Banpresto Glitter & Glamours Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Freedom - Lacus Clyne (Another Color ver.)

The summer is winding down and cooler air rolls in under heavy clouds. The relative drought of new releases will start to subside as the autumn schedule begins picking up the pace. Having said that I don't think that there are a whole lot of exciting releases on the near horizon. Today we are looking at one of the releases from the summer season that popped up as an arcade prize item back in June.


Yes, it is another entry in the low-cost Glitter x Glamours series released by Bandai Namco through its Banpresto brand. This being a prize item we can also spot the usual Japan Amusement Industry Association logo in the corner of the box. I may have gone a bit overboard with the colour saturation in these images but the box art is really lively and the flowery backgrounds on the top and bottom covers are something that really stands out on the GxG brand releases.


The box is the usual waste of space that we have come to expect from the GxG releases, if you like the box you can store a lot of smaller figurines inside it, or why not cram in a couple of extra GxG figures in there, pretty sure you should be able to fit another two in there without issue.


You know how it is, summer season is fan service-season and every Gacha game worth its salt will be churning out swimsuit alternative art of its most popular characters. Bandai does the same here but is content to recycle an older figure and slap a new colour theme on it. The figure stands fairly stable even though it has a small footprint and only a small support piece clipped to one of its ankles. Just like with the previous incarnation of this figure I think the main issue is that the support piece is of the same colour as the leg, a transparent piece would have looked better but I assumed this is a cost-saving decision.


I think you know what to expect from this low-cost but fairly high-definition brand at this point. Sure, you don't get a lot of fancy translucent effect parts or optional arms and heads but the designers really nail the character likeness to a tee with these Clyne releases. The printed eyes and sculpting of the hair is really on point although I think they have been a bit frivolous and over the top in the anatomy department, anything to sell merch to thirsty fans I guess. When it comes to a character like Lacus I would expect a certain level of class which is stretched really thin here.


The original white colour version of this figure was released less than a year earlier, in July 2024. It was the first in a string of Lacus-releases in GxG as Bandai tried to capitalize on SEED Freedom as much as it could.


While the two boxes have a lot in common the new black colour version has introduced some minor changes, ditching the horizontal side of the box (which made for a really good review banner...) and moved the barcode to the bottom of the box instead.


Side-by-side reveals that there are no spectacular changes here, but it looks like both the hair and Haro's colour have changed slightly between the two releases, the new figure having slightly darker hair and a more purple tone on Haro. I think it would have been nice to replace Pink Haro with one of the other annoying little suckers, orange for example. On a completely different note, this reminds me of the great scene in Seen and Unseen when Siegel Clyne learns of Patrick Zala's betrayal.


I think Bandai might be done with their GxG Lacus Clyne releases now, unfortunately SEED Freedom didn't lead to a string of new figure releases. We had a couple of the usual suspects, Kira and Athrun and the Hawke sisters. A big yawn there.


Recycling this image as a reminder; here are the three previous Lacus figures from the GxG family. The original suit version (titled simply "Lacus Clyne") from July 2024, the Pilot Suit version from February 2025 and the Racing version figure from March 2025. They really captured lightning in a bottle with the pilot suit version figure, it is the only one you really need.

Banpresto Glitter & Glamours Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Freedom - Lacus Clyne (Racing ver.)

Are we really doing this thing again? Yes, that's right Bandai are unveiling a third Glitter x Glamours Lacus Clyne figure. I mean, I'm not surprised, just disappointed. I think they were on the right track with the recent Witch of Mercury figure series where an entire ensemble of characters was featured. For SEED Freedom they are just milking the same handful of characters over and over. And if you can't think of anything relevant, why not whip up a Race Queen variant for Lacus, surely at the top of everyone's wishlist? What's next; a Lacus and Hatsune Miku concert set?


The box follows the now established GxG style but this time it feels rather muted. GxG was all about flair and colours and this design with its focus on black and white comes across as a bit dull.


There is often a lot of unused space in the GxG boxes but this time around the inner cardboard wrapping is a bit larger, running diagonally from corner to corner. This allows the figure to sit comfortably in the box without having to be disassembled. I'll give Bandai a point for convenience there. The style of basing varies wildly from figure to figure, this time around we have a white plastic support that clips to the right ankle. Not generally a fan of these types of supports, they aren't too distracting but also not the most stable. I'd think twice about placing this figure on a top level shelf.


So, what about the figure then? Well, as goofy as the topic is, the quality and execution is on par with the previous GxG offerings. I am really impressed by the highly defined sculpt and its attention to detail. Look at all the crisp detail around the shoulders and arms for example, looking very lifelike. We have clean and neat print of the Compass racing team logo and the various creases in different materials used for clothing.


The hair has that vivacious swirl (that no cosplayer will ever be able to replicate...) and the overall impression is very Lacus-like. I don't know who did the sculpting - perhaps it is written in Japanese on the box there - but it is a job well done. The best thing about the GxG figure series is that they are very affordable. You will currently find this figure available on the secondary market for about ¥1500.


Here are the three GxG Lacus figures released so far in chronological order. The original figure without subtitle was released in the summer of 2024, then the pilot suit and race queen appeared in quick succession in February and March 2025. GxG figures are not designed to scale but they seem reasonably similar. The floating pilot figure comes in at about 24cm with the flanking characters stand about 22 centimetres tall. I've seen hints that the bikini figure will be reissued as a colour swap this summer so I guess they are not done milking the character but it would be nice to see a couple of different characters in show accurate uniforms...

