Gundam Converge Fan Club RX-93 Nu Gundam (First Lot Color ver.)

Does anyone remember the Gundam Fan Club exclusive Penelope figure from 2020? Well, they are back at it again with a new members-only variant figure of everyone's favourite RX-93 Nu Gundam. I don't really know what it entails to be a member of the Gundam Fan Club but part of it seems geared towards separating you from your money. Not to worry though, pretty sure they are not taking memberships outside of either Japan or the immediate geographic region.


The Fan Club Nu was released to members in November 2022 and available in the official Gundam Fan Club store for 2200 yen. A funny remark on the product page is that members are allowed to purchase up to 5 units but not for resale purposes. Got to love unenforceable policy. I picked mine up at Mandarake by the way, where the going rate is currently around ¥7000-8000 so there seems to be opportunity for a lot of money to be made.


Not sure if the recent Dual Fin Funnel sculpt garnered any popularity, as you can see the club is sticking to the true and tested evergreen version of the Nu. This figure had the honour of spearheading the Converge Sharp line when it premiered in December 2015 and has been released in a couple of different versions since then. Our new Fan Club figure is actually based on the very recent Revive Selection variant of the RX-93 which has number 120' on the box.


The figure comes in a standard retail-size box and features a lot of goodies. Notice the sprue with the little T and L-shaped parts. These are intended to cover up the empty sockets on the shoulders and lower legs that were molded with the FA-93HWS armor plating in mind. You get a little piece of paper with assembly instructions for these, this never gets old...


For fun let's compare the parts included with the various generations of the Converge Sharp figure. From top to bottom you can see the original 2015 release, the CORE Heavy Weapons variant (which premiered the beam saber), the metallic color version from 2017's CORE double-pack with the Sazabi and then the Revive Selection figure from May 2022 which also includes the Beam Saber accessory. Next follows the Fan Club figure with its gaudy base and lastly for reference the dreary Dual Fin Funnel sculpt-variant from Converge #21. I should point out that the RX-93 is also part of the 10th Anniversary Universal Century box set from 2021 which features some metallic colour detail (I don't have it at hand).


Looking pretty sharp, Sir. While I normally find it hard to work up any interest for a new RX-93 figure this one took me by surprise. The new colour scheme is a subtle but elegant difference and I love the contrast with the red detail. It is funny but I also really like mobile suits that sport the Anaheim Electronics logo and I have been thinking about creating a custom factory defence force many times. It helps that other attractive suits like the Delta Plus and the Sinanju Stein have been carrying the AE logo as well.


So what is the deal with the First Lot livery anyway? It appeared briefly in one of the trailers for the Char's Counterattack movie spitting bullets from its head vulcans in a quick shot. The form was later given an official description as the RX-93-1 Nu Gundam [Test Ver.] as seen in these images. Bandai seems to have added the Anaheim Electronics logo as an afterthought to enhance the figure's appearance further, something they have done repeatedly on their various CORE releases over the years.


Apart from the beam rifle we also have the stylish bazooka and beam saber in the package, but you only get one hand to wield them with. I always really liked the two-colour design of the Nu Gundam's weapons. Notice that neither rifle nor bazooka has the toned down gray and white livery so they stand out a bit against the figure. It would have been nice to see matching colours on the weapons as well but this is a minor nitpick.


Select line-up of the Converge Sharp Nu Gundam family. From left to right: The original release from volume #01, the CORE004 FA-93 HWS, the metallic color Nu from CORE001 and the new First Lot Color version figure.

Overall I find this figure a marked improvement over the 2020 Fan Club release, being an actual re-color and not just superficial difference in metallic finish. Members of the Fan Club can pick this up for a decent price but for us others it will remain hard to find and a questionable investment at best.