Bandai Spirits / Banpresto Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam Four Murasame

This will be a short piece where we examine a recent prize item figure released through Bandai Namco's somnolent Banpresto brand. We have the JAIA claw machine logo on the box top as well indicating this item is primarily designed as an arcade prize. The box itself lacks any indentions for a claw machine to grab on to, so just exactly how these venues work these days I don't know.


This mini-set contains two different variants of Four Murasame in a classic (and often reproduced) pose from Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam. The figure hit the arcades sometime in March 2023 and is currently easily obtainable in both variants on the secondary market priced around ¥1200. Since the "Sparkle Image version" variant is basically a very simple variation of the colours I didn't bother picking up the B-variant, only the standard colour figure will be displayed here.


There is something bizarre about how Four's head sticks out of the side of the cardboard wrapping. Thankfully it is not a problem to fit the figure back in the box again without having to fiddle with this very specific storage model.


The basic figure is made up of two parts with a square peg to connect them. The left foot has a peg that slots into the large white base and a support is provided for the right knee. You can often get away with posing the figures without using these extra supports but in this case it will be necessary; the leg was under a lot of pressure from the massive body even while I was taking these shots so I do not recommend skipping out on its use.


As you can see this is a very well made sculpt and the likeness is spot on. The pose is completely static of course and looks great although I have never been a fan of dynamic poses like these - they generally do not interact well with other figures if you were to set up a scene. Interestingly, there is a similarly posed but much more extravagant figure released through the MegaHouse GGG brand in 2021. That one will cost you roughly ten times as much and I still think this figure is more true to its origin. If you are looking for an affordable Four figure this new outing fits the bill quite nicely.