SD Gundam Full Color Stage 4

I hope that one day, the seminal and definitive guide to Bandai's toy empire will be written, replete with a magnificent tomes of manufacturing and sales diagrams, scrutinized in every little savory detail. It would be a pure joy to dive deeper into the (probably) insane production numbers of some of these figure lines. I cannot even begin to guess the number of SD Gundam figures produced over the years but surely it must be beyond millions at this point? Whatever the truth may be, the set we look at today is a real staple on the secondary market with a couple of really familiar faces.


The figures of Stage 4 were released to the world in July 1998 and follow the early concept of pitting a lone Gundam versus an entire contingent of Zeon mobile suits. Many of the figures from these early sets were re-released in the special "revive"-stages 10 and 17 in August 1999 and May 2000 respectively. I don't know if there is any discernible difference between the first waves and reissued figured and so I am not even sure were many of these figures in my collection belong. Here was a chance however to pick up a full set fresh in plastic bags from Mandarake and so will be perfect material for review. The price, you ask? ¥1000.


Like most early SD figures these are pretty much statues with the occasional moving arms, but the swiveling heads haven't been invented just yet.





RX-78-2 Gundam (Ver 4.0)


The early RX-78 figures basically come with different gear options. The Stage 1 figure has a beam rifle, Stage 2 introduces the bazooka, Stage 3 features the beam saber and here it is time for the dual bazooka from the assault on A Baoa Qu. I find it quite stylish for being an early figure. There are vey few G3 figures in this line and I think this would be a suitable candidate for a custom paint.






MS-09 Dom (Ver.3.0)


No one would be surprised to find three RX-78 figures among the first four sets but having three different Doms already is a real treat. The reason for this can be found in the Black Tri-Stars and their Jet Stream Attack. The figure from Stage 2 comes with a heat saber, version 2.0 from Stage 3 holds up a bazooka with both arms and the last member of the trio also wields a bazooka but is content with resting it on its right shoulder only. I'd love to pose the trio for comparison here but I am still missing out on that sweet 2.0 variant, even though it was reissued in Stage 10! This figure on the other hand is the only one of the trio that was not reissued at all.






YMS-15 Gyan (Ver.1.0)


Nobody in their right mind would design a mobile suit for close combat only. as cool as that beam saber might be surely a back-up rifle (or even Zaku Machinegun) would have come in handy. The paintjob is a little bit scruffy on these early figures but they are so small that it shouldn't bother you. I'd really like to see the missile compartments on the shield having some additional detail (déjà vu from the Converge review from a few days ago already...).






MS-14S Gelgoog (Char's Custom) (Ver.1.0)


The Gelgoog is a really solid suit design, and while it can wield a beam naginata like the best of them a beam rifle will always save the day. This figure has a little bit of trouble posing the way the sculptor intended it to, the rubbery pegs for the arms don't always fit that well and I had to trim them down here and there. It would have been nice to get a shield on the figure's back but it would probably have been left unpainted by Bandai anyway.


Char is backed up by a pair of mass-production MS-14A machines sporting beam naginatas. Somehow I think it would have made more sense to switch the weapons around. Notice that neither figure has access to a shield - this has got to be a cost-cutting decision right there.






MAN-08 Elmeth


Next up we have a mobile armor. I guess it was easier to cover the more exotic types back in 1998 when the number of suits to choose from was considerably smaller but there is still a surprising amount of mobile armor to find in the full color line-up. The Elmeth is perhaps one of the least memorable designs out there which might explain its rare appearances in figure form. I mean, it is named like a helmet and looks like one.


The most interesting thing about this figure is the care that was taken into its form. The hull consists of two major parts where Bandai could just as easily have gone for a solid lump of plastic. It sure looks as if the figure was designed with the intent of having movable cannons, likely scrapped due to budgetary constraints or the technology just wasn't there yet. Bring on that Bandai Gashapon book already, inquiring minds want to know. :)


Lalah did get those moving cannons in the end and a couple of newtype bit weapons too. The up-gunned figure hails from one of the two SD Full Color DX sets and can be a bit tricky to find (though not half as difficult as the figures from the second DX set...).






MSN-02 Zeong (Ver.1.0)


Coming in at the last slot is Char's last hurrah the legless Zeong, a design I do not care for that much. The figure is pretty solid though.


Bandai gave the figure legs and had it reappear as the Perfect Zeong in Stage 5 (the two were then reissued once each, in Stage 10 and Stage 17 respectively). There is a flying 2.0 variant that sits on a peg in Stage 37 (which I do not own) as well as another flying variant, the 3.0 with High Mobility Gear as seen here, in Stage 48. Then there is a really obscure version in Stage 61 that I do not even have a good reference photograph of and finally the Perfect Zeong returns in its DX variant with its little Char Aznable pilot figurine.






Conclusion

I love the early SD Full Color sets with their chunky and static little figures just as much as the later more technically accomplished designs. The figures in this set (or their reissued counterparts) should be relatively easy to come by, especially if you are looking into lots of people's old collections.

