Banpresto Mobile Suit Gundam Witch From Mercury Miorine Rembran

Banpresto is back again with another prize item from the Witch of Mercury series. We saw Suletta Mercury out in December last year and this Miorine figure followed in April 2023. Being a prize item it is not designed to sit on store shelves but rather be available through various game center activities. It is currently widely available on the secondary market; expect to pay something around ¥1500.


The boxes for these two figures have been really nice; beautiful artwork and above all compact size. Notice the swathe of different Bandai-affiliated logotypes on the front cover as well as the JAIA claw-machine emblem on the top.


Being a simple statue-type figure we have three chunky and sturdy components in a compartmentalized plastic bag. You can easily keep the figure in this box after disassembling it again - something I definitely prefer to the flashy full-size boxes typically used by MegaHouse and Ichiban Kuji.


As you can see, the figure stays perfectly true to what is on the cover. The detail, style and colour choices are all excellent. Both feet of the figure have pegs that attach to the base and so it does not come with any additional support. By the way, I can't help but notice how that red insignia borrows some flair from the Titans logo. If only Bandai would do a line-up of Zeta-era pilots in this style, that would be mental.


The box is similar in style and size to the previous Suletta figure and the two figures have similarly styled bases. Large circular bases like this tend to get in the way for creating any interesting multi-figure poses, you may have to improvise if you would like to create something realistic. Overall, this is a great and cheap figure but probably as a bit of a niche item.

Takara Tomy Tomica Premium Unlimited x Mobile Suit Gundam

Time for an oddity here on the blog; how about some die-cast figures? The Tomica brand is the Japanese equivalent to brands like Matchbox and Hot Wheels and mostly concerns itself with doing contemporary cars and vehicles. They do pop-culture tie-ins from time to time, like Evangelion, Pokemon or Disney, and here comes a set from their Premium line dedicated to Mobile Suit Gundam. The set belongs to the recently named Premium Unlimited brand, which I guess means the figures are not officially limited, but whether they will actually stay in production beyond the first series - who knows? According to Hobbylink Japan the figures were released in March 2023 which is also when I began seeing them on Mandarake where they are currently selling for ¥1000 each.


This set contains three different vehicles from the U.C. 0079 timeline. Tomica actually also released four additional Gundam-themed cars around the same time in their Dream Tomica line. these are concept cars with designs based on the RX-78 and Zaku II, as well as Amuro's buggy with mini-figures of Amuro and Char (in the Lego-esque style normally used by Tomica). These figures will not be covered in the review as they weren't of any interest to me.


The full Tomica x Mobile Suit Gundam series line-up. The buggy isn't half-bad I guess but not compatible with any other Gundam-themed figures so it seemed pointless to get.


The boxes have cardboard inserts to keep the main body of the figure - which is typically metal - from bouncing around inside, while additional detail comes in plastic bags for added protection. As you can see, the figures are non-scale and instead dimensioned to be roughly the same size in between them.




SCV-70 White Base


That's a really nice sculpt and pretty well painted. There is a pretty ugly seam at the top of the fuselage where the materials change. A bit of panel-lining would have been nice since I can imagine it is challenging to apply it yourself. Tomica being a die-cast brand, only the main section of the fuselage appears to be made of metal. The upper section and extremities are made of plastic that is only slightly bendy (yet one of the hangars is leaning inwards). According to the specifics, the main body is made of Zinc alloy and ABS, the rest of the body is PVC and the wheeled action base is made of MABS. Tomica products usually have the scale on the packaging (except when they do smaller trucks and buses for some reason) but it has been omitted in this line. The figure is roughly 72mm long which based off of the official length of 262m (I bet this fluctuates between sources) should place it around 1/365 scale.


The ugly base with wheels is a typical Tomica thing; these are mainly functional toys after all. It is completely optional however and goes into a hexagonal peg hole underneath the hull.


If you are having trouble finding a White Base for your Cosmo Fleet armada you could certainly proxy her with the Tomica figure. The lack of a base would be a problem of course but you can always ship something up with excess bases from Assault Kingdom and the like. Here she is seen patrolling with the Magellan from MegaHouse Cosmo Fleet Collection volume 2.






