SD Gashapon Senshi Forte EX 01 : RX-104FF Penelope

August was a pretty busy month as a Gundam figure collector so now I am taking the opportunity of the September lull to look at an old figure that has been sitting around in its box eagerly awaiting some love for much too long. The Penelope is the first EX figure to come out of the Senshi Forte line and was released under the Premium Bandai program in the end of July 2017. Originally sold for ¥2268 I had to cough up ¥5000 for it on the second hand market already in October the same year. Now almost a year later the price also seems to have stabilized around ¥5000 although I've seen some for as "low" as ¥3500.

So what makes the Senshi Forte Penelope figure that special that you have to set aside funds enough to buy at least a dozen standard figures to secure it? Well, it does come in a slightly larger box than your usual figure, a box decorated with interesting non-descript patterns of grey; you can't even see what it looks like except for a blurry portrait. This is definitely one of those things you need to google before you go for a purchase, which is probably exactly what you, dear reader, might be doing right now...

Upon first inspection we find half a dozen plastic bags with a couple of parts in each. In fact, this figure has a fairly respectable number of components going for it. A small instruction sheet is included but the illustrations are really tiny and not always the easiest to follow. Even after I looked up the illustrations of the Penelope on the official Senshi Forte page I wasn't exactly sure what it is they wanted me to build.

If you have ever built a Gashapon Senshi Forte (or for that matter a Gashapon NEXT or DASH) figure before you will instantly recognize the skeletal components for not one but two figures in the box. Browsing through the parts you also find four feet and four large shoulder pieces but there is only one face. At first I wasn't even sure if this box was going to produce one modular or two separate figures. To sort it out, I got to work with help of the little booklet.

The first thing we are taught to build is the basic mobile suit. I am not familiar with the Hathaway's Flash storyline that this mobile suit has been gathered from, but as I understand it this basic mobile suit is called the RX-104 Odysseus Gundam. It turns into the RX-104FF Penelope when combined with its add-on Fixed Flight Armor Unit.

This figure has all the usual traits of your average Senshi Forte figure. it features the same type of components and number of articulated joints that you would have come to expect. However, apart from the usual soft and bendy plastic used for Senshi Forte figures the Penelope also includes many parts of harder and more brittle plastic which has been painted up. These pieces do not have the same "stay together" properties as the softer plastic parts and tend to fall off rather easy. Case in point on this figure; those weird thrustery things sticking out from its feet.

The Penelope figure comes with two open and two closed fists. Each fist can wield any of the standard Senshi Forte weapons such as the beam rifle included with the figure. The figure also comes with two optional shields that attach to the forearms. Each shield can emit a beam saber and we get two beautiful translucent beam effect parts for this purpose. Sugoi!

In the pictures above the Odysseus Gundam teams up with a pair of E.F.S.F. Gustav Karl mass-produced mobile suits as well as going toe to toe with its rival and successor, the RX-105 Xi Gundam, operated by the terrorist group Mufti. The Xi Gundam was a basic ¥300 figure and it clearly shows in this comparison.

Here is where things take a weirder turn. From the leftover parts in the box we are instructed to piece together the Fixed Flight Armor Unit. It basically looks like a knight's armoured suit hung on a coat rack. The components for the FF unit are mostly made from the harder and more rigid plastic, and they are rather extravagantly painted when compared to other Senshi Forte figures. These pieces are also more prone to fall off; you can even see the right foot ready to fall out of its socket in the pictures above. It looks the part, but is rather flimsy in comparison.

Here the Odysseus poses with its Fixed Flight unit. It looks more like the Gundam is an accessory to the Flight Unit than the other way around. It is not easy to engineer these types of compact figures to transform, and the Gashapon designers have done a commendable job here, although the structure as a whole is prone to fall apart rather easily.

That which cannot be unseen: The Space Chicken head...

Finally we can assemble the RX-104FF Penelope proper. This is where those extra skeletal pieces I mentioned earlier come into play. Thankfully you do not need to tear apart the limbs of the basic Odysseus figure. You can simply assemble a separate pair of arms and legs and then replace the entire limbs. Only the hands and shields need to be transferred over. The Armor Unit parts lock in place around the Gundam figure although the pegs on the front and back armor on my figure did not line up as perfectly as we have come to expect from Bandai. As a result, the armor plates aren't locked in place as well as they should.

When fully assembled the Penelope will tower over the Xi Gundam which now looks very intimidated. Although I am not really a huge fan of the Penelope or Xi I kind of wish they would have beefed up the Xi Gundam a bit; it is almost 50% taller than the average mobile suit after all.

