Gundam Converge CORE 040 : The Return of Johnny Ridden

Over the last couple of years the Converge design team has begun drawing more and more figure ideas from more peripheral entries into the Gundam canon. We've seen figures based on mobile suit variations, computer games and comic books. The Return of Johnny Ridden set follows a string of similar releases centred around Char, Anavel Gato and Shin Matsunaga. The source material is drawn from a long running manga series called MSV-R: The Return of Johnny Ridden which began its published life in the Gundam Ace magazine in April 2010. Books have been published by Kadokawa Comics and the 26th and final issue came out in September last year. If you trawl around the Internet you may stumble on ongoing works to translate the books to English to reach an international audience.


The back of the box features short specifications written for each of the mobile suits included in the set. Somehow I misplaced or accidentally deleted the photos showing the plastic bags but the figures come wrapped in the typical packaging we are used to from previous releases. Each main figure comes in a larger compartmentalized bag and some of its accessories spill over into a smaller bag.


Review update: I found the photos of the component bags and the larger bubble wrap bag, I knew they were lying around somewhere...


MS-14J/BR Gelgoog Vertex Testarossa (Johnny Ridden use)


I'll preface the review by mentioning that while I have the Japanese editions in the bookshelf I haven't begun to decipher them yet so I can't offer any particular insights into this strange set of modified High Mobility Gelgoogs. The Vertex is a bit of an anachronism. Its roots are in the High Mobility Gelgoog which debuted in the One Year War coupled with heavy shoulder binders from the MS-14J ReGelgu which of course was fielded by Neo Zeon forces in the Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ which means it is more than ten years old at this point. I don't know the specific circumstances of why you would want to base something on the Gelgoog in U.C. 0090 especially when a Gelgoog featured in Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam was considered a curious antique. Anyway, it is a really attractive figure although I would personally have been more interested in Ridden's actual MS-14B High Mobility Type from the war.


All Vertex Gelgoogs in this set have the same basic gear; a beam rifle, a spicy blue beam naginata (which you have to assemble from a sprue) and a traditional Gelgoog-type shield. None of the figures use these weapons as their primary configurations but it is great that Bandai included them here. Notice the beam rifle which looks rather similar to the one used by the Gerbera-Tetra, this weapon is unique to Ridden's machine but all gear is of course interchangeable.


Optional weapon configurations using the more traditional weapons loadouts. The naginata is equipped by inserting each part into the hand from different directions so if you push one piece a little too deep it will boot out the other half. Overall I found the naginatas a bit frustrating, they do not like to stay in place when you handle the figure. My advice would be to use some sort of adhesive to keep them in place. The early #Sharp Gelgoogs do not come with naginatas but the later releases (e.g. one in the Trail of the Red Comet pack CORE022) use a single piece with hand directly attached to the weapon which I think works better.


The Converge #Sharp Gelgoog sizes are all over the place. Seen here from left to right are the MS-14S Gelgoog (Converge #08, released in October 2017), the MS-14Jg Jaeger (Converge #22, November 2022) and the new Gelgoog Vertex.






MS-14J/BR Gelgoog Vertex Curenos (Uma Lightning use)


Now, with the remaining two figures things start to go a bit out there. I have to confess that when I first saw the promotional shots of this set I was not entirely convinced. The colour choices and designs looked very cartoony and not at all as gritty and serious as the previous Zeon-themed releases. The Vertex Curenos (or Kyanos as it is referred to in the Gundam Battle Operation 2 game) is flown by Zeon ace pilot Uma Lightning and sports this enormous melee weapon which is apparently a GVC Beam Bayonet. The weapon has a large yellow blade at its tip when in use and it seems strange that this component is not included here, it would have made the weapon look a bit more interesting. Right now, he is basically carrying around a crooked pole. I am also not a fan of these oversized Converge weapons that seem to have become a norm in the Converge #Sharp line at this point. The figures are already deformed so it makes sense to also alter the dimensions of their accessories to something that better matches the figure I think.


We have the same basic weapon options here as on the other two figures. I find it ironic that Bandai decided to spend resources on a blue beam naginata instead of an effect part for the Curenos' main weapon but we all know it is a question of costs at this point. Perhaps in 2028 when the inevitable CORE Special Marking reissue version is released this can be looked into.


I am really glad that the traditional weapon options were also included for this figure, I will be displaying mine with either the rifle and naginata plus the shield for sure. There is just something comforting about the Gelgoog's beautiful shield and it would be a shame to miss it. :) Notice by the way the different head sculpt for this model, the Curenos has an Earth Federation-style front camera below the commander antenna.






MS-14J/BR Gelgoog Vertex Xanthos (Jacobius Node use)


Ok... here is where things get a bit much for me. Remember when you were a kid and played with Lego? Choosing which awesome pieces to select for your design never crossed your mind, you just kept adding more and more cool things to the design until it looked something like this. The Xanthos starts out really nicely with an interesting and unusual golden brown colour scheme but then it just goes off the rails. Enormous launcher style weapon? Check. Another beam rifle on the shoulder? Check. Solid Snake-style headgear on top of the monoeye camera? Definitely! Hey, we are out of black booster tanks... never mind, just use those blue ones. This thing is a mess.


Besides the beam rifle, naginata and shield we saw on the other two figures the designers saw it fit to include an unaltered Gelgoog head if you are not quite ready for Splinter Cell Gundam just yet. The unique weapon for the Xanthos is the GVX Hyper Mega Launcher, a weapon concept we first saw on the MSZ-006 Z Gundam. The booster fuel tanks are not only in a different colour but are a new sculpt as well. The designers paid attention to the details when putting together these figures. I only glanced in a few of the Kadokawa books but they typically feature very detailed drawings of prototype mobile suits and I would imagine they had a lot of lore to build from.


Making use of the traditional Gelgoog head and optional weapons suite. I feel tempted to hide away that large Mega Launcher accessory in the box never for it to see daylight again but I am sure some people will really like it.






Conclusion

All in all, not a bad set, but perhaps not as interesting as the previous Zeon ace packs we have seen before. As I mentioned above I would have preferred if a Johnny Ridden-themed set had been grounded in U.C. 0079 rather than this outlandish stuff. I imagine it was difficult to come up with a set of 4-5 figures based on Ridden alone, the Shin Matsunaga-set was really thin in that department. Better then I think to do a Zeon Aces pack with just the most iconic machine of each pilot, e.g. Gabby Hazard, Ridden, Uma Lightning and Dozle Zabi. Perhaps Bandai have something similar in mind already, that Zaku II Fs in the Matsunaga pack just must be pointing in the direction of the Zabi family I think.