Bandai Hybrid Mobile Suit Selection Char Aznable Special

Back around the time when this blog started the 1:220 scale was doing quite well for itself. Bandai was in the final phase of its very decorative STANDart display figures and had just kicked off the Assault Kingdom mini-action figure line. Today of course the scale is no more, the closest thing we have are the Gframe figures which resemble simplified model kits more than anything else. However, there are also some lesser known 1:220 scale figures hidden in the past. One such line is the Hybrid Mobile Suit Selection Gashapon series which existed for a short period of time between 2005 and 2007. While not technically made to scale, the figures are pretty much the same size as the later figures just mentioned. Today we will take a closer look at the last set to come out of the HMS line, which is a Char Aznable-special (because there always has to be one right?) which was released in January 2007.


I have never seen any boxed packaging for the HMS figures and I assume they were only available through capsule Gacha machines. Figures on the secondary market typically show up as full sets sold in plastic bags (or you have to go look for them in the real world like in used toy shops). They are not particularly expensive but quite rare these days. I have bought two full sets of this wave in 2020 and 2024, paying ¥2400 and ¥1000 respectively, but expect to pay a couple of thousand yen more these days.


Here is a display of the various plastic bags properly folded out. The figures are very reminiscent of the smaller Gashapon HG figure line except for the packaging which is sporting compartmentalized plastic bags where the HG figures would normally be chucked into the same compartment (in some cases separated into two bags).



1. RX-78/C.A. Casval's Gundam


As you can imagine, this being a late entry into the HMS Selection Bandai already had some figures out to repurpose and modify for this set. There are for example two RX-78-2 Gundams as well as a G-3 released previously to draw from. I won't be making any comparisons to any of these however because they represent gaps in my own HMS collection. If you are familiar with the Assault Kingdom figure line you will be surprised that the HMS figures are very similar to them when it comes to articulation and overall build. Apart from the regular ball joints at the shoulders and hips, you can also find twisting joints both at the upper thigh and the upper arm which opens up for a lot of interesting mobility. The RX-78 is of course especially flexible in this regard due to its overall slender build, a Dom for example doesn't lend itself that well to articulation. Much of the body is made of hard plastic but we have some soft PVC in places too.


While I don't have it at hand this figure seems quite similar to the RX-78-2 Gundam figure from Mobile Suit Selection IV from 2005, at least in the weapons department. You get both a beam rifle and translucent beam saber. Further accessories include a shield with a handlebar and a crude action base that lets you do flying poses. This is such a simple thing yet adds to the playability so much.


The only other 1/220-scale C.A. that I am aware of is the Bandai Museum special release from the FW Ultimate Operation line which was released in early 2003. The two figures seen here represent the two different design schools that were also present in the two late figure ranges of Assault Kingdom vs. FW STANDart. One focuses on playability and articulation while the other goes the route of realistic painting and dynamic semi-fixed poses.






2. MS-09RS Rick Dom (Char's Custom)


Char's Rick Dom is up next and it is looking really good. Notice all the different nuances of red, brown and grey. Paint separation between the Bazooka's handle and the red hand of the figure is also quite sharp. A bulky figure such as this one will of course have a bit more limited articulation but you can still pull off some interesting poses with it.


The figure comes armed with the classic Dom-family weapon; a 360mm Giant Bazooka as well as a heat saber with translucent effect. There is no optional "cold colour" version of the heat saber but you do get an optional hand which allows you to wield the weapon in place of the bazooka. As you can see, both weapons feature very soft PVC and they will be abused to no end from being stored in this crummy plastic bags. You will see this annoyance through many weapons included with the figures in this set.


While no base is provided with the Rick Dom figure it is fully compatible with the one used by the Gundam. Surely Bandai could have included a couple more of these stands in the set, this would have opened up to a more interesting display of multiple figures in flying poses either fighting each other or just looking cool on your shelf.