Gundam Converge 10th Anniversary #Selection 01

As Converge soldiers on with its various ten year anniversary releases we now have the first Anniversay Selection figure set on our hands. I guess it could be argued that the Converge Gold and UC Special Selection sets could fall under a similar banner along of course with the two CORE special Gundam UC and AC sets from last year. It will be followed shortly by Selection 02 in May and I believe a third set is also planned. This set also marks the return of the Revive concept where a previous figure is reissued under its old release number.


These figures are as you can see, packaged like your average retail figures. I have noticed over the past couple of sets that the prices on the secondary market are quite high upon release. Mandarake for instance began selling these figures at prices between ¥1000-1500 indicating a certain hype centered around the brand. I have notced that prices will drop off a bit over time so if you are on a budget it can be worth to keep your head cool for a couple of months or a year when it comes to picking up the less popular suits from a set. The opposite often holds true for the popular figures which tend to continue to go up in price instead.


Now straight off the bat, let's just get this out of the way. Ho boy, if you have a thing about quality control issues this set will go down with you like a lead balloon. The figures that showed up here have all sorts of minor paint inconsistencies, scraping and smudges - beyond what you could normally expect from a retail set. I don't know if they set the bar too high here but as a consumer I find it hard to appreciate the detailed paint work when there are ugly blemishes left and right. From a mechanical point of view I had no obvious issues with the base plates which were a real sour point of some of the figures of the previous wave. Alright, with that out of the way, let's move on.



266 : ASW-G-08 Gundam Barbatos Lupus Rex


Bandai held a poll quite some time ago were they invited readers to vote for their favourite mobile suits to be made in Converge form as well as for already released suits to make a return. I have completely forgotten how the poll results turned out by now but I do believe that we are seeing reader's favourites on the roster here. Whether or not they were the actual top choices only Bandai will know. Whatever the case it is nice to see the Barbatos on the display again. Its first form appeared in early 2016 and the Barbatos Lupus followed the next year. Since the it has been dead quiet on the Iron Blooded Orphans front for five years! I feel like I say this about everything but I really wouldn't mind seeing the suits from this series stomping onto the Converge arena as the designs are quite original and exotic.


The Barbatos Lupus Rex is the final form of the Barbatos and mostly resembles a mechanical Werewolf with its knuckle-dragging length of arms. Its scratching claws are paired with a tail blade as well as an optional right hand with an enormous mace.


I do have to say that I find some of the artistic choices in this set rather uninspiring. I can't see why the artist though it would make sense to make this ridiculously long tail when half the length would have been more than good enough. Apart from the weird proportions it also makes the figure impractical for in one of those display boxes Bandai are currently plugging, I don't know why this was not reconsidered. You can of course remove the part entirely to bring the figure in line with the rest of your collection, but where is the fun in that?


Evolution of the Gundam Barbatos from Converge #02 (released in April 2016), the Barbatos Lupus from Converge #05 (January 2017) and the new Barbatos Lupus Rex. Notice how the figures are slowly getting taller. This reminds me of how the RX-78-2 Gundam got taller in the recent #22 set - are we going to see a new round of resculpted and resized figures again?






267 : YMS-15 Gyan


The Gyan is an old Converge legend which has been a bit tricky to find for a while now. Ten years has passed since its previous release and now Bandai gives it a new treatment including better show accurate colours. The original figure was quite sleek in comparison to the new one which seems to be missing a neck. My figure has a very unsightly blemish on its cheek, this is dirt or paint that as eaten its way into the paint and an attempt to fix it will likely see the paint scraped off. Poor effort from Bandai here, I might even purchase a replacement.


The Gyan figure comes with a beautiful two part beam saber with a translucent blade, as well as its iconic shield. I kind of wish that the shield missile compartments had been painted black. If I do indeed buy a second figure I will make an attempt at that myself.


The original Gyan figure carries figure number 26 and was released in the original fourth wave in September 2011. Like many of the early generation Zeonic figures its colours are not as show-accurate as the revised figures but I do like its overall proportions even though the figure has a more cartoonish feel to it. Notice that the original beam saber accessory was just as fancy as the new one.






268 : EMS-10 Zudah (Unit I)


The second completely new mobile suit on offer here is the prototype Zudah which is a bit of a dark horse and not seen in figure form very often. The #Selection 01 set comes with two different versions which differ primarily in which accessories are included and they feature slightly different head sculpts to represent the various prototype machines. Unit 1 here has a typical Zeonic commander's antenna and a massive 135mm Anti-Ship Rifle. Once again I have to question the artistic (and practical) choice of making these ridiculously long accessories. I get that some people will probably really enjoy this but to me it just looks akin to putting a 1:35 rifle in the hands of a 1:72 figure... Not a fan.


While I might be coming out a bit hard on this set I really do appreciate all the effort that went into the design of these figures, and the Zudah with its metallic colour detail belongs to the cream of the crop. This made it extra painful to find pretty obvious paint flaws on both of the figures I received. The commander's unit has a large chunk of silver paint missing on its Heat Hawk (which isn't that noticeable when it is stowed on the leg), I suspect that I will not be the only collector to encounter these disappointments.






