Bandai Spirits / Banpresto Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Freedom : Lunamaria x Meyrin

The Banpresto SEED Freedom prize figure series was launched by a trio of Kira, Lacus and Athrun in early 2024 and here come the to follow-up figures of the Hawke-sisters, released in late spring/early summer. No further characters are planned as far as I know, so it sucks to be Shinn or Cagalli or any of the new lot for that matter. Everything feels rather uninspired to say the least.


The box art follows the same style as see on the previous three releases, except that the camera has zoomed in a bit on the character portraits on the sides.


If you are familiar with the previous Banpresto prize figures there are no news here. The box size is fairly compact and doesn't leave a lot of empty space like say how the Bandai Glitter x Glamours figures love to waste space. Assembly is a simple affair and those same old circular bases make their return which means you will not be able to pose the two figures together like, you know, on the box cover?


Here we have the sisters with their enormous bases, these footprints prevent any interesting poses and the two can barely fit in a photo. Forget doing any interesting poses with the entire cast unless you go out of your way to create custom bases with foot supports because these figures have no hope of standing upright by themselves.


I thought SEED Destiny was creatively bankrupt and Freedom is clearly drinking from that same well. The character design evolutions from the previous show are really uninspired and at a single glance you will be hard-pressed to determine what show this figure belongs to. I can't fault the figure sculpt or painting for this obviously but the whole thing is just a bit underwhelming when you consider that this energy could have been spent on a brand new character instead. Well, the Compass insignia on the right shoulder looks neat I guess...


Now, I still haven't watched Freedom but this strikes me as a really boring choice of outfit, couldn't she have got that cool flight suit instead? The lame pose doesn't help either and mostly reminds of early SEED Destiny Meyrin where she ran around on the Minerva like a frightened mouse. The hairstyle reminds me of the "wet-look" of the 1980s, only the denim jacket is missing. This figure is a completely underwhelming in my opinion.


My studio isn't big enough for the full ensemble display but here are the five boxes together instead... Overall I was not terribly impressed with any of the Banpresto SEED Freedom figures but they are nicely sculpted and painted at least. In the future I would prefer to see smaller figures with less obstructing bases and with a wider range of characters. Surely no one really needs another Lacus or Lunamaria figure for a while?

Bandai Spirits / Banpresto Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Freedom : Kira / Lacus / Athrun

With the advent of the SEED Freedom movie comes the merchandise. The current Shokugan and Gashapon lines are slowly seeing more and more of the suits creep in (there is a decided lack of mass-production suits however... booo) and there are tons of acrylic standees of the new character designs in various poses. I try to collect the latter mind you, but they are usually very popular. Things are moving a bit slower in the character figurine department, gone are the days of 2005 when there were small SEED Destiny figure collections anywhere you looked. The market isn't totally barren though, and Banpresto has turned their recent prize item range towards the Cosmic Era with this first launch of three of its most well known characters.


While I used to do these reviews one figure at a time these three items appeared around the same time around late February or early March 2024. Unlike the earlier Universal Century and Witch of Mercury figures the packaging has been standardized and is not nearly as interesting as the lived-in environments that were used as backdrops for the previous lines.


The figures come in their usual compartmentalized plastic bags protected in a semi-cylinder cardboard cover. Athrun is getting a little assembly instruction because you need to line up both his arm and waist so take it slow when snapping him together. We also recognize the clear blue circular bases with dedicated peg holes for the characters feet, which normally have differently sized pegs attached to them. My main complaint about these figures is that the bases are too big to create any interesting dioramas, but you could always remove these pegs and create your own smaller custom bases. If you do, consider something heavy as the figures have a fair bit of weight to them due to their size, somewhere around 20 centimetres.



Kira Yamato


Let's start things off with Kira. It has been 20 years since we saw him in Destiny. I haven't yet watched Freedom so I don't have or want any insights into the storyline just yet but suffice to say he is wearing a white coat uniform of COMPASS a peacekeeping organization of sort, a natural progression from the Three Ships Alliance I would imagine. The uniform itself seems to be a riff on the Z.A.F.T. commander dress uniform worn by Yzak Joule for most of Destiny, perhaps the two organizations are somehow related formally or informally. I think the expression (what expression?) and pose of these figure is really bland but the sculpt and paintwork is up to the standard I've come to expect from this Banpresto range. Personally I would have loved smaller figures with a broader range of characters but the Banpresto range is a good budget option if you would like to have some characters on display from the movie. Expect to pay around ¥1000 for these figures (except for Lacus who of course tends to cost more) now that they are still abundant on the secondary market.





