MegaHouse Excellent Model RAHDXG.A.NEO - Ramba Ral

A while ago we looked at the MegaHouse Dozle Zabi figure (review here), released in tandem with everyone's favourite blue uncle Mr. Ral. It seemed prudent to finally complete the review of the duo so here we are.


MegaHouse likes to reissue popular figures from time to time, and usually do so with completely new packaging, item number and so on. This particular version of the figure is a "limited reprint" from 2014 with the first release being already back in 2008. As far as I know there are no actual differences between the reissue and the original. Since the Dozle figure wasn't reissued at the same time he was purged from the cover art while the original packaging saw the pair posing together on the cover.


The windowed box features a coloured cardboard inlay to act as background and the figure comes sandwiched between plastic covers with an additional plastic bag wrapped around it to protect the paintwork. On the right is a close-up of the barcode.


Man, this Ramba Ral figure really oozes of confidence and gravitas - what a fantastic sculpt this is! All the features are both lifelike and cartoonish at the same time and the colour separation is excellent, aided both by great painting and the 3D-detail. Shading and weathering together with excellent creasing of the uniform brings this character very close to reality. He looks more like 50 than the supposed 35 however, the war has taken its toll (and I imagine having to be bested by some snotty amateur kid doesn't help either...).


Choose your sidearm - this is the single customization option the figure will give you. Later MegaHouse Gundam figures will often feature an optional arm or even head but this is still 2008 tech.


I'm not 100% onboard with the decision to put Ral's boot on a little rock as it takes away from a lot of diorama opportunities. I guess you can always crop the photo a bit if you are going for a hangar or ship bridge scene but I would have preferred a clean baseless option.


Mr. Ral has been reissue twice so far. The original green box from August 2008 features both Dozle and Ral on the cover and are of the same style. The two reprints feature completely different box designs. The December 2018 figure with the Gouf on the cover is stylized to match other contemporary releases - Char's box has a Zaku II face on it, Matilda Ajan's box features a Medea and so on.


Here is the duo back-to-back, as teased on the box cover. Dozle is a real ox and 2.1 meters tall but I still don't think this pose works that well, Ral just seems completely dwarfed. On the last picture I gave him a little podium to stand on (like certain presidents...) and I like them better when they are more level. All in all, both of these figures are great with the sculpt of Ral being one of my absolute favourites across the board.

MegaHouse Excellent Model RAHDXG.A.NEO - Dozle Zabi

It has been a bit quiet here recently, but work continues in the background. The dark winter doesn't lend itself well to photography and so I have spent some time in researching and uploading the first version of the new MegaHouse figure check list. To launch it it seemed prudent to review something that appears on it and the choice landed on this unique 2008 Dozle Zabi display figure.


Large figures are always a pain to store, and the boxes are often very unwieldy. Dozle's figure is one of the more compact one since it doesn't feature compartmentalized space for option parts or a large base. Treat the packaging with care, the big windows and extra coloured cardboard insert are easy to damage when handling the figure. You can see that my figure comes in a rather banged up box. I find it a curious choice that we have Ramba Ral as the main face on the front of the packaging - the same piece of artwork is used for both figures in this wave.


On the sides of the box we have faces of Dozle Zabi and Ramba Ral. This type of shared design is common among some of the earlier MegaHouse figures. The matching Ral figure from this pair has the same design going on even though the box dimensions are different and more square. With the two boxes not even being the same size I think they could have made the Dozle box a bit more distinct.


The figure comes sandwiched in a two-part blister keeping it safe from bumps and scratches. Arms and legs are also protected by individual plastic bags to prevent paint chipping. Unlike many other MegaHouse figures this one doesn't come with any accessories, not even a base, so it is good to go straight out of the box. The Robot Animation figure range usually does not feature any articulation although there might be some gimmicky outlier that I am not aware of.


The RAH range is typically around 1:8 scale and so Dozle here with his 210 centimeters stands almost 26 centimeters tall. As with most MegaHouse sculpts the designers don't shy away from taking their own spin on the character proportions - women tend to be very curvy and Dozle here is a real steroid monster. While my man should definitely consider the next jacket size the figure looks fantastic. Due to his enormous feet a base was deemed not necessary by the designers.


