Mobile Suit Ensemble Part 28

Here is finally the overdue review of the most recent of the Ensemble retail sets, officially the 28th wave. the wave has a couple of months under its belt already, being released back in November 2024. This set is of the larger 6-figure variety but I don't know the exact figure distribution in the larger 10-pack boxes. I have seen some box openings heavily slanted towards the Strike Freedom and its accessory which isn't really a surprise.


The packaging variations continue with both boxed and capsuled figures out there. It seems lately there is also a third category that has crept into the mix; we now have these bagged figures that are presumably sold through the Premium Bandai online store? The fact that the boxes are full of disclaimer text in various languages lead me to believe they might be intended for export through the foreign P-Bandai programs while the bagged up figures maybe are only intended for the Japanese market but I really don't have any idea.



185 : ZGMF/A-262B Strike Freedom Gundam Type II


The big thing in this set is the Strike Freedom upgrade for its SEED Freedom revival and I am starting to get a bit tired of seeing it by now. I'm sure this is a popular pick with collectors though and the figure is really neat, but since we have seen both the Freedom and the Strike Freedom in Ensemble already it is hard for me to work up that much excitement over it. While I don't show it here, you can swivel its wings into full spread and the hip-mounted railguns can swing up and extend but it is a bit messy to deal with as parts often like to fall off.


I mentioned in the recent Converge #26 review that there appear to have been changes made in the manufacturing process with a new focus on more hard plastic components; now we are seeing the same in Ensemble. After the "soft" era with some really dodgy figures (Hello Immortal Justice and Windam) we are seeing more ABS use in Part 28. You may have noticed also that the mini-sprues with all the joints and inner components have been slightly redesigned again. The outer frame of the section that contains the back of the torso now has a slightly more rounded shape but all the components themselves are still the same as in the previous waves. This Freedom figure has a gimmicky golden brown set of joints which is a neat touch that we have seen before and that was also used to great effect in Gashapon Senshi Forte.


Side-by-side with the old premium X20A Strike Freedom figure (EX 31, released in September 2021). The new figure's proportions have been altered somewhat just like we have seen with some of the other recent Ensemble figures (the Impulse Gundam comes to mind) giving it a sleeker and taller appearance. The EX figure of course has the retail figure soundly beaten when it comes to the size of the wings, but with Ensemble figures having standardized torsos I guess you could hand them over to the new figure if you wanted to.






186 : MDE262S Proud Defender


Yeah, not much to say here, on its own there is not a lot here. This pack is just as unexciting as its counterparts in Gundam Converge, Gframe and Mobility Joint Gundam. On a technical note, the joints that attach the wings to the mid-section are really thin and frail and were a bit of a mess to assemble and I nearly cracked on of them so take extra care when building this thing and make good use of the assembly instructions that Bandai upload to youtube nowadays.


Here we can see another recent change in the Ensemble line. The capsule type has been changed and the classic pastel see-through light red, blue, yellow, green and clear colours that were always used are now replaced by nearly opaque capsules in new colours. The Proud Defender comes in this dark red type, the Freedom itself in yellow, Guel's Dilanza sits in an orange capsule while the mass production type comes in black. The Gelgoog comes in dark green and the equipment set finally sits in a violet capsule. One of the things Bandai has not seen fit to improve are the terrible figure stands and there is no stand option at all included with the Proud Defender, nor is it compatible with any as it lacks any peg holes or slots.



185+186 : ZGMF/A-262PD-P Mighty Strike Freedom Gundam


Your are of course intended to swap out the tiny Freedom wings on the Strike Freedom with this huge set and while it always looks impressive the novelty is beginning to fade at this point. Still, this is a natural and obvious accessory for the Strike Freedom Type II and certainly a nice little earner for Bandai as the Freedom family is a real evergreen in both model kit- and figure sales.


The two outer white wings and the centre gold wing on each side unfold separately but they can be a bit fiddly to manipulate. You can also swing the wings backward but without a sturdy base you won't be displaying the figure like that. I didn't try putting the figure on the default Ensemble base to see if it could handle that load but I would feel a bit sceptical of such an arrangement as the base is inherently unstable to say the least.