269 : EMS-10 Zudah (Unit II/III / Spare Machine)


We continue with the rank- and file Zudah which gets to represent a number of different machines. It is the same figure as the Commander's version Unit 1 with two new removable upper head components that allow you to display the machines different heads much like the previous Converge Geara Doga design. This figure had the only total write-off component; one of the optional head pieces has a really nasty deformation that looks like it was cut off from a sprue with a rusty spoon. I have a second figure on order already since I was planning to display one of each head-type, hopefully this is just a freak occurrence, I will be very disappointed if this is a common theme.


This figure comes with a classic Machine Gun in instead of the Anti Ship Rifle but you can also choose to use the Heat Hawk instead. There is no weapon holding left-hand for the figure so you are stuck with one weapon only, a pair of Heat Hawks could have looked great. By the way, notice the L1 and R1 markings on the front skirt, what is up with that? I can't imagine this is canon - it looks more like something you would see on the flip-side of Ensemble components as an assembly instruction...


Here is the figure with the optional headpiece (similar to Unit 1 sans the antenna) and wielding the Heat Hawk. While I didn't choose to show it off here you can of course also reposition its monoeye.


Review update: I purchased a second copy of this figure and the top of its head was squeaky clean, luck of the draw will continue to reign supreme with Converge it seems.






152' : RX-178 Gundam Mk-II (Titans 01/02/03) (Revive Ver.)


The Gyan above is a resculpt of an old figure but at the tail end of this set we find a pair of figures that are reissues of figures that were already resculpted and sold under the #Sharp generation of Converge. We saw the most recent incarnation of the Mk-II appear in 2017 and here it is making its comeback. However, the new figure gets rid of the tired Gashapon-style "buy and get Unit 01, 02 or 03 randomly" marketing practice and instead gives you everything you need in one box which is a major improvement. Sadly, look at those ugly blemishes on the shield. Man, this set has really been jinxed.


The Mk-II comes with a beam rifle and a shield as well as three different left shoulders marked with the three unit designations for you to pick and choose between. This of course didn't stop me from buying three figures but casual collectors will be happy to know that one box will be enough to get Unit 03 (because let's face it, that was the expensive one on the secondary market). I think Bandai missed a trick here; I would have preferred three different figures each holding a different weapon. I did a display like that with the old figures, lending a Hyper Bazooka to Unit 01 and a Gundam Exia Beam Saber to Unit 02 and the result was great.


Apart from the optional shoulder pieces included with the Revive figure it also looks like the new figure has a slightly darker blue tone, and the unit number marking is more distinct. I thought that a Revive version figure would be pretty much interchangeable with the older version. Perhaps Bandai wants you to buy three of the new figure rather than just filling out any gap you might have had in the old line-up. :)


Old and new Mk-II's of the Sharp generation. To get the white A.E.U.G. version you still need to seek out the pricey CORE 012 set which bundles it with the G-Defenser.






121' : MSN-04 Sazabi (Revive Ver.)


Last up we have a Sazabi. I guess people keep voting for this thing like crazy but this seems like a lazy choice, we had one in the Char's History set as late as last year. Well, I guess f you don't fancy paying for CORE products here is your chance to get (another) Sazabi figure which is pretty much like the original one from 2016 except that... you guessed it the shield looks a bit messed up. Seriously, I have never seen a set with so many manufacturing flaws as this one. Poor effort.


The Sazabi figure comes with a healthy weapon selection (just like the original figure, so nothing new here...) and that kind of makes me wish that the Mk-II Gundam could have gotten some nice gear options as well.


The revived Sazabi (on the right) has a slightly darker colour tones than the original figure from #Sharp 01 released in December 2015. I don't see any reason to pick up the new figure if you already own the first version.


The first generation Sazabi figure was rather rare but this resculpt has been seen four times in six years already. From left to right here we have the original Sazabi from #Sharp 01 (December 2015), the metallic colour version from the CORE 010 twin-pack (also featuring the RX-93) from April 2017, the shiny and additionally marked Sazabi from the Trail of the red Comet box-set (CORE 022, August 2020) and the revive figure. At least with all these versions you can display the different gear options simultaneously which is pretty cool.


For completeness' sake, here are the same figures together with the original Sazabi sculpts from Converge EX01 (top left) and the metallic SP01 figure (top center), both of which were also bundled with the RX-93. I still think the original sculpt is much better and intimidating.






Conclusion

All in all I have to say #Selection 01 is a really mixed bag. It features some really cool new suits as well as less interesting revives and a whole slew of quality control issues and questionable stylistic choices. I have really been looking forward to the upcoming #Selection 02 set and especially the CORE Stardust Memory-themed set (both of which ship in May) but if this is the level of quality we can expect I think Converge will lose a lot of the goodwill it has so patiently been building up over the years.