Mobile Suit Ensemble EX 47 : X-EX01 Gundam Calibarn (DX Ver.)

I have yet to watch anything of the Witch of Mercury series and Bandai's figure releases certainly don't do much to draw my interest. Sure, the Aerial was all the rage when it hit the stores and sold out everywhere - forcing FusionWorks to reprint it in the Converge line. However, the Senshi Forte Gashapon line is the only figure series to date to feature any of the other mobile suits like the Darilbalde and Pharact. Converge and Ensemble are instead busy giving the Aerial the Barbatos red carpet-treatment with its Rebuild version and Calibarn replacement but I would have liked to see some of its rivals in figure form. Even Iron Blooded Orphans managed to see the release of a few additional suits in its day.


Rather than doing multiple suits Bandai are instead doing something new in Ensemble; releasing the Calibarn both in the upcoming retail wave (Part 26 is due any day now) and as this pricy EX variant - I have half a dozen variants of the Aerial already and it is getting a bit stale. Still, I was curious what the EX figure was all about so decided to take the plunge. Released through the Premium Bandai program in December last year its price seems to be steadily going up. I don't know the exact P-Bandai sales price, I believe it was around 5000 yen and already it is fetching 50% higher prices on the secondary market. Expect it to stay expensive for quite some time. By the way, a curious detail. Notice the backside of the box, this item - purchased from Mandarake of course - appears to have been originally sold in Thailand.


I have to say, you're not really getting a whole lot for that EX-money. Sure, there is a decent number of plastic bags and an assembly guide but hang on a minute, what is that? Stickers? This is not a Mobility Joint review is it? Meh...


When I got everything out of the bags and put in front of me the price tag seemed even more insane. This is pretty much a stock Ensemble figure with a very large number of supporting clear parts for effect poses. Stuff I normally just leave in the box. Oh dear, how will this go?


The stickers represent the variable colours that appear in the Calibarn's Shell Unit, kind of like a Unicorn's Psycho Frame I guess. I think it is neat that they let you choose which mode to use but it would have made more sense in an EX figure to offer alternately coloured parts (I realize what that might have done to the price but it's not like there is an upper limit on these EX figures is it?)


Well, the Calibarn figure is a pleasant build and there is nothing more complex about it than say your retail Exia figure. The figure has received a very nice pearly coating and the red sections are done in metallic. You also have some translucent black plastic parts for the chest and V-fin areas which look to be solid black on the retail figure. Based on what I can see from the promotional shots from Part 26 there is also additional painted detail on the arms and legs, additional black stripes here and there, yellow on the shoulder thrusters and some green metallic dots. The retail figure also seems to have a downgraded version of the main Variable Rod Rifle and somewhat surprisingly also appears to lack its shield/bit staves.


I mentioned stickers earlier. You get two sets of three, one for the forehead, one set for the V-fins and a large piece for the chest. I don't really fancy the idea of putting stickers on top of the translucent parts, these look really good as they are. It would have been cool if the stickers were somehow designed to go underneath rather that on top of the plastic. Having said that, I may try them out on a retail Calibarn figure. I am curious as to why we get two sticker sets. Either Bandai gives us one set to mess up or perhaps they intended for you to use the extras to kit out your retail Calibarn figure (because let's face it, they know that anyone stupid enough to buy this thing will likely pick up Ensemble Part 26 as well...).


On to the gimmicky stuff then. Basically, what are you supposed to do with all that excess plastic in the box? Well, you should construct this whatever the hell it is kind of newtype bit/funnel weapon/armour screen around the main figure. I started off with this mode because I was sure I would never again set it up - just look at that mess. It looks absolutely terrible. As usual with clear stands for effect parts they tend to draw the eyes rather than the parts that they support.


Here the Calibarn stands surrounded by its various Bit Stave components. We are used to see these on the Aerial figures where they normally merge to form a shield or go on to the arms and legs of the figure as additional armour. I guess this is some type of Nu Gundam/Providence remote weapons suite. I'm giving it a hard pass.


If you would like a more traditional pose the Variable Rod Rifle might be for you. It has a place of its own on the base (you can attach the support on either side of the figure if you please) and the weapon itself has this opening up-feature at the back. I don't know exactly what it is for but there is a worrying trivia remark on the Gundam Wiki that its appearance is supposed to mimic the broom of a witch. How subtle...


The rifle has two handlebars so you get to do your favourite "line up the weapon, handlebars, arms and hands without breaking anything off" routine again. Here you can see a bit of a half-hearted attempt just to convey the idea, I usually avoid dual hand wielding. Props to the figure for managing to stand upright with such a heavy weapon though. If you think the pose looks weird on the base it is because the figure is just balancing on top of the peg, I am never attaching an Ensemble figure to one of those again. The peg fit is usually very tight and I have already ruined one EX figure trying to remove it from the base so take care.


The Bit-On form is my preferred display mode for the Aerials and the Calibarn is no exception. The floating armour is now attached to shoulders, elbows, hips and back skirt, and the rear thrusters become elongated. While it might not be canonical I do think the EX figure could have supplied us with two sets so that we can keep a ready-made shield on the side without having to piece the thing together back and forth. I thought to myself that I could scavenge a shield from the retail figure to kit my EX version figure with both options until I realized that there is no shield with the Part 26 figure. A strange sacrifice considering both Aerial variants managed to include one...


Speaking of the Aerial, here we can see the Calibarn next to the Aerial from Part 23 and the Aerial Rebuild from Part 25, all three figures in their Bit-On form. I can't believe they left this gear out from the retail Calibarn figure, perhaps I am misinformed? We shall soon find out.


Here's the shield then. If you have built either of the two Aerial figures you know the drill. You get a honeycomb-style frame on which you attach all the bit staves to form a bulky shield. It works well but I definitely won't get the assembly right without careful study of the manual. It can be difficult to line everything up properly and frankly I would have much preferred a prefabricated shield which would probably have looked a bit sleeker as well. All in all though, it works.


Here's the same line up with the Aerials donning their Bit Staves as shields. The designs definitely seem to get more and more minimalistic with each figure. Out of the three I think I like the appearance of the basic Aerial the most, mainly because of its colours.

So there you have it; the EX version Calibarn figure. Is it worth paying several thousand yen for a fully kitted figure with some additional paint detail? Well, it does appear that the retail Calibarn figure may indeed be a bit lacklustre but the money you have to put aside for the EX-figure seems exorbitant. I'm sure you can put it to better use elsewhere, this one is for the completionists only.