Here is finally the overdue review of the most recent of the Ensemble retail sets, officially the 28th wave. the wave has a couple of months under its belt already, being released back in November 2024. This set is of the larger 6-figure variety but I don't know the exact figure distribution in the larger 10-pack boxes. I have seen some box openings heavily slanted towards the Strike Freedom and its accessory which isn't really a surprise.
The packaging variations continue with both boxed and capsuled figures out there. It seems lately there is also a third category that has crept into the mix; we now have these bagged figures that are presumably sold through the Premium Bandai online store? The fact that the boxes are full of disclaimer text in various languages lead me to believe they might be intended for export through the foreign P-Bandai programs while the bagged up figures maybe are only intended for the Japanese market but I really don't have any idea.
185 : ZGMF/A-262B Strike Freedom Gundam Type II
The big thing in this set is the Strike Freedom upgrade for its SEED Freedom revival and I am starting to get a bit tired of seeing it by now. I'm sure this is a popular pick with collectors though and the figure is really neat, but since we have seen both the Freedom and the Strike Freedom in Ensemble already it is hard for me to work up that much excitement over it. While I don't show it here, you can swivel its wings into full spread and the hip-mounted railguns can swing up and extend but it is a bit messy to deal with as parts often like to fall off.
I mentioned in the recent Converge #26 review that there appear to have been changes made in the manufacturing process with a new focus on more hard plastic components; now we are seeing the same in Ensemble. After the "soft" era with some really dodgy figures (Hello Immortal Justice and Windam) we are seeing more ABS use in Part 28. You may have noticed also that the mini-sprues with all the joints and inner components have been slightly redesigned again. The outer frame of the section that contains the back of the torso now has a slightly more rounded shape but all the components themselves are still the same as in the previous waves. This Freedom figure has a gimmicky golden brown set of joints which is a neat touch that we have seen before and that was also used to great effect in Gashapon Senshi Forte.
Side-by-side with the old premium X20A Strike Freedom figure (EX 31, released in September 2021). The new figure's proportions have been altered somewhat just like we have seen with some of the other recent Ensemble figures (the Impulse Gundam comes to mind) giving it a sleeker and taller appearance. The EX figure of course has the retail figure soundly beaten when it comes to the size of the wings, but with Ensemble figures having standardized torsos I guess you could hand them over to the new figure if you wanted to.
186 : MDE262S Proud Defender
Yeah, not much to say here, on its own there is not a lot here. This pack is just as unexciting as its counterparts in Gundam Converge, Gframe and Mobility Joint Gundam. On a technical note, the joints that attach the wings to the mid-section are really thin and frail and were a bit of a mess to assemble and I nearly cracked on of them so take extra care when building this thing and make good use of the assembly instructions that Bandai upload to youtube nowadays.
Here we can see another recent change in the Ensemble line. The capsule type has been changed and the classic pastel see-through light red, blue, yellow, green and clear colours that were always used are now replaced by nearly opaque capsules in new colours. The Proud Defender comes in this dark red type, the Freedom itself in yellow, Guel's Dilanza sits in an orange capsule while the mass production type comes in black. The Gelgoog comes in dark green and the equipment set finally sits in a violet capsule. One of the things Bandai has not seen fit to improve are the terrible figure stands and there is no stand option at all included with the Proud Defender, nor is it compatible with any as it lacks any peg holes or slots.
185+186 : ZGMF/A-262PD-P Mighty Strike Freedom Gundam
Your are of course intended to swap out the tiny Freedom wings on the Strike Freedom with this huge set and while it always looks impressive the novelty is beginning to fade at this point. Still, this is a natural and obvious accessory for the Strike Freedom Type II and certainly a nice little earner for Bandai as the Freedom family is a real evergreen in both model kit- and figure sales.
The two outer white wings and the centre gold wing on each side unfold separately but they can be a bit fiddly to manipulate. You can also swing the wings backward but without a sturdy base you won't be displaying the figure like that. I didn't try putting the figure on the default Ensemble base to see if it could handle that load but I would feel a bit sceptical of such an arrangement as the base is inherently unstable to say the least.
Side-by-side with the recent Converge Mighty Freedom which is constructed by combining figures 291 and 292, both released in Converge #25 in May last year. The Converge figure by the way is out now as a Converge Revive in a pearl metallic colour variation. Below you can see the Mighty Freedom slotting in between its two supposed successors; the Immortal Justice from Ensemble Part 26 and the Rising Freedom from Part 27.
187 : MS-14S Gelgoog (Char's Custom)
Turning our eyes to the Universal Century for a brief moment we have a really important addition of the mighty Zeon Gelgoog, something I had been hoping for, for a while now. I find it a bit unfortunate that we only get Char's custom red suit, this figure should have been offered in two colour variants and I think it is a bit unfortunate that it got to share set with the Dilanza which is also a two-colour offering. It would have been better to see the mass-production type Gelgoog here and offer Char's Gelgoog as a premium figure because I highly doubt Bandai will come back to this wave and create a Part 28.5 colour variation because none of the other figure lend themselves well to that. :/
The Gelgoog comes with its default equipment which includes a beam rifle and the classic shield, painted to a nice standard. We also have a really large weapon rack for the backpack which has some additional uses as can be seen below. Notice that the white Beam Naginata handle you saw on the photos above are not included with the figure itself but can be found int he Equipment Pack. Notice that the shield does not just slot into the elbow peg hole but is in fact hand held which opens up some interesting posing options.