E.F.S.F. versus Mufti -, something only Gashapon Senshi Forte can deliver.

Overall the Senshi Forte Penelope figure is pretty cool and well engineered. The paint job is really nice and even the weapons are painted up. Whether you are prepared to spend ¥5000 on a Gashapon figure is of course an entirely different matter. Considering the range of Senshi Forte figures of mobile suits from the Hathaway's Flash timeline you may well want to complete that line-up but otherwise unless you are a huge fan you could spend this money on some nice army builder units instead methinks.

SD Gashapon Senshi Forte EX 04 : MSN-04II Nightingale

The Nightingale has to be one of the most bizarre looking mobile suits in the U.C.timeline. And the fact that it also steals the spotlight from the instant classic Sazabi design is even more weird. And while the Sazabi can be seen as a figure or model kit in just about any scale the Nightingale has to make do with much less exposure. We actually had a compact version released in Gundam Converge about a year and half ago and it also featured in the brief Mini Kit Collection series in 2016 but these are the only appearances as far as I am aware of. Now Gashapon Senshi Forte joins in on the fun with its own ultra-compact take on the design.

The Senshi Forte Nightingale is a Premium Bandai figure and was released tis May with a price tag of ¥3000 or ten times the price of your average Senshi Forte figure. While it may seem strange that Bandai are doing the Nightingale rather than the evergreen Sazabi this can be explained by the already strong line-up of mobile suits from the Beltorchika's Children/Hathaway's Flash alternative timeline. The Nightingale joins a pair of Geara Dogas and also sees opponents from the E.F.S.F. like the Gustav Karl, Hi-Nu Gundam and Penelope and Mufti terrorist suits like the Xi Gundam and Messer.

Apart from being an obscure rival to the Sazabi the fact that we rarely see the Nightingale is likely related to the outlandish and over the top visual style of the design itself. This mobile suit simply bulges and points in every direction at once. Taking such a messy design and then compacting it further into Super Deformed format is a real challenge for the engineers.

As you can see the box is loaded with weird looking and very detailed parts mostly molded in soft and bendy plastic which gives the figure good survivability. An easy to follow instruction leaflet in the box greatly aids in assembling the machine.

The pictures speak for themselves. This mobile suit looks like none other. While it has several common traits with the Sazabi the concept is just sooo outlandish and weird looking. It is not an unattractive figure, but I can't really say that I am a big fan of the design. Even the Sazabi itself suddenly seems functional and economical design in comparison.

Armament options for the Nightingale.

The figure retains the standard Senshi Forte articulation which amounts to legs and arms attached to ball joints as well as a couple of extra elbow joints for the arms. The head also has a ball joint of its own and the torso and hands can twist. Due to the very cumbersome SD format though, there is not much articulation to be had, there is just huge armor parts getting in the way for much of the moment. No action base is provided with the figure but it features a standard peg hole which is compatible with the stands that come with the regular Senshi Forte figures.

Gashapon Senshi Forte Nightingale (left) together with the Gundam Converge Nightingale (EX14, released February 2017).

The figure comes with two sets of hands; one open and one holding hand for each arm respectively. The weapons can be wielded in either hand but the shield can only be pegged onto the right arm. The booster fuel tanks can be removed as well as the eight tiny little funnel weapons that are pegged into the over dimensioned shoulder pads. The figure also sports two tiny sub arms that are attached just beneath the front skirt where each can wiggle to the left and right.

The Nightingale duelling with the Hi-Nu Gundam which is a regular size Senshi Forte capsule figure.

From an anesthetic point of view I think the Senshi Forte design is miles better than the recent Gundam Converge figure. The SF figure looks more balanced and deadly compared to the Converge figure which was just a big bloated mess.

The Nightingale posing with the Senshi Forte Psyco Gundam (left) and Senshi Forte Queen Mansa (right),

The Nightingale follows two larger Senshi Forte EX figures but does a good job of looking awesome nonetheless. If you are a hardcore Senshi Forte collector you'll want to get this figure simply because it is a real eye catcher although the price and difficulty in obtaining it makes it something easily passable for the more casual SD figure fans out there.

The latest MS Ensemble news...

Mobile Suit Ensemble has been on a roll as of late and through the Gashapon Blog we have now received prototype mock-up photos for the Advance of Zeta Inle Mobile Armor in some of its various configurations. To give you an idea of its size this beast will have a wingspan of half a meter, I'd like to see Bandai try to squeeze this one into a Gashapon capsule. As reported earlier we can expect this beast to come in at 15 000 yen and preorders will open very soon. Lead Designer Kawa explains that once committed this monster will consume the entire factory production line and thus production will be run as soon as enough preorders have been gathered for a complete run. We should probably expect the Inle to be available sometime in early 2019.