Size and style-comparison of some 1/220-scale Dom-family mobile suits. On the left we have a MS-09R Rick Dom from STANDart volume 11 (released October 2011) armed with a Beam Bazooka, the Hybrid Mobile Suit Selection version and on the right an Assault Kingdom MS-09R Rick Dom from volume 8 (released March 2015). Speaking of Assault Kingdom, the figure you see below is wielding a hard plastic translucent beam saber from the Assault Kingdom EX07 Qubeley-figure.






3. MS-06S Zaku II (Char's Custom)


The evergreen Zaku II is probably Char's most iconic ride and the HMS version is looking quite sharp. It has a pinkish and red two-tone style colour scheme going with black and dark grey detail. Articulation and poseability is excellent and I had a lot of fun playing around with it. Bandai released both the mass-production type Zaku II and Char's red version in the first HMS set back in 2005 but unfortunately I don't have them on hand for comparison. Actually, the only reason I ended up with two sets of this Char Special set is because the seller misidentified one of them as HMS Volume I. You can imagine my disappointment when that rare catch turned out to be completely different and a duplicate at that...


The Zaku II is armed with the classic Zaku Machine Gun as well as a Heat Hawk option for close encounters. Notice how the figure only has a single right hand option - directly holding onto the Machine Gun. I think the designers could have included an optional open right hand to allow the figure to only use the Heat Hawk (if you look closely again at the photos above I solved this by replacing the right hand with one stolen from a different figure).


Side-by-side with the highly stylized Zaku II from STANDart volume 6 (released January 2010) and the darker red version from Assault Kingdom volume 2 (released June 2013). Each of these figures excels at what it does but I think the articulation is even better on the Assault Kingdom figure.






4. MSM-07S Z'Gok (Char's Custom)


Where did Char Aznable find the time to become such an ace pilot on all these different mobile suits. Sure he is a Newtype but I imagine you'd need a fair bit of training to become a skilled underwater pilot but somehow he managed to pull it off. As a reward he got to have this Commander Type Z'Gok painted up in red, pink and black. Both the mass-production type Z'Gok and Char's red custom were released in HMS format already back in volume II. I'm not sure if the old figure has the same accessories as we shall see here, I do have the volume II figures unopened somewhere so at some point in the future I can make some comparisons.


You normally do not expect any particular accessories for a Z'Gok figure, typically you would see an open claw option part but here the designers were playful enough to do something unusual. Yes, we do get one open claw but it also sits on a cut off arm (you can switch it to an undamaged arm as well) for some really cool diorama options. The stump that attaches to the shoulder was really difficult to attach to the torso so exercise caution so as not to damage the components.


1/220 scale Z'Goks come in all sorts of shapes and colours. Seen here is a dynamically posed mass-production type from FW Ultimate Operation Plus (released December 2006), the HMS-version, a strange looking STANDart take from volume 9 (released in March 2011) and a rather ugly looking Assault Kingdom take from volume 4 (January 2014).






5. MS-14S Gelgoog (Char's Custom)


We never got to see the mighty Gelgoog in Assault Kingdom (or Universal Unit for that matter) for, but if you want a 1/220 action figure representation of it look no further. The HMS Gelgoog sculpt is pretty much perfect and Bandai has had four previous iterations of it to practice on. Again, I might come back to the review to upload some comparison shots once I get around to working on additional HMS reviews.


This Gelgoog comes armed with a beam rifle (and an optional right hand to better wield it - the hand I used in an earlier shot to equip the Zaku II with the Heat Hawk), two translucent beam naginatas and a large sturdy shield with beautiful painting on both front- and backside.


The shield has a grip on the backside which allows the figure to wield it aggressively or use the two pegs on the backpack to store it when not in use. Notice the beam naginata handle that can be seen on the backside of the shield. Straightening the weapons is a must because they will most likely look as sorry as mine when they come out of the packaging.


A Gelgoog is slightly taller than your average 18-meter mobile suit but 1/220 figures are generally shrunk to the same height as the average figure. here again we have some representations to compare it to, on the left we have the FW Ultimate Operation Plus version (December 2006) and on the right the later STANDart representation from volume 8 (released December 2010).






