Mobile Suit Ensemble EX 37 : FA-010S Full Armor ZZ Gundam

Ensemble sure loves its premium figures and this is the fifth EX-figure released in 2022, with at least four more following or planned and the full releases schedule for 2022 isn't even out yet. The figure was shipped to customers in June and had a price of ¥5500 which is somewhere around the low-to-medium price range as far as the Ensemble figure goes nowadays, which is pretty insane. I grabbed mine on the secondary market where inflation had carried it to ¥7000. Collecting Ensemble figures has become very expensive hobby indeed.


What is up with the Bandai Namco logo by the way? I've seen it crop up on more and more Gundam products. In Ensemble it has begun appearing on the EX-range figures starting with this one. At first I thought there might be some company re-structuring going on but it is not obvious to me after googling. If anyone has any insights I would be interested to know.


We have seven bags loaded with parts for what may seem a rather complex build. Actually a lot of parts come down to the option of building the Full Armor Gundam or the MSZ-010S Enhanced ZZ Gundam. This requires a fair bit of parts swapping and at first I wondered if it would be cool to purchase two figures and keep one of each. Then I started to think that "hey, this must just be the ZZ-Gundam figure from wave 17 again?". I'm not very familiar with the ZZ and I couldn't remember it being branded as the Enhanced Gundam in the previous release. This made me rather confused, time for some more research...


Comparison of the base ZZ Gundam, the Enhanced ZZ Gundam upgrade and the Full Armor variant. There are some subtle differences between the MSZ-010 and the MSZ-010S, the art-style is a bit different between the two but most of the components appear to be the same. According to the Gundam Wiki, the main changes include larger shoulder binders and different backpacks.


Here you can see the parts for Mobile Suit Ensemble 103 and 104 - the ZZ Gundam Core Top and Core Base - respectively. All the components seen here appear to be here in the EX-figure pack again, some of the joint pieces come on new sprues but that's about it. The fact that we only get the smaller shoulder binders with these figures leads me to say that the original release is indeed the base ZZ Gundam and so technically you can build the MSZ-010S figure by changing one or two components out but for such a small difference I definitely won't bother. I will be recycling some of the images from the Ensemble Part 17 review, starting right here:


This is the basic ZZ Gundam from Ensemble Part 17. Notice that the blue colour used here is slightly lighter than the parts in the EX-set. I can build this very same figure with the components from the EX-box and if I replace the shoulder binders with the larger ones (and maybe switch the backpacks around, still not 100% certain about that part) it should net the MSZ-010S ZZ Gundam. Sorry for being a bit lazy and not assembling it from the EX-figure components but I honestly can't be bothered and I don't like to wear out the joints if I don't need to.


The original Core Top and Core Base figures were mobile armor components and figures in their own right, parts are even included to build the ZZ Gundam's Core Fighter. Bandai didn't bother covering these in the EX-figure build instructions for some reason but still include the components. I would definitely recommend seeking out the original retail figures for these configurations as they will be a lot cheaper.


Ok, with that out of the way let's get back to the main program. Here is the new Full Armor ZZ Gundam figure as assembled from the components in this box. It utilizes clip-on body armor on the legs and arms and looks suitably beefy. The new and larger backpack now features two missile pods that open and close and show an impressive number of teeth inside. The pack has three connector points; two attach to the standard backpack mounts on the figure's back and the last peg attaches to the backskirt. This creates a sturdy figure and the large feet help it stand up properly. Bandai includes a small rectangular-ish base with the standard attachment component so that you can get it into a floating pose. I didn't bother messing with it here as removing a figure from the Ensemble base often results in you tearing the figure apart at the waist...


The main signature weapon of the Full Armor ZZ is of course its stupidly named Hyper Mega Cannon. You attach it to the backpack by removing one of the two missile launchers and let it hang forward. The weapon also has an articulated handlebar for the figure to grip it. I don't know if Bandai intended for the figure to hold the weapon while it is still attached to the backpack or if we are intended to cheat and decouple it from the backpack when it is being hand held. Either way I am well familiar with the frustrations of lining these up from the Converge and Assault Kingdom figures and I am quite happy with just letting the gun dangle from the backpack here.


Here is a side-by-side of the basic ZZ Gundam from Ensemble Part 17 and the Full Armor Gundam. The picture is nearly representative of the two figures you can build out of the box. With the advent of the FA-010S figure Bandai now has the option to create a white FA-010A FAZZ colour variant as a really premium figure, I wonder if they will take the bait. I would certainly purchase one.

In conclusion, the Full Armor ZZ Gundam figure is a nice kit and on the gentler side of premium Ensemble kits as far as your wallet is concerned. Still, unless you are a real ZZ-aficionado you may find that money spent elsewhere might get more interesting variation out of your pricy Ensemble collection.

MegaHouse Gundam Military Generation - Earth Federation Soldier (Wave 2)

MegaHouse is still soldiering on with the GMG collection and we are up to the fourth wave of figures. Up until this point the pattern has been straight forward - each wave consists of three different figures and the designs have been alternating between the Principality of Zeon and the Earth Federation.


Wave four has been out since March 2022 but it always takes a bit of time to source these figures on the secondary market and the prices can fluctuate rapidly. This particular group I managed to find in a box set containing all three but it is also "common" to see the figures sold separately. Currently, single figures usually go for something like ¥3000 to ¥5000 (although recently I came across some for only ¥1500 so it can pay to shop around).


