Gundam Converge #27

Wow, a figure review? We still do those round here? Apparently it seems, and these are pretty current too. Converge #27 has been out for two months already at this point so apologies for it taking this long but my thoughts on this set just kept expanding and I "had to" keep adding points to the analysis and in so doing going back to the studio multiple times. Anyway, here we are - it is always a special feeling to do a Gundam Converge retail set review, it is the backbone of this website after all.


I recall recently saying in a review that the overall impression of the set was pretty drab and colourless. Specifically I was missing some red in the mix and well, apparently that was due to volume #27 hogging all the good stuff because this set is clearly dominated by a single colour.


The figures come mostly assembled in the traditional plastic bags. As usual some of the delicate components are supported with extra cardboard padding and as usual the cardboard pieces aren't big enough to do their job as the parts fly around inside the bags willy nilly anyway. Notice especially the Z'Gok which comes with a fully assembled flightpack in a separate bag. Yes, it was supposed to have that cardboard wrapped around it for extra protection but it was loose inside the box already.



303 : gMS-Ω GQuuuuuuX (Omega Psycommu)


The market is currently completely saturated with uuuuuu-products and it was no surprise that Converge wanted to hop on that train. We will be seeing a couple of additional GQ suits this autumn (No Police Zaku? Come on...) so I guess I will have more things to say about it then. For now, this is a nicely sculpted and painted Evangel... I mean Gundam that leaves me a bit indifferent, the truth is I never cared much for these one-shot type of figures and would be more interested if the designers would do a big set of figures in one go. Did you know that the Converge brand also extends into other intellectual properties? Seeing this figure I think it would have been cool to see the EVAs in Converge format in a series of their own but I guess I'll have to make do with the larger EVA-Frame series.


The main armament of the GQuuuuuuX is a reasonably colourful beam rifle which is strangely absent in this package - instead we get two melee-type weapons and also no shield. You can choose to equip either its peculiarly shaped beam saber or a very Universal Century-looking heat axe. I must say I am bit surprised by the rifle-omission, perhaps the figure will return as a premium full wepaon spec version later? Due to the small feet of the design the figure comes with a clear adapter into which the left heel is inserted and then plugged to the base. As usual with this assembly-type the whole thing is unstable at best and you might want to consider gluing the whole shebang together.






304 : ZGMF-MM07 Z'Gok (SEED Freedom ver.)


Sometimes I don't understand how a quirky design is allowed to make it all the way into figure form. The Cosmic Era version of the Z'Gok is a prime example. Yes, the original authors struck gold when they lifted the Zaku II into SEED Destiny and came up with the ZAKU Warrior modular system. The GOUF Ignited/Crusher was also alright I guess but everything after that was just lazy and done for the hell of it. The MM07 Z'Gok is the worst example of this bunch; an amphibious suit with a flight pack? That's like putting booster rockets on a submarine and the overall appearance is terrible too; sleek wings on a crusty old bucket. This looks like a rejected toy concept for Masters of the Universe...


The figure doesn't have traditional hands and so comes without hand held accessories but instead sports a large AMGS-X18P Cavalier Aifrid flight pack. The Aifrid comes fully assembled out of the box, bit of a risky proposition but I was lucky not to have any bent or broken parts. However, one of the legs does not reach the floor and the top of the head does not fit well atop all the other components that make up the head. I can get the top of the head to look good from the front or from the back but not at the same time. I don't know, man... can't you just spend the energy on doing a proper Leo instead?


The MM07 Z'Gok figure is large, even larger than the Universal Century Z'Gok sculpt (represented here by the recent release in the Movie Visual Selection series from last year).


One of the reasons for the lumbering frame of the Z'Gok is that it hides the Infinite Justice Type II within. The Converge figure does a limited take on this by sporting a deactivated version of the Justice's head underneath the dome of its own head. It looks quite bizarre and I guess it is a neat detail but I would rather take a proper deactivated Infinite Justice figure instead. :)


Does the Cavalier Aifrid look familiar to you? Of course it does, it was part of the Infinite Justice Type II figure in volume #26 (it just so happens that we had to wait six months in between the two) but already Bandai had to redesign it. The previous incarnation is smaller and was built to display with the wings arranged in three different modes. The new figure has only a single colour and is pretty much static. Sometimes I don't know what the designers are up to, I would have imagined that the two figures would be designed together and their equipment too, but nope, here we are.






305 : MS-06R-1A Zaku II High Mobility Type (Char's Custom)


Another red mobile suit figure; when it rains it pours! You'd think we have enough Char Aznable-coded figures in Converge to focus on something else for a while but no, I guess Bandai does not agree. The High Mobility Type features additional thrusters for... well... better mobility... in space, even though the changes are kind of minor at first glance. The commander antenna didn't really fit all the way into its socket, I'll have to carefully carve it open and will then probably glue the antenna in place.


