SD Gundam Full Color Stage 42 "Decisive Fire"

Stage 42 of the SD Gundam Full Color series is named "Decisive Fire" after the 38th episode of Mobile Suit Gundam SEED. That episode first aired in Japan on June 28th 2003 and here comes the figure set which was coordinated to release in July. The episode introduces the Earth Alliance second generation mobile suit program and this set is putting the trio in the limelight. We also have a trio of classic U.C. 0079 suits and vehicles attached to the White Base; you can see them taking off from the oversized White Base playset figure on the booklet cover there.


As usual most of the figures come fully assembled out of their bags. There will be some minor articulation points here and there, one or both arms, maybe a tilting head and so on. The Core Booster comes with the typical simple but functional SD Full Color base that allows for some minor adjustments in the pose. You should always pick up figures that come with these bases because chances are you will stumble on another you really need that no longer has one.



256 : GAT-X131 Calamity Gundam


The Calamity is a bit of a messy design with long weapons pointing left and right that struggle to make the conversion into the super deformed format. Even the Mobile Suit Ensemble version had issues here so it is not surprising to see that the figure can very barely hold on to its bazooka. Other than that, the sculpt is great and there is lots of vibrant colour applications on it, enough to make me happy at least.






257 : GAT-X252 Forbidden Gundam


The Forbidden is a bulkier design that makes the jump to SD form much easier. It carries a heavy scythe as its main weapon as well as even heavier ranged weaponry as part of its mobile armour configuration. Be careful when handling the scythe weapon, sometimes the peg holes in the hands can be very tight on these figures and you risk damaging the accessory if you try to force it in too hard.


Upon first inspection you may think that the figure can transform into its mobile armour mode but the pegs used for the head and backpack are not the same size, the mobile armour headpiece will not fit on the figure's shoulder without drastic conversion (with a knife...). However, there is no need to fret - SD Full Color has you covered with a dedicated mobile armour form (technically the "High Speed Assault form") of the Forbidden Gundam with its dual railguns extended. You can find it in Stage 49 which released in May 2004 (not exactly keeping up with the television series there, Bandai).






258 : GAT-X370 Raider Gundam


The last member of the EA second generation trio is the formidable Raider Gundam which is just bristling with all sorts of useful and not so useful weapons. The mobile suit can transform into a bird-like flight mode which enables atmospheric flight, but our figure here has no such ability.


Again, we can find the mobile armour mode of the Raider in Stage 49 together with the Forbidden Gundam. Over on the right there we see a more recent Raider with a green tint released in the SD Full Color Custom line, volume 11 to be specific. The figure from Stage 42 is easily the best of them.


Taking a last look at the trio and its alternate variants before we wave goodbye (from the Kusanagi as it darts off into space). The Calamity is not a transforming suit and so there is no alternate mode version of that figure.






259 : ZGMF-515 CGUE


We have one more entry from SEED in this set, a Z.A.F.T. high performance commander suit starting to show its age at this point in the conflict. It was not present in the particular episode, but Bandai plugs are very specific hole in its SD family and I could not be happier about how it turned out. I suppose it would have been nice to see it armed with a rifle, especially since there is no other variant of this mobile suit in SD form.


Flanked by a pair of GINNs with different weapon options. The Heavy Sword figure hails from Stage 39 (released February 2003) and the decorative Anti-Ship Missile variant followed in Stage 41 in May 2003.






260 : RX-78-2 Gundam (Ver.22.0)


Over to the Universal Century timeline then. We start out with yet another version of the RX-78, officially christened version 22 in the booklet which is more or less accurate depending on how you count minor variants and limited side-releases. It is hard to get excited about yet another variant at this point but at least this is a really well-rounded figure complete with a basic loadout including a Hyper Bazooka and Beam Rifle. The leaning forward pose isn't the greatest though, I suppose it is meant to look like it is launching from the White Base?


In fact, we can find a much better figure if we go back to version 7.0 which was released in Stage 19 already in August 2000. That particular figure has the same armament and also two holding hands which enables it to actually hold the bazooka in the left hand or store it on the back as seen here.


And speaking about holding... while yes, the bazooka is removable and has a handle that allows it to be carried by compatible SD figures the actual RX-78 it comes bundled with cannot complete the task. The angle of the arm and the size of the weapon means it won't manage go over the shoulder which is a bit of a fail in my opinion.