Side-by-side with the recent Converge Mighty Freedom which is constructed by combining figures 291 and 292, both released in Converge #25 in May last year. The Converge figure by the way is out now as a Converge Revive in a pearl metallic colour variation. Below you can see the Mighty Freedom slotting in between its two supposed successors; the Immortal Justice from Ensemble Part 26 and the Rising Freedom from Part 27.






187 : MS-14S Gelgoog (Char's Custom)


Turning our eyes to the Universal Century for a brief moment we have a really important addition of the mighty Zeon Gelgoog, something I had been hoping for, for a while now. I find it a bit unfortunate that we only get Char's custom red suit, this figure should have been offered in two colour variants and I think it is a bit unfortunate that it got to share set with the Dilanza which is also a two-colour offering. It would have been better to see the mass-production type Gelgoog here and offer Char's Gelgoog as a premium figure because I highly doubt Bandai will come back to this wave and create a Part 28.5 colour variation because none of the other figure lend themselves well to that. :/


The Gelgoog comes with its default equipment which includes a beam rifle and the classic shield, painted to a nice standard. We also have a really large weapon rack for the backpack which has some additional uses as can be seen below. Notice that the white Beam Naginata handle you saw on the photos above are not included with the figure itself but can be found int he Equipment Pack. Notice that the shield does not just slot into the elbow peg hole but is in fact hand held which opens up some interesting posing options.


One of the basic gimmicks of the Gelgoog figure is the weapon rack at the back that allows you to store the Beam Naginata handle and shield on there when not in use. Personally, I don't think it works because the shield ends up sticking out too far. I feel it would have worked better to have the shield sit on a peg that could slot directly into the figure's back without need for that rack in the first place but you can do it however you please, so that is cool.






188 : MD-0032G Guel's Dilanza


When this wave was announced I was excited to see yet another mobile suit from Witch of Mercury join the ranks. It is not that I am a huge fan of the series itself (I still haven't watched it) but I can't stand when we just get the hero figure and then Bandai quickly moves on to something else and we end up with a long line of different takes on a white Gundam figures that don't have anything in common besides the name. The Dilanza itself is a really beefy design, it kind of resembles the Zaku III or the Gustav Karl and sadly the Ensemble rendition isn't as massive but it is still a decent looking figure. There is something strange and insect-like influence going on with its face and I think the various plumes and v-fin look a bit goofy but the lower body with its interesting foot design is much better. But what is going on with its weapon? Keep reading...


Yeah, so while opening up the packaging and preparing the component shots I accidentally didn't see the clear plastic tip of the Dilanza's spear and threw it in the garbage... Components usually sit one by one in the different compartments and in this case it shared space with the shaft of the spear and so I simply didn't notice it remained inside the emptied bag. For the rest of the review you will see this figure armed with an axe until my replacement figure arrives and I can update the photos...






189 : MD-0031 Dilanza


Onto the mass production variant then, in toothpaste turquoise colour. it has a bit of a cartoony look but I dig it, except for the bendy antenna that for some reason is not part of the ABS hard plastic revolution I just praised at the beginning of the review. The base figure is the same as the purple version save for the different adornments on top of its head. Other differences include the different shoulder armour, lack of stubby wings at the back and it being equipped with a rifle instead of a melee weapon.


One thing I forgot to mention earlier is that the circular thrusters on the back of the feet are quite loose and like to fall out fairly easily. I would recommend gluing these in place since they are quite small and easy to lose.


We have a decent line-up of Witch of Mercury suits in Ensemble at this point and I would love for this series to go on. Haven't seen any announcement for Part 29 yet, Bandai are currently busy reissuing older sets, with waves 9, 10 and 11 returning to the shelves this winter. Something tells me it will be focusing on GQuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuX but we shall see. Seen here from left to right in top row: Gundam Aerial (Part 23), Aerial Rebuild (Part 25) and Gundam Calibarn (EX version). Bottom row: The two Dilanzas from Part 28 and the Gundam Schwarzette from Part 27.


The Dilanza is the army-builder of this set and doesn't disappoint in that regard. I just hope that the Gelgoog will also be allowed to shine in mass-production form sometime in the future. :)






190 : Equipment Set for Wave 28


The equipment set lastly is split up into three groups of gear. We have extra weapons for the Strike Freedom, an option for the Gelgoog and some additional gear for the Dilanzas.