The paintwork is very clean for the most part unlike the recent mess that is Gundam Converge for example. The style is cartoonish, very much in line with the anime, it would be interesting to see a more realistic take on this character, I am secretly hoping that he will eventually come to life in the excellent 1:18 Gundam Military Generation range, also by the same company.


You are going to have to look high and low for a Byg Zam to display with him. The best choice should be the old Mobile Suit in Action figure which I believe is somewhere around 35 centimeters tall and of course prized accordingly... Seen here in the background is the Banpresto Banpresto Mech Saga Figure from 2014 (reviewed here).


There are two editions of this figure. Besides the original release from 2008 there is also a repackaged limited reissue from 2015. The new packaging is completely redesigned and centered around Dozle, completely ignoring the display gimmick with the Ramba Ral figure. We will look into that in a little bit more detail once I get around to posting the Ral figure review.

Dengeki Hobby 1:8 Lacus Clyne (Captain Outfit)

The final item for our October One-Off Week is a semi-obscure figure from Dengeki Hobby. This little 1:8 scale Lacus mini was a companion item for the Dengeki Hobby Magazine June 2004 issue as can be seen on the cover image here.

During its run, the magazine often featured special items such as this one and some are more interesting than others (the Advance of Zeta figures and kits come to mind). While these bundled Dengeki items usually aren't too expensive on the second hand market availability can be a bit of an issue. Finding them is often the hard part. I picked mine up a couple of years ago in Japan for... hmm, I think it was about ¥500.

Alright, let's take a closer look inside the pink (of course) box...

As you can see this is not a cheap chunk of plastic with some haphazard paint on it but actually quite the complex design with several layers of individually painted pieces. There is a lot of attention to detail with nice gold trimmings on the sleeves and edges of the captain robe. As you can see, the head sits on a ball joint and the figure can also swivel at the waist. The rest of the parts remain static however for the pose to work.

Now, before we look at the figure, let's just remind ourselves what Captain Lacus Clyne is actually supposed to look like. Here we can see her on the bridge of the Eternal during the battle at Jachin Due during the climactic end phase of Mobile Suit Gundam SEED.

And then... well, then there is the figure from Dengeki...

I guess this figure is a fine example of attention to detail but missing the overall goal. While the details in the outfit are dead on for the most part, the colours seem a bit off. Then there is that soft round face almost looking like a Chibi character. And that intense purple hair... is this Lacus Clyne or the latest entry into the Bratz line?

The figure has an unusual way to make the pieces fit together. Two big lumps of plastic extend from the back of each part of the robe and they are then squeezed together inside a rectangular block locking them tightly in place and keeping the figure together. The base then connects into the very same block. This works really well except that the rod that connects to the base feels a bit flimsy and could have been a bit sturdier.

While you can pose the figure without the robe this means it has no support and the only way to make it stand up is to lean it against something or build your own support which either way will probably end up destroying the floating in space effect which is really the only thing this figure has going for it in the first place.

There is plenty - and I do mean plenty - of Lacus figures on the market and it would be hard to find one that has less likeness than this one. The similarly sized Gashapon ranges are virtually littered with great looking Lacus figures. In this figure's defense however, 90% of them are from SEED Destiny. Finding a Lacus figure with the captain robe from Mobile Suit Gundam SEED is actually not an easy task. The only other example I can think of is a 1:6 scale resin kit from Global which I would love to show off here except that I haven't built it yet...

Above you can see Lacus wearing the same outfit (sans the robe) in the great version released in 2003 in the MegaHouse Excellent Model RAH.DX Gundam Archives line-up. And for something really spectacular, how about the SEED Destiny captain outfit in 1:6 scale from Atelier Sai below? In the end, the Dengeki Hobby figure is little more than a cheap novelty, but I wouldn't hold it past a skilled modeller to kitbash another Gashapon Lacus figure from SEED that has a better likeness and do a headswap. Perhaps a project for me to consider in the future... :)

With this entry we have come to the end of the October One-Off Special. I hope our readers had as much fun as I did in going into some different directions and don't be surprised to see the blog continuing to expand into more figure lines as time goes on.