Banpresto All Gundam Key Holder - The History of Gundam Development

Today we are going to document another Gundam-themed keyring figure set from Banpresto and it is a fairly ancient one dating back to 1999. While keyring figures are quite difficult to find I would classify this particular set as one of the easier ones to collect. Still, it took me eight years to find all the figures on the secondary market. While the prices of second-hand figures appear to have risen quite sharply in later years these should still be found at reasonable prices. I paid between ¥300 and ¥600 for individual figures with most of them sitting at ¥400 regardless of the purchasing year.


The product information card is made of very sturdy paper with some type of lamination going on. It folds out to double its size to reveal some additional product information most notably the release year and item number. The shorthand five-digit Banpresto code for this set is 75655 and it would be a handy identifier if you could actually read it without removing the figure from the paper which somehow I suspect most shop keepers wouldn't want you to do... :)


Banpresto keyring figures normally come in this partially plastic wrapping with the paper and metal ring fully exposed. As such, you tend to see some really beat up examples in shops sometimes, that have been hanging around for decades at this point. Out of the figures I bought only a few had the plastic wrapping still on but all of them were still tied down to the paper with those annoying plastic straps. After completing a set I will permanently destroy the figures by removing them from their keyrings. Each figure will have a screw driven through its head that will leave an ugly hole that you'd want to fill in and paint over, you can see it most clearly in the review of the Titans Mk-II a bit further down in the review.



RX-78-2 Gundam


Well, you know there can't be a Gundam development history thing without the obvious starting point. We are looking at a really bog-standard RX-78 here with a couple of quirks due to its keyring status. The curiously bulky style reminds me of Banpresto Pokemon keyring-figures from the same era, everything is just generally stumpy and thick. I suspect this is not only an aesthetic decision but also related to expected durability and maybe also ease of manufacturing. Even though the sculpt is a bit mediocre the paintwork is ambitious. We have lots of little detail even on the back of the shield. We also have the classic keyring figure annoyance of the shield jutting out below the feet sending the figure into a leaning pose unable to stand upright properly. You could address this by placing the figure on a small base like a clear plastic circle for instance.




RX-78NT-1 Gundam NT-1 Alex


Next up we have my least favourite figure of this lot. The Alex is a colourful design in blue and white but here it is nearly all-white and the colour choices are a bit off too. The most awkward thing is of course the pose with the wrist-mounted Gatling gun and the upside down left arm just looks awkward. I would have preferred a traditional beam rifle + shield configuration but I guess the manufacturer was in no mood of including the shield since it has a fairly complex (read: expensive) colour scheme.




RX-78-3 G-3 Gundam


While this set consists of seven figures there are actually only five different sculpts. The G-3 here is a repurposing of the Gundam figure with a grey makeover. There are a couple of wildly different illustrations out there and so pre-painted G-3 figures often show up in very different colours. This keyring figure has the palette that I personally prefer but I'm not too sure about the head-mounted camera colours, should they really be blue? Illustrations seem to differ here as well and I cannot really fault the manufacturer for keeping the colour count down in this instance. Can I also just say, I am really impressed that they took the effort to actually paint in all the black vents on the sides of the head, that is something most modern figures will skip entirely.




RX-79[G]Ez-8 Gundam Ez8


The 08th MS Team is a highly regarded television series and it features several iconic designs. While the Gouf Custom and the Ground Type Gundam are fairly regularly seen I think that the Ez8 is not nearly as popular as it should be (and don't get me started on the awesome Ground Type GM with its missile launcher). I am always happy to see its red eyes stare back at me and this figure even has unit designations on the chest and shield. The pose is a bit awkward however and my figure came with the right arm partially torn off. Upon inspection I found that the underarm is a separate component that goes into a peg-hole at the elbow, but the shape of the peg and hole did not match so I had to take it apart, cut off the peg and glue it back into place. That's a first for me when it comes to keyring figures.




RX-78GP01-Fb Gundam GP01 "Zephyrantes" Full Burnern


The GP01-figure is easily the best painted figure out of this gang. Look t all those red and black thrusters and vents with detail on them. Having said that the figure sculpt is rather funky, there is something very weird about its hourglass shape with very narrow hips, presumably so that the fins on its sides also fit. The shield has also been lovingly painted with two separate blue areas, if they had done something similar for the Alex figure I would have been very pleased with it.




RX-178 Gundam Mk-II (Titans)


"The Black Gundam" from Zeta is more like a deep blue here with eye-catching patches of yellow and red, I always tend to like figures painted with a different base colour than white. Our figure here also has a nicely painted beam rifle with a bright blue underside and dark topside with a lovely green rangefinder on top, I love it! This figure however, does not have the vents on its head painted, nor does it feature the signature Vulcan gun pods but looking at the sculpt they would have been difficult to fit in regardless. This is a great looking figure and one of my favourites from the set.




RX-178 Gundam Mk-II (A.E.U.G.)


The last figure is of course the rebel fleet-conversion of the Mk-II in its less interesting white and black colour scheme. Notice how the vents were deemed fit to paint on this version of the figure but dropped from the Titans version to save a bit on cost. It is a little bit disappointing that the two RX-78s and Mark IIs are completely similar, it would have been neat to see the alternate paint versions also picking up a bazooka or a beam saber but I understand why they don't. These are all seven figures in this keyring set and to my knowledge there is no spiritual successor to it. Gundam development history is nothing uncommon for keyring figures but there is no exact follow-up to this particular set that I am aware of.





