Banpresto Figure Key Holder Gundam-W Endless Waltz 2

We are continuing on directly from the first instalment of this series and part 2 promises more of the same. While I don't know the exact release date it wouldn't surprise me if the two Endless Waltz keyring sets were actually released in parallel all those years ago back in 1998.


The count has been upped in wave two from six to seven different figures for a total unlucky set of thirteen keyring mascots to collect. This seems like an odd number to settle on and so perhaps this was not a dual release after all? The set includes the remaining Gundam Pilots including a special appearance by Zechs Marquise - oh I'm sorry Preventer Wind - and an extra Wing Gundam figure returning from the first set, presumably to boost the visibility of the set.


After you untie the plastic string that attaches the figure to the product cardboard sheet you can unfold it to display its two sides like so. The main Banpresto identifier number of the set is 75559 which is also part of the entire barcode.



XXXG-00W0 Gundam Wing Zero (EW) (clear wings ver.)


We'll start with the odd one out, which is of course the Wing Zero figure which is the only one to not include a matching pilot in the set. This is basically a rehash of the Wing Zero from wave one, repainted in metallic grey rather than white and the wings are entirely sculpted in clear plastic. As with the other keyring figures they are primarily not intended to stand on a surface but dangle from your bag of choice, and as such its feet are not flat and the wings extend underneath the body. The material used is soft PVC and so you will see the occasional bent components varying from figure to figure. below you can see both the standard white Wing Zero as well as the Heero Yuy pilot figure from wave one.





XXXG-01D2 Gundam Deathscythe Hell (EW)


Banpresto saved the Deathscythe for wave two to be used as the main eyecatcher on the mini-sheet and for good reason. Not only is this one of the evergreen figures that people seem to enjoy but it also has a really good and striking paintjob. Some will be put off by the cartoon-type eyes used on the figures in this set (and like I mentioned in the part one review, it is strange to combine this style with actual pilot figures) but it is otherwise a really solid design that also benefits from being able to stand upright without issue.




XXXG-01S2 Altron Gundam


Altron comes in here as the last of the five OG mobile suits doing its peculiar Dragon Fang attack. The pose is a bit wild but the detail is really on point both in sculpt and paintjob. Altron has a very interesting colour scheme but its weapons are a bit too goofy for my taste, I would have preferred seeing a more traditionally equipped figure with gear suitable for long-range combat. It is another well-made figure however, and it also stands firmly on solid ground.




OZ-00MS2B Tallgeese III


Banpresto decided to toss in the third version of the Tallgeese into the set, I guess Zechs is an ally now. The TIII is a very white design and so the figure comes off looking a bit plain compared to the others with more elaborate paint schemes but the areas where blue and red are present look more interesting. Notice the ugly hole drilled through the side of the head. The other figures will have the hole for the keyring drilled top down but the thin ridge on the figure's head required another solution. It is amazing how Bandai has produced millions of cool figures only to drill holes in them and attach them to a stupid keyring. Someone should have come up with a better solution that doesn't damage the figures itself.




Duo Maxwell


Right, that's all the mobile suits included in wave two. We also get three pilots for the newcomers, that is everyone except the Wing Zero. Duo here has a fairly good likeness to him (or your average record shop clerk) and has a simple but clean paintjob. The keyring figures are proportioned in Chibi-fashion and so their balance suffers from large heads and small feet. It is generally possible to have the pilot figures stand unaided but the smallest vibration tends to topple them. I've glued my pilot figures to small clear bases for additional support.





Chang Wufei


Just like Trowa Barton from wave one, Wufei appears in the atrocious Mariemaia Army boyscout uniform. The designers decided to give him a large saber to make him more interesting (that is his only memorable character trait after all) but the choice is strange given that none of the other figures are carrying any weapons.





Preventer Wind


I was overjoyed to get a little figure of Zechs even if only as his Preventer Wind alias. Again I think it is strange that he is depicted in a flight suit unlike the other characters but at least it looks very cool. In general, I wish there were more figures of Gundam characters in their combat gear available (from all series and in all scales).