The HMT Zaku comes with three different weapons; we have the archetypical Zaku Machine Gun, a powered up Heat Hawk for close combat and a Bazooka for anti-ship action. The top-loader magazine on the Bazooka is not standard U.C.0079 gear but rather a weapon we saw used in The Origin; the A2 Type Zaku Bazooka. Logic dictates that this figure is then also lifted from The Origin storyline rather than being a U.C. mobile suit variation and this bugs me somewhat. Check this out:


This Origin-type Zaku II was one of the first figures to make it into the Converge #Sharp figure line, released in volume #02 back in April 2016. The new High Mobility Type Zaku II looks nothing like it; the figure is clearly based on the standard U.C.0079 sculpt and looks much too small to pose next to the Origin Zaku II. Notice the Type A2 Bazooka on the Origin Zaku II figure as well. The Zaku II has changed shape and size many times in Converge; perhaps more so than even the RX-78.


All the weapon options work well with the figure and I must confess I am having some trouble deciding which option to go for. If Bandai had made a mass-production version in green I would easily have bought multiples but I have enough red mobile suit figures already.


In case you were wondering; yes it is possible to switch the gear between the GQuuuuuuX and the Zaku II although the fit isn't perfect, so be careful that you do not wear out the joints if you plan on doing this. It helps that both figures have hands that are reasonably similar looking both in size and colour. However, the Zaku II should of course have had red hands, but a compromise was made here to allow the designers to sculpt the hand directly on to the different weapons without having to paint them. A visible downgrade from prior versions of the Zaku II which ALL have colour separation in place here.


Let's take a closer look at the evolution of the Zaku Heat Hawk. We see here the development from the original Converge 1.0 format equipped by Garma Zabi through some recent incarnations from the Converge #Sharp line. The original 2.0 version next to its CORE version Char's Zaku II is very compact and has the area between the blade and the (I assume) power cable filled in, a notable downgrade from the original sculpt. The recent blade seen on Cucuruz Doan's machine replaced the blade with a translucent part and now we have a completely different sculpt in Converge #27 with a very elongated shaft and more delicate structure. While the new sculpt is a major improvement something about its proportions look off to me and as previously mentioned we no longer have colour separation for the hand.


We now have several R1A-type High Mobility Type Zaku IIs in Converge. Char's figure poses next to one of the versions found in the White Wolf of Solomon set (CORE 039, released February 2024) and Anavel Gato's custom unit from the Nightmare of Solomon set (CORE 030 from May 2022). In front we see two versions of the Black Tristars custom livery; the figure in the middle is the original Converge "1.0" sculpt from Converge Volume 9 (released December 2012) and the one on the right was released in the CORE 026 boxset in April 2021. The green mass-production figure is sadly not available in Gundam Converge (they should have tossed out that Z'Gok...) but you can pick up this slightly larger figure from Mobile Suit Ensemble #24, released in April 2023.






306 : XXXG-01SR Gundam Sandrock (TV ver.)


It has been roughly a year since Converge last featured something from Wing and so now they are throwing its fans a bone just in time for the show's 30th anniversary. This time the designers decided to revisit the Sandrock as it appeared in the original 1995 television show. It looks simple but great in that classic Converge-style that I really appreciate. I kind of wish there were more simple Converge figures like this in the line-up and there are so many options to choose from rather than just reissuing the same old faces endlessly.


The Sandrock comes with its two Heat Shotels that have a couple of gimmicks associated with them. You can either store them on the backpack or use the optional hands to equip them. Notice the extended thumbs that follow the handle all the way up to the guard, something we have never seen on a Converge figure before. The main problem with the Sandrock is that it lacks a long-range weapon which is a shame because it would have looked good to see it armed with a beam rifle instead but what can you do?


Heat Shotels equipped and ready for action. You can place the shield in the centre-section of the backpack to keep it from interfering with the blades. The shield can also be stored on the back in conjunction with the weapons for a really lean look.


The Sandrock was previously only available in Converge in its Endless Waltz forms. The Sandrock Kai-form was released first in Converge #12 in October 2018 and the base version followed in the popular Operation Meteor boxset (CORE 019, released in January 2020). I would still like to see a version covered up in a Anti-Beam cloak.






