MegaHouse HaroCap History of Char

The MegaHouse brand has been producing Gundam character figures for a long time. At the time of writing we typically see one or two large figures per year from their GGG figure line. I believe the latest one is Gigi Andalucia of Hathaway's Flash which was released earlier in the winter. However, if you dig into the history a bit there are a couple of really interesting smaller figure sets in their HaroCap Gashapon-sized line.


While not carrying the HaroCap name, the "History of Char" box set springs out of this line and was released in 2010. According to HobbySearch the item launched in February and was priced at 3850 yen. The HaroCap range is very difficult to find boxed these days although the price isn't that bad. I picked this set up for ¥5000 on the secondary market. You can sometimes find figures like these on eBay in more or less complete condition (and typically not properly named), price will vary based on luck and timing apart from general demand.


The standard HaroCap range is distributed as Gashapon but this particular item is actually a fixed set with a specially designed display box. The neat thing about display boxes like these is that you don't really need to take the figures out to enjoy them although some of the accessories will not be attached.


Each figure features a typical clear plastic block to aid it standing up and some of them feature accessories neatly taped down that can be a bit of a pain to handle.


As you can see, MegaHouse have released all of these figures before under the title "Char Collection". I don't have many details on these except that they are part of the HaroCap line and so are packaged individually in Haro-style Gashapon capsules with random distribution. According to hlj, the first volume appeared in February 2006.






Starting from the left we have a classic vintage Char Aznable style figure complete with the signature helmet. Detail and paintwork is excellent all over although it is annoying to see the manufacturer gloating on the back of his boots. This is typical for Gashapon figures although it is often cut into the mold itself and not just painted like here. I guess you can paint this over if it bugs you. The figure can stand upright unaided but as you can imagine it doesn't take much to topple it over. I don't know if the painting style on this figure differs from the original Gashapon version, the box art indicates they are similar.


Here is a size comparison with a similar Bandai Emotive Figure Collection version from 2006 and the recently released Gundam Military Generation figure from last year.







Next we have Char in a Zero-G flight suit in a rather extravagant take on the normally pale light red outfit. The figure has a really unique pose that makes it ideal for dioramas and terrible handling as it very hard to get it to stand even with the ugly support attached. In general I think the flat bases used by the Bandai EF line works better, I kind of wish the MegaHouse figures came with a peg hole in their feet. Both the helmet and the mask are loose accessories that will have you pulling your hair out. If I didn't want to keep the figure in the display box I would have glued these in place.


Once again we can do a comparison with a Bandai EF figure (that goes really heavy on the eyeliner). Apart from the size difference the colours are also wildly different, well in favour of the Bandai figure although the MegaHouse figure sports more colour variation.







Time for a bit of Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam as we have Char under his Quattro Bajeena alias. Zeta really has a lot of terrible costume designs and Char as strongman with red boots and sunglasses is pretty hilarious. The likeness of this figure is probably the best out of this lot.


You probably noticed how awkwardly my figure holds on to the glasses. Well, I just couldn't get it to hold the glasses as you would expect it to but then again, looking at the box cover it appears neither were the figure designers themselves. :)


Here I think the MegaHouse is outclassing the Bandai EF Zeta figure variant in every department, save except from balance. Now if someone could also make the version from the late Zeta intro where he grits his teeth in anger that would be a nice completion.







Seems we are climbing back into the pilot gear again, this time in the Zeta era green pilot suit. I am not overly excited about this action pose with a gun (this is from the scene where the AEUG team meets Haman on the Gwadan for the first time...), I much prefer the casual walking and gear-manipulating figures as they work better for most dioramas. I can't think of any other figure out there with Char in this outfit however so this is what we have to work with.


We recently had some nice Zeon ace pilots in the GMG line so here is a chance for Char to join them, you'll need to make use of the third dimension to compensate for their size difference though.







The last figure has the great leader return in his 0093 cape. You can opt to attach the ceremonial sword or not as the peg hole shouldn't be too noticable. The soft vinyl style cape is making the figure very back heavy and the little clear block will have to work overtime to keep the figure upright. Especially if, like in this case, the stand doesn't line up properly with the ground. I don't know if I did something wrong here, the block clips neatly onto either foot but doesn't reach all the way down properly so not sure what is going on here. A bit of a spoiler of such a nice figure.