Before we go, let's also take a quick look at the size of these figures. As you can see they slot in somewhere in between the classic SD Gundam Full Color figures and their larger successors in the Gashapon Warrior NEXT/DASH/Senshi Forte families. This makes them poorly suited as collection gap fill-ins and they should be treated as a novelty thing on the side of a larger SD-figure collection. While I would hesitate to put this in the keyring hall of fame it is a competent release and a curio thing from an era when figures were much simpler things.

Banpresto Gundam Series Genealogy of Zeta Figure Keyholder

It isn't often that I get to complete a Gundam keyring figure set so I figured we'd take a look at some of them. There are dozens of sets to discover out there, both normally proportioned and super-deformed. Most sets feature five to seven figures although there are some larger line-ups out there as well. Their common denominator is that they are all a bit of a pain to actually find. Most figures pop up one by one, presumably as people are clearing out old junk they picked up over the years. It is actually quite rare to come across full sets so you will be in for the long haul. It took me seven years to find and get my hands on these suckers for example.


The Genealogy of Zeta set from 2003 is comprised of five suits all belonging to the Zeta Gundam's technology tree. This is one of my favourite eras of Mobile Suit Gundam and there is so much great DNA in this family that we rarely get to see in figure form.


If you have ever been fortunate to visit a shop that specializes in collectible keyring junk you may have seen the sometimes massive walls littered with all sorts of figures dangling from an endless line of pegs. Mobile Suit Gundam will have to battle for space with countless other IPs in such stores and it is no wonder that customers walk away with one or two of their favourites rather than trying to get full line-ups. I guess this is why figures are often so scattered about.


Once I collect the entire set I get to have my little ritual of finally removing the figures from their cards. Keyring figures are sadly damaged by having a metal screwed deep into either their head or back and so ideally you would like to fill the gap and paint it over. It is only after you remove the figure from the card that you can finally unfold the thing and get access to important information such as the barcode and its shortform catalogue number. The figures from this set have the Banpresto short code 31515 which is the easiest way to identify them.


The folded sheet also contains a little development tree of some of the mobile suits in the Zeta family. It would have been cool to see a Part 2 to this series adding onto the line-up with familiar faces like the Methuss and the Zeta Plus but no such set exists that I am aware of.



MSZ-006 Z Gundam


I'll start with the Zeta since it is the least exciting figure here; we are drowning in Zeta Gundams already. As you can see the figure is very compact and has unusual proportions, we deformed figures are often wide but the figures in this sit are fairly slim. The paint applications are great both in front and back; keyring figures are usually painted to a high standard since they are designed to be seen from a multitude of angels as they dangle freely from your backpack or handbag. By the way, I never really understand what people do with their keyring figures - do they just buy one and use it everyday or is it a fashion statement that must be replaced every few weeks?


There is no standard to the size or proportions of Banpresto Gundam-theme keyring figures, you will come across various styles among the different ranges. here you can see the relative size and feel of the Genealogy of Zeta figures next to a basic SD Full Color Gundam figure on the left and a Gashapon Warrior figure on the right (covering the NEXT, DASH and Senshi Forte generations of figures). While there are individual differences between figures also within those other series these figures are generally a poor match with existing Gashapon figures.




MSR-00100S Hyaku Shiki Kai


The Hyaku Shiki has an interesting family tree including a mass-production type and the ridiculously overspeced FA-00100S Full Armor Hyaku Shiki-Kai. This is the base version of the Kai-configuration which features the elongated head, large shoulders and completely different backpack. The shoulders on the figure come with attachment points for the Beam Gatling Gun although no such weapon is included. In fact, none of the figures in this set come with any external weapons which is a little bit disappointing. Other than that, it looks great.




RMS-099B Schuzrum Diaz


While we are still waiting for the Rick Dias Mark II to see the light in figure form (has it even been made available as a model kit, I think not?) we at least have another chance to add the Schuzrum Dias to the A.E.U.G. line-up. We most recently saw this machine in Mobility Joint Volume 10 and there is also a fully proportioned 1/400 scale version in the Gundam Collection figure series but this makes a decent option .


The keyring Dias differs from its companions in that it does not have the same oversized head and so is the closest fit to other smaller SD-figures. It could be used as a half-decent stand-in for the RMS-099B next to the Gashapon Senshi Forte figure seen on the right. The SD Full Color figure on the left is actually quite large for a SDFC figure but is still too tiny to pair well with the keyring figure.




RGZ-91 Re-GZ


The Re-GZ is easily the least impressive figure in this set. The body seems really thin and anaemic - the Zeta Gundam figure didn't feel this thin and I'd argue they are of similar body types. In fact, compare the actual figure to how it looks on the collector card where it looks much better. My figure also has feet that aren't entirely straight and so it doesn't really stand up properly. It is not uncommon for keyring figures to come with dangling feet as they supposed to be keyrings after all, but here it is down to material deformation. I don't know what it is but many figure sets have done the Re-GZ dirty in my opinion.




MSZ-008 ZII


The Zeta Two is another rare bird that failed to crop up in any of the popular figure series. We have a premier-looking 1/220 figure in the STANDart range that is well worth seeking out (there are several excellent figures from the Zeta family in that catalogue) and Banpresto has also done a full-proportion keyring figure but other than that it is nothing but static. Our compact figure here is a decent looking entry which goes all-in on the paint applications but I really wish that it had its elegant beam rifle alongside. You'll notice a couple of annoying deformations on this one, especially the wonky fin on the back.




Conclusion

There isn't a whole lot to say about these figures, really. Being keyring figures without any articulation or options you either like them or you don't. The main selling point I think is getting access to a number of rarely seen mobile suits in figure form. Keyring figures also are not expensive on the Japanese secondary market, expect to pay between ¥500 and ¥1500 depending on how popular that particular mobile suit might be. The main problem as always is actually finding them, I recommend being very casual about it.

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.