Banpresto Glitter & Glamours Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Freedom - Lacus Clyne (Pilot Suit ver.)

Lacus returns to Banpresto's Glitter and Glamours line-up again (and a third racing queen style-figure is also already released this year), I guess if a character is really popular go ahead and milk it. The Pilot Suit version figure appeared in early February 2025 and is currently floating about on the secondary market with prices at Mandarake between ¥1500 and ¥2000. You are not going to get a better deal than this, so is it worth your while?


The box follows the same style we have seen for the previous GxG figures and I really like the ring of flowers on the lid and the overall design of the packaging is top-rate. Due to it being a cheaper end figure there is no see-through section of the box itself and also no plastic blister packaging inside but in my experience there are rarely issues to be found with these lower-end prize PVC figures.


Just like we saw previously there is an enormous amount of air inside the box and it is not geared at protecting the figure or anything. I assume some figures of the GxG-line (which extends way beyond Mobile Suit Gundam) requires more space but the designers wanted a standardized packaging size and will gladly waste space and increase shipping costs accordingly. Too bad because they did such a good job with the tight-fit boxes used for the recent Witch of Mercury-range. On the plus-side, with a little bit of tweaking you could easily store another - maybe two - equally sized figures in the same box.


The figure comes in the classic multi-compartment plastic bag giving me old Gundam Converge vibes. It might be hard to spot the clear base in this image but it is over there on the left.


The helmet and the angelic wings attach to the hand and arm using shaped pegs. At first I was concerned that the pegs might not fit perfectly but there were no problems at all. The material is soft PVC, especially the silver-coloured wings are very bendy but I encountered no issues here.


I have had pretty much nothing but positive things to say for the previous pilot figures released through the Banpresto name over the past couple of years; the SEED Freedom figures, the Witch of Mercury collection and the U.C. Newtype pilots before them. I have to say though that with this entry they are stepping up the game even further. The sculpting and painting is great, the character likeness is dead-on and finally we have a base that is not distracting, unstable or annoyingly large. The concerned expression and floating in space-pose suits the figure really well (although I wonder how all that hair can be fit inside that helmet...). The only thing I don't really like about this figure is the strange design for the shoes, which look more like paddles, bit I cannot fault the figure designers for that.


I must give top marks for this figure and it may well be a candidate for the best Gundam-themed figure for all of 2025. Of course Bandai are also pushing out a Lacus Pilot Suit figure this March in the MegaHouse Gundam Girls Generation line. That figure is roughly the same size but more than ten times as expensive. I can't see any reason to go for the GGG-version when this cheap item does a better job at pretty much everything, style, dignity, likeness and overall feel for the character. Don't sleep on this one.

Bandai Spirits Ichiban Kuji Mobile Suit Gundam Witch of Mercury Vol. 3 - Blessings to You Last One Prize

The Ichiban Kuji lottery and its prize figures pop up here on the blog every now and then and this time we are looking at Witch of Mercury volume 3, subtitled "Blessings to You" which premiered in October 2024. Prize items are sorted from the most premium category A and downwards - in this set it goes to category F but the exact number of classes varies from release to release. This review covers the "Last One version" special item which is an alternate design of the A-prize; kind of like a "chase piece" but it is not a secret item and it has its own box cover. You can see the full range of prizes from this particular set on the official website.


If you are familiar with Kuji boxes this one will feel no different; the cardboard is a bit rough and much of the text and numbering is standardized across all releases of a set, be they figurines, acrylic trinkets, posters or so on. Products belonging to this wave are identifiable by the code 64667 on the backside of the cover.


The unnecessarily large box holds the figures in sandwiched blister packaging with plenty of air on all sides. Good for the figures sure, but I don't see why they could not have been securely packaged in smaller box with a bit of stiff cardboard protection. This type of packaging can make sense when you want to showcase the actual figure without having to open the box but this one is closed on all sides so it comes off as a bit of wasted space.


The base is attractively painted in three different colours and is free from pegs or peg holes which means it can pull double duty as basis for a lot of custom displays. The top section has plenty of space, measuring roughly 14 by 8 centimetres.


Well isn't this just adorable, Suletta and Miorine hand in hand and lost in thoughts. The A-prize figure has them grinning from ear to ear but this version is a little more muted which I like better. The great thing about these figures is that they come without any connector pegs, you can just place them next to each other and they'll stay there. The sculpting style and paintjob reminds a lot of the Banpresto Spirits figures we have seen over the past years and is of a good standard. I rarely have any issues with figures of this type.


Size-comparison with a somewhat larger Miorine figure from the Bandai Spirits/Banpresto claw machine prize figure-range from 2023 (right) and the very close in scale MegaHouse G.E.M. Series Miorine figure from last year (left).


One of the best gimmicks of this figure set is how flexible it is. The base is large enough that you could display a character with a larger mobile suit figure or model kit next to it. I don't have any Gundam Aerial bigger than the Ensemble figure so the Gundam Universe Leo will have to step in to represent larger figures like Robot Spirits or MSIA. It is funny that there are so many large and extravagant Gundam character sculpts in strange dynamic poses when all I would really prefer would be a figure in pilot suit prepared for display next to a mobile suit of your own choice.