Today we are looking at the second Converge 10 Year Anniversary special which was released in May 2022. The set consists of "winners" from a big revival vote where customers were invited to vote for their favourite suits not yet released, as well as the reissuing of figures that have since become scarce. You can see the little numbered crowns on the boxes indicating how well they faired in the votes and the revival figures also have a little ' character in the number to help distinguish them.
The figures come in the regular Converge #Sharp boxes and the set features a mix of one- and two-bag figures which is slowly becoming the new norm. As is common, delicate and fragile pieces are supported by light cardboard but the compartments in the plastic bags are much larger than these supporting pieces and so they often end up doing little to no help.
270 : RX-78GP01-Fb Gundam GP01 "Zephyrantes" Full Burnern
First out is the GP01 which apparently made it to fifth place in the thirst for new figures, perhaps a bit of a surprise? Somewhat ironically the Stardust Memory focus has been in full swing for the past couple of months in various Bandai figure series from Robot Spirits to Ensemble. The base GP01 and the GP02A were literally released in parallel on the Ensemble side (and the GP03S is coming) which is strange since there appears to be no overlap.
The Full Burnern figure is certainly looking the part. I especially like its space-themed bluish-white colour (which doesn't necessarily show too well in my pictures) and it as a nicely painted shield. The solid shoulder thrusters are quite large and heavy and can present issues for the figure to stand up without the use of its base.
The new Zephyranthes figure is quite large compared not only to its predecessors but also compare to the other figures in this wave. Seen here are the base GP01 (Converge volume 8, released in October 2012) and the old GP01-Fb figure from the SP05 box set from December 2014.
271 : MSM-04 Acguy
The Acguy made it to ninth place in the vote and would likely have been released through the #Sharp line eventually considering how Bandai has been re-doing all the UC0079 Zeonic suits including the Z'Gok and the Gogg already. Many of the resculpted Zeon suits are quite small but the Acguy figure has increased in size and looks really clean.
We get an option part for the right hand with the Iron Nails extended. I thought this was cool enough to warrant the purchasing of two figures...
The Converge Acguy history starts back in February 2012 with the figure from volume 6, which has been moderately rare on the market since then. It was followed by the promotional "Thunderbolt Bandit Flower" version used by Daryl Lorenz from August 2017, which is just the old figure with metallic colour and a decal on its right arm.
272 : AMX-011S Zaku III Custom
The figure that peaked my interest the most here is the Zaku III Custom which has a brief career near the end of Mobile Suit ZZ Gundam. The Custom is a really beefy suit and at a height of almost 25 meters it has an additional third of extra height compare to your average mobile suit. Thus, I really think Bandai should have saved this figure for the #Plus line where it would have come into its right (together with other large suits from the ZZ-era like the Geymalk and the Zaku III).
The Zaku III S comes with its custom large beam rifle and a couple of propellant tanks that unlike the Thrusters of the Zephyranthes will do nothing to send this figure off balance. The large antenna has a tiny peg hole and looks like a candidate for gluing in place to avoid it being lost.
There aren't a whole lot of Zaku III Custom figures out there, the most interesting one is the STANDart not-to-scale figure also developed by FusionWorks and released back in August 2010. I don't know why they went for white and gray detail on the rifle and propellant tanks as the model seen in the anime appears dark or black all over, although we don't get very many glimpses of it to be frank.
273 : AMX-011S Zaku III Custom (Psycho Pressure Ver.)
Ah, yes we get a colour variant of the Zaku figure in "Psycho Pressure Mode" which translates to a metallic colour version. The anime is pretty sketchy during that battle. Mashymre Cello is jumped by a gang of Döven Wolves and uses some kind of Newtype psychedelic ability which doesn't really look like what we see here. This figure seems like a bit of a lazy colour variant even though it doesn't look half bad.
The best thing about this alternative figure is that it rocks a large translucent beam saber, although my figure appears to have caught a bubble inside the saber which draws attention to itself.
You may want to equip the standard colour figure with the beam saber. Since the standard colour figure features metallic painted hands as well the difference shouldn't be distracting.
151' : XXXG-01H2 Gundam Heavyarms Kai (EW) (Revive Ver.)
The last two figures in this wave are reissues from the Converge #Sharp line-up and while these may generally not be that difficult to come by the Heavyarms figure has been a real exception. It has been trading for ¥5000 on the secondary market for a couple of years now and so this reissue will be a godsend to those who are looking for one. Don't sleep on this one, people.
Not only does Bandai bring back a popular figure to Converge (supposedly number two in the poll) but they also go the extra mile to correct the original figure's most glaring controversy, the half-clown face. I really did not like it at the time and I haven't warmed to it since then either and I remember some disappointed comments about it and so I can only imagine that Bandai will have received quite a lot of flak about it. So the new figure gets an optional head, dropping the pretentious clown mask and going for a traditional Gundam head. This alone makes it a required purchase also for people who own the original figure I think.
You'll notice I didn't bother with the clown face in the photos above but here you can see it on the original figure from Converge #Sharp 06 which released in April 2017. Both versions of the figure come with optional hands that allow you to pose the figure with or without its signature Gatling Cannons. Overall this is an amazing looking figure that could well end up on a shortlist of the prettiest Converge figures ever.
120' : RX-93 Nu Gundam (Revive Ver.)
A bit of a yawn here at the end but clearly the powers that be, and the voters, ranked the RX-93 Nu Gundam as fifth or deserving a reissue. And you just know that Bandai will jump all over this. The Nu already featured in one of the 10th Anniversary premium box sets released in May last year (and which I decided to skip on) but obviously the poll was held before the voters were aware of that release. Bit of a missed opportunity there.
The reissued Nu Gundam figure comes with a nice array of weapons. Besides the beam rifle, bazooka, fin funnels and shield, Bandai have also introduced a really nice looking translucent beam saber for the reissue. I don't know if this accessory was also featured in the premium anniversary set but you may want to grab this figure just for this accessory alone. The sprue with tiny plug-like pieces are used to cover up holes on the figure's shoulders and lower legs were you would attach additional armor and weaponry on the related FA-93HWS Heavy Weapons figure, i guess the cost to redesign the molds here was not worth it.
If you own and are happy with your old Nu Gundam figure (from the first #Sharp set released in December 2015) you will find that the two look pretty much the same. There are some subtle differences here in the face for example but I guess that could be manufacturing inconsistency rather than a redesign.
Conclusion
In spite of some recycling and reissuing of figures in this set I found it to be really good quality unlike some of the quality misfortunes we have seen lately primarily in the Converge #Plus series. I haven't heard if Bandai are planning any further Selection sets (
voting results indicate there will be a third set featuring the Zaku II and the Hi-Nu Gundam), actually there aren't a whole lot of Converge news released for the second half of 2022 so far. Next up we have the Argama spaceship and then the Zeong and Perfect Gundam (guest appearances from the Mobility Joint Gashapon series no doubt) are due in October but I am looking forward to see what the next regular figure set could potentially look like.