One of the basic gimmicks of the Gelgoog figure is the weapon rack at the back that allows you to store the Beam Naginata handle and shield on there when not in use. Personally, I don't think it works because the shield ends up sticking out too far. I feel it would have worked better to have the shield sit on a peg that could slot directly into the figure's back without need for that rack in the first place but you can do it however you please, so that is cool.
188 : MD-0032G Guel's Dilanza
When this wave was announced I was excited to see yet another mobile suit from Witch of Mercury join the ranks. It is not that I am a huge fan of the series itself (I still haven't watched it) but I can't stand when we just get the hero figure and then Bandai quickly moves on to something else and we end up with a long line of different takes on a white Gundam figures that don't have anything in common besides the name. The Dilanza itself is a really beefy design, it kind of resembles the Zaku III or the Gustav Karl and sadly the Ensemble rendition isn't as massive but it is still a decent looking figure. There is something strange and insect-like influence going on with its face and I think the various plumes and v-fin look a bit goofy but the lower body with its interesting foot design is much better. But what is going on with its weapon? Keep reading...
Yeah, so while opening up the packaging and preparing the component shots I accidentally didn't see the clear plastic tip of the Dilanza's spear and threw it in the garbage... Components usually sit one by one in the different compartments and in this case it shared space with the shaft of the spear and so I simply didn't notice it remained inside the emptied bag. For the rest of the review you will see this figure armed with an axe until my replacement figure arrives and I can update the photos...
189 : MD-0031 Dilanza
Onto the mass production variant then, in toothpaste turquoise colour. it has a bit of a cartoony look but I dig it, except for the bendy antenna that for some reason is not part of the ABS hard plastic revolution I just praised at the beginning of the review. The base figure is the same as the purple version save for the different adornments on top of its head. Other differences include the different shoulder armour, lack of stubby wings at the back and it being equipped with a rifle instead of a melee weapon.
One thing I forgot to mention earlier is that the circular thrusters on the back of the feet are quite loose and like to fall out fairly easily. I would recommend gluing these in place since they are quite small and easy to lose.
We have a decent line-up of Witch of Mercury suits in Ensemble at this point and I would love for this series to go on. Haven't seen any announcement for Part 29 yet, Bandai are currently busy reissuing older sets, with waves 9, 10 and 11 returning to the shelves this winter. Something tells me it will be focusing on GQuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuX but we shall see. Seen here from left to right in top row: Gundam Aerial (Part 23), Aerial Rebuild (Part 25) and Gundam Calibarn (EX version). Bottom row: The two Dilanzas from Part 28 and the Gundam Schwarzette from Part 27.
The Dilanza is the army-builder of this set and doesn't disappoint in that regard. I just hope that the Gelgoog will also be allowed to shine in mass-production form sometime in the future. :)
190 : Equipment Set for Wave 28
The equipment set lastly is split up into three groups of gear. We have extra weapons for the Strike Freedom, an option for the Gelgoog and some additional gear for the Dilanzas.
I was going to post some pictures of the Strike Freedom equipping the various beam saber options or the wrist mounted shield. However, those golden hands have a really tight grip on those beam rifles, I can't get them out unless resorting to using some kind of tool and I would be afraid to maybe damage the components. My advice is, choose weapon option before you start sticking the rifle grips in because they really like to stay there. It is more or less the same story with the shield; you have to peel off that thin red piece and replace it with the full shield. Again I was worried I might actually damage the thin red component so you'll just have to imagine what it looks like I guess.
The Gelgoog gets its classic dual-blade Beam Naginata which can also be operated as a single-bladed beam saber. The handle can be stored at the back of the figure when not in use. I wish Bandai would have produced this component in yellow translucent plastic however.
The Dilanza gets four different types of accessories that help you mix and match figures when assembling a full unit but really are intended to convert the figure into the custom unit piloted by Lauda Neill's custom unit, the MD-0031L. I just like to spread the gear out across my platoon. The L-type Dilanza has a different type of circular shoulder shields and a slightly different backpack with a little fin on top of it. the head antenna is replaced with a Samurai-style dual V-fin (looks more like a U-fin actually) and the main weapon is a giant axe.
Conclusion
In closing I really like the new direction taken with the stiffer ABS material that takes care of some of the main gripes I had with the previous waves. I also find the mobile suit selection excellent although I have a feeling a lot of people probably might not care for the Witch of Mercury suits that much. I do get a little worried that we don't see many news in Ensemble. Besides the heavy reissuing of old waves and a couple of really premium priced EX figures from last year there is only one announced set on the horizon, slated for shipment in July - the special Requiem for a Vengeance 5-figure set that come with individual figure numbers and surprisingly no dedicated equipment set. Is this an indication of further set development or the beginning of the end?
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