Gundam Converge #23

These days the blog has sprouted multiple tentacles that shoot of into various figure categories and threaten to overwhelm your overly ambitious author but it is always a special treat to go back to the Converge figure series and look at a fresh retail figure set. None of these ages old obscurities or prohibitively priced P-Bandai nightmares, just good old retail figurines. The powers that be know that this is also a relatively scarce experience these days, what with almost every new release being a premium outing or reissue of sorts. Behold; Gundam Converge #23!


Volume 23 released in September 23 and is an expanded wave of 7 figures. The actual wave itself consists of six new figures as well as a reissue of the Aerial from last year. If you like Witch of Mercury I would recommend picking up a second Aerial Rebuild figure since the two modes are interesting enough in their own right, but there really isn't any need to grab duplicates of any of the other figures in this wave.


More and more figures are being packaged in two bags these days, or perhaps one bag and a half. There are usually also a number of single bag figures in a wave - to offset the production cost of the former I imagine - and these often turn out to be the most interesting I think. To get the most out of your Converge figures you should study the build instructions that Bandai provide as download only; they are found here.


279 : XVX-016RN Gundam Aerial Rebuild


Witch of Mercury seemed to be a huge hit but I get the feeling that it has cooled down somewhat over the past couple of months. Nevertheless there are a couple of suits making it also to the figure line even though it seems to be the Iron-Blooded Orphans and Reconguista symptom with only one or two of the titular Gundams making it to Converge. The Rebuild does however feature a very different look and colour scheme from the base Aerial even though a lot of its features are similar. I had quite a lot of issues with bent parts on these figures and some of the articulated components were stuck threatening to bend the plastic when I tried to twist them free (presumably the paint is sticking the components together?). It is not always safe to use force to separate components on Converge figures, pegs can be easily damaged even when they are made from soft plastic. Exercise caution.


The Rebuild uses a similar type of rifle and multipart shield as those used on the Aerial figure. The handlebar on the rifle can be removed so that the hand can be attached properly. The backpack features articulation that allows the thrusters to swing sideways and vertically, but I had a lot of issues with components stuck together here. The massive backpack makes the figure back heavy, and the figure which was already leaning backwards needed the rifle as a crutch to stay upright without using the base.


The figure sports the same type of alternate build as the base Aerial figure. The shield can be picked apart into multiple armour bits that attach to the shoulders, elbows and hips, as well as adding lower fins to the backpack. The rifle can also be stowed on the figure's back in between the thrusters. The drawback with transforming figures such as this is that the end up with ugly peg holes all over the body and I'm not entirely convinced that Converge figures really benefit from parts conversion.


The two modes side by side. I considered making a two-in-one figure using both the shield and the bit-on-form armour as well as placing a spare rifle on the back, you certainly can beef things up to the max if you want.






280 : MSA-0011 S Gundam


The S Gundam returns to Converge after a longer hiatus. We have seen quite a few permutations of this beautiful machine over the years but hear is a good opportunity to pick up the base unit if you slept on it earlier. The figure has a very long beam-smart gun and naturally mine arrived in pre-bent condition... sigh. I immediately also had issues with the shoulder armour components that extend over the arms, They quickly fell out of their sockets and I decided to glue them in place. Again I had some issues with the articulation on the boosters attached to the backpack, one of them refused to move and slowly bends back into the place it was when it arrived.


Apart from the Beam Smart Gun itself, it also comes with some small supporting components that will give you some headache unless you study the build instructions. Notice the curious option of moulding two of the components in clear plastic which has been (mostly) painted over in gray.


Here is a closer look at the assembly to have the smart gun stored behind the right shoulder or attached to the right hip. Getting the gun to fit underneath the arm and attach to the hand properly required a bit of forceful bending on my part, not sure if my figure was slightly warped or if they are indeed all this tricky to work with.


And here is the figure with the smart gun deployed and attached to both arm and hip. As such you will of course get zero articulation out of the arm unless you disconnect it from either bodypart. All in all not a bad look although it is funny to see all the different lengths of this weapon used in Converge over the years.


Comparisons with some of the other S Gundam variants. In the top row we have the original retail S Gundam figure from 2013, it has a peg in its right hand which the smart gun attaches to. This pose is pretty cool and the figure is holding up well compared to the new iteration. On the right we see the variant which can be assembled from the original Deep Striker figure (EX 03, released in 2014) which has always been a favourite of mine (Both the original S Gundam and the Deep Striker variant were reissued as CORE figures in 2015 and 2017 respectively). On the bottom row the new figure poses next to the S Gundam Booster Unit Type (Converge Plus 02, released July 2021) and the Ex-S Gundam (Converge EX 18, released in October 2017).






281 : MSZ-006A1 Zeta Plus A1 (Test Image Color)


Speaking of favourite figures in red and white, the Zeta Plus makes a comeback in the Sharp-line in the red- and white of Amuro Ray's Karaba Air Force. I always loved the unique colour of this machine and FusionWorks already did a spectacular job with the full 1/220 scale figure in the STANDart line. The peculiar peg holes you see in the fins and the lower right arm are unfortunate consequences of the Converge parts conversion gimmick, as the original figure was available in both A1 and C1 modes while the Karaba machine is only intended to fly within the Earth's atmosphere. I realize it is cheaper to just use the existing moulds but I still think it is a bit cheap not to produce new fins and arms to get rid of those ugly holes.


The figure comes with a BOWA beam rifle similar to the one used by the Z Gundam as well as the sleek shield which also acts as the cockpit section in the Waverider mode (don't ask me how that works). Bandai did make a transforming Z Gundam once, which could change shape into Waverider and it was a real mess to handle, thankfully no such gimmick was attempted with the Zeta Plus. Still, I wouldn't mind a properly transformed Waverider figure of either suit provided it would be sculpted and sold as Waverider-only to begin with.