Gundam-W Endless Waltz 1 + 2


So, here are all the mobile suits and pilots from the two sets combined. In spite of minor niggles that I mentioned earlier everyone fits together really nicely and make for a really good display. You would of course want to address the holes in their heads, filling them up with something like green stuff and painting it over to make it less distracting but I still think you can show off the figures as is, especially if you reserve a space higher up on the shelf.





Conclusion

Due to the general issues with drilling holes into perfectly good models keyring figures are a bit of an acquired taste. However, there are many interesting mobile suits and characters that are simply not possible to find as regular Gashapon or Shokugan and it can be an interesting way to boost the range of your collection. The main problem with keyring figures is that they are typically really hard to find on the secondary market, regardless of set, although prices tend to be quite reasonable.

As for these sets in particular, I really wish that Banpresto had made a companion set of OG New Mobile Report Gundam Wing characters and suits. Miniatures of Treize, Zechs, Relena and Lady Une together with the earlier Tallgeese, Epyon and maybe an Aries or Leo would have been so much fun.

Banpresto Figure Key Holder Gundam-W Endless Waltz 1

With all the recent 30th Anniversary shenanigans going on related to Gundam Wing I had a dig into my own archive and figured this little keyring set should be a suitable tip of the hat to the series. Like many in the west, Wing was indeed my introduction to the Mobile Suit Gundam phenomenon but I don't feel any reason to ever revisit it. I remember being impressed by the nuanced take on Zechs's personality and its many interesting suit designs but it quickly started to grate on me - endless legions of Leos or Aries gunned down with little effort in most every episode, having to listen to a whole troop of emo-kids, weird plot devices like Lady Une becoming a saint. Anyhow...


This being typical Banpresto keyring figures you are looking at figures sold from pegs in stores that tend to have a multitude of different characters and intellectual properties to choose from. Not every set of figures is wrapped in plastic but these ones are. Each figure is attached by screw - typically through the head - to a keyring which is in turn tied down to the product card using plastic wire. This particular set of figures was released all the way back in 1998. While Endless Waltz originally aired in the first half of 1997 a compilation movie premiered in Japan on August 1, 1998. I think it is safe to assume that these figures were released quite close to the cinema premiere as well.


The folded card is typical for a Banpresto keyring figure, you see the front- and back sides on display there. Other sets feature larger sheets that are folded in two places. There is normally also a little folded up paper inside which you could send in to the company to give away your personal data and sign up for some spam. Notice the five-digit product code which is part of the barcode and the easiest way to quickly identify Banpresto figure sets.



XXXG-00W0 Gundam Wing Zero (EW)


This set consists of figures of three mobile suits and their respective pilots. We'll start with the suits and in this case the angelic-style Wing Zero. All the figures in this set have the cartoon style eyes you normally see the various SD Knight Gundam universes. This strikes me as a bit of an odd choice when considering the inclusion of pilot figurines; it would have made much more sense to it for a strict mobile suit figurine range. Anyway, there is not a whole lot to say about these figures; they are usually well painted and sturdy, made from soft PVC so there tends to be slight bending of parts here and there.

Since this figure is intended to dangle from a bag the buster rifles the designers have allowed both the wings and the two buster rifles to dangle down a bit below the feet which means the figure will not be able to stand properly on a flat surface. You could remedy this by attaching it to a small base of some kind if you like me don't want to keep it on the ring.

Below you can see a size comparison with the Heero figure from this set as well as a comparison with the alternate colour version figure from the companion Endless Waltz 2 keyring set.





XXXG-01H2 Heavyarms Kai (EW)


Next up we have everyone's favourite green Heavyarms which is very nicely painted both front and back. It does have the toon-eyes but at least not a clown mask like on the Converge figure. Again the cannon barrels are extending below the feet and so you will have to prop him up on something or place the figure very close to the ledge to let the Gatlings dangle freely. If you squint a bit you can see the Banpresto markings on the back of its head.