Kawa has written a lot about the project of bringing the Inle to life and the blog features a three-parter which is an interesting read if that is your thing.

The Inle will also be accompanied by an additional two Titans Test Team units appearing in volume 08 of the regular figure series. The RX-124 Gundam TR-6 (Hyzenthlay II) and its (Fiver II) add-on will join the Gundam F91 and RGM-109 Heavygun in this set which is scheduled for mid- to late December.

Lastly the tenth MS Ensemble EX figure has also been decided. This will be the Gundam F90 with add-on components to create its F90D Gundam F90 Destroid Type and F90H Gundam F90 Hover Type variations respectively.

Gundam Gsight is here...

Continuing to work through the smaller Gashapon figure ranges we've now added a new check list for the Gundam Gsight range. These are small 1/350 figures which saw a fairly limited two year run. The series contains many familiar U.C. designs as well as scenery and vehicles which also makes the series popular with gamers and diorama builders. Gsight figures are ranging from somewhat common to very rare on the second hand market today.

The latest Gashapon news...

The latest Premium Bandai Mobile Suit Ensemble figure was recently announced by Bandai's lead developer Kawa on the Gashapon blog. The Ensemble line already features several Titans Test Team designs but for EX 09 we are going to see something really unique; the imposing silhouette of the RX-124 Gundam TR-6 [Inle]. The Inle mobile armor is a rather delicate design so the actual Ensemble figure will not be quite as graceful as the development team has to ensure the figure will be sturdy enough. The price will come as a real shock too - the Inle is expected to sell for ¥15000 although Bandai does consider offering free shipping...

In other news, the poster child of Gashapon Senshi Forte volume 08 has now also been revealed. Not a gigantic surprise by any means, the Freedom Gundam follows several SEED mobile suits that are scheduled for volume 07. Here's hoping that we will also see some more SEED grunt suits like the Strike Dagger or the ZAKU Warrior.

Gundam Converge CORE : Psyco Gundam Mk-II Option Parts Set

The purple Converge EX 22 Psyco Gundam Mk-II was recently released and also reviewed here a little while ago. Today's review focuses on the limited edition Option Parts Set which was sold through the Premium Bandai portal and which has been sorted under the CORE brand. This seems a bit disingenuous because CORE is usually reserved for redefinitions of existing figures and everything in this set is new, as well shall see.

I tend to harp on the Converge CORE boxes from time to time but this feels like a new low. Looking at this box, where exactly are the Psyco Gundam components? That's right, there's a tiny little picture in the corner of the back cover and it appears again on the front cover obscured by a Qubeley. In fact the entire box art is clearly focused to the Qubeley but without even clearly indicating which colour it is. Granted this package is not intended for retail exposure but even selling this kit in a plastic Ziploc bag would have been more informational for the customer...

The Psyco Gundam Option Parts Set was released in June 2018 and sold for ¥2100, almost as much as the Psyco Gundam itself. I picked my figure up from Mandarake in July and there it was already selling for ¥3500 so I would advocate caution for collectors interested in this set as it seems to be a bit scarce at the moment.

This box is really stuffed to the brim although when you actually go through the components there isn't really that much going on here.

The parts contained in this set can be arranged under three headings, so we'll look at each of these separately.


Psycommu Arms and Beam Swords

While we don't get much stuff for the Psyco Gundam in this very box we still get a couple of useful components that can be used to greatly enhance and customize its look.

The new psycommu wire controlled arms intended to be controlled by Newtype pilots replace the arms of the standard figure. The new shoulder and forearm pieces are connected via a flexible wire which is attached to the shoulder on a ball joint. Since the wires are made of soft plastic it isn't really possible to make much aggressive posing with the arms - gravity will just send them to the ground.

To remedy this Bandai have included two transparent stands which the forearms can snap on to. This works well although it is not possible to modify the pose, you will get what you see above with minimal variation. Just like with the wire controlled arms of the Zeon Neue Ziel mobile armor I am not really a great fan of this type of accessory. Fortunately there is a better use for these stands as we shall see.

The best part of these new components is that they are compatible with the existing arms of the Psyco Gundam. You can attach the new forearms to the existing shoulders of the Gundam and suddenly you can have the beam swords being emitted directly from the arms. This looks soooooo much better. You can also just simply take the new balled up hands and replace the existing open hands. This is where the customization options become interesting. I should point out that the new left forearm does not have an attachment point for the shield, so these two accessories are not compatible. One beam emitter arm plus the shield on the other is also a very viable option.


