B-Club Prepainted Polystone Collection - Lunamaria Hawke 1/7

Just in time for Valentine's Day, how about a little review of one of the most pointless characters in Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny? For this purpose I have dug out an old B-Club Polystone figure released in March 2006, at a time when the television series had already concluded the year before. I don't know any additional circumstances surrounding this particular release except that Hobbylink Japan at some point had it listed for $140 which seems crazy.


The figure comes in a near cube-shaped box of roughly 20 cm per side and weighs in well over half a kilo. These polystone figures often weigh a lot, kind of like porcelain. I notice the item code 2529-12800 on the box which lends some credence to the astronomical prize on HLJ. I have noticed that Japanese item numbers like these often bake in a price in yen as the last digit but I sure didn't pay ¥12800 but rather ¥2000 when I scouted it at Mandarake a couple of years ago. This makes it one of the cheapest 1/7-figures I have found but as with many Gundam-themed collector items the problem isn't necessarily the price, but actually finding them.


The Polystone figures typically come in tailor-made polystyrene packaging that can keep them safe on their long and dangerous intercontinental journeys. Notice the special bag containing Lunamaria's trademark pointy strands of hair. At the bottom of the parcel you can see a large circular black base that we won't have any need for in this review, this is one figure that is not in need of any support. In fact, one problem I have with many of these larger figures it that their footprints are usually very large.

Polystone figures lend themselves well to exact sculpting free from the issues that bendy PVC figures tend to have. I also suspect that their longevity will be much better as well. The paintjob is also on point here with distinct and clear anime-style painting with some nice shading where appropriate. While the Z.A.F.T. markings may seem a little plain they are well in style with what is presented in the show.


As crisp and stylish as the figure is, I think it really misses the mark when it comes to the perhaps most import thing; character likeness. I have noticed that smaller PVC figures often do a better job of hitting the right spot, perhaps because their detail level is slightly more granular and that makes it more in line with the drawings from the show? I don't know who the person we are looking at is, but she is clearly wearing Lunamaria's outfit.


The most obvious discrepancy here is the hair colour which has taken on more of a red than purple tone. The eye decals are big and very cartoony but still do not capture the soul of the character very well in my opinion. I can be more lenient when it comes to other facial features because as we all know, anime characters rarely have any which must make them a real challenge to get right.


Lunamaria Hawke may have been a pointless character with no really redeeming features or interesting personal development but that sure hasn't stopped Bandai from drowning us in figures of her; outclassed perhaps only by Lacus Clyne in numbers. There are many better choices out there whether you are looking for smaller or bigger figures and so I'd give this one a pass.

B-Club Prepainted Polystone Collection - Sayla Mass 1/7

I was making really good headway into the Senshi Forte Part 13 review when I realized that I don't have a booklet at hand. That is part of the soul of these figures for me so I had to find a cheap extra from the capsule variant and order. First World-problems, etc. Since this means that the review is on hiatus for a bit I dug up something from the archive instead. Bon appétit!


I don't get around to reviewing as many character figurines as I'd like but hope to grow that section of the blog over time. Today's item is a bit of a rarity I guess, although it is hard to find much information about it. The B-Club brand will be familiar to kit builders looking for rare conversion parts or even rarer garage kit-style resin kits of unusual suits, vehicles or even spaceships. There are also a number of prepainted figures of various characters available, some of which are incredibly hard to find although prices aren't always that painful. This 1:7 scale figure of Sayla in her E.F.S.F. uniform, manufactured by Popy in 2004, is possibly a limited edition that was exclusive to the Bandai Museum but I haven't been able to confirm it. I purchased the figure a couple of years ago for a modest sum of ¥3000.


Polystone figures are quite brittle and easy to damage but as long as you have the original box available it should be safe and sound. The cardboard box contains tightly fitting styrofoam protection that wraps elegantly around the figure, which is also protected by fine paper to help avoid paint scratching or chipping.


So just what exactly is Polywhatnow? Well, it is a compound material where resin is mixed with powdered stone. The feel of the figure is almost like porcelain but rougher to the touch and fairly lightweight. I saw someone comparing it to pumice and I can see where they are coming from. While it wouldn't survive much abuse it should avoid issues like warping or oily residue which is the fate of many plastic figures as they begin to age.