I was going to post some pictures of the Strike Freedom equipping the various beam saber options or the wrist mounted shield. However, those golden hands have a really tight grip on those beam rifles, I can't get them out unless resorting to using some kind of tool and I would be afraid to maybe damage the components. My advice is, choose weapon option before you start sticking the rifle grips in because they really like to stay there. It is more or less the same story with the shield; you have to peel off that thin red piece and replace it with the full shield. Again I was worried I might actually damage the thin red component so you'll just have to imagine what it looks like I guess.


The Gelgoog gets its classic dual-blade Beam Naginata which can also be operated as a single-bladed beam saber. The handle can be stored at the back of the figure when not in use. I wish Bandai would have produced this component in yellow translucent plastic however.


The Dilanza gets four different types of accessories that help you mix and match figures when assembling a full unit but really are intended to convert the figure into the custom unit piloted by Lauda Neill, the MD-0031L. I just like to spread the gear out across my platoon. The L-type Dilanza has a different type of circular shoulder shields and a slightly different backpack with a little fin on top of it. the head antenna is replaced with a Samurai-style dual V-fin (looks more like a U-fin actually) and the main weapon is a giant axe.






Conclusion

In closing I really like the new direction taken with the stiffer ABS material that takes care of some of the main gripes I had with the previous waves. I also find the mobile suit selection excellent although I have a feeling a lot of people probably might not care for the Witch of Mercury suits that much. I do get a little worried that we don't see many news in Ensemble. Besides the heavy reissuing of old waves and a couple of really premium priced EX figures from last year there is only one announced set on the horizon, slated for shipment in July - the special Requiem for a Vengeance 5-figure set that come with individual figure numbers and surprisingly no dedicated equipment set. Is this an indication of further set development or the beginning of the end?

Mobile Suit Ensemble Part 27

Alright, this review has taken its time to get off the ground, mainly because I was looking high and low for a capsule version of the figures to be able to get that sweet booklet for use as a banner. :) Ensemble Part 27 has been out for about two months by now, with the official release date of July 5, 2024. It is a set that has a lot in common with the set that precedes it and the set that will follow it. In each set you get one of the flagship SEED Freedom mobile suits with its flight pack in a separate box, a new exciting Witch of Mercury design as well as one of the classic vintage Zeon U.C.0079 machines. What's not to like? Let's jump in!


As usual, Part 27 is available both in Gashapon capsule form or in box form (the latter presumably only available through the P-Bandai store). Notice the revised box design. These items were picked up from Mandarake in Japan but the backside is full of scribbles regarding distribution in various international markets including that huge blurb for Thailand. I am curious if this is an export item manufactured for Bandai Namco Asia in Hong Kong that has been brought into Japan or if this is now the common design for all markets. The usual full illustration of the set is heavily reduced in size and now sits on the lid because apparently there were not enough disclaimers on the box.



180 : STTS-909 Rising Freedom Gundam


On to the figures then. Part 27 quickly reminded me about what I did not enjoy about Part 26. Not a strange thing really because the two sets mirror each other a lot. We start out with the Rising Freedom which has just been everywhere (and I am really starting to get sick of seeing it). It has a lot in common with the Immortal Justice both in-universe and as an MSE figure. The design is rather busy and there are several small parts that are a bit fiddly to handle. It doesn't help that the new rubbery and bendy plastic mix they use cause unnecessary friction around the peg areas, sometimes the pegs just change shape instead of going in when you apply too much force. I hate this material. There are some really nasty marks in places where the runners attach to painted parts, most notably on the wrist guards which I just covered up with some blue pen because it looked awful. Overall though, a solid sculpt once you get around the technical shortcomings.


The Freedom comes armed with a beam rifle and shield and also has extendable railguns attached to its hips just like the previous Freedom generations. Notice the two white sprues with painted red parts? Those are meant to make up the red design on the shield and you have to manually fit three tiny pieces together and as you can imagine this is annoying. The white colour you see around the edges is the unpainted areas near the pegs and on the sides, I didn't bother to cover them up because it looks alright when viewed from a distance. However, why are there five parts when you only need three? It is because two of them have alternate designs with short and long pegs at the back. This comes into play when you are transforming the figure into HiMAT mode, more on that in a bit.