307 : MS-14C Gelgoog Cannon


Finally a battleline unit - I was getting a bit exhausted from all these hero-type units. The Gelgoog Cannon is a simple mobile suit variation that adds an extended range beam weapon artillery option to the versatile MS-14 while retaining its standard beam rifle. The reactor is powerful to support both weapons which is pretty impressive. As for the figure itself it resembles a regular Gelgoog except that the head is very different with a prominent forward facing camera and an overall slimmer appearance.


The hand is molded directly onto the Beam Rifle which is a little bit lame but at least this version of the MS-14C has black hands so it doesn't detract from its look in the same way as on the HMT Zaku II figure. Notice the option parts attached to the elbows; the left arm has a booster unit while the right arm sports a three-tube missile launcher for dicey situations. You can switch these around or remove them completely but they do not fit onto regular Gelgoog figures nor the Ridden Custom Gelgoog Cannon as they lack similar elbow peg holes.


There was a time when the Converge figures began to shrink, I clearly remember myself moaning about the tiny Zaku IIs for example but now the trend is going a bit too far in the opposite direction. Now, granted that the Gelgoog is an imposing and large mobile suit, the Gelgoog Cannon is of course not supposed to be taller than the basic MS-14A. Yet here he is, half a head taller than the base model. I'll have to assume that the slightly larger figures we keep seeing lately open up new possibilities for the designers but it is really jarring to have a figure collection where everything is getting gradually taller. Seen above are the original Gelgoog sculpt from Converge 8 (released October 2012), the #Sharp-version from Converge #08 (October 2017) and the new Gelgoog Cannon.


Not only is the size different (it becomes even more pronounced when viewed from the side like this), but the elbow pegs are shaped differently between the MS-14A and the MS-14C. It is possible to squeeze in the shield from the standard version onto the Cannon-model but the peg will be deformed if you attempt it, here I have just attached it extremely loosely for purposes of demonstration. You can of course modify the peg to suit your needs.







308 : MS-14C Gelgoog Cannon (Johnny Ridden Custom)


The last figure is a variant of the Gelgoog Cannon painted in ace pilot Johnny Ridden's stark red and black scheme. We even get a couple of extra markings on the right shoulder and chest which look pretty neat. As is not uncommon with Converge this particular figure is a bit deformed, the lower head section does not line up with the top, and the same goes for the antenna. We've seen it many times before.


Nothing new in the accessory department here, the same beam rifle and the same RA-2 beam cannon and still no shield option. We get a commander antenna to go on the head of the figure as this version differs a bit from the standard MS-14C. What is going on here? And hold on a bit... isn't Johnny Ridden mostly known for rolling in his red MS-14B Gelgoog High Mobility Type unit rather than the MS-14C? You know, at this point I just want to wrap up the review and press [publish] already but oh, no... seems we have to get ourselves into yet another rabbit hole...


Take a look at this. Here we see some pictures that I stole from the Gundam-Wiki (who in turn have been borrowing them from the Battle Operation 2 game and the original Mobile Suit variation artwork). On the left we see the MS-14B High Mobility Type Gelgoog in production and Ridden colours, and on the right we have the same set-up for the MS-14C. Notice how the MS-14B is using the typical Gelgoog head while the Cannon has the different slim type. Then you see Ridden sporting "010" on his MS-14B but "011" on his MS-14C.

Now, I have never seen this particular MS-14C described anywhere before but that clearly looks like MSV artwork. So what Bandai did here is take the body and paintwork from the MS-14B and then slapped on the MS-14C backpack on it. Come on guys, what are we doing here? It should have been the simplest thing to just repaint the MS-14C properly and then feel free to release the MS-14B as a separate figure. What we have now is a figure that is neither one nor the other, what a disappointment.


In this side-by-side of the two Gelgoog Cannon figures we can see that except for the different head and the missing peg holes in Ridden's machine the rest of the two are clearly the same. This is such a hugely missed opportunity. Save for the insignia it would be pretty easy to have the standard MS-14C figure painted up in JR colours, something I would actually consider if I can get my hand on some suitable decals.


Moving on... Ridden's MS-14B/C joins the previous family which consists of the Converge 1.0 and #Sharp versions of the High Mobility Type Zaku II (from Converge volume 6 and Volume #14, released in February 2012 and February 2019 respectively). On the far right we have the abomination that is the MS-14J/BR Gelgoog Vertex Testarossa which was released fairly recently in CORE 040 in March last year.






Conclusion

I've gone on at length blabbering about the various features and quirks of volume #27 for a bit now, but in the end it will always be the same boring conclusion anyway. Yes, there are some issues with the figures in this set, some really questionable decisions by the designers and a couple of missed opportunities but overall the retail Converge figures remain really fun to collect. It helps that the prices are affordable (at least when they are freshly released) and it is always fun to keep expanding the line-up. the designers will bless us with one more retail set this year; Sharp #28 is scheduled for release in November and will contain a full seven figures. The premium range of Converge has been a bit bleak this year in my opinion and there is some really obscure stuff lined up for the next six months. Just how excited can you get for a "renewable energy demonstrator" figure for example?

