from Stage 27.
149 : MS-06 Zaku II (Ver.6.0)
Here we have our first flying Zaku II. It sits on the standardized round clear base but the peg has a small ball joint at the tip instead of the more common cylindrical type we see used on most mobile armors. This gives the Zaku II a couple more posing choices at the expense of being less compatible with bases from other SD figures, something to keep in mind when you are shopping second hand.
150 : RX-178 Gundam Mk-II (A.E.U.G.) (Ver.3.0)
The Mk-II is back as well, in its third iteration officially (guess it depends on how you are counting them). It has the traditional beam rifle and shield. As the big holes in its shoulders reveal however, this variant figure is compatible with the G-Defenser mobile armor.
Mk-II gang from left to right - top row: AEUG Bazooka from Stage 7, AEUG Saber dude from Stage 20, the tiny one from Stage 27 and a Titans Unit 03 from Stage 45. Bottom row: Another AEUG Saber rattler from Stage 48 the Super Gundam from Stage 12 and a chunky Titans machine from Stage 6.
151 : FXA-05D G-Defenser
We've seen the little G-Defenser time and again in Gashapon and Shokugan form but this is its only appearance in the SD line-up. It returns again in the Gashapon Warrior NEXT range in 2014 and most recently in Senshi Forte in 2017. Apart from combining with the RX-178 figure it is also compatible with the traditional SD Full Color action base although no such item is supplied with it. As always I advocate finding duplicate SD figures that come on bases just to get access to a couple extra because you will always find yourself running short.
This version of the RX-178+FXA-05D Super Gundam is super-easy to convert. You build it by attaching the landing gear to the RX-178's shoulders, swap the backpack for the fuselage and replace the beam rifle with the larger long beam rifle. Most G-Defenser conversions tend to be very fiddly or come apart easily so this is a huge plus.
Comparison of the Super Gundam found as a complete figure in Stage 12 and the combo built from the two figures in Stage 27.
152 : F91 Gundam F91
Here is something new then, the first visitors from the F91-era. The figure has the signature red F on the right shoulder and the designers cleverly raised its left arm to cover the shoulder so they didn't have to write "91" in that section... at least the translucent shield looks nice although I think the figure is a bit white overall.
The F91 returned in Stage 60 as a translucent variant armed with an equally translucent Beam Launcher. I would much have preferred a solid coloured weapon there but at least this gives you some options to play around with.
153 : XM-07 Vigna Ghina
The Vigna Ghina doesn't seem to be very popular but I really dig its silver and purple theme and this SD figure looks great. It is a shame we didn't get any other Crossbone Vanguard suits in the SD line but at least they join in later with the NEXT and DASH crowds.
The entire F91 line-up in SD Full Color form is a bit meager. Besides the two figures in this set and the previously mentioned clear F91 we also have a tiny Rafflesia mobile armor in Stage 60 as well as a weird character-style F91 from one of the Extra Stages.
154 : RX-79BD-1 Blue Destiny Unit 1
Another new face, and - unfortunately - the single representative from the Blue Destiny Side Story Gundam line. Unit 1 is a modified Ground Type Gundam with a really unique colour scheme. I would love for Bandai to work their way through the signature figures of this series, right now your best bet is the 1:400 collection which has a line-up of all the three Gundams including Nimbus' repurposed Unit 02 and the EXAM-rocking Efreet Custom.
Unit 01 sparring with the dual-wielding Efreet Custom. The Efreet-family of mobile suits are some of the more impressive Zeonic designs in my opinion and I don't understand why they aren't more popular in figure form.
Conclusion
While Stage 27 is a little heavy on recycling mobile suits we've already seen before it is still a competent and useful line-up for those still building their collections. The main attraction here seems to be the Super Gundam duo and it is vital for F91 fans.
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