While the SD Full Color series was busy doing its own thing and churning out multiple waves in 2004 Bandai also managed to crank out a couple of deluxe sets in parallel. The DX moniker is a common denominator among various product ranges and at least as far as Gundam figures are concerned, tends to crop up as a series is starting to wind down a little bit. DX content usually takes things to a whole new level that you simply cannot justify within the established budget of a traditional Gashapon or Shokugan range and so they are released a bit on the side. The Full Color DX retail price was twice as high as for the regular figure, a mighty ¥200 instead of ¥100. It was released sometime in the first half of 2004 I believe and so would put it somewhere around the same era as Stage 46-49.
There are five different figures to collect in this set and while all of them have indeed been released previously as traditional SD Full Color figures these versions have been amped up quite a bit not just in size and each also features an adorable little miniature pilot companion figure.
RX-78-2 Gundam + Amuro Ray
There always has to be an RX-78, doesn't it? Now while this figure might not be the most exciting of the lot it has a lot of features that go together with the G-Fighter figure but hey, at least Bandai have given it a full range of weapons to choose from. Both hands are also holding hands giving you a lot of options to mix things up. You can also take advantage of the peg on the back-skirt for some storage options there.
Have you ever seen a figure with a head-attachment such as this before? The reason this particular Gundam looks so weird in its proportions is because it will come apart in various combinations to synergize with the G-P.A.R.T.S. components from the G-Fighter and it required a couple of unusual engineering options on this front.
G-Fighter + Sayla Mass
The G-Fighter figure looks very traditional as far as these things go and is a decent looking figure in its own right. The colour applications have been applied where they should but Bandai generally does not take shortcuts when it comes to painting up the G-P.A.R.T.S. figures in my experience. Let's take a look at its transformation options below. Notice that you will need components from the RX-78-2 Gundam figure for each of them.
RX-78-2 Gundam + B-Parts
The G-Fighter figure is basically two halves attached onto a base plate with treads. The front section is referred to as the A-Parts section and the rear makes up the B-Parts segment. This awkwardly fused together configuration makes use of the B-Parts of the fighter craft and replaces the legs of the RX-78 to form this classic hideous thing. The clear stand you see on display here is borrowed from another basic SD Full Color figure that happens to include one; no stand is included with this figure. So much for DX I guess.
Bandai released the Gundam-B combo as a separate figure a couple of years earlier in Stage 28. The 2001 figure has its own dedicated flight stand (awkward...) and has a special neck section that allows the figure to see where it is going unlike our DX combination here which just stares down on the ground. The OG figure is clearly the better pick of the two.
G-Bull
Now that we have removed the B-Parts from the G-Fighter figure we will instead slot in the Gundam's main torso into the empty space (and this is why the head sits on two pegs instead of one). The little red part that attaches to the lower end of the torso is an option part that ships with the G-Fighter and that is not used in its standalone configuration. I guess this works but it isn't much to look at really.
A smaller G-Bull was released in January 2002 as part of Full Color Stage 30 and I guess here we can argue that the DX figure looks a bit more interesting. The older figure receives a G-Sky companion in Stage 31 and combines together with it in different ways similar to the DX figure (I covered it briefly in the Stage 31 review here).
G-Armor
Finally, we have the large G-Armor air assault thingy. Again, you combine the Gundam's torso with the G-Fighter but this time you stick it in between the A-section and the B-section. To make the thing look even more impressive you also flip the outer section of the G-Parts thrusters backwards to make it look bigger. It works quite well and would definitely look impressive on your shelf next to the other SD Gundam figures.
Side-by-side with the combination figure of the G-Bull and G-Sky figures from Stage 30 and 31 respectively. While the DX figure is bigger and has more colour to it the sleeker shape of the older figures also has an appeal. Ultimately though, the whole G-P.A.R.T.S. thing has been done to death and the thought of having to fiddle with it in Mobility Joint again just makes me sigh.
MSN-02 Perfect Zeong + Char Aznable
Next up we have a tall and well-sculpted Zeong with moving arms and rotating hands. I really like the look of this figure, the head is not so long as on some of the other figures and the legs has lots of interesting detail and paint applications on them. As a bonus, you can balance one or two pilot figurines in the palms of its hands which makes for some additional display options.
The Perfect Zeong is one of the oldest figures in the SD Full Color series and dates back to Stage 5 from September 1998. The basic SD figures were quite large back then but the DX figure still towers above it. I think it is safe to say that the DX figure outclasses it in every measurable category. Another thing I really like about the DX figure is that its monoeye is centred, Zeon figures tend to look better that way I think.
MAN-08 Elmeth + Lalah Sune
The Elmeth is one of those quirky old designs that doesn't really make a whole lot of sense. Bandai have updated the figure in a bid to make it more interesting with three of the craft's twelve Bit-type remote weapons being launched in a cascade of translucent colour. We have some nice colouring on the craft itself as well and you also get to train the two mega particle cannons up or forward as if they were attached to a stationary artillery piece back on Earth.
Recently, I also saw in one of those fan-published SD guide books that the Lalah Sune figure can fit inside the front section of the Elmeth if you remove the top section of the craft. Not sure if that is someone's afterthought or a dedicated playability option as this feature is not depicted in the actual mini-booklet.
Just like the Zeong, the Elmeth is also a really old sculpt originating in Full Color Stage 4 which released in the summer of 1998. Once again you can see that the DX figure is actually deserving of the name, every aspect of it has been updated and tinkered with to make the end result all the more appealing.
MA-08 Byg Zam + Dozle Zabi
Lastly, we go on to the big guns! The Byg Zam is up and it is so large and heavy that its legs barely supports it. A lot of its decorative colouring is the result of a multi-part design, evident in the parts-shot at the start of the review. It isn't the most imposing or aggressive version of the Byg Zam out there, it looks more like a tired old toad but the colouring and detailing is still great.
The Byg Zam first appeared in Full Color Stage 9 and released in June of 1999. The older figure is sturdy and has nice proportions but of course not as pretty when it comes to the colour applications. The old figure only had the two most forward sections of its eye ports painted black while the DX figure at least gets all the forward sections filled in. The sections on the back of the head are left for you to fill in yourself however.
Crew
The pilot figurines are in my opinion the best aspect of the DX series and so it is a shame that only two sets were made. You can find some more crew figurines if you are lucky (and wealthy) enough to pick up the large White Base and Musai play-sets as well as the Minerva from SEED Destiny which followed later. These are quite rare and go for prices around ¥7000 up to ¥15000.
Conclusion
This introductory DX set is a novelty item in the SD Full Color range and is a rare find these days, although not as bad as DX volume 2. Expect it to cost a couple of thousand yen at most, otherwise you are being scalped. Fortunately, all of the craft in this particular set were released in the main Full Color line and so you only really need to go after these if you are a fan of the pilot figurines. Personally, I would have loved for Bandai to just reissue these little simplistic pilot figures in a huge set of 50 different pilots to chase and collect for sure.
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