Gundam Converge CORE : Mobile Suit Gundam 00 10th Anniversary

I finally got my hands on the latest Converge CORE offering (just in time for another two to be released this month...), the Mobile Suit Gundam 00 anniversary set, which  features updated versions of the Celestial Being mobile suits that have been released after the Converge Reboot in early 2016. I had expected this set to become a real challenge but I have seen it a few times on Mandarake although they sell out really quickly.

Like most other CORE releases this is a Premium Bandai item and it was released in February 2018 at a price of nearly 6000 yen. And sure enough, I had to pay ¥8000 to grab it on the secondhand market one month later. I have a feeling this is the type of item that will quickly become scarce in the marketplace, even the regular Celestial Being figures seem to fly off the shelves.

All of the figures in this set have been previously releases, well save for the Virtue which was released more or less in tandem with this box which feels a bit silly (especially since it was more pricy than the figure included here).

The box is tiny but it is really loaded with components and of course your blue little Shokugan-style chewing gum.

Here I have opened up the exterior bags to easier showcase the new accessory bags for three of the retail figures (the Virtue doesn't come with any additional parts). We'll now study each mobile suit a bit closer.


GN-001 Gundam Exia

The Converge Gundam Exia figure was already the most involved design and here we get a figure with several new accessories in addition to the old ones. Just look at that equipment selection. Here we have everything from the mighty GN Sword to a pair of shiny beam sabers and a new set of swords that can be both wielded or stowed on the figure's hips.

The Gundam Exia from the Converge reboot was already a fantastic figure and the CORE box version does add some additional paint applications to enhance it even further. As you can see though these new markings are mainly white and blue lines on the shoulders and shield, all in all these are pretty trivial additions though, which hardly justify the release of a new figure in my opinion.

Above you can see the stock retail Gundam Exia from Converge #01 next to the CORE redesign. Apart from the new (questionable) detail markings there are also some minor colour changes; the blue is slightly darker, the translucent green is somewhat lighter, and the yellow parts are now golden metallic. All in all the changes are pretty discrete. The major difference is otherwise the clear action base. I don't like this concept at all, since it stands out like a sore thumb from the other Converge figures.

Here we see the new sword accessories in their stowed or handheld position. There is a little disc on the figure's hip which can be removed and then allow the swords to be attached to the figure. We also get a pair of new holding hands with two swords which is really superb, it is not every day we get such complicated parts swapping in Converge.

The new beam sabers are similar to the old ones except that the hilts are now painted in white. At first I was really curious about how to use them, as there were no loose hands included with the figure. That was until I realized that the hands holding the two swords can actually hold the beam sabers as well...

The beam sabers are really beautiful and I absolutely love them. With so many distinct weapons though I tend to let the Exia pose with the large GN Sword, and I guess I will let the CORE Exia wield its new swords, leaving the beam sabers unused. Fortunately they are great accessories for other Converge figures - I have even purchases some spare retail Exia figures to stock up on a few extra sabers... The Gundam Exia is easily the best figure in this box set and looks good no matter what you choose to pose it with.


GN-002 Gundam Dynames

The Dynames figure feels really Spartan when compared to the previous Exia figure. Here we only get two new accessories, a pair of GN Pistols and new holding hands. I suppose you could steal a beam saber or two from the Exia if you wanted to though.

Looking pretty good. The new Dynnames has a couple of white stripes on its shoulder armour and gives an overall brighter impression than the retail figure.

Side by side the two figures feature distinctly different colour schemes; the retail figure has a very dark green colour compared to the shiny bright green on the CORE figure. And once again the yellows are replaced with golden metallic.

Here the Dynames poses with its two GN Pistols, something that it wouldn't do so effortlessly. I really wish that there was a storage feature for the sniper rifle; it would have looked really good to have it hanging on the right shoulder.

Sadly, I had severe issues with the GN Pistols. For some reason the pegs on the hands are tinier than on the regular Dynames hands, especially on the right side. My figure simply cannot hold a gun in its right hand (except for in a few poses where the hand is simply leaning out of the arm ready to fall at a moment's notice). I have seen a review on youtube where the reviewer appeared to have no issues with this so it seems to be a(nother) quality assurance issue. Very disturbing as Converge has been a solid figure line for most of its life.

Right now I am debating whether or not I should simply glue the right hand GN Pistol to the figure's wrist but until I decide to do such a drastic measure it will be posing with the rifle in one hand and a pistol in the other...


