Mobile Suit Ensemble EX 28 : ZGMF-X09A Justice Gundam

Collecting Ensemble figures can be a bi painful at times. Some figures are just hopeless to come by. The Justice Gundam figure was released over a year ago in June 2021 and I have been seeing this sucker getting swiped from underneath my hand several times on the secondary market. The price has skyrocketed too. It started out at Bandai at ¥4180 and by now you can see them going for double that. Quite spicy considering this is an average size figure with an accessory suite that while great isn't THAT impressive. Still, finally I have a unit to cherish as my own (and I hope to eventually catch a break also with the Virtue Gundam figure...).


The box is similar in style to the previously released Freedom Gundam figure. The two Ensemble figures actually have a lot of shared anatomy between them as well.


The Justice itself is a basic Ensemble figure built with the same anatomical design first pioneered by the Freedom, including the special hip-joint that has the connecting peg in the torso section. The remainder of the components in this box are split between the Fatum-00 high mobility flight pack (which has a lot of small components) as well as the usual oversized action base gunk we tend to see in the EX packs. The typical assembly instruction is just as messy as they always are some of the 3D-render views can be quite hard to make out but usually you have a left and a right component so you can mirror the work on the one part that is easier to see. Seriously, model kit assembly instructions have been a thing for half a century at this point; I don't see why these have to be so muddled.


Here is basic Justice Gundam figure. It has a really decorative pink colour scheme that sits really well with me because I just love figures with unique colour schemes (I am pretending that it does not recycle the Aegis' scheme here...). The beam rifle and shield are nicely painted and especially the rifle has a tremendous amount of effort put into it, similar to the rifles used by the Freedom. I always love when Bandai go the extra mile to paint up the multi-colour rifles, it is such an easy way to make the figure look all the better.

Also included are a common beam saber and a dual saber, also similar to those used by the Freedom, but again they are clear colour which defies all reason and logic for an EX figure. From an engineering point of view the small feet really like to come off the ball joints as soon as you begin to posing the figure which is very annoying. The two Beam Boomerang weapons attached to the shoulders are also way larger than I think they need to be but they are quite prominent on the actual design too so I'll give it a pass.


Next we attach the Fatum-00 flight pack in its stowed configuration. The flight pack comes with a swiveling multi-part attachment assembly that goes into the Gundam's torso. This component was giving me a bit of grief but with repeated use the joint loosened a bit (perhaps it will become too loose if you play around with it a lot...). The figure can support the weight of the pack but you'll need to find a stable pose for it not to topple over. A special stand is included that slots in underneath the flight pack but I had such a hassle getting it to where it was supposed to be that I gave up and just balanced the figure without it. The Converge (and Assault Kingdom) method of using a peg under the figure's foot and put it on a platform is generally a more stylish option I think.


Each Beam Boomerang weapon has a gimmick where it can be removed and attached to a transparent effect part which in turn attaches to a small pedestal (in this comparison view I have only used one of the two pedestals). As usual with Ensemble you can't do anything interesting with these as the bases have no articulation and so the weapons just sit flat at hip-level, not exactly how you would want to pose a dramatic throw against an opponent. Pointless guff, if you ask me.


Next we have the dreadful action base. Or rather base as there is no action to it at all. Just like the Freedom got the top section of the Archangel's bridge as its base (which at least made a little bit of thematic sense as this is where it first spread its wings in the anime) the Justice gets the top segment of the Eternal's bridge and fin. A secondary support clips onto the fin to allow for the Fatum-00 flight unit to be displayed in its deployed mode. Here the Justice balances very loosely on top of the base because no way am I attaching it firmly and risking the peg breaking again. I learnt my lesson well with the Raider Gundam figure... As usual the Ensemble EX bases are overly complicated and accomplish little.


I was surprised that the figure can actually carry the deployed flight pack (yes I didn't extend the wings to the sides in these images) unaided but you won't be getting any interesting poses out of it this way. Most of the Fatum-00 unit is made of hard plastic by the way so the wings and fins all retain their crisp shape.