FF-X7 Core Fighter


What an attractive figure! The sculpt looks really realistic and the colours are vibrant. The gap between the blue and red sections is a bit of an eyesore though, and don't stare too long into the cockpit which has a cylinder in place of where the pilot would sit. The immediate impression when picking up the Core Fighter figure is how heavy it is. The packaging informs us that the body is made out of Zinc alloy and MABS (it feels mostly metal), the wings and rudder are PVC and the landing gear ABS plastic.


The Core Fighter comes in at a length of roughly 67 millimeters. When compared to the official full length of 8.60 meters, this places it at around 1/128 scale.


The landing gear can detach from the main body and leaves a peg hole that - while not designed for it - is compatible with the Assault Kingdom bases.


I don't collect HG 1/144 kits but here you can see the Core Fighter parked next to two non-scale figures - A GM Sniper II from the old Bandai Robot Spirits and the Gundam 04 from Bandai's Mobile Suit in Action series.


Is the Core Fighter a good fit for your Converge collection? Hmm... I'd say not really. It might do the job if you are looking for that elusive Converge Core Fighter model but there are better Gashapon alternatives out there.






G-Fighter


The G-Fighter, lastly, is one of the better looking constructs of the G-P.A.R.T.S. family and the Tomica figure again does a very good job in the likeness and colouring departments. Unlike the Core Fighter figure this one is super light, and mostly made up of plastic with very obvious seams in some places. The main fuselage section is made of Zink alloy and MABS plastic, the guns are ABS, the wings and nose are PVC and the soft treads by rubbery TPR.


The landing gear is an integral part of the G-Fighter design are so are not designed to be removable. You can see it has been firmly bolted in place. You can actually move the treads but I don't recommend messing with them to avoid potential damage.


Size comparison with the G-A.R.M.O.R. from Gundam Converge (a combination of the G-Bull and the G-Sky figures) and the peculiar shaped G-Fighter from mobile Suit Ensemble Part 01.


I was surprised to find there is an official figure of the G-Fighter's length; 15.20 meters. The figure is a bit tricky to measure but is approximately 68mm long, which places it in the 1/220 range somewhere. Here it sits on the flightline together with an E.F.S.F. crew from the FW STANDart 1/220 series. Not a bad fit I think.






Conclusion

This is a neat set of miniatures that may or may not be useful as complements to your Gundam-collection, or perhaps as background clutter in a diorama. The various scales of the models will make them more or less suitable for such a role depending on what exactly you are working with.

Gundam Converge 033 : Return of the Red Comet

In 2020 Bandai released two Char Aznable-themed box sets loaded with red figures from his career. Here comes the spiritual successor to those sets, now centered on Full Frontal - "the second coming of Char" - and some of his battle steeds from the Unicorn era. The set shipped through the Premium Bandai program in March 2023 and was priced at ¥5400.


The box is the typical single colour affair that we usually see in the CORE program, albeit in a red tint instead of the usual black. A QR code leading to the online build instructions is well recommended to visit since no build instructions are included inside and there are a few pieces that might confuse you.


There is no way I would get the bags back in the box in such a neat order. By the way, what is up with that weird star marking inside the lid?


MSN-06S Sinanju


We'll start with the star of the show, the mighty Sinanju. And it is looking really good too. The mobile suit is for some reason rarely seen in Converge. It made its initial appearance as a retail figure in 2011 and was then followed by more expensive offerings in the SP, EX and now CORE program respectively. This figure is actually a reissue of the 2018 EX Sinanju Full Weapon Set figure but with metallic paint and some additional markings for the heck of it, which is par for the course when it comes to CORE.

Comparison of the components with the 2023 CORE figure on top and the older EX figure from 2018 at the bottom. As you can see there has been no major upgrade to the figure except the painting, and that the original figure's assembly instructions are now omitted in paper form.


We have had some questionable level of quality control on many recent Gundam Converge releases but I am happy to report that the figures I received in this set look immaculate. Not sure if the quality is consistent since I got a real stinker through Converge CORE as late as last winter.


There are a lot of cool optional armaments included with the figure; you can see some of the optional weapon choices above. Bonus points for Bandai here, they included a lot of nice translucent effect parts. Notice that the beam axes are included as regular handheld weapons and in a combined form forming a naginata, where a right hand has been molded directly onto the weapon. The proportions of some of these weapons make it tricky to pose them when the figure is standing flatly on the ground.