AMX-004-2 Qubeley Mk-II (Elpeo Ple use)

I can't help but feel that this Qubeley Mk-II is the main selling point of this "option parts kit". This is basically the red mark two figure that I was missing in the Converge #07 figure set, which only came with the white Mark 1 and the other Mk-II. I actually purchased a second red Qubeley figure with the intent of modding it if necessary which fortunately I can now forget.

Unsurprisingly, the new Qubeley Mk-II figure is a re-colouration of the existing figures. The only apparent new engineering feature here is that the base was made in transparent plastic. We have had the occasional transparent base before and I hate this one just as much as the previous, why mess up the unity of the figure display, it feels like a poor attempt at trying to boost this figure's value. Luckily I have a spare Mk-II figure so I can simply switch the bases and get myself a black one for this figure as well. : )

During the climactic battle at Dublin, the Psyco Gundam Mk-II goes up against the partially disassembled Qubeley Mk-II. During this battle the machines duke it out with bit and reflector bit weapons and the Qubeley also wields a beam saber. While it would have been a bit much to hope for bit weapon accessories the beam saber is a long overdue addition for all the Converge Qubeleys and an optional hand holding one sits at the top of my Qubeley wish list.

Still, it feels good to finally have the entire Qubeley team transferred over to the new Converge mold. Of course there is also the mass production Qubeley and its grey re-colouration but I doubt they will ever show up here.

Comparing the original Converge Qubeley Mk-II (released in November 2013) with its modernized counterpart.

I've said it previously; the new Qubeley sculpt is so much better than the old version. The original Qubeley design looked more like a mosquito and it has several oversized attributes which have been toned down to create a much more formidable looking machine.

The Converge Qubeley family on display. While I would really appreciated the mass production variant to also be transferred over to the new family I am not going to hold my breath.


DODAI Kai

The last individual component of this package is the DODAI Kai subflight system, basically a support aircraft intended for mobile suits that lack flight capacity within the Earth's atmosphere. There are many different designs for this concept in the various Gundam source material but this is the first time we get one of them in Converge format. Considering that FusionWorks are releasing a new Gouf figure in October, wouldn't it have been awesome if they also made a Zeonic DODAI YS aircraft for it to stand on? Hey, a guy can dream, right?

The Converge DODAI Kai first appeared in Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam but is also carried over to the ZZ Gundam television series. It would also have been a natural inclusion with the Psyco Gundam Mk-I figure, and then I could have had two of them scooting around with some various A.E.U.G. or Karaba mobile suits onboard... : )

Above is a comparison shot of the DODAI Kai as it looks in SD Gashapon Senshi Forte, Gundam Converge and Gashapon HG EX appearance. The Converge variant strikes me as a bit small considering the size of the figures. Unlike the Senshi forte figure, the Converge DODAI Kai sits on a little ball joint which offers more choice in how to display it.

To be blunt though, the Converge DODAI Kai is much too small. Take a look at that ZZ Gundam screen shot again and it just seems way too tiny. While functional as a figure base it should have been allowed to look a bit more spectacular I think.

Overall the Psyco Gundam Mk-II Option Parts Set is pretty good value even when you consider its steep price. The DODAI Kai is a nice accessory and can be used with most Converge figures of your choice, the Qubeley Mk-II is such an important cast member for your ZZ Gundam collection to feel incomplete without it, and the few parts actually intended for the Psyco Gundam itself do a great job of making it look that much more interesting. While not an essential purchase, I think there is a lot of value to be had here.

The latest MS Ensemble news...

Mobile Suit Ensemble will do another set revival, reissuing the mobile suits of Part 03 under the new name of Part 3.5. This set will continue repainted versions of the original figures; a Titans official colour Hazel TR-1 as well as the Zeta Gundam and the Acguy in "Marking Plus" versions. The latter two mainly resemble Converge CORE figures which are brought back with a couple of extra lines and dashes painted on them. Ensemble Part 3.5 is scheduled for release in November.

Meanwhile Bandai are gearing up to begin distribution of MS Ensemble Part 07 come the last days of August. It contains the evegreen RX-178 in A.E.U.G. colours (will we see a very pricy triple Titans set in the Premium Bandai catalogue soon?) paired up with the G-Defenser, as well as the Londo Bell Re-GZ and a Geara Doga sparring partner. The weapon set will contain head variations for the Doga (as if building an army of Dogas would be that simple) and its Heavy Weapons Type long range gun. This particular Doga is also set for a limited release on the C3 Hobby Show, however as one of those clear single colour figures, this time in black.