Ensemble sure loves its premium figures and this is the fifth EX-figure released in 2022, with at least four more following or planned and the full releases schedule for 2022 isn't even out yet. The figure was shipped to customers in June and had a price of ¥5500 which is somewhere around the low-to-medium price range as far as the Ensemble figure goes nowadays, which is pretty insane. I grabbed mine on the secondary market where inflation had carried it to ¥7000. Collecting Ensemble figures has become very expensive hobby indeed.
What is up with the Bandai Namco logo by the way? I've seen it crop up on more and more Gundam products. In Ensemble it has begun appearing on the EX-range figures starting with this one. At first I thought there might be some company re-structuring going on but it is not obvious to me after googling. If anyone has any insights I would be interested to know.
We have seven bags loaded with parts for what may seem a rather complex build. Actually a lot of parts come down to the option of building the Full Armor Gundam or the MSZ-010S Enhanced ZZ Gundam. This requires a fair bit of parts swapping and at first I wondered if it would be cool to purchase two figures and keep one of each. Then I started to think that "hey, this must just be the ZZ-Gundam figure from wave 17 again?". I'm not very familiar with the ZZ and I couldn't remember it being branded as the Enhanced Gundam in the previous release. This made me rather confused, time for some more research...
Comparison of the base ZZ Gundam, the Enhanced ZZ Gundam upgrade and the Full Armor variant. There are some subtle differences between the MSZ-010 and the MSZ-010S, the art-style is a bit different between the two but most of the components appear to be the same. According to the Gundam Wiki, the main changes include larger shoulder binders and different backpacks.
Here you can see the parts for Mobile Suit Ensemble 103 and 104 - the ZZ Gundam Core Top and Core Base - respectively. All the components seen here appear to be here in the EX-figure pack again, some of the joint pieces come on new sprues but that's about it. The fact that we only get the smaller shoulder binders with these figures leads me to say that the original release is indeed the base ZZ Gundam and so technically you can build the MSZ-010S figure by changing one or two components out but for such a small difference I definitely won't bother. I will be recycling some of the images from the Ensemble Part 17 review, starting right here:
This is the basic ZZ Gundam from Ensemble Part 17. Notice that the blue colour used here is slightly lighter than the parts in the EX-set. I can build this very same figure with the components from the EX-box and if I replace the shoulder binders with the larger ones (and maybe switch the backpacks around, still not 100% certain about that part) it should net the MSZ-010S ZZ Gundam. Sorry for being a bit lazy and not assembling it from the EX-figure components but I honestly can't be bothered and I don't like to wear out the joints if I don't need to.
The original Core Top and Core Base figures were mobile armor components and figures in their own right, parts are even included to build the ZZ Gundam's Core Fighter. Bandai didn't bother covering these in the EX-figure build instructions for some reason but still include the components. I would definitely recommend seeking out the original retail figures for these configurations as they will be a lot cheaper.
Ok, with that out of the way let's get back to the main program. Here is the new Full Armor ZZ Gundam figure as assembled from the components in this box. It utilizes clip-on body armor on the legs and arms and looks suitably beefy. The new and larger backpack now features two missile pods that open and close and show an impressive number of teeth inside. The pack has three connector points; two attach to the standard backpack mounts on the figure's back and the last peg attaches to the backskirt. This creates a sturdy figure and the large feet help it stand up properly. Bandai includes a small rectangular-ish base with the standard attachment component so that you can get it into a floating pose. I didn't bother messing with it here as removing a figure from the Ensemble base often results in you tearing the figure apart at the waist...
The main signature weapon of the Full Armor ZZ is of course its stupidly named Hyper Mega Cannon. You attach it to the backpack by removing one of the two missile launchers and let it hang forward. The weapon also has an articulated handlebar for the figure to grip it. I don't know if Bandai intended for the figure to hold the weapon while it is still attached to the backpack or if we are intended to cheat and decouple it from the backpack when it is being hand held. Either way I am well familiar with the frustrations of lining these up from the Converge and Assault Kingdom figures and I am quite happy with just letting the gun dangle from the backpack here.
Here is a side-by-side of the basic ZZ Gundam from Ensemble Part 17 and the Full Armor Gundam. The picture is nearly representative of the two figures you can build out of the box. With the advent of the FA-010S figure Bandai now has the option to create a white FA-010A FAZZ colour variant as a really premium figure, I wonder if they will take the bait. I would certainly purchase one.
In conclusion, the Full Armor ZZ Gundam figure is a nice kit and on the gentler side of premium Ensemble kits as far as your wallet is concerned. Still, unless you are a real ZZ-aficionado you may find that money spent elsewhere might get more interesting variation out of your pricy Ensemble collection.
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