As usual the box set is only a thin white wrap around for three individually packaged figures. The format remains the same as previously with the really large boxes for some extra shelf presence I guess.


The theme for the previous set was Zeon mobile suit pilots so it seems fitting that the Earth Federation gets a suit team of its own. My biggest surprise was that Sayla Mass was chosen to bring some extra flair to the gang rather than Amuro Ray and I am all for it.


The first figure (number 04) is your average male mobile suit pilot. The parts come in two separate blister packages to create as much plastic waste as possible. Some of the smaller components come in typical compartmentalized plastic bags. As you can see he is pretty light on accessories, instead MegaHouse went for a bit of a diorama set-up instead.


The basic pilot follows the traditional anatomy of the GMG figures including double jointed elbows and knees. As always when handling these figures be really gently at first, until you figure out exactly what range of movement you can get from them or you risk breaking the joints. The most fragile part in my experience is the ball joint connecting the foot to the leg, be especially careful there.


Each figure comes with three face options. You can have the same guy wearing a helmet with or without the visor down, or without the helmet. The helmet itself can be opened up and reassembled and so works as an accessory if the pilot does not wear it. I always thought it would be cool if Bandai would ship the figure with different people's heads to encourage army-building but so far that has not happened.


You don't get a while lot of accessories to play with in this set. Each pilot has the same basic pistol (as well as a belt with a tiny holster and two pouches, presumably for ammo clips). Still, if you have been collecting the GMG figures you should already have quite a lot of spare weapons and gear to choose from.


The next soldier (number 05) is the big guy on the team. Bandai sure loves these big boned gentlemen in these GMG sets. Personally I would much have preferred a female pilot but I guess they thought it would be too similar to the Sayla Mass figure. Apart from different diorama components this guy has nearly the same gear as the first, except for a flight pack that attaches to his combat harness.


While there are some subtle differences at first glance the two generic pilot figures look similar. Because of the different proportions however this figure requires a differently sized harness accessory.


There is something funky going on with this pilot's face and he looks more at home on Wall Street than in the cockpit. That's an impressive hairstyle for a soldier by the way. :)


Attaching the harness to a GMG figure is always a bit of a pain because you have to pull off all limbs from the torso first. The harness itself is from very rubbery plastic and is then pulled over the shoulders from underneath. You then carefully reattach all the limbs again and hope that they stick elegantly in place again. Be gentle here as the pegs are delicate and sit in rotating sockets so if you apply to much pressure they can slide away to the side and you risk damaging them.


I generally decided beforehand which of my figures should wear the harness and then don't mess with them again. The effect of the extra layer can be really nice and this flight pack looks great.


If you opt to go for the helmeted heads of the suit pilots you can use the spare heads to customize some of your other GMG figures. This adds a bit of army building possibilities especially if you hide the pilots behind their visors. You can do the same with Sayla's head but her hairstyle is very one-of-a-kind and hard pressed to represent your average grunt.


Speaking about Sayla, here she is (figure number 06). Notice that she gets the same basic accessories and hands except the hands and belt are painted brown instead of white. Her unique accessory is a hinged gold bullion bag that can be opened or closed. This type of accessory is what I like best from the GMG series because they open up for so many creative ideas. I really loved the various combat rations and books that came with the previous figures, much more so than the larger diorama sets.


Sayla's yellow flight suit is really good looking and there are very few figures ever made for it (it is usually the light red crew uniform). We've had female figures with each of the GMG sets before but they never felt quite so flimsy and unstable as this figure does.


The multiple head options are great but honestly I don't know why anyone would opt for the helmeted options here. it was the same thing with the Char Aznable figure from the previous set except in his case I doubt many people would want to display him without his helmet...


Here are all the cockpit components grouped as they come with each figure. Figure 04 has the instrument panel and flight controls, figure five features parts of the seat and the heads up targeting system while figure 06 comes with the floor panel. Notice also that each figure has their own seat belt with sizes intended to fit their different body shapes.


I might not be completely sold on the idea of a cockpit chair instead of action accessories but it certainly looks the part. The attention to detail is great and there are some practical gimmicks. The chair for example has three different positions relative to the controls and the optical sight system can be folded back to the side when not in use. The latter actually involves replacing the extended arm with a short arm, which attaches to the camera component. I decided not to mess with it for fear of damaging something or wear out the joint.


Arm yourself with a lot of patience to get your pilot seated in place. First you have to figure out exactly how to bend the joints to make a believable pose. Then you have to actually get it into the chair without having the cockpit come to pieces. Next you have to fiddle to get the arms and hands into some interesting positions and lastly, when you think you are done, you have to try to get that four-point seatbelt in place. The seatbelt itself is made from really soft rubbery plastic that does not like to go into the peg holes so easily so have some fun with that. I have to give credit though, the end result is pretty cool, especially if you build something up around it. If you decide to get two sets you could probably build an interesting airplane-style cockpit.


I love all the GMG figure sets although I felt that this one was not quite as interesting as the others. I guess this mainly stems from wishing for more smaller action oriented accessories but if the series continues to live on we should be inundated with them anyway. The next release will be something really special. Rather than the standard three-figure wave we will get some special sets focusing on Ramba Ral's soldiers. One pack will contain Ral himself together with Crowely Hamon (who will sadly not be articulated but a statue type figure... wtf?) and another will feature a Zeon solider on a motorcycle. There will also be an option to buy just the motorcycle. These sets are actually supposed to come out now in August if I am informed correctly.