Personally I like the atmospheric flight mode where the Justice will can be seen casually surfing the glider like a surfboard, reminiscent of how some of the other Z.A.F.T. mobile suits also use sub-flight systems in atmosphere. We actually get a connecting piece that attaches to the figure's crotch and onto the flight pack to keep the figure securely in place but I caution against using these since they have a tendency to break very easily. As you can see the figure has no trouble standing on top of the fatum-00 anyway. Here I have built a little stand using Assault Kingdom figure bases to create a more interesting look, because you get nothing of the sort in this box which is a curious omission.


The Justice Gundam figure is also compatible with the Ensemble METEOR unit (EX 06B). I only have one of those and my Freedom Gundam figure is carefully attached to it and there is no way I feel like beginning to fiddle with that. Here you can see the concept at work based on the instruction sheet. The Fatum-00 pack also attaches to the METEOR Unit which looks quite cool but I doubt I will be purchasing a second unit. For one, they have become expensive and rare, and I think the Justice looks better on its own anyway.


My Archangel Trio is finally complete! Will we ever see a Perfect Strike Option Parts Set in the EX line? I'd imagine a reissue of the Strike with full weapons would sell quite well. Perhaps now that Gframe has shown the way with its own Perfect Strike there is a chance Bandai may want to recycle the design work also in Ensemble?


Athrun ruins the day for the Earth Federation Invasion Task Force - at least if you have a custom stand to spice things up a bit. I wonder if Bandai will ever construct a new backwards compatible figure base system so that we can finally begin to build some really cool Ensemble dioramas...




Conclusion

In summary, yet another competent Ensemble EX figure with a good range of features and hampered by the same old unimaginative action bases. Price is starting to turn ugly on this thing and it is rarely seen on the secondary market so if you didn't get yours yet finding one might be a bit painful. Still, one of the better Ensemble EX figures out there in my opinion.

MegaHouse Chess Piece Collection : Gundam Ace Magazine Promo (2005)

Now here is an item I have been chasing for a while. We are looking at a promo-item for the old MegaHouse Chess Piece Collection that was distributed through Gundam Ace Magazine. I don't know the exact circumstances for how it was available, either a free magazine bundle or some kind of subscription bonus item.


This particular set is from 2005 and is not to be confused with an older Ace Magazine promo-item from 2003 featuring the Origin Version RX-78 and an Astray Red Frame of all things. This particular pair is just as wild, as we shall see. The box contains three bubble bags carefully wrapping each figure's components.



MS-06S Zaku II (Char's Custom) (The Origin Ver.)


The highlight here is the Origin Version Zaku II sporting the Type A2 Bazooka with its peculiar three-round magazine which more resembles the type of weapon you would find on an E.F.F. machine. As with all Chess Piece figures this is a soft plastic statue type mold with the figure in an action pose, usually propped up by scenery or as in this case effect parts. The figure uses the black king base which is the tallest type of pedestal in this series. The sculpting and paintwork is as you can see excellent.


Posing together with the RX-78-02 Gundam from the Gundam Ace Magazine 2003 promo set. Fortunately the two have bases of similar stature otherwise it would have looked less appealing. The chess piece bases in general make it difficult to pose these figures with other brands but then again the scale is not matching most of them either.


Group photo with Origin Version Zaku II's from the 1:220 Universal Unit and Gundam Converge lines. Noticed the unusually matching colours across all these figures, this is unusually coherent.






MSM-04 Acguy (Team Acguy Shopping Ver.)