GN-003 Gundam Kyrios

Next up we have the Kyrios, the last of the three figures introduced in the regular Converge line (Virtue was clearly added as an afterthought). The new Kyrios figure has a bit in common with the Dynames in that it comes with only one new accessory which happens to be a pair of GN Missile Launchers.

Looking pretty striking there, friend. I think the Kyrios is the best looking of the Converge Celestial Being bunch. I find its three colour pattern very effective and eyecatching.

The Converge Gundam Kyrios was already a smart looking figure and the new version cranks it up another notch with its refined paint applications of especially the gold metallic detail. The added stripes and text on the CORE figure again feel like the same type of afterthought like we have seen on the other figures in this set.

Luckily I had no issues with the fitting of the missile launchers here; the extra hand sits safely in place. The standard beam submachine gun however doesn't fit very well in the right hand, the grip is very loose. I am also a bit disappointed by the curious idea (no doubt for cost-cutting reasons) to mold the left hand directly onto one of the launchers. Why couldn't we get a simple open left hand and two identical launchers? This would have made it possible to mix and match gear and possibly exchange weapons with other figures. Clearly, Converge could benefit from a bit more standardization work.


GN-005 Gundam Virtue

I didn't bother with a parts display for Virtue since this figure comes with no extras for the CORE anniversary set. Out of all the figures in this box it is the one that most closely mimics the original version, so much so in fact that owning both seems highly superfluous. Notice also those horribly warped legs on my figure.

As you can see there are only a few markings that differ between the two, even the base is the same for the standalone Virtue (which is something I did not fancy about it).

There's even less to say about the Virtue than the other figures. It has the ability to tilt its shoulder launchers but otherwise handles like the standard figure does.

Celestial Being teams from the standard figure line (above) and the CORE box set (below).

Regular weapons loadout vs. new options found in the 00 set (minus one of the GN Pistols which the Dynames can't hold...).

All in all, I am not a big fan by this figure set and it feels like a hugely missed opportunity. And I mean that from a toy perspective of course; no doubt this set has sold well due to the popularity of the Celestial Being mobile suits. While the extra weapons are nice they cannot really compensate for the obvious QA shortcomings, the uninspired box art and an outrageous price tag - this set is for the completists only. Casual collectors would do well to seek out the (three) standard figures instead which command prices of about 800-1000 yen per unit at the moment.

Mobile Suit Ensemble EX 05 : ZMT-S29 Zanneck

When Mobile Suit Ensemble was first announced I was very curious about them, given how similar they looked to the Gundam Converge figures. Actually they looked almost exactly like Converge figures except that now they would be made in hard plastic and feature a lot of articulation. I was mightily disappointed when I finally learnt that they were not size-compatible with Converge and their high prices kind of killed off my interest right off the bat... at least for a while.

My interest was piqued once the series started moving away from the designer comfort zone of Unicorns and RX-78s and moving into Advance of Zeta territory. And when the ludicrously large Hazel Custom and later Dandelion II EX-figures appeared I knew it would only be a question of time until I got sucked in. So, I made a couple of high profile purchases in late 2017 and from then on began slowly building up a Mobile Suit Ensemble collection. Go figure...

This completely useless suzu jingle bell was apparently included as a bonus for people who bought the Zanneck early. Yay...

The first review to appear here on the blog will be the latest MS Ensemble EX offering; the equally funky and silly Zanneck - a design very rarely seen in figure form. As Mobile Suit Ensemble has continued to grow the designers have dared taking steps into some really unusual mobile suit choices and I hope they will manage to keep the series running now that they have worked up some steam. The Zanneck figure is a P-Bandai item released on March 20 2018 where it sold for a whopping ¥3900.

The MS Ensemble Zanneck comes in a flat cardboard box stuffed to the brim with components. Most of the space in the box is taken up by its peculiar flying saucer-like base. The Japanese-style suzu jingle bell that I also got with this item was not included in the box but was given as some sort of bonus item. If you (like me) haven't seen the Victory Gundam anime it will be rather impossible to see a connection between this trinket and the mobile suit. However, as I have since learnt from the Gundam Wiki, apparently Earth Federation newtype pilots could detect the imminent approach of the Zanneck from a sort of bell-like sound. Fine... ok then.

The MS Ensemble figures follow in the recent tradition of other Shokugan and Gashapon figures in that some parts come loose in bags and others sit on small runners. We've seen this also in e.g. the Senshi Forte and Universal Unit figure series.

One important thing to point out here is that not all parts included with the figure should be used. MS Ensemble figures feature standardized joints and hands which come on rounded runners (optimized for being stuffed inside Gashapon balls) but the Zanneck has some additional pieces which replace these. Pay close attention to the instructions when assembling the figure.

