Gundam Converge CORE 034 : Mobile Suit Gundam 00 Trans-Am Set

2023 is the Bandai year of the Trans-Am re-releases. While Celestial Being mobile suits in Trans-Am mode has been around for quite some time in the Mobile Suit Ensemble range (the 00 Gundam popped up with a colour swap already in 2017) it has only hit Converge this year. While Ensemble has been busy pumping out trans-Am colour swaps for its Exia, Dynames, Kyrios, Virtue and Nadleeh between February and June the Converge range seems content with doing a premium box set in this hard to read pinkish red colour. The set delivered to its pre-order customers in May of 2023 and carried a price of about ¥5900 which makes it premium indeed.


As with many of the Bandai premium releases in general (and Converge CORE releases in particular) the box art is dull and uninspiring. The concept behind the release is also a direct carry-over from the original premium 00 Anniversary box set from February 2018. That set has had a nasty price development on the secondary market and is up from the initial ¥4000 to currently selling for about ¥14000 over at Mandarake. Now that tradeable card games are such a hard niche to get into maybe the Youtube speculator bros can start hoarding Converge next (Bandai sure wouldn't mind and would quickly adapt its offensive P-Bandai price strategy). Anyhow, let's see what is under the hood...


While the accessory count remains the same as in the Anniversary set the figures are now packaged differently. The original release featured four plastic bags, one per each figure, with the Exia, Dynames and Kyrios having its new Anniversary components wrapped inside a second plastic bag stored inside the primary bag (original review found here).


As the parts swapping is on the mild side here Bandai didn't think it necessary to include an instruction leaflet but you can still grab it in pdf-form from the Shokugan portal site. I usually download these as useful reference material in the event that the website will unexpectedly fold or move (or perhaps get locked for those irrelevant overseas customers).



GN-001 Gundam Exia (Trans-Am ver.)


So, we can immediately see the main gimmick associated with the Trans-Am figures. In keeping with the Mobile Suit Gundam 00 lore the suits have a Deus Ex Machina-type nitrous oxide boost inside their GN Drives which boosts suit performance and as a side effect makes the GN particles surrounding it light up in a pinkish/reddish glow. As with many Gundam figures the exact colour tends to vary from figure set to figure set, here we are going with a nice metallic two-colour pinkish theme, almost bordering on apricot. The result is spectacular and I always do like mobile suits with unique colour schemes a bit extra. The gimmicky special markings introduced in the 00 Anniversary set return here and are sometimes colour swapped. The Celestial being crest on the shield for example has gone from blue to gold here.


Among the figures in this set, the Exia figure has the most parts conversion options. Its main GN Sword can be extended or stowed and you also get option parts in the form of two attractive beam sabers and a pair of GN Short and Long blades that can either be held in hand or stowed on the side skirt armour. We've seen all of these before in the Anniversary set. The Exia's beam sabers are as usual highly useful as optional armament for many other Converge figures with compatible hands.


Each figure in this set has been released twice before in the Converge #Sharp line. From left to right we see the original Gundam Exia figure (one of the first #Sharp releases it appeared in Converge #02 back in April 2016), the premium 00 Anniversary box set release from February 2018 and lastly the new Trans-Am version.






GN-002 Gundam Dynames (Trans-Am ver.)


Next up we have the green Dynames getting the same colour-swap treatment. Green turns pink, gray turns purple and yellow becomes orange. The special white markings introduces on the Anniversary figure return here although a new GN logo has also appeared on the figure's left knee, a brand new detail for this version. I'd be curious what led up to this further refinement of the design.


If you happened to read the original 00 Anniversary review you may recall that I had a real issue with the new GN Pistol accessories for the Dynames. The peg sizes of the option hands were too small and the hand would simply fall out of its socket the minute a bit of gravity would be applied to it. When I ordered the Trans-Am set this was the foremost thought in my head, "gee I wonder if they sorted out the rotten design of the Dynames". Well, as you can see... no prize will be awarded. However, there is a twist to this story. My Anniversary Dynames figure managed to hold on to its left GN Pistol but not the right. For the Trans-Am figure the situation is the opposite, this time around the connecting peg on the left hand is too small for its socket while the right one fits. There must be something seriously wrong in the manufacturing process here though for the life of me I cannot understand why this figure is so specifically challenged. Embarrassing...


The original Dynames figure came with sniper rifle only and released in Converge #04 in October 2016. Notice the different green colour on the Anniversary figure and how neither of the two lack the GN logo on the left knee.






GN-003 Gundam Kyrios (Trans-Am ver.)


Kyrios already starts out with orange as its primary accent colour and the Trans-Am figure comes out looking like a muted version of that, kind of like when the U.S. navy started to paint their aircraft a dull gray. The gunmetal gray parts now shimmer in violet and are some of the most eye-catching components. The special markings are carried over from the Anniversary figure but some of orange ones almost disappear against the pink backdrop giving the figure a bit of a low contrast style.


The Anniversary figure introduced two GN Hand Missile units and these return here, happily without any of the issues plaguing the Dynames GN Pistols. Perhaps not the most exciting of accessories but nevertheless appreciated.


The Kyrios was the last of the retail 00 trio, appearing in Converge #05 in January 2017. From then on there would be no Celestial Being suits released until the Anniversary set in 2018 which also saw the release of the Virtue. Notice how the special markings on the Anniversary figure are pretty much invisible on the Trans-Am counterpart.






GN-005 Gundam Virtue (Trans-Am ver.)


The existing two Virtue figures are very similar so this one stands out nicely among them. The Anniversary figure features a couple of striped markings on the over-the-shoulder mounted GN Beam Cannons and these have been carried over also to the Trans-Am version. The new figure however colour swaps the shoulder markings from black to gold and introduces a new GN emblem on its right knee, similar to what was done on the Trans-Am Dynames.


The Virtue is the only figure in this set that does not feature any bonus accessories. So far there has been no sign of a GN-004 Nadleeh which is a bit disappointing since it will no doubt miss any Trans-Am treatment in the unlikely event that it will pop up further down the line.






Conclusion

While I do feel that I have had my Trans-Am fill by now with the concurrent releases in Converge and Ensemble this is still a neat and original looking figure set. I don't think it acts as a replacement for the now very pricey 00 Anniversary Set, and I suspect that not everyone will be interested in getting Trans-Am variants if they already have the basic colour figures, but it fills a nice niche out there for collectors like yours truly.