Here we actually have a chance to compare the new figure to one of the older HaroCap items from the Char Collection. Again, I am not sure if the difference in paint style is due to the new figure having some sort of deluxe treatment or if the artistic design is simply a bit different between the two.






I am a big fan of expressive Gundam character figures and this set delivers to the max. There are some frustrations on the technical side that you do not suffer with figures such as the Bandai EF line and the comparable sizes are not always helpful but there is so much diorama potential here. It is a shame that Mobile Suit Gundam didn't reach the same manufacturing craze as Star Wars where every little creature seen for the briefest moment in the background of a single scene would inevitably show up in figure form. :)

Mobile Suit Ensemble : Destiny & Freedom Wings of Light Set

As mentioned earlier here is the Wings of Light effects part set for the two signature mobile suits of Gundam SEED Destiny. There is not really a whole lot of detail to go into here so it will be a quick review.


The WoL set is a P-Bandai extension kit so you know it is going to be expensive, but I must say I didn't expect it to be THIS pricey. The set shipped in January 2022 and the P-Bandai price for it was ¥1650. Well, lo and behold, the secondary price doubled already in February, the last price tag I saw was now ¥3500 which is, frankly, insane.


This kit is an extension to the EX31 ZGMF-X20A Strike Freedom Gundam (shipped in September 2021) and the EX33 ZGMF-X42S Destiny Gundam which was also shipped in January 2022. Did you notice that there is no display of the pieces on the back of the box, which is normally what you would expect from a P-Bandai Ensemble kit. I'm sure this is not a bad sign, right?


Ah, ok, I see... this is how we are playing it. I mean yes, you really do get what is promised but there sure aren't any extras in this box.


Assembly for the Destiny is a quick affair. You simply unfold its wings and then plug the effect parts into the upper section of the wing and by aligning everything correctly the parts gain additional support from the red skeletal structure of the wingframe. The result is very clean and completes the look of the Destiny wings which didn't look very good without the effect parts to be honest. if you look closely you can see ugly circular mold details on the outer sections of the wings which doesn't detract from the look but are hard to unsee.


In the Destiny Gundam review I moaned about the extra pair of hands showing off the Hand Beam Cannons. The hands even come with peg holes but no accessory was included. So you mean to tell me that Bandai spent time designing two different blue sprues with effect parts for the Strike Freedom but couldn't sacrifice a corner on each to place a blue cannon effect part there? Lousy effort. Here I just tested out a yellow beam saber part I happened to have lying around. Bandai did half the work but stumbled on the finish line. Not impressed.


As a reminder here is the old Gundam Converge Destiny Gundam (SP08, released in November 2016) with its effect parts applied. The size and angle of the wings is clearly more spectacular. Apologies for not setting them up in a comparison shot but the Converge wings are packed away somewhere... :)


Next up is the Strike Freedom. Assembly here is a bit more tedious in that you have to remove the Dragoon weapon pods from the wings but as a plus this now enables you to do a full-on display with the figure on its base with glowing wings and all the Dragoon units in flight in front of it. Sorry but I couldn't be bothered to dig those parts out to showcase it but you get the idea. Notice again the ugly circular mold details in the wings, much more visible on the blue wings. I am surprised this was a necessity but have to assume it has something to do with cost cutting. And speaking of cutting corners, the blue sprues would have been suitable for blue beam saber effect parts for the Strike Freedom as well, don't you think?


The Converge Strike Freedom (SP 07 released in August 2016) pose is almost the same as that of the Ensemble figure. I guess in conclusion I can say that the Ensemble Wings of Light set is great to enhance the look of both Ensemble figures - the Destiny Gundam in particular - but I think the implementation was a bit sloppy and completely missed the opportunity to take the figures to the next level.

Mobile Suit Ensemble EX 33 : ZGMF-X42S Destiny Gundam

I have been trying to play catch-up with some of the recent Ensemble sets and finally got my hands on a Destiny after several failed attempts. The figure was delivered in the beginning of the year and carried a P-Bandai price-tag of ¥4950, putting it in the same category as the Virtue and the Strike Freedom. The Strike Freedom has since gone up rapidly in price while the Destiny has only climbed moderately in comparison (and the Virtue is just nowhere to be found...).


The first impression is that the box is a fair bit smaller than the Strike Freedom which struck me as a bit odd considering that the two are pretty much each other's counterparts, hovering the industry standard 18-meter height while also both making use of large folding wings. I believe the main reason for this might be the way the sprues were designed for the Strike Freedom's remote weapons.