Gundam Converge SP 10 : Impulse Gundam Silhouette Set

It has been out now for a couple of months, released back in January with a price tag of ¥4900 (¥5390 incl. VAT) the price has been steadily climbing on the secondary market. The last item I saw sold on Mandarake was already up at ¥7000. This isn't just organic market value increases as their overall prices have gone up significantly for many categories of collectable toys in the last couple of years.


The Impulse Gundam set is a bit of an odd release. If you are a Converge veteran you remember the SP-series of releases from the era before the #Sharp reboot in 2016. Apart from the occasional promotional release the SP-series was the first and only premium alternative to the retail single-figure releases and would contain a pair of rival mobile suits such as the Sinanju vs the Unicorn, Zeta vs The-O or even Exia vs. the Union Flag. The last release -SP 08- came out at the tail-end of the first generation of Converge-figures and was then replaced by bigger and/or fancier box-sets from the EX- and CORE-series.

After an eight-year hiatus the SP-brand was brought back just in time for SEED Freedom with a triple-pack that reissues the two older SP 08-figures bundled with the #Sharp version of the Freedom Gundam. SP 10 however, is the first entry in the series that is not based on the old Converge-anatomy and instead features completely new sculpts and uses base-plates instead of the old transparent supports that clip to the ankles on the older figures. This entire paragraph is a very longwinded way of saying that this should really have been marketed as a CORE product. :)


Anyway, branding be damned, what we have inside the (rather flimsy) box is a set of compartmentalized plastic bags with an extra layer of bubble-wrap for protection. The use of white cardboard sheets to help protect delicate parts from warping doesn't work very well when each compartment is twice as high as the piece of cardboard, and as a result this doesn't offer much protection at all. It is just Bandai doing Bandai things I suppose.



ZGMF-X56S Impulse Gundam


This set is focused all around the incredibly bland Impulse Gundam design, which recycles the concept of the very popular Strike Gundam once again in the SEED Destiny show. Destiny was full of lazy rehashes on the original series but this one feels particularly uninspired to me. The Converge figure on the other hand feels very inspired and is looking really sharp with nice paint applications all around. There is something new about the eyes, they really glow with a bright green light when you look at it. The main gimmick of the Impulse is that it can transform into various forms suspiciously similar to the three forms of the Strike Gundam. Thanks to the colour of its armour shifting along with each forms Bandai couldn't just toss in a couple of option parts and instead went the extra mile to provide us with three distinctly coloured figures which is of course the main appeal of the set. Each form looks quite different and sports its own unique colour scheme. let's go through them below.





ZGMF-X56S/α Force Impulse Gundam


We'll start with the Force Impulse form which utilizes a flight pack veeeerry similar to the Aile Striker pack used by the Strike Gundam. You just remove the tiny blue backpack on the Impulse Gundam and put the Force Silhouette Pack in its place. There are no special gimmicks of the flight pack as such, the horizontal stabilizers do not move but the vertical thrusters can be adjusted up and down. The two beam saber hilts are not intended to be removed (and there are also no beam saber accessories for the figure).


As you can see, the Impulse Gundam figures are very traditional Converge figures with only a few pieces requiring assembly. The flight pack comes folded up and needs a bit of repositioning to get the thrusters in the correct position, assembly instructions are provided online in the form of a pdf-document that you can find by following the link printed on the box cover. The figure comes armed with its standard MA-BAR72 beam rifle, in fact each figure gets its own copy of the rifle so you don't need to decide who is going to use it.


Since the 2016 Converge reboot which also increased the standardized box-size the figures have also grown larger. The new Impulse Gundam however doesn't really align to the #Sharp aesthetic all that well, the figure is taller and slimmer, the head is proportionally smaller and the wings are longer. Here it stands next to the #Sharp Aile Strike Gundam from Converge from 2020 and the difference is very notable. I am not a fan of Bandai constantly messing with the relative sizes of Converge figures; the first generation figures upheld a standard and now the figures are just all over the place.


The Force Impulse also made it into Mobile Suit Ensemble Part 24 released in April 2023 (has it really been two years already?). The Ensemble Impulse shares some of the features (or in my opinion problems) of the Converge Impulse; smaller head, taller body and proportions that don't align with the average Ensemble figure.