6. MSN-02 Zeong


The last figure in the set is also technically the only one not painted up in his personal livery. it ia very different figure to all the others in the set, and comes on a custom stand which gives the figure a fixed forward lean. Since the figure is lacking legs its articulation is rather limited, pretty much only the arms and head can move around. The paint scheme looks alright but lacks that little extra appeal to make this figure really stand out.


While the Zeong doesn't lug around external weapons it does come with a pair of Psycommu-controlled remote hands with some rather short extension pieces. I think it would have looked better if the extensions were painted in a different colour, black being the most obvious choice.


The HMS Zeong figure sits in a peculiar spot where it is both bigger and smaller than the Gashapon HG Mobile Suit Selection figures. HGMS actually had a Char Aznable custom set of its own, and on the left here we have its Zeong representation which is nearly the same size as the HMV figure. This set contains pretty much the same figures we find in the HMS set except that it also includes a figure of the man himself. The HGMS Char Aznable set was released in April 2004. On the right we have a considerably larger Zeong released in the HGMS spin-off Mecha Selection series, volume four to be specific (released sometime in 2002).






Conclusion

So there you have it, the full Char Aznable collection. While you can find many of these figures in the earlier HMS Selection sets none of these sets are easy to find these days so if you are interested in them take what you can get. The HMS series is a perfect companion to the Assault Kingdom series and they tend to display quite well together. If you have no figures in thr 1/220 scale already and this interests you I may as well discourage you from trying to collect the whole series because this will be a real challenge in 2025.

Mobile Suit Gundam AGE Joint Action 2

About ten years ago Bandai put out a short-lived and somewhat gimmicky series of Shokugan figures focusing both on the Mobile Suit Gundam AGE television series that opened in October of 2011, as well as the recently introduced Gundam Try Age arcade game which had premiered in the summer of the same year. The first set of figures mainly featured variations of the Gundam AGE-1 with this follow-up from early 2012 centered around the AGE-2. While we haven't seen many 1/220 figures on the page as of late they are still my go-to scale for accurately scaled figures and it is a shame that the scale has been completely buried by Bandai for several years now. Anyway...


While Shokugan figure ranges tend to have goofy names more often than not you at least cannot deny that this name is rather apt at describing what we are dealing with here, jointed action figurines from the Mobile Suit Gundam AGE era. You can clearly see a lot of similarities with the Assault Kingdom figure line which is predated by Joint Action for roughly a year or so (The Assault Kingdom line launched in the spring of 2013).


Besides being action figures in their own right, the figures also come bundled with fixed promo-cards for the Try Age arcade machine game. The cards in this mini-set correspond to the respective mobile suit and come in Attacker (red) or Gunner/Support (blue) flavours. I have not yet decided if I will branch out into covering Gundam-themed collectible card games on the page, as it is hard to keep up with the figures in general but card-themed posts might appear in the future. On the topic of the Try Age game itself the game was finally killed off last year after having soldiered on for almost ten years but its successor Arsenal Base is supposed to premiere in February this year which is going to be interesting to follow. :)


The Joint Action figures are made from soft and bendy plastic for the most part and have rather garish colours. Their articulation really shines however, if not yet as capable as the Assault Kingdom line. You can see here some of the examples of the mobility you can get out of them. The main difference is found in the arms and hands which are not yet as maneuverable as the AK-figures. The legs with swivel thighs, bending knees, feet on ball joints are very similar.


While we get no action bases or supports with the figures they do feature suitable peg holes which are a close but not perfect match with the bases from the Assault Kingdom line. However, you only get one peg hole at the groin. I don't know exactly which bases the designers had in mind when coming up with these.