I mean... you just have to accept the madness sometimes I guess? The Acguy is a brute of a mobile suit, taller than the RX-78 and at more than twice its weight, yet in popular media it has been relegated to play the role of kawaiiiii mascot. This eventually led to the Hellspawn that is the Beargguy but in 2005 Gundam Build Fighters was not yet invented and so the Acguy got to play the part. So here is a completely normal grandpa Acguy out doing his grocery shopping in the rain... Exactly how it holds on to that umbrella I don't know, neither do I know where the "Team Acguy" moniker comes from as this is the only time I have seen it. It wouldn't surprise me if this is indeed a thing across more media. Personally I wouldn't have minded seeing a proper sculpt of a "real" Acguy as I believe it is still missing in the Chess Piece Collection. This is a typical "love it or hate it" figure but the execution is really slick.


Overall a neat little figure set, mostly worth seeking out for the deadly looking Zaku. Finding a box will be tricky, but shouldn't be that expensive. I paid ¥1500 for this one. Be extra careful when picking up loose Chess Piece Collection figures on the second hand market as these are very frequently missing parts.

Gundam Converge 10th Anniversary #Selection 02

Today we are looking at the second Converge 10 Year Anniversary special which was released in May 2022. The set consists of "winners" from a big revival vote where customers were invited to vote for their favourite suits not yet released, as well as the reissuing of figures that have since become scarce. You can see the little numbered crowns on the boxes indicating how well they faired in the votes and the revival figures also have a little ' character in the number to help distinguish them.


The figures come in the regular Converge #Sharp boxes and the set features a mix of one- and two-bag figures which is slowly becoming the new norm. As is common, delicate and fragile pieces are supported by light cardboard but the compartments in the plastic bags are much larger than these supporting pieces and so they often end up doing little to no help.



270 : RX-78GP01-Fb Gundam GP01 "Zephyrantes" Full Burnern


First out is the GP01 which apparently made it to fifth place in the thirst for new figures, perhaps a bit of a surprise? Somewhat ironically the Stardust Memory focus has been in full swing for the past couple of months in various Bandai figure series from Robot Spirits to Ensemble. The base GP01 and the GP02A were literally released in parallel on the Ensemble side (and the GP03S is coming) which is strange since there appears to be no overlap.


The Full Burnern figure is certainly looking the part. I especially like its space-themed bluish-white colour (which doesn't necessarily show too well in my pictures) and it as a nicely painted shield. The solid shoulder thrusters are quite large and heavy and can present issues for the figure to stand up without the use of its base.


The new Zephyranthes figure is quite large compared not only to its predecessors but also compare to the other figures in this wave. Seen here are the base GP01 (Converge volume 8, released in October 2012) and the old GP01-Fb figure from the SP05 box set from December 2014.






271 : MSM-04 Acguy


The Acguy made it to ninth place in the vote and would likely have been released through the #Sharp line eventually considering how Bandai has been re-doing all the UC0079 Zeonic suits including the Z'Gok and the Gogg already. Many of the resculpted Zeon suits are quite small but the Acguy figure has increased in size and looks really clean.


We get an option part for the right hand with the Iron Nails extended. I thought this was cool enough to warrant the purchasing of two figures...


The Converge Acguy history starts back in February 2012 with the figure from volume 6, which has been moderately rare on the market since then. It was followed by the promotional "Thunderbolt Bandit Flower" version used by Daryl Lorenz from August 2017, which is just the old figure with metallic colour and a decal on its right arm.






272 : AMX-011S Zaku III Custom


The figure that peaked my interest the most here is the Zaku III Custom which has a brief career near the end of Mobile Suit ZZ Gundam. The Custom is a really beefy suit and at a height of almost 25 meters it has an additional third of extra height compare to your average mobile suit. Thus, I really think Bandai should have saved this figure for the #Plus line where it would have come into its right (together with other large suits from the ZZ-era like the Geymalk and the Zaku III).


The Zaku III S comes with its custom large beam rifle and a couple of propellant tanks that unlike the Thrusters of the Zephyranthes will do nothing to send this figure off balance. The large antenna has a tiny peg hole and looks like a candidate for gluing in place to avoid it being lost.