181 : Rising Freedom Gundam Expansion Set


Just like the Ensemble version of the Immortal Justice the wings of the mobile suit are sold separately, or rather the tiny wings included with the basic figure are meant to be replaced by these. I can well understand why the wings are kept separately because this is a fairly complex design with many moving parts but it is still an annoying business practice to spread out all the components for the Freedom in three different blind boxes.


That is a respectable parts count right there, but it still doesn't change the fact that you paid 500 yen and got a pair of wings for the trouble. Imagine the frustration when you pull your second wing pack while trying to get the mobile suit itself.


Replacement is simple; just get rid of the tiny wings sitting on the basic Freedom figure and plonk these into the same spot. The Immortal Justice Gundam also came with a rudimentary wing pack to be replaced like this. It still feels like a waste of resources to me. Can't wait to see Bandai do a hat trick in Ensemble Part 28 with the new Strike Freedom and the Proud Defender pack...


All my moaning aside, the figure looks great with the wings installed. Extending and rotating the wings is possible but very clunky and handling this figure is a bit frustrating due to its many delicate parts just waiting to come off. Just pick a mode you like and then stay there.


To convert the Freedom into its High Mobility Aerial Tactics (HiMAT) Mode you remove the head and put the white cone in its place, then comes the fiddly bits. You must remove the chest cockpit section and tiny vent pieces to allow you to stick the beam rifle and shield into an exposed peg hole. This presumably also requires you to rotate the red decorative parts on the shield because I wasn't able to attach it properly and the online build instructions suck.

I really am not a fan of exclusive online-only build instructions and I think the video production is really lazy. Initially they spent a whole lot of effort highlighting which parts to use when assembling the joints and connectors, which directions they should face and so on. However, when it comes to non-generic parts exclusive to a single figure the whole thing is often rushed without highlighting which parts to pick from the sprues and there are no close-up stills showing you the supposed outcome. I find myself constantly rewinding such sections and getting none the wiser.


Once assembled there is no interesting way to display the HiMAT Freedom anyway. Here you can see a contraption I put together using Assault Kingdom components. The HiMAT mode is okay I guess if you want to hold the figure in your hand and run around from room to room while making engine noises. The fact that the product has an age recommendation of 15 somehow tells me that this is not their target market.






182 : MDX-0003 Gundam Schwarzette


I was really excited to see a rival suit from Witch of Mercury in this line-up. It may not look like much when at lot of grey and black parts fall out of the package but this thing looks badass. I have spiced it up a bit by filling in some sections where the black colour was missing, such as the backside of the shoulders, certain sections of the legs and the weapon. The unique ring-shaped V-fin is made of soft plastic so you might end up with a warped part here that might frustrate you a bit. I struggled a bit with the feet because the black heel sections are made from the soft rubbery plastic and so the entire contraption is unfortunately not very stable on its feet.


The Schwarzette has no traditional ranged weapon or shield but comes with this weird anime-looking sword called the Guardian. This is a gimmick weapon of sorts made up of the same type of GUND-BITs that can transfigure into various configurations but here it is just a really flat spatula. We'll talk more about this weapon when we hit the equipment pack.






183 : MSM-07 Z'Gok


The third and last suit brings a really classic Universal Century design to Ensemble, the all-star amphibious Z'Gok. At first I was very sceptical to Bandai's decision to use a lot of dark green components but I have to say it looks great. Z'Gok figures are traditional light blue and black but there are certainly many different variations on that theme out there. Another good thing is overall artistic design, the Z'Gok sculpts tend to be a bit hit-and-miss but here I find the proportions excellent. I do question the two peg holes on the sides of the chest armour however, but it is normal for Mobile Suit Ensemble to do these quirky choices in the interest of playability. The mono-eye sits on a little wiggly bit that attaches to the top section of the head and it will give you a bit of side-looking ability which is a neat touch but again the soft plastic connection didn't feel very secure.


