Here then is the second review for the SEED Freedom Revive releases. The Mighty Strike is a pretty impressive design overall and the original Converge figure was rather striking, but I am still really disappointed that Bandai hasn't included "lesser" mobile suits from the SEED Freedom movie into the line. Sure, the crazy Z'Gok is coming soon but I would have liked to see more mass-production types.
Just like its companion release, this "Revive" edition blurs the line between retail and P-Bandai. Up until this point Revives used to be released as regular retail figures but here two retail figures have been boxed together in special packaging and the price has been sneakily raised from two times the standard ¥630/693 to ¥2500/2750 which is a rotten move. I found this set at Mandarake for ¥2000 so not sure that price will be holding up.
This set was released in tandem with SEED Freedom Revive 01 which reissues the Rising Freedom and Immortal Justice also based on retail figures from Converge #24. I like the way the two boxes have the Compass-logo carrying over from box to box.
The figures are shipped in typical Converge retail bags stuffed inside a protective bubble wrap for some additional protection. The packaging is so tight that the box ended up with a slight outward bulging deformation but nothing inside was damaged.
As with previous Converge Revive sets this is a no-frills reissue as far as the components are concerned; you are getting the same type of parts as found in the retail edition with no extra gear or accessories included.
ZGMF/A-262B Strike Freedom Gundam Type II and MDE262S Proud Defender
Since this is a reissue set I am not going to go into great detail about the various features of the figure and focus on what is different here and so this review is a little bare bones in that regard. Check out the review for Converge #24 for a more in-depth review. Shown above are the basic appearances of the Strike Freedom Type II and its companion Proud Defender support craft. These figures have no additional insignia or markings but have instead been give a pearl colour treatment which will not show up that well in some of these photos.
ZGMF/A-262PD-P Mighty Strike Freedom Gundam
The two figures of course combine into the Mighty Strike form which is the main selling point of these two figures and yes, it does indeed look just as gorgeous in pearl colour as it did in its matte finish before. The wings retain their articulation but I noticed that some of the joints are a bit loose on these figures, no doubt related to the paint coat of choice.
Side-by-side view with the original Mighty Strike combo from Converge #25. The photo doesn't show the pearl colour effect that well, the original retail figure is on the left and the revive edition is on the right. The under-the-base item numbers are 2671902 for the retail version and 2773218 for the revive edition.
For me, the best feature of this Revive edition is that I can keep two sets of figures in the different configurations, so the original retail figures remain combined while I keep the revive figures split up as seen above.
Here is the entire SEED Freedom revive family from sets 01 and 02. I am going to reiterate the point made in the previous review; this is a nice release but nothing special if you already own the retail figures from before. The pearl-colour "upgrade" is so minor that it really doesn't count. If you are budget conscious and don't yet own either figure variant you might be getting a better deal looking up the retail figures instead of this slightly overpriced reissue.
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