There aren't a whole lot of Zaku III Custom figures out there, the most interesting one is the STANDart not-to-scale figure also developed by FusionWorks and released back in August 2010. I don't know why they went for white and gray detail on the rifle and propellant tanks as the model seen in the anime appears dark or black all over, although we don't get very many glimpses of it to be frank.






273 : AMX-011S Zaku III Custom (Psycho Pressure Ver.)


Ah, yes we get a colour variant of the Zaku figure in "Psycho Pressure Mode" which translates to a metallic colour version. The anime is pretty sketchy during that battle. Mashymre Cello is jumped by a gang of Döven Wolves and uses some kind of Newtype psychedelic ability which doesn't really look like what we see here. This figure seems like a bit of a lazy colour variant even though it doesn't look half bad.


The best thing about this alternative figure is that it rocks a large translucent beam saber, although my figure appears to have caught a bubble inside the saber which draws attention to itself.


You may want to equip the standard colour figure with the beam saber. Since the standard colour figure features metallic painted hands as well the difference shouldn't be distracting.






151' : XXXG-01H2 Gundam Heavyarms Kai (EW) (Revive Ver.)


The last two figures in this wave are reissues from the Converge #Sharp line-up and while these may generally not be that difficult to come by the Heavyarms figure has been a real exception. It has been trading for ¥5000 on the secondary market for a couple of years now and so this reissue will be a godsend to those who are looking for one. Don't sleep on this one, people.


Not only does Bandai bring back a popular figure to Converge (supposedly number two in the poll) but they also go the extra mile to correct the original figure's most glaring controversy, the half-clown face. I really did not like it at the time and I haven't warmed to it since then either and I remember some disappointed comments about it and so I can only imagine that Bandai will have received quite a lot of flak about it. So the new figure gets an optional head, dropping the pretentious clown mask and going for a traditional Gundam head. This alone makes it a required purchase also for people who own the original figure I think.


You'll notice I didn't bother with the clown face in the photos above but here you can see it on the original figure from Converge #Sharp 06 which released in April 2017. Both versions of the figure come with optional hands that allow you to pose the figure with or without its signature Gatling Cannons. Overall this is an amazing looking figure that could well end up on a shortlist of the prettiest Converge figures ever.






120' : RX-93 Nu Gundam (Revive Ver.)


A bit of a yawn here at the end but clearly the powers that be, and the voters, ranked the RX-93 Nu Gundam as fifth or deserving a reissue. And you just know that Bandai will jump all over this. The Nu already featured in one of the 10th Anniversary premium box sets released in May last year (and which I decided to skip on) but obviously the poll was held before the voters were aware of that release. Bit of a missed opportunity there.


The reissued Nu Gundam figure comes with a nice array of weapons. Besides the beam rifle, bazooka, fin funnels and shield, Bandai have also introduced a really nice looking translucent beam saber for the reissue. I don't know if this accessory was also featured in the premium anniversary set but you may want to grab this figure just for this accessory alone. The sprue with tiny plug-like pieces are used to cover up holes on the figure's shoulders and lower legs were you would attach additional armor and weaponry on the related FA-93HWS Heavy Weapons figure, i guess the cost to redesign the molds here was not worth it.


If you own and are happy with your old Nu Gundam figure (from the first #Sharp set released in December 2015) you will find that the two look pretty much the same. There are some subtle differences here in the face for example but I guess that could be manufacturing inconsistency rather than a redesign.






Conclusion

In spite of some recycling and reissuing of figures in this set I found it to be really good quality unlike some of the quality misfortunes we have seen lately primarily in the Converge #Plus series. I haven't heard if Bandai are planning any further Selection sets (voting results indicate there will be a third set featuring the Zaku II and the Hi-Nu Gundam), actually there aren't a whole lot of Converge news released for the second half of 2022 so far. Next up we have the Argama spaceship and then the Zeong and Perfect Gundam (guest appearances from the Mobility Joint Gashapon series no doubt) are due in October but I am looking forward to see what the next regular figure set could potentially look like.