Overall the quality of the figure is really on point but the end result goes into uncanny valley. The proportions and colour choices are really on point and is a fine representation of the cartoon character but... there is something really strange about this pose. What exactly is going on here? Sayla looks lost in thought staring into the empty sky while failing to fully rest her hands on her knees and just what the hell is that base supposed to be? When was the last time you encountered someone sitting like that?


Sayla's expression sits somewhere between "was that really my brother I saw?" and "This lecture is boring me to tears.". I have to say though, the more I study the detail of the sculpt and paint applications the more impressed I am. If this had been a Converge figure for example, the uniform paint would have bled onto the neck and the gold trim would have been all over the place and so on.


Interestingly, this very figure also has a smaller sibling in the Gundam Heroines Selection 1 series (there was only one set) also made by Popy in 2005. While I didn't include it in the picture here that figure comes with just the same type of ugly base.

Overall the Sayla figure carries a kind of vintage quality to it in way of the artistic style - it feels very much in tune with the artwork from the original Mobile Suit Gundam series artwork. This becomes really evident when you compare it to more expressive and idealized figures, such as this MegaHouse RAHDXG.A.NEO figure from 2015.

Popy B-Club Lesseps-class Land Battleship

The second entry for our October One-Off Week is actuallynot a figure but a model kit. Sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and go down that route when it comes to rare birds like the Lesseps-class Land Battleship. This behemoth has as far as I know never been modelled in any other way than this particular cast suppied to us under the Popy and B-Club brands in 2006.

As a 1:3500 scale representation the mighty 250 meters have been converted down to a measly 7 centimeters but you are still paying a hefty price for the priviledge of adding it to your fleet. If I am reasing the packaging labelling right this baby sold for ¥5800 back in the day although I picked up my copy for ¥1800 a couple of years ago at Mandarake. Mind you, I have never seen it for sale since. In general, model kits of Mobile Suit Gundam spaceships and similar are notoriously hard to come by once you go beyond the couple of old UC0079 kits and the Bandai EX line. There are several small-quantity hard to find spaceship resin kits out there that appear to be very sought after because they always sell out instantly..

The Lesseps as it appears in Gundam SEED (above) and SEED Destiny (below).

The Lesseps is the lead ship in a class of at least two vessels (the Desmond makes a brief appearance in Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny) and originally assigned to the colourful Z.A.F.T. personality Andrew Waltfeld (why Bandai never release figures of him or Mu La Flaga I will never know). The class belongs to a family of Z.A.F.T. Land Battleships which in spite of the name also can travel on water through use of its special Scale System technology. I haven't seen any exact number of its supposed mobile suit complement although it seems to carry about half a dozen BuCUE or so.

Z.A.F.T. Petrie-class Land Cruiser, Lesseps-class Land Battleship, Compton-class Ground Battleship and an Earth Alliance Hannibal-class Ground Battleship.

Unfortunately I seem to have misplaced the original photos of the components so we'll have to omit this rather important information from the review. Suffice it to say though, that there is a healthy number of parts ranging from small to very tiny and fragile. The build was a commission done by my friend Marcin for which I am very grateful as I kind of had enough of model kits in my teens...

Here's what the figure will look like once it is built and painted. There are also no stickers or decals with kits of this type and they would also be unnecessary since the Lesseps has very few if any markings on it anyway.

Apart from its mobile suit hangar the main weapon of the Lesseps is a trio of dual 40 cm cannons. It can add an extra punch with its battery of 32 missile launchers and ten torpedo launchers.

The Lesseps is a surprisingly nimble vessel thanks to its special Scale System propulsion technology which carries it forward through use of micro vibrations.

While the 250m long Lesseps is significantly smaller than the 420m Archangel it still makes for an appealing companion to the Cosmo Fleet version of the Archangel. It is too bad that these kits have to be as rare as they are, as I would have liked to get one or two extras.

Kira adapting to the shifting sands of the desert, here in the Launcher Strike Gundam from the Seika EX pencil sharpener range (1:280).

The Lesseps normally carries a squad of BuCUE mobile suits, well suited for desert combat. Here is one from the Gashapon HG MS selection.

The B-Club family of specialized kits contains many rare as hen's teeth-designs and these are typically priced thereafter, but are often the go to-point for odd birds such as the Lesseps. While a very spartan kit the model is one of my favourites and it blends very well with the vessels from the Cosmo Fleet Collection and also makes a perfect piece for a gaming board. I hope to be able to collect and review more spaceships on the blog although I am sure it will take a lot of time to get there.