05 : AGE-2 Gundam AGE-2 Normal


The AGE-2 is probably the best looking figure in this set simply because it has a good mix of white and blue colour. Still, the shoulder-mounted wing binders look really cheap compared to the "real" design in white and blue but this is what you get in a simple figure. The paintjob for the AGE-system on the other hand looks great and it helps that some of its inner frame components are black. Just like Assault Kingdom figures however I am sure that these can be made to look really stunning if someone wanted to spend a little time on painting them.


Besides the figure in its numbered bag we also have an instance of the classic Converge-style chewing gum as well as the assigned Try Age promo card. Gear-wise we have the Hyper DODS Rifle which is actually hard to distinguish from the shoulder-mounted wing binders since they are the same colour and shape. As you can imagine, those slim feet generally don't take well to action poses unless you have some sort of base at hand.


Here we have the AGE-2 Normal as seen in SD Gashapon Warrior NEXT 06, the Converge version from volume 6 and the Joint Action figure. Interestingly all three figures are released around the same time in early 2012, never to be seen again.






06 : AGE-2DB Gundam AGE-2 Double Bullet


The revised AGE-2DB is of course at first glance very similar to the previous figure but it contains a number of modified and updated sculpt details as well as redesigned shoulders with only two wing binders. Just like with the AGE-2 Normal the wings suffer the most from the simple paintjob since the two large Hyper DODS Rifles attached to them disappear into what looks like plain wing features. You can also see bulkier lower legs which now carry smaller missiles.


With most of its weapons internalized the AE-2DB figure feels a little Spartan, I think Bandai could at least have included a simple single-colour toothpick beam saber for some more interesting play options.


While I do not yet own the first Joint Action wave (these sets are rather hard to find) I do have a 1:220 AGE-1 Normal from the good ol' FW STANDart figure line. The size and style match each other quite well. It must be noted however that the STANDart AGE-1 is a standout subpar specimen that does not do the rest of this incredible figure line justice. Perhaps that is a bit unfair, the AGE art-direction is rather stylized and slick after all.


The Double Bullet was also available in the Gashapon Warrior NEXT series in wave 07. Notice the multi-coloured wing binders that clearly show off the figure's weapons.







07 : WMS-GB5 G-Bouncer


Next we have the atrociously named G-Bouncer which looks a bit like a Hyaku-Shiki or maybe Delta Plus. The AGE-series actually features many interesting designs that I would like to see in figure form but they are unfortunately extremely few and far between. The Bouncer design is rather white in its anime form too and while the figure ends up looking a bit bland some touching up could make it look much better. That blue DODS rifle looks really out of place too but this figure is otherwise my favourite from the set.


This is the only figure in the set that carries a traditional shield. It also features a pair of back-mounted thrusters that can be articulated on ball joints for some interesting poses.






08 : xvm-zgc Zeydra


The Vagan forces have a really unique style going for their suits, one unmatched in all of Gundam lore. They really carry the "evil aliens from outer space" theme in Spades and come in sexy black, dark blue, red or even yellow colour schemes. The SD Gashapon Warrior NEXT line actually has a decent selection of Vagan mobile suits but if you are looking for something with proper proportions this is to my knowledge the only one you will find in Gashapon or Shokugan form. You will have to sink your teeth into the 1:144 model kits for more. Mobile Suit Gundam AGE seems to be treated very poorly overall, the series turned ten last year and I don't recall anything in the way of its celebration (although we did get that cool AGE/Spallow/Titus-set in Ensemble).


The Zeydra comes with two weapon options, a stub looking "Zeydra Gun" that appears to be rather unspecified and and equally nonspecific (and very bendy) "Zeydra Sword" (real imagination with the naming, guys).


The sword also doubles as the mobile suit's tail - you can clip it into a slot on the backskirt - which is just awesome and stupid at the same time. My figure tends to use it as a cane for most of the time because those feet are tiny. :)






Conclusion

While my primary interest was set on the Try Age promo-cards I am always interested in exploring figures from the 1:220 scale. While these particular figures are mainly novelty items I still find them quite neat and also serve as a reminder of how good the Assault Kingdom line was before it was ruined by Universal Unit and replaced by Gframe. Bah...