Below we have a comparison with the similarly sized Heavyarms EW from SD Gundam Full Color Stage 22 which was released a couple of years later in January 2021. The SD figure has the classic machine-type face and also has its various missile battery ports opened up. While I prefer the design of the SD figure the keyring figure has it squarely beat in the painting department.





XXXG-01SR2 Sandrock Kai (EW)


The last mobile suit in this set is the Sandrock Kai wrapped up in its anti-beam cloak and sporting a pair of heat shotels which would be pretty useless in a firefight. I have mentioned it already but the paintjob on these keyring figures is really vibrant, you even have colour separation of grey and black on the feet that you can barely make out. Unlike the other figures in this set it is the only one of the lot that will be standing on a flat surface without any issue, both feet firmly planted on the ground.

The comparison photo below shows the Sandrock Kai without its cloak as seen in SD Gundam Full Color Stage 24 which was released in April 2001. There is no corresponding SD-figure wearing the anti-beam cloak so this will be your only option if you want one.





Heero Yuy


We'll continue to look at the pilot figures next. There are a couple of sets where Banpresto made keyring pilot figures to go with the mobile suits but they are few and far between. Characters also follow the SD character philosophy with a large head and a small body. This works well for mobile suits with big feet but pretty bad for characters since the feet will usually be very small. All three characters in this set can stand up unaided if the surface is not leaning but the smallest disturbance will cause them to topple. I bet there are some figures out there where the legs might not be entirely strait which would have a much harder time to stand up at all.

As you can see from this image next to a 1/220 Wing from STANDart I've chosen to glue my pilot figures onto clear bases. This makes handling them a breeze and doesn't detract that much. One thing you will see more clearly from above are of course the holes drilled into their heads where they keyring was attached by means of screw. If I was really bothered about it I'd consider filling up such holes with green stuff and painting it over.





Trowa Barton


Barton is up next and he is wearing probably the worst uniform to ever graze the entire Gundam franchise; the boy scout-style Mariemaia Army shirt and shorts. The hairstyle gave the designers a bit of a headache and it had to be molded into two different parts with a really jarring gap on the side there. Also notice the clown mask in his right hand. It is not exactly a winner this figure, let's move on...




Quatre Raberba Winner


If you found the Quatre figure in a random collection somewhere you might be hard pressed to guess which franchise it belongs to. I have to say the character likeness is pretty good though, probably the best of the three. Still, you could easily use this figure for a stand-in in your accounting department role-playing game.





Conclusion

Well, there you have it. I think the keyring figures are quite neat, it is always fun to have some pilots in miniature form and they pose well together. You will have to deal with the issues that come with most keyring sculpts - figures aren't designed to stand upright and so may have issues related to that. You will most likely want to do something about the holes drilled into their heads as well. If you can stomach these traits they are a fun and cheap little extension to your SD figure collection. Availability is of course secondary market only, and even there you should expect to go months or perhaps even years without spotting one. If you do manage to find them the prices should be quite affordable. I purchased these back in 2019 for about ¥300-¥400 each and prices shouldn't have climbed that much since then. A review of volume two will be coming up next.

Banpresto Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Figure Keyholder 1

Japan sure loves its keyring figures. If the idea of making a cool looking miniature and then drilling a deep hole into its skull and inserting a metal ring attached to a piece of paper or string seems idiotic to you, you are certainly not alone. Still, the keyring figure section often supports many interesting figures and when you start digging into it you will find many unusual mobile suit choices only present there. Today's item though is on the more common side of things, but let's see what Banpresto has to offer with its SEED Figure Keyholder range. The series has popped up on the blog before, this time we are looking at the first set in this range that was released in 2002 (presumably near the end of the year considering the television series premiered in October).