You can pick the beam rifle apart to attach the bazooka as an underslung grenade launcher. The beam axes also fit on the shield making it really tricky to wield unless you put the figure on the flying stand.


I have moaned about the excessive length of some weapons on the recent Converge figures and I don't think these oversized weapons are well suited for the average Converge figure. In the case of the Sinanju the oversized gear works better when the suit is being held up in the air.


Even though the original Sinanju Full Weapon Set figure was released two years into the new Converge #Sharp series the figure retains the first generation clear support piece that clips to its ankles rather than the redesigned pegged bases that were introduced with #Sharp. Its flight stand has received a small modification; one of the corners at the top of the bases now has a little extra tip that reaches up towards the figure to help keep it in place.


Side by side view with the original EX23 Full Weapon Set figure. Your opinion might vary as to which colour variant is the best - personally I mainly like the new figure's metallic gray weapons over the old ones.


The Sinanju began its life as a rather orange basic figure with no shield released in Converge volume 4 in September of 2011. It returned in dark red metallic colour as an SP figure in August 2012 with its bazooka attachment and a really nicely painted shield. The Full Weapon Set figure appeared as EX23 in August 2018 and now almost five years later we have the metallic colour version of it on offer. Who knows if and when it will make another Converge appearance?





MSN-06S Sinanju Stein (Unicorn ver.)


Ever since I laid eyes on its 1:220 STANDart figure the Stein has been one of my favourite suits and I love Bandai for bringing it back one more time. This time we are getting a really bright white Unicorn version as opposed to the medium gray we saw on both the original and revisited Narrative version figures. I definitely prefer the gray figure but hey, it is nice to have something different. The Stein's heavy beam rifle came out of the box a bit bent but otherwise in great shape.


The Stein comes with a more traditional level of accessories and a modern #Sharp action base. An optional closed left hand fist is also included which is a neat touch (most Converge figures will have a closed left hand so it is actually the left holding hand that is novel here).


I'm really digging the new beam saber accessories included with the figure although I will stick to using just one and a shield, leaving one as possible salvage for another Converge figure, the white Gaplant for example comes to mind.


The Sinanju Stein was released in December 2018 in its Mobile Suit Gundam Narrative appearance style. You can see subtle sculpt changes in the two figures everywhere. We of course also have the Sinanju stuck inside the Neo Zeong II (EX27, released in September 2019). I was lazy here and uploaded an old photo rather than putting them all in the same frame since the Neo Zeong II currently has the Narrative Gundam inside it. Perhaps I should buy another one but I am holding out waiting for the inevitable CORE metal colour Neo Zeong II...





AMS-119C Geara Doga (Full Frontal use)


The last figure in the trio is a figure I had plan to convert for a while now so now I can finally focus that energy somewhere else. We are basically looking at a repaint of Rezyn Schnyder's Geara Doga from Converge #04 (October 2016) but with a brand new accessory, the Sturmgewehr-stylized beam machine gun. This figure was also out for the longest time in the STANDart figure series so it is nice to finally see it pop up in Converge.


We get a lot of optional weapons for the Geara Doga but all have been seen in Converge before except the new custom machine gun. If I were to make a request it would have been for the tips of the Sturmfaust to be painted orange but I don't know if Frontal's machine carried them in the first place anyway.


Display of the various weapon systems on offer. It would have been nice if the Geara Doga had also received an optional left hand able to hold weapons for some interesting combinations.


The mass production type Geara Doga first appeared in Converge #03 in July 2016 and featured two optional head sculpts as seen on display here. Rezyn Schnyder's custom blue machine followed in Converge #04 in October of the same year and now we have a full line-up some six and a half years later.







When Bandai released the new Guntank figure in Converge #11 they included a base without a peg for it to stand on. I think that could have been a nice compromise also for the Sinanju figure in this set. It still baffles me that Converge and Ensemble throw in completely different looking bases from time to time.





Conclusion

In summary, this is an excellent figure set and from what I have seen it is in great shape also from a quality control perspective. Still, it might be of limited interest to those who already own the Perfect Weapon Set Sinanju, unless you are also dying for a Full Frontal custom Geara Doga. The set is currently selling for ¥7000 over at Mandarake and is probably going to climb a bit further so I wouldn't sleep on it if you plan to pick one up.