Athrun Zala


Things get a bit more interesting with the sculpt used for the always brooding Athrun Zala. Here we actually have an expression and a dramatic gust of wind(?) catching the tail of his long coat. The tie is also a bit ruffled but that hair remains suspiciously fixed in place... what gel are you using, Athrun? Has he put his flight helmet on the shelf and gone strictly into business now? It will be interesting to see what he has been up to in the last 20 years. I like how the character designs look more mature now but they are all suspiciously good at keeping their weight, he is thin as a stick. :) I'd also really like to know what's up with that light brown sleeve design, is it part of the coat because it sure isn't the sleeve of his shirt.





Lacus Clyne


Lastly we have Captain Lacus clearly reprising her roles from both SEED and Destiny with another fancy dress uniform. I have to say this looks like a really lazy rehash on the SEED Destiny captain uniform, the costume designers really phoned in a lot of the Freedom outfits. It gets even worse when we look at the red coats worn by the COMPASS pilots, twenty years wasn't enough for the producers to come up with something fresh? I could go on a real tangent here and moan about the lack of creativity also in the mobile suit designs but I'll spare your peace of mind. The figure itself is quite neat but the least interesting of the three because it just looks like something you have had sitting on your shelf for the past 20 years already.






Conclusion

If you've read the previous reviews of the recent Banpresto character figure lines you can simply copy-paste my impressions in here. While I do prefer the old and smaller Emotive Figure and Destiny Heroines series the current Banpresto figures are well-sculpted and attractively painted models and the best-priced option on the market. The figures are easy to store disassembled in their compact boxes when not in use and their likeness tends to be just as good (if not better) than ten to twenty times more expensive offerings from the premium brands out there.

Bandai Spirits / Banpresto Mobile Suit Gundam The 08th MS Team: Aina Sahalin

Over the last couple of years we saw five different Universal Century girls released as PVC figures in an excellent series of Banpresto prize items. While the figures were not to scale they did have a similar style and theme featuring Newtype characters, each from a different series - Mobile Suit Gundam, Zeta, Double Zeta, Char's Counterattack and Unicorn. I was curious if this range would be allowed to continue and the item I was especially hoping for was for Cecily Fairchild to make an appearance. Instead, Banpresto appears to have let go of this series but instead introduced a non-Newtype figure in March 2024, the figure we are checking out today.


At first glance this box looks very similar to the recent U.C. and Witch of Mercury figure releases but it is quite a bit larger. This is mainly caused by the size of the figure itself which is quite tall compared to the other recent prize items.


The packaging style is also familiar. We have an inner thicker cardboard piece wrapping the figure tightly and each component is held in a compartmentalized plastic bag. The outer box itself is quite thin.


It is when we begin examining the components more closely that we can see just how little this figure has in common with the other recent Banpresto releases. First of all and most obvious, we have a brand new base colour, the U.C. Newtype girls sported opaque white circular bases and the Witch of Mercury figures came with translucent blue bases. Rather than using pegs Aina's entire right foot fits into a similar hole on the base and a rather sturdy support for the left leg which clips to the left thigh is also included. The most obvious different however is the choice of material; this figure is considerably softer and "bendier" than the other U.C. and Witch of Mercury figures. Almost to the point that it feels rubbery. I'm not a physicist but the PVC mix is clearly different here.


I believe the main reason for this material change is to create a rubbery latex-impression of the red flight suit. Notice how the other components of the figure aren't shiny in the same way but have a matte finish similar to the other recent Banpresto figures. The sculpting and colouring is overall excellent but personally I am really tired of this unzipped flightsuit thing they have going for Aina, this theme has been used on several figures already. Come up with something new! In its own right however this is an excellent sculpt with very good character likeness and its low price on the secondary market (currently available in droves at Mandarake for ¥1500) makes this a perfect choice if you are just looking to get an Aina figure for your shelf.


