Random Post: How the Gryps Conflict really started...

"You Feddie scum get out of here! I ain't afraid of no EFF losers and I'll take down any of you lot in this bar just you wait and see!"

Gundam Converge CORE 015 : RX-78GP03 Dendrobium

The second CORE reissue to appear in May 2018 is the unique silhouette of the overly complicated Dendrobium mobile armor unit of Stardust Memory fame. And just to get the all the names in; the RX-78GP03 Dendrobium is actually the amalgamation of the mobile suit RX-78GP03S Dendrobium Stamen when combined with the Orchis Armed Base. The writing on the Converge box also informs us that this is a "Foothold Defensive Mobile Armor" which is a new way to describe it.

The original Converge GP03 Dendrobium figure first appeared in December 2015 as EX07, quite a few numbers down the EX-series which stands to release its 23rd entry in August. I have to say the old Dendrobium figure is not spotted that often on the second-hand market so it seems to have been doing quite well for itself. The old figure had a retail price of ¥3200 and the new CORE version, which is a Premium Bandai exclusive, sold for ¥3700 on the P-Bandai website.

Opening up the package we find the usual range of component bags, and there are no major surprises here. The new Dendrobium figure is a repainted version of the original.

The parts count is perhaps a bit lesser than you would imagine for such a complex figure. The FusionWorks engineers have done a great job designing this figure which is really easy to assemble and reassemble to change between the display options. My only complaint here is that the four extra components that were sold in the Stardust Memory Last Decisive Battle Option Set (review here) were not included as an extra with this figure.

Let's begin by taking a look at the base mobile suit, the RX-78GP03S Gundam GP03S Dendrobium Stamen... yeah, you know the name makes perfect sense.

Looking pretty good there, Stamen. The colour scheme has been subdued a bit and grey parts are now metallic to give it less of a toy look and more of a "I'm a real world representation" thing going for it.

The Stamen comes with a Beam Rifle and Shield configuration as well as two optional Folding Bazookas, each sculpted specifically for left and right hand use. The figure comes with two trigger finger hands so unless you equip a bazooka in the left hand it will look a bit odd but I do prefer functional hands to closed ones any day.

A side by side display of the two Stamens from the EX 07 and the CORE 015 sets reveal that the changes are really minute. Save for the slightly toned down colours and metallic grays there is not anything interesting going on here. Again, I thought CORE figures were supposed to be detailed up and feature more paint apps and decals but not so here.

There are however major changes compared to the old retail Stamen from volume 13 (released December 2013). Notice that the old figure has the traditional closed fist, however it was molded as part of the left arm otherwise we may well have ended up getting it as an accessory.

Right... so let's move on to the Dendrobium mobile armor mode. We'll begin by a closer look at the changes done to the "Orchis" Armed Base. This is where you will clearly see that we are talking about a CORE detail-up version when compared to the old figure. I think the pictures speak for themselves:

The Orchis has gained a lot of custom markings and even though they are perhaps not that original (like placing "Danger" decals all over your figure until it looks like a checkerboard) the extra detail and the subdued colour scheme really transform the appearance of this figure.

The Orchis can be built in two different modes, allowing the Stamen mobile suit to either stand atop the base or climb into it for some foothold defensive action....

When not in the deployed mode, the mobile suit clips onto the Orchis by means of a transparent clip which attaches at the lower legs. You can choose to remove this piece if you like but the base is not very stable for the figure so some balancing maneuvers will be needed.

When the Dendrobium is deployed the mobile suit will creep into the armed base which was challenge for the FW engineers to overcome, since the Converge Orchis is so tiny compared to the mobile suit itself. There is however enough room for the figure to lie down easily within the structure. As part of this transformation you must switch out the neckpiece on the Stamen for a separate piece which has the head looking upward to give the impression that the mobile suit is now lying down.

The Stamen fits snugly inside the mobile armor without any cheap tricks like on the Neo Zeong and the Deep Striker where there is only half a mobile suit inside.

The Armed Base Orchis comes with several weapons compartments. The front hatches can be left closed or open individually and will display an alarming array of weapons inside. The actual deployment of said weapons is less impressive though; only one weapon pod on each side of the mobile armor can be extended and this still works as lousy as on the original figure. You have to balance the inserted weapon at the mouth of its hatch, and since the compartment is not that tight the weapon will droop down at an angle and fall off as soon as you touch the mobile armor. It simply looks better with these weapons stowed.

Borrowing an extra Beam Saber and an extra Demolition Chain from the older figures.

The retail EX07 Dendrobium can be decked out with extended sub-arms and an extra beam saber.

Other weapon options include a Demolition Chain, which is a 500 meter long cable laden with explosives. The Converge option is more like five centimeters long so a bit less impressive. The figure also includes a nice translucent red beam saber which can be held by either of the two sub-arms. In the pictures above you can also see I have added a second Demolition Chain and Beam Saber from the old Final Battle Option Set which are not included with this figure. It is a bit comical that none of the three beam sabers included with the three figures are of the same red colour however.

All in all, the new Dendrobium mobile armor figure is a huge aesthetical improvement over the old retail figure. Their overall appearances are like night and day, like the prototype and the finished product. The retail figure still has the upper hand when it comes to extra accessories however, and it seems doubtful that the new figure will get them (unless Bandai first decide to do a CORE Neue Ziel...). If you haven't picked up the old Dendrobium figure this is a great opportunity to add it to your Converge collection and if you are a fan of the design you may well want to upgrade the old figure if you have it.