There are five main sets of SEED keyring figures, each containing five different figures, as well as a larger "special assortment" set which is a best-of kind of thing that recycles the figures for one more go at the store pegs. Each figure comes with this booklet which illustrates the full set but surprisingly does not name them on the card. You often also get a small customer registration leaflet folded and chucked inside this thicker cardboard card (not seen here).


Keyring figures are typically sold in specialty shops where the figures are wrapped in plastic and hung from pegs like action figures, so unlike most Gashapon you are actually seeing what you are getting. On the picture you can see how each figure has a metal screw inserted into the top of the head, these can normally be gently unscrewed but will leave an ugly mark about 1mm thick. Serious collectors hunting for specific figures may find it worth their time to pad these holes with green stuff and paint it over. From here on in the review the screws will have been removed so say sayonara to them and let's go.



GAT-X105 Strike Gundam


This set contains all of the five mobile suits from the covert G-Project launched by the Earth Alliance and Orb in the Heliopolis colony. The first entry is of course the Strike Gundam, seen here in its most basic configuration armed with a beam rifle and a shield. The posing of keyring figures are almost always completely static as is the case with the figures in this series. When you compare these figures to similar sized Gashapon they will often sport a much better and more detailed paint scheme. Given that their size is similar to some of Bandai's SD Gashapon series they can do a good job as stand-in rank-fillers in a collection of Gashapon NEXT, DASH or even Senshi Forte figures.


Comparison with some of the other Strike variants from the SEED Keyring family; the Aile Strike and Launcher Strike Gundam, both from volume 2. Other variants also exist such as the Sword Strike Gundam and a Phase Shift down version of the Strike.






GAT-X303 Aegis Gundam


Look at the vibrant colours of the Aegis - this is a 20-year old figure holding its own very well compared to modern-era Gashapon and Shokugan. Granted, production costs have risen - especially when it comes to painting - but these things are very well executed indeed. I especially enjoy the thin black lines in the faces of these figures, precision Converge can only dream about today, even in its CORE premium segment.


Comparison with the Phase Shift Armor-down variant of the same figure, which was released in SEED Figure Keyholder 5 in 2003. The latter looks a bit weathered, probably due to the fact of it having survived on the secondary market for so long.






GAT-X103 Buster Gundam


Next up is the Buster with a rather short looking Hyper Impulse sniper rifle (and I do prefer it rather than the exaggeratedly long weapons we have seen in the Converge-range lately). The detail in its face looks like a great warpaint, good colour separation also on the weapon itself. Except for the Strike and the Aegis, the rest of the G-Project Gundams do not get Phase Shift Down variants in this figure series which is a bit unfortunate.






GAT-X102 Duel Gundam


The Duel is next, and the figure shows one of the disadvantages with several keyring figures, namely that they are designed to dangle from a bag and not stand on your desk. In the case of the Duel this can be easily solved with a small base but there are figures out there with legs hanging freely as if floating in space, such figures require a bit more attention to function properly on your display shelf.


The Duel Gundam returns already in SEED Figure Keyholder 2 wearing its additional Assault Shroud armour. The attention to detail in the colouring is really pleasing to the eye. The sculpt detail in the weapons is also impressive. Keyring figures are typically made of soft but sturdy plastic and in the cases where it does get bent this can be a bit hard to rectify. We can see a bit of this bending on the V-fin of this figure.






GAT-X207 Blitz Gundam


The last mobile suit in the set is the Blitz and it really stands out with its wasp-like yellow and black armour but also note all the little colour tweaks in the grays and violets here, what a lovely figure design! There are no variant figures of the Blitz in this series, I would be very curious to see what Banpresto's take on a semi-transparent figure in clear plastic would have looked like.





Conclusion

Keyring figures aren't for everyone but if you are a fan there is much to enjoy about the Banpresto SEED and later SEED Destiny keyring figure sets. Unfortunately they are rather tricky to come by, the occasional figure can sit on a peg in a second hand shop here and there but the best is probably finding a complete set for sale on e.g. Mandarake. The figures are not expensive and should cost more than a couple of hundred yen.