261 : RX-77-2 Guncannon (Ver.5.0)


Not to throw shade on Kai Shiden here, but the Guncannon figure is even worse. What in the name of everything holy have they done to it? The guns usually depicted in light to medium grey have got a very black colour here and are drilled into the sides of the suit's head instead of being attached to a backpack. Yes, this allows for the guns to be manipulated and elevated up and down and swivel together with the head but I don't think that the guns do that even on the original mobile suit? Meh... the designers tried something different but I am not a fan.


A selection of other Guncannons, from left to right: The first version from Stage 1 released in October 1997, units 108 and 109 from Stage 5, a retcon RX-77-1 from The Origin released in Stage 36 and the 4.0 version of the RX-77-2 from Stage 25 which can swivel its head but not the individual cannons.






262 : FF-X7-Bst Core Booster


The last figure to appear in this stage is the colourful Core Booster fighter. I always liked this design (and especially its Jet Core Booster variant which has never got a Gashapon release) and I think this figure delivers exactly everything it needs to. The accompanying base with its two ball-joints allow for a bit of messing around with the angle to create banking turns or aggressive dives.it is simple but effective, something that Mobile Suit Ensemble has never been able to replicate after all these years...


Size comparison and side-by-side with the G-Sky from Stage 31. I don't think that the figure designers intended the RX-78 from this set to ride atop the Core Booster.






Conclusion

That about wraps it up for Stage 42. An absolute killer line-up for fans of Mobile Suit Gundam SEED while the U.C. 0079 entries are a bit ho-hum. Worth to seek out for the Core Booster alone though, since it shouldn't cost that much - perhaps around 1000 yen or even less on the Japanese secondary market. The trick of course is actually finding them which requires a bit of patience and luck at this point.

Bandai Carddass Fusion Clashes Gundam Battle-Rave Vol. 1 Booster Box

A couple of months ago I stumbled on a booster box for a SD Gundam-themed card game that I did not recognize. I didn't jump on it at the time because of the relatively high price and lack of further information. It wasn't until a starter set surfaced - dirt-cheap at that - that I could finally check it out. The game is of the collectible type and its name rolls smoothly of the tongue as you can see in the title above. Anyway, the I reviewed the starter set back in June and decided this game had a really outlandish artistic style that I wanted to explore a bit more so I went back and swiped the old booster box I had seen before. And now your sorry eyes will have to share the experience...


At first glance this looks like your typical Japanese CCG box. if you've come across booster boxes of other games such as Gundam War, NEX-A or Chronicle the format will be recognizable to you, except that this box is a little bit thinner. There sure is a lot going on in that busy front cover... We have the year 2007 on the cover. That places it in the Gundam Cardbuilder, Gundam Chronicle and late Gundam War-era.


Here is a comparison with one of the two starter sets accompanying volume 1. The red one seen here is Hyuuga's starter and there is also a blue one that I have so far not seen. The starters have a fixed set of cards including exclusive card each; you can check out the starter set review here for more information.


The box contains 15 booster packs, each containing six cards. The packaging informs us that there are 63 cards to collect; 45 normal or common, 12 silver rare, 6 gold rare and one secret rare. The mathematically gifted reader quickly realizes that this actually totals 64 cards. Then there is the small detail that the count doesn't align with the information on the collectors card found inside each pack. The list marks 8 cards as "GR", 14 cards as "SR" and the total number of cards including the secret comes to 63, so I have no idea what is going on with that. Finally, nine cards are listed separately and for some reason do not count against the 63 card total. Clear? Clear! Let's open 'em up.


Alright, here you can see the contents of the first two booster packs pulled from the front of the box and organized in the order they were packaged. You can immediately see the weird gimmick about this game; fantasy creatures, machines and everyday objects have been fused with a random Gundam and looks more or less confusing. Among the highlights we have a Barn Swallow, a skeletal fiend of sorts, a giant octopus and a "Gun Tanker". The second pack has more fantasy creatures, I see bunny ears, a dragon hatching and a blimp.