The latest Gashapon news...

Today Bandai's development head Kawa posted some new updates on the Gashapon blog. Here are some news for the Mobile Suit Ensemble and Gashapon Senshi Forte figure series.

On the Mobile Suit Ensemble side the Gundam F91 has been revealed as well as the next EX figure, which will be the Sazabi together with a Re-GZ B.W.S. flight system. This reminds me of the premium Sazabi pack they made for the Assault Kingdom line back in the day, which also bundled the Sazabi with some accessories for the Nu Gundam and the Re-GZ. The Re-GZ itself is set for inclusion in the next regular figure set, Mobile Suit Ensemble Vol. 07.

The Sazabi and B.W.S. set is already up on the P-Bandai website. The price is ¥4200 and it is expected to ship in November 2018. Apparently it will also be available in a bundle with the new Senshi Forte EX05 figure.

And as for Senshi Forte, Kawa reports that the latest regular set (volume 06) has performed very well and is nearly sold out. The prototypes for Volume 07 are being revealed at the C3 hobby show and will consist of four SEED mobile suits and the eyebrow-raisingly named Satan Gundam.

sf07: Aile Strike Gundam, Buster Gundam, Miguel Ayman's Custom GINN, a mass production GINN and the SD Gaiden Satan Gundam. Not sure if there will be more figures in the set, typically six figures would be expected. In the background some of the sf1.5 reissue figures can be seen together with the Mobile Suit Ensemble Re-GZ, Geara Doga and RX-178.

Finally a new EX figure is also being announced for Senshi Forte. The EX05 two-pack featuring the Full Armor Knight Gundam vs. the Monster Black Dragon, another pair of SD characters celebrating the 30th Anniversary of the SD mythos. The set is up on the P-Bandai website selling for ¥3980 and is also expected to ship in November.

Lots of nice stuff to look forward to as far as I am concerned. :)

Gundam Converge CORE 014 : FA-010A FAZZ

Spring 2018 was a little quiet on the Converge front. After volume 10 in March there was silence in April and then things were shook up a bit with two CORE exclusives for May. I always cringe a bit whenever I hear about a new CORE figure as it means paying more and getting less. And what exactly do I mean by that? Well, you are essentially spending more than you did for the figure that has been revamped and only rarely will you actually get something new out of the deal.

The Converge FAZZ is a bit of easy money for Bandai and FusionWorks. The Full Armor ZZ Gundam was recently released in February as your average EX figure with a price tag of roughly ¥2300. The CORE repainted version is a Bandai webshop exclusive and was also priced at ¥2300 which seems a bit low for a CORE release. However I ended up having to pay ¥4000 for mine already in June, so this thing seems set to become a rarity (isn't that the case for almost all Sentinel design by the way...).

The FAZZ component bags seem identical with the ones from the Full Armor ZZ Gundam on first sight. The graphics on the instruction sheet have been updated a bit but from what I can tell there are no major engineering changes here. The previous Full Armor ZZ figure gained some bad rep from quality and build issues but I don't know if anything has actually been done to remedy it on this figure.

I myself had some trouble with the older EX21 FAZZ figure in that it had a lot of paint smudges scattered over its body and some of the parts were more warped than I would have expected from Converge. My CORE FAZZ didn't suffer from any paint smudges and assembling the figure was relatively simple and straightforward, perhaps because I knew what to expect this time around.

Here we have the FAZZ armed with the double barrel beam rifle which plugs into a hole on the right arm. This arm is actually replaced with a different trigger-finger version which can hold the large Hyper Mega Cannon so it is not possible to combine the two weapons (as is cheekily done on the box front cover...).

Posing side by side with the Enhanced ΖΖ Gundam from Converge vol. 9. The FAZZ belongs to the older generation of Converge figures that come with transparent support pieces that clip to the ankles rather than with feet pegged to black bases.

Equipping the Hyper Mega Cannon requires a bit of assembly. An adapter must be replaced in the backpack and the back shield replaced with a different version which has a plug hole for the belt fed ammunition. You will have to place the arm in exactly the right position for everything to come together nicely. It works fairly well but I would definitely consider super gluing some of the parts because this thing will come apart.

And here we have the FAZZ standing next to the Converge EX21 Full Armor ZZ Gundam. As you can see the two are nearly identical. CORE figures often have special markings and paint apps but as can clearly be seen here the FAZZ has none of these things. This is a bit disappointing, not that it matters or detracts from the figure as such, but because it has been par for the CORE course for so long and it would have been nice to get something extra with this figure. The Gundam Collection 1/400 FAZZ figures for example, came with their unit numbers on the left shoulder (04, 05 and 06). I guess I should consider myself lucky in this regard; what if FW had made three different shoulder markings? You know I would have been forced to get three...

Here the Converge FAZZ poses with the Assault Kingdom FAZZ. Both are special colour versions of retail FA-010S Full Armor ZZ Gundams. The two figures have a lot in common although the Assault Kingdom figure can dual wield its weapons.

Overall, the CORE FAZZ figure is a great Converge figure but it will probably cost you a fair bit of money to obtain. The Gundam Sentinel mobile suit figure line has been growing rapidly in the past year or so, and there is no doubt that it will go down well with many Converge collectors. I will probably pick up a second unit myself, and display it with the beam rifle (EDIT: See the picture above...).