ZGMF-X56S/β Sword Impulse Gundam


Next up is the close-combat form of the Impulse; when donning its beta Sword Silhouette-pack the Phase Shift Armor turns red instead of blue (except the feet that turn black for some reason. Don't sweat the details here -rule of cool applies). I always liked this mode the most because of its colours (we really don't need more white and blue Gundams in any franchise at this point). When presented with its two anti-ship rifles secured to the Sword Silhouette backpack the figure looks weirdly narrow for some reason, especially when compared to the older #Sharp-era figures that tend to have broader looking shoulders and a wider stance of the legs. I think the red beam boomerang-assembly on the back could also have benefitted from being a bit wider. The two swords are attached to the backpack with eight-shaped connector pieces that allow all sorts of rotation to take place and also consequently make it harder to align the them symmetrically so have fun with that.


Besides the standardized beam rifle and a smaller version of the shield the Sword Impulse gets a number of different variants of its two Excalibur-swords. Besides two powered down pieces intended for backpack use only we also have a pair with hands molded directly onto them as well as the signature ambidextrous form where the two combine but attaches to the right hand only.


Excalibur-blades equipped for single-handed use. The narrow shape of the figure leaves little room for interesting swinging poses, perhaps if the sculpt of the arms had been extended outward a little we could have seen more freedom of movement.


This awkward dual-handed pose with the two swords combined is actually suggested in the assembly instruction booklet. Of course in their photo the angle chosen from slightly above made it look more convincing. It would of course be impossible for a Converge figure to wield a dual handed accessory without including customized-arms specifically for such use but Converge figures have never been about striking fancy poses and so this is the functionality on offer based on the overall Converge anatomy.


Personally I prefer this relaxed pose with the blade casually held to the back. I wouldn't want to go into combat with such an unwieldy weapon and as the saying goes; never bring a dual-handed blade to a beam rifle fight. Notice how the handle that the figure holds on to is painted metallic grey, I guess this is a manufacturing compromise rather than what it is actually supposed to look like and it comes off a bit odd with the other handle painted white. Still, this looks really cool. :)






ZGMF-X56S/γ Blast Impulse Gundam


Third and last form included in this set is the long-range fire-support form that dons the Blast Silhouette Pack that changes the suit's colour scheme to green. The two Kerberos-type beam cannons are the stars of the shows here and have been attractively and competently painted in white, black, green and an orangey-type red (someone looked at the Buster Gundam and felt very inspired). The overall weapon design is a bit quirky like something out of F91 but I really dig this livery and I don't understand why there aren't more green Gundams around as they tend to look great.


Parts-wise we recognize the beam rifle and the small shield from earlier; the large Blast Silhouette Pack takes up the most space but hold on, what is that thing; a spear with a beam effect part on top of it? This really goes counter to the long-range concept of the design. If you have to fend of enemies from your artillery deployment zone with a stick you are doing something wrong.


The two M2000F Kerberos long range beam cannons sit on similar eight-shaped connecting pieces as the swords on the Sword Impulse Gundam and this allows you to swing them forward in a way underneath the arms. Again the limitations of the standardized Converge anatomy present obvious issues with striking a cool pose but hey, at least the novelty works.


Each Kerberos cannon sports a quadruple FMF39 missile launcher at the rear end and these can swing forward to spray the enemy with a lethal dose of AGM141 Firefly guided missiles. It seems a little inconvenient not to have all weapons face the same direction so you have to plan ahead before letting loose. Everything is so much easier when you can animate things in 2D isn't it?


I didn't even remember seeing the Blast Impulse swinging a beam javelin around in Destiny but you have the option of replacing its vanilla beam rifle with a cool looking accessory featuring a transparent effect part so of course I hurried to make use of it. All things considered the Blast Impulse style is all over the place but the figure turned out great I think.






MVF-X08 Eclipse Gundam


Just a quick note also to mention that the Silhouette Packs were designed to be compatible with the number Eclipse Gundam (figure number 300 from Converge #26). Personally I don't think this makes sense at all, the mobile suits are completely different designs and look nothing like each other, this is akin to putting the Sazabi's funnel packs on a GM. Personally I think the entire Eclipse Gundam design does not look like it would belong in the Cosmic Era timeline in the first place but that is just a personal preference. I certainly won't be picking up a second pack and a couple of extra Eclipse figures just to have each of these modes represented in the collection.




Conclusion

Wrapping things up I would begin to say that Converge seems to have lost a bit of steam in recent months but the releases that do make it to the shelves are generally very pleasant and this is certainly no exception. If you can stomach the price there is a lot to like in this package and it is not like we are drowning in new Converge releases to purchase either. I am starting to feel a bit concerned about the slowdown that has hit both Converge and Ensemble, do you think we will make it to volume #30? In either series?