While I normally do not use the supports for the figures when doing the photo shoots this time it really felt like I was putting unnecessary strain on the figure even if it only lasted for a few minutes. This figure with its long and thin legs definitely needs the support to avoid damage over time if you put it on display. Personally, I was not so happy about this figure due to the changes in size (Aina is around 22 centimetres tall) and rubbery material, not to mention the introduction of a new base colour. Lately Banpresto are doing set of SEED Freedom character figures which are more similar to the previous offerings so I have a feeling this was a one-off thing.

Banpresto Mobile Suit Gundam Witch From Mercury Suletta x Miorine (Season 2 Ending Ver.)

I thought we were done with the Witch of Mercury claw machine figure series after the "first seven" but Banpresto kept an ace up their sleeve. Suddenly another two figures appeared in the late winter sporting a combination-gimmick at that. Seems my work here is not yet done. I have been delighted that Bandai/Banpresto has been keeping up the cheap figure series also in 2024 with a couple of releases from SEED Freedom as well as another U.C. Newtype pilot character, that we will get to eventually.


So, we have two new versions of Suletta and Miorine released under the moderately spoilery title "Ending Season 2 Version". I guess it is my own fault for still not having watched series, eventually they'll probably remove it from the Gundaminfo channel. Anyway, according to HobbyLink Japan the two figures appeared a couple of weeks apart with Suletta hitting the arcades in late February and Miorine in early March of 2024. The two boxes use a common theme that also illustrate how the two figures were intended to be displayed. Intriguing.


The packaging is your typical reinforced cardboard box with a walled section inside holding each figure in a Shokugan-style compartmentalized plastic bag.


As you can tell from this image, assembly isn't exactly going to be a problem. Notice that the two stands that look very similar are branded with different article numbers, which can be useful if you encounter these items in the wild down the line. I've been meaning to generate a master list of Gundam Converge figure base numbers to aid in their organization but it is a large undertaking that I have not yet mustered the required energy for.


Alright, here we have the two figures put next to each other in a way reminiscent of the packaging. I moaned a lot about how the original WoM figures have such large bases that it is hard to pose them together - here are two figures designed to literally go hand in hand. However, if you look at the box art you might get the impression that the two figures should be further apart vertically; I guess practical limitations got in the way here and so the actual scene isn't quite as dramatic as on the box artwork but has a better chance of fitting on your shelf.


Each figure has a rectangular hole in the back which easily fits on the respective stand. This of course means you have no means of altering the pose with the exception of putting the figure upside down, so that you can display Miorine in the normal orientation if you so choose.


Taking a closer look at the Suletta figure we can enjoy more of the fine sculpting and paintwork which made the previous Witch of Mercury characters rather pleasing to the eye. One should remember that these figures exist in the lower budget bracket but this does not affect their attention to detail and character likeness which is really good. While I personally do not care that much for civilian clothes the proportions and sculptwork applied to her suit is really expressive and interesting, I am even getting some 1960s or 1970s vibes. It is nice to see a more mature looking face than the happy-go-lucky Pikachu-expressions we normally see on Suletta miniatures.


The Season 2 figures are slightly smaller than the original Banpresto Witch of Mercury figures, especially if you were to compare them to the very tall figures of Guel and Shaddiq. This can be a bit of a problem if you pose them together, I do wish that the original series had in fact been designed to be a bit smaller. The old Suletta figure seen here was the first of the Banpresto WoM series and was released in December of 2022.


Next we can examine the new Miorine figure, which I have flipped upside down for a more traditional pose. I must say that her dress and shoes are really dull and together with the white hair it makes her look like an old lady which I find a bit boring. I would have loved to see the figures in flightsuits instead. By the way, Miorine's hair must have proved a bit of a challenge to the sculptor. Ideally it should have had a freefloating spread when the character is suspended upside down. I guess what we see here is a compromise allowing you to display the figure in two different ways.


See what I mean? The old Mirorine figure from April 2023 has a lot of character and all the WoM figures really shine in their uniforms. The new pale skinned, white hair figure just lacks that same oomph.

So there you have it. Wow, nine WoM-figures released for the arcades in a little bit more than a year, and all of them are currently cheap and accessible on the secondary market. It looks like we will see more Witch of Mercury figures releasing this summer, but they will be coming out under the very expensive MegaHouse G.E.M. brand. The series will feature all the seven main characters seen in the Banpresto range but in various sitting or lying down poses. The prices however will start around ¥8000 per figure, which is frankly ridiculous. Not something to look forward to.