The bags seem to confirm that the Destiny is a really straightforward build. It features three smaller bags like your average Ensemble capsule figure and then collects some of its larger effect pieces in the larger two bags. The instruction shows that it is using the same internal build structure as pioneered by the Freedom Gundam figure (EX14) with the slightly more mobile shoulders and new torso attachment.


As I was going through the parts I was really pleased to see the level of detail in the painting. Perhaps I was still sour coming out of the sticker-heavy Mobility Joint figure experience but the Destiny Gundam really has a lot of nice colour apps including thin coloured lines that look great. Let's build this sucker!


Alright, so here she stands... or rather leans. The heavy backpack with wing binders and large weapon rack makes the Destiny severely back-heavy and if you are not going to use the action base the weapon accessories will have to double as support (and they are just a tad too short for this role). I really like the light grey base colour and with all additional armour pieces in blue and red it really looks sharp. The large beam rifle is unexpectedly made of a soft type of plastic which makes it a bit awkward to insert into the figure's hand, but at least it retains its shape and looks surprisingly sharp.


The wings sit on swivel joints which lets you angle them backwards and they also fold out fully as seen here. You know a figure with wings like this is going to be a pain to handle but at least it is not as fiddly as the Freedom. The wings are prepared for Wings of Light effect parts (available separately) which we will come back to in a follow-up review.


As stylish as the Destiny Gundam design I think it suffers from being a bit too similar to the Impulse and Perfect Strike Gundam. To me it feels really gimmicky that the long range beam cannons must all be the same shade of green and swords the same type of blue. Here we see the M2000GX High-Energy Long-Range Beam Cannon rotated forward while still attached to the back pack. The barrel is extended with a 180 degree swivel and the whole thing looks pretty smooth. The gun also has a handle if you feel like messing with the figure's left arm and hand to sync them all up, something that usually results in the arm falling apart while you fiddle around with it.


The MMI-714 Arondight Beam Sword sits on the same type of swiveling backpack mount but you simply unfold it and place it directly in the figure's hand. A really cool glowing red effect part is added for the laser section of the blade that plugs in on the underside. In spite of its impressive length the figure still remains back heavy and the sword was really its best support so the pose will be awkward with the action base. In this shot you can also see the compact shield replaced with a beam effect counterpart. Both wrist guards have peg holes so you can move the two shields around according to preference.


Speaking of cool effect parts, we also have two beam swords/sabers with two differently sized blades, kind of like the GN Short and Long Sword of the Exia. It has been awhile since I suffered through SEED Destiny now but I don't recall these weapons, I wonder if they are perhaps intended to be the two shoulder boomerang-style weapons employed as sabers (though the relative sizes are completely off). Whatever the case these look really nice and it is starting to get tricky determining which gear to choose for the Destiny now.


One really unique feature of the Destiny Ensemble figure is a pair of uniquely sculpted hands with raised palms held forward to reveal the two MMI-X340 Palma Fiocina Beam Cannons. The figure even has little holes in the palms to represent the cannons, but I can't find any effect parts in the box even though it looks awesomely blue on the box cover. Perhaps the expensive Wings of Light effects part set will remedy this? (Hint: No, it does not... sucker)


Either Bandai started reading the reviews or (more likely) local customer feedback on social media convinced them to try something different for the Destiny action base. Do you see what I see? A ball-joint connector! I was really happy to see this attempt to fixing the boring static display bases that usually ship with Ensemble figures. This should enable you to create some more interesting poses suitable for giant sword action. However, after a few unlucky experiences with these fragile bases breaking and getting stuck inside the groin of the figure (the horror...) I am not letting these near my figures unless there is no other choice.

All in all, I find the Destiny Gundam figure to be a really pleasant and stylish figure for the Ensemble line-up. While costly it is cheaper than both the Strike Freedom and the AGE-1 Glansa. The only real issues I would have liked to see addressed is the fact that the figure cannot stand well unaided (a small clear piece attached under the backpack would have been neat) and the lack of a Palm Cannon effect part. In the grander scheme of things I am also not that happy about the Strike Freedom figure that it is meant to duel is now much taller, but I cannot really fault the Destiny for it (I will return to that topic in the Wings of Light review).