Alright, so we have to discuss the Z'Goks' claws. See that warped and stretchy component up in the right corner? The suit comes with claw options for both arms which is great because these things are soft, squishy and thin pieces of warped plastic. If you want to try to straighten them out - be my guest, I salvaged the least bent open claws and stuck closed claws on the rest of the figures - this is a huge blunder in my opinion. Even the Converge and Assault Kingdom figures traditionally come with hard plastic claws on a sprue and this would certainly have been my preferred option here. It would also rectify the wrong choice of colour, Z'Gok claws should be white or at least grey, even the old SD figures could manage that.


Did you notice the light grey pins with a ball-joint on top? These replace the modern Ensemble shoulder assembly with something a bit more similar to the older figures but it works well enough in my opinion.


Now, here is something I have never encountered in Ensemble before; a mis-cast hand. Luckily it was on a figure that didn't need it but still, is this a worrying sign of things to come? Don't tell me Ensemble is next to embark on the train of questionable quality control. I have such mixed feelings of Gundam figure collection in 2024 - is it time to sell the license to Takara Tomy?

There appear to be many opinions about what a Z'Gok looks like. Here we can see some different interpretations from Gashapon Senshi Forte, Gundam Converge, Mobile Suit Ensemble and STANDart. The lack of white colour on the Ensemble figure makes it stand out like a pair of unpolished boots in a military parade.






184 : Equipment Set for Wave 27


The option gear pack comes with a little bit of this and that for everyone. As usual there are no generic parts such as generic beam sabers or expressive hands (although here we actually do get a couple of really neat and versatile beam sabers for the Freedom).


Rising Freedom Gundam


The Rising Freedom gets a pair of beam sabers with separate hilts cast in white plastic, this is such a neat touch and should be standard for all Ensemble figures. Why there isn't one of these in every equipment pack I don't know. The shield also gets a couple of wing-like extensions and translucent red beam effect parts just like we had for the Immortal Freedom. However, here the soft material of the shield gave me trouble again as the wings won't remain in their sockets unless I were to glue them in. I have a feeling this experience is going to continue with Ensemble Part 28 and it just makes me sigh already.


The reason we get these nice beam saber hilts for the sabers is so that we can replace them with this dual-wielding special. While it would still have been possible to insert two beam sabers into the same hand from two directions this special component is much preferred. The saber effect parts are clear out of the box and have been touched up with a felt-pen based on a tip I received from a reader comment a while ago. it looks great but the paint won't stay on so be careful touching it or leaving it in a position to rub off on the figure.


Even though it doesn't have as many sparkly features as its bigger MSE brother the Converge Rising Freedom can give the Ensemble figure a run for its money. Well, hold that thought - the Converge figure is actually currently trading at ¥1500 on the secondary market which is essentially about the same as the Ensemble figure with both of its expansions.


Gundam Schwarzette


The Schwarzette gear-option is taking a page out of the Rising Freedom experience and provides components that replace its Guardian sword-thing. You can either assemble the components centred around the main blade to create a larger and thicker version of the rectangular-shaped weapon that comes with the basic figure (I didn't want to fuss with it so it is not visible here) or you can spread them out like the Funnel wings on the Nu Gundam like above. I haven't studied the lore around the mobile suit as I have yet to watch the show but I assume this is some type of set-up to be able to launch the individual pieces as remote-controlled weapons. It looks pretty spectacular I might add, even though the real thing should feature a lot of sexy black and purple colour on top.


Z'Gok


The Z'Gok recycles the idea used on the Gyan in Ensemble Part 26 and gets to launch four of its 240mm missiles with this nifty but delicate assembly that just rests on top of its head. Rests as in it doesn't attach and so when I lifted the figure up after the photo-shoot it flew right off and the projectiles scattered across the room in all directions. I have still only managed to recover three of them.




Conclusion

Okay, I moaned quite a bit through this review and while assembly was easy for the most part there were some really frustrating design decisions that really lowered my overall impression. With the build-a-bot experience gradually fading from memory the figures remain and they all look great, I just wish I could buy statue-style figures painted to a high standard and that was that. As for finding them, my impression is that the availability of Part 27 has been quite good for the last couple of weeks. I saw a number of full sets selling for ¥2500 over at Mandarake but as usual that window is always kind of limited. Right now I am waiting for the Ensemble Mecha series to hit the online shelves, a set comprised solely of vehicles has the potential to be a real money-pit for yours truly.