So here we have the Zanneck on its flying saucer thingy and rocking its huge mega beam cannon. This weapon is a pain to get into the right position and effectively nullifies most of the figure's articulation in the torso in case you want to field it. On the shoulders sit its two Minovsky Particle Accelerators which generate the power necessary to fire the beam cannon. From what I understand, only the red pieces are the actual particle accelerators while the yellow circles (which are removable) are some sort of beam effect parts.

The Zanneck guarded by two Gedlav mobile suits, one of them sporting a land-based Einerad combat support craft (the Gedlav and the Einerad were both released in MS Ensemble vol. 5 in February 2018).

One thing I wish was included with the Zanneck would be a stand for its base, even the most rudimentary one. When you consider how the MS Ensemble figures feature many holes for action bases it is strange that a couple were not made in the bottom of the base to get some more interesting poses out of it. On these figures I have slid in an Assault Kingdom figure base underneath to raise the figure up from the ground a bit.

There aren't a whole lot of Zanneck figures out there and here is the only other one that I know of. It is a "normally" proportioned Zanneck sans base which was released in the Mecha Selection volume 7 Gashapon set sometime in 2004. The new figure looks more than a little inspired by it as well.

So, is the Zanneck worth the meaty price that Bandai is asking for it? It will most likely come down to how eager you are for something unusual in your collection. My guess would be that a lot of Gundam aficionados treat Victory Gundam with skepticism at best so I wonder if it will become that popular. The other MS Ensemble EX figures have done rather well on the secondary market with prices slowly increasing. Of course those are tried and tested staples like the Full Armor Unicorn and the Kshatriya so it might not be that good of an indication. Still, if you are attracted to this design it is probably a good idea to strike now that it is relatively easily available.

Banpresto Ichiban Kuji Figure Collection : Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt - MS-06 Zaku II

Recently we looked at the Thunderbolt Sector GM released as a prize item for the Ichiban Kuji lottery in 2016. Manufactured by Banpresto this figure series is one of very few aimed at the Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt designs. The figures are somewhat deformed and compact in appearance and mostly resemble the Gundam Converge aesthetic although they are not completely similar.

The Thunderbolt Sector Zaku II appeared as the C-level prize in this series, with the GM coming in as D (the Full Armor Gundam and Psycho Zaku being levels A and B of course). Just like all other figures in this set (except the RB-79 Ball) it comes in a huge box measuring some 18,5 x 20 cm which makes it hard to guess just exactly how big is the figure inside. Well, let's take a closer look.

You will immediately notice that the figure is housed in a cardboard insert which is only about half the size of the box itself, so right off the bat we can see almost 50% excess space in there. Also immediately visible is the instruction leaflet which is shared among all the figures in the set. In the image above you can for example see how to assemble the giant colony cylinder you can collect if you happen to purchase a total of six Gattle or Saberfish fighters (Prizes in category F).

The actual figure comes in a plastic bag with only a few extras, mainly a huge and rather ugly looking action base which is similar to the others used in this set.

The figure's proportions seem very similar to the Gundam Converge figures indeed, although the Banpresto Thunderbolt figures are intended to float around in space and so feature legs in a dangling pose unable to stand on their own.

I have to say the Zaku figure is looking quite smart with its clean and crisp colour scheme, enhanced by the shiny mono eye and nice metallic golden detail. The large backpack is typical for the Thunderbolt design although the figure does not feature the large external booster tank which is supposed to sit on it. This feels like a strange omission and would have made up a bit for the general lack of accessories.

The figure has some simple articulation in its arms as can be seen from the parts explosion above. The head can also move from side to side. Just like the GM in this series the pieces don't really hold together very firmly and excessive manipulation will probably wear out these joints very quickly.

Above we see the Thunderbolt Zaku together with the rival Thunderbolt Sector GM and a pair of Zeonic Gattle-type spacecraft. The scale of the figures doesn't feel very consistent as the GM feels quite large and the Gattles a bit tiny.

Let's end with a few more comparisons to figures of the sizes we normally deal with on the blog. The Thunderbolt Zaku is gigantic compared to a Gundam Converge figure and is roughly the same height as the 1/220 scale Zaku II from Assault Kingdom.

I purchased my Thunderbolt Zaku II from Mandarake and paid ¥1200 for it, which is 50% more than the GM goes for so it appears to be more in demand. These figures currently aren't that hard to dig up but the question is if you want to spend your precious shelf-space on a set of figures which really do not pose well with anything else. I really wish we had some Thunderbolt sector figures in the other more common scales as well as the designs are quite nice.