The mass production type Zeta Plus in its A1 and C1 configurations first appeared in Converge #08 in October 2017. I just noticed will writing this that the centre fin at the back is different on the two grey machines, and I wonder if they should be switched around since my C1-figure has a fin that resembles the new A1 figure, the Gundam Wiki isn't really that helpful in this regard...






282 : MSA-007 Nero


More Sentinel goodness! The Nero may look like an evolution of the GM but is in fact a downscaled mass-production type of the S Gundam, you might get a clue from the distinct shape of its head. This figure also has an interesting and rather unique livery but I must say that I don't find the Converge sculpt that appealing, it seems very stocky and the shoulders are enormous. I'm glad to see it arrive though and will secretly hope to see at least one of its variants crop up later in the line.


The Nemo gets no shield but a compact and stubby looking beam rifle with an enormous camera mount. The two-colour backpack is not articulated (and thankfully not bent).






283 : RGM-89 Jegan (A-Type)


I don't think that the Jegan is featured in Sentinel so it was a bit surprising to see it pop up here, but sure I am not complaining. The existing Converge Jegan (a D-type at that) is one of the oldest Converge figures sporting release number 9 and was released in January 2011. We have had a couple of its permutations in the #Sharp line before but it is great to finally have this iconic machine available again. The #Sharp rendition is a very clean looking design with superb proportions and colours, I have absolutely zero complaints here.


Everything about the new Jegan figure feels sturdy, even the head antenna feels very solid and safely attaches to the head without falling off (unlike a certain Gouf for example). Both the angular shield and the very Fusil FAMAS-inspired beam rifle also come across as very solid and devoid of bends (although I am sure some disfigured examples are out there).


The Converge Jegan family can now finally add the A-Type to its Jegan line-up of D-Type (Converge volume 2, release January 2011), Stark Jegan (Converge #14, February 2019) and ECOAS De Jegan (Converge #04, released in October 2016). It only took 12 years to get a line-up going. :)






284 : P01B Luggun x HT-01B Magella Attack


Hmm... there is a lot to unpack here. In this two for the price of one-deal you get a pair of Zeon U.C. 0079 vehicles of which one is extremely rare in figure form. While the Magella Attack tank has been featured in various scales and sizes before the Luggun scout aircraft is very rare with only a few appearances. Actually I can only think of one appearance in the old and tiny Banpresto Micro Gundam series but it wouldn't surprise me if it is available in the Robot Spirits or MSIA lines somewhere as well. What you see here is the two vehicles sharing a single base, but we'll take a look at them individually as well.


There are a lot of small components in this box so be careful not to lose sight of them. I nearly had one of the clear pieces disappear on me after an unfortunate drop to the floor, not the first time that has happened. :)


The Luggun scout craft is a very strange looking boomerang-esque aircraft with a mushroom-style cockpit destroying any type of aerodynamic attempt made by those sleek wings. And speaking of sleek wings, I was fortunate enough to get one fuselage in proper shape while the second unit was bent completely out of shape, there will be no permanent fix to that one I'm afraid. Notice how the two radomes can be attached in air-to-ground or air-to-air mode, which is a neat gimmick and prompted me to actually buy two figures. The clear base can either attach to one of three slots on the large base or sit in a much smaller arrow-shaped base for independent display with a very small footprint. This is a great feature.


The Magella Attack Tank has received a real face-lift since its previous Converge appearance and is now larger and more colourful. The main gun attaches to a pair of pegs to allow it to swivel upwards but it was a real pain to attach it properly, I had to damage one of the pegs on one of the figures to be able to attach the gun at all. The pegs being of soft plastic maybe did not help here. As you can see we also get a small clear plastic base to allow the turret to detach from the main body of the tank in mysterious defiance of everything that is gravity.


Posing side by side with the old Dopp and Magella pair from Converge volume 14 (released in April 2014). Considering the fact that the Dopp is not reissued in #Sharp so far I wonder if Bandai may surprise us down the line with a new sculpt for #Sharp, perhaps even a pair of fighters with one of them in Garma's orange colour. I'm sure they have already considered it, remains to see if it will be a feasible thing to do.






278 : XVX-016 Gundam Aerial (reissue)


Now, the last figure in this set is a bit of a Converge anomaly. When the Aerial released last year it was apparently sold out in very quick fashion and so Bandai made it known that the figure would be reissued. When was the last time you saw Bandai hurrying to reprint a Converge figure? Sure, there have been some "revive" figures before, but those had several years between them and the Aerial only released nine months ago. I am curious to see if the interest in Witch of Mercury has held up.


At first I wasn't sure if I wanted to open up this figure or not, content with confirming that the new figure indeed had volume #23 printed on the box, so this is not a simple reprint of the Selection 03 figure. I was even more surprised to see that although the figure is still the same as before, the beam sabers and antennas that were previously delivered in assembled form (see the images above of the Selection #03 figure packaging) were not provided on a little sprue. While the parts may be the same Bandai clearly made the effort to alter the packaging, perhaps it was simply cheaper to deliver these components on sprue.


I noticed that the new Aerial from Converge #23 sports a deeper and darker shade of blue, compare to the bright colour used on the original Selection 03-figure from 2022. This may have been a slight revision to further improve upon its look or simply a manufacturing variation.


I couldn't be bothered to pick apart the new figure so here, for reference, is the old Aerial figure in the Bit-On-form, which you can of course also replicate with the reissued figure.






Conclusion

While the quality control of Converge remains rather shifty it is always a pleasant experience to get my hands on new Converge figures. I do wish that Bandai would consider lowering the complexity and increasing the quality of there figures but the trend is definitely going in the opposite direction. Regardless, there are plenty of great figures in this set so grab them while they are fresh!