While you cannot see it clearly in these pictures, this game appears to be of the sort that any card can be a foil. The first two cards in each pack have a foil pattern effect applied to them while the rest are plain matte finish. So, the third card in the first pack up there is a non-foil version of the card that appears as a foil in the second pack. Confused? Good, let's carry on.


Packs three and four are up. We see more character-style designs but also a wolf, a microwave from hell and Bumblebee-rip off transforming car. These two packs also introduce plain non-transformed mobile suits; we have the Wing Gundam in the first pack and the Double Zeta in the other pack. These are the cards that don't count towards the 63-card total for some reason. According to the rules they form your basic units and then you use the other cards as transformations of sorts (check out the rules in the review of the starter if you are curious).

Again the first two cards in each pack are of foil type but here we encounter different foil types. The first card in these two packs has a plain smooth foil effect while the secondaries have the same fractured pattern seen earlier. Perhaps these are extra valuable? Let's see... the fancy warrior is card H-001 - listed as a golden rare indeed. The Dinosaur-Gundam face is L-013, marked as a silver rare. I can't see any difference in quality. I went back and checked the other foils... the cards with fractured foil effects are indeed just commons in a stylish variant, I guess kind of like reverse cards in Pokemon.


The fifth pack contains a silver rare mechanic eagle and... hold on... here comes a Gundam Alex with foil pattern... apparently these cards also come with foil variants. We have more cool concepts such as a Flamingo Gundam, oddities like Medusa, a Japanese baseball pro (because of course), washing machine Gundam and... toilet Gundam. I'm sorry everyone, the toilet is a common. The eagle by the way is a "Level 2" card, whatever that means. Most cards are simply level 1. The sixth pack actually contains two regular Gundam cards but unfortunately we have already seen both of them before. The set is pretty small after all and so the duplicate count will be impressive.


Next up we have a Space Battleship Yamato derivative, a dinosaur with a Hyper Hammer for a tail and a motorbike gangster. I have to give it to the artists, these designs are really creative. It reminds me of people creating spaceships out of ordinary things. We find two new non-transformed Gundams this time, the Zeta and the A.E.U.G. Mk-II. The pose is the exact same as the Titans Gundam Mk-II Unit 02 which is the exclusive card in the red starter set. Lame. At least the background is different, the Titans mobile suit has a space backdrop.


Packs nine and then contain mostly fantasy creatures and characters that I have no idea what they are. We are still pulling new mobile suits, well at least one new machine - the Ez8. The foil-to-normal ratio continues to be steady, the first two cards in each pack are foil-types while the remaining four are regulars.


We are seeing a lot of duplicates by now but the packs still introduce new characters and ideas. I feel the set peaked with the toilet Gundam however. The torpedo Gundam is pretty novel, it reminds me of those nukes the Earth Alliance mobile armours kept sending at the Z.A.F.T. colonies in SEED. Those annoying hourglasses...


Nearing the end now and speak of the devil, we have a foil toilet at last. These two packs also introduce a beetle Gundam, a mummy and a cheetah. We also have the good ol' RX-78-2 making its appearance as a base mobile suit.


The fifteenth and last pack sports the Turn-A Gundam with cat tail, stupid pointy hat and a giant fork... twice. I assume this is some fable character I should recognize. And what do you know... see that black clawed creature rising up from what seems to be lava? It has a unique foil pattern where the rings around the arms and legs sparkle, as well as the eyes and V-fin camera. There is also a strange character face silhouette effect in the background... yep, this is N-001 - the secret rare card. I feel it is not a coincidence that it appeared in the last pack in the box, perhaps all the boxes were seeded in this fashion? I doubt we will ever know. We managed to pull all the seven basic Gundam cards too, except of course for the two exclusives from the starters.


Before we go, here are some random card backs of various cards. You can see a representation of the real world or other creature that forms the basis of the transformation. You can also see the heading "Wisdam" on the backside, while the front side says "Fusion". The mobile suits themselves, titles CORE-MS have generic black backgrounds but the fusion/wisdam cards do not so I am curious how you play this game and retain the element of surprise. I don't imagine we will ever see this game featured on a let's play...

Below you can see the (presumably) full set of Battle-Rave volume one. Each booster pack comes with a four-page mini-booklet of which three pages are the ones you see here and the fourth is a promotional blurb for you to buy something. Hope you enjoyed taking a look at this forgotten oddity of a game. :)