SD Gundam Full Color Stage 20 - Gundam Special

Stage 20 was released in October 2000 and - according to the Bandai page - serves as a 4-year jubilee for the series as a whole. This doesn't really make a whole lot of sense to me. As far as I can tell the Full Color series was launched in October 1997, effectively making this the three year anniversary (unless you count full years on your fingers I guess). The set is themed as the "Gundam Special" featuring only mobile suits with the word Gundam in their names.


Not much assembly to be done here. Most of the figures are fully assembled from scratch and feature the odd articulated limb or head here and there.



104 : RX-78-3 Gundam G-3


Surprisingly, there is no RX-78 in this set but we do get its cousin the G-3 in its place. This is the first of only two G-3s to feature in the Full Color series; first appearance though was actually as a promo figure for the Comic BomBom magazine in 1999. This figure is the darkest of all the G-3 figures and the best looking in my opinion.


G-3s from left to right: Stage 20 (October 2000), "Stage 0" (Comic BomBom promo from 1999), Stage 63 (February 2006) and a more articulated version from the Full Color Custom series (Volume 14, November 2007).






105 : FA-78-1 Full Armor Gundam (Ver.1.0)


Stage 20 premieres the Full Armor Gundam from the MSV design series. The super compact format of the SD series means its colours are vastly reduced to olive green with some orange detail on its front skirt. Unarmored sections in white are completely absent which makes the figure quite dark but at least it stands out in your collection...


The Full Armor Gundam exists in two variants in the Full Color series - its blue variant was released later in Stage 29 in November 2001. The green suit also returns in SD Full Color Custom Stage 12 in 2007 but I don't have that figure at hand for a comparison. Interestingly the Full Armor Gundam is not present at all in the slightly larger NEXT/DASH/Senshi Forte-family, although it popped up in both colour variants in the Micro Wars line in 2020 just as that series folded.






106 : MSZ-006 Z Gundam (Ver.3.0)


This is the third appearance of the Z Gundam and the first time for it to wield a beam saber. I think this is one of the best variants in the SD line; the sculpt is not overly clumsy and there is a lot of nice colour on it.


There are quite a few Zetas in the SD Full Color series and their colours and proportions vary wildly as you can see from the combatants on display here.

Top row: Stage 12 (December 1999), Stage 60 with a Hyper Mega Launcher and curiously upside down colour scheme on its shield (October 2005), flying with beam Emitter from Stage 49 (May 2004), a bulky saber-wielder from Stage 44 (October 2003) and in Waverider form entering atmosphere (Stage 63, February 2006).

Bottom row: A Waverider with Hyper Mega Launcher released together with the Stage 12 figure (the weapons are interchangeable), a Karaba-colours Zeta Plus (Stage 33, May 2002), a very pale-looking dual wielder (Full Color Custom 15, January 2008), Saber-boy from this set and the first ever full color Zeta from Stage 8 (April 1999).






107 : RX-178 Gundam Mk-II (A.E.U.G.) (Ver.2.0)


We have another saber-rattler from Zeta in the set. The white Mk-II makes it second appearance here (third if you count the Super Gundam in Stage 12, Bandai doesn't...) with an unusual pose with the beam saber in its left hand and the right hand firmly clenched. While the figure is mostly white the differently coloured Vulcan headband and backpack improves its look from all angles. Just like with the Z Gundam, I think the figure in this set is the one with the best proportions of the bunch out there. It can be hard to get a decent balance between head size, shoulder width and so on in SD figures but I think Stage 20 is absolutely killing it in this regard.


There are a lot of different loadouts for the Mk-II figures in the SD line-up. Top row left to right: The Super Gundam variant from Stage 12, a very green-eyed Mk-II from Stage 27 (also compatible with the G-Defenser figure from that same wave) and a Gundam riding on Flying Armor from Stage 45. The bottom row has an awkwardly posed saber-wielder from Stage 48, the Stage 20 figure and the very first A.E.U.G. Mk-II carrying a bazooka from Stage 7.






108 : GF13-017NJ Shining Gundam (Battle Mode ver.)


Stage 20 also introduces the first two faces from the Mobile Fighter G Gundam television series. There aren't a whole lot of these suits in the SD series and most of them are variants on the Shining or God Gundam. In its first outing we get a rather nicely painted Shining Gundam with its left arm stretched out ready to deliver a painful "Shining Shot" from its twin forearm beam guns.


The Shining Gundam returns in Stage 33 in Super Mode form and as a rather diminutive figure in the short lived SD Gundam Bind series' third volume released in 2009.






109 : GF13-001NHII Master Gundam


You can't say Shining Gundam without immediately summoning a Master Gundam figure to give it some tough love. The black Gundam with its signature head shape comes in a ready for battle pose and wings folded on its back. As figures go it isn't the most interesting but I always love figures that come in a strikingly different colour and in that regard the Master Gundam delivers.


The Master Gundam has a second appearance in Full Color Stage 32 where it gets to go up against the God Gundam (and being aided by Fuunsaiki). The two figures are remarkably similar in pose which is a bit disappoinitng. The easiest way to tell them apart is that the version-2 figure sports yellow paint apps on its chest vents.


As quirky as the G Gundam mobile suits often are, I think the SD figure range is the perfect battleground for them to prosper. It is a shame that not more of them were scattered out among the Full Color sets. Imagine how cool it would be to have a couple of extra fighters like the Spiegel and the Dragon Gundam and some Death Army minions for them to clobber - truly a missed opportunity.




Conclusion

Personally I tend to gush over figure sets that feature army builder grunt-style suits but there is no denying that Stage 20 is a great mix of well-executed SD-figures. I get the impression that the SD series peaked somewhere in the volume 25-30 range, at least those figures tend to be the ones I encounter the most and these don't appear to be nearly as common. You will most likely come across them in mixed lots on auction sites or as the occasional set on secondary market sites like Mandarake. I picked up one such set there last year for ¥1000. As usual, mark ups tend to be way more aggressive outside of Southeast Asia so keep that in mind before overspending.

MegaHouse Excellent Model RAHDXG.A.NEO - Ramba Ral

A while ago we looked at the MegaHouse Dozle Zabi figure (review here), released in tandem with everyone's favourite blue uncle Mr. Ral. It seemed prudent to finally complete the review of the duo so here we are.


MegaHouse likes to reissue popular figures from time to time, and usually do so with completely new packaging, item number and so on. This particular version of the figure is a "limited reprint" from 2014 with the first release being already back in 2008. As far as I know there are no actual differences between the reissue and the original. Since the Dozle figure wasn't reissued at the same time he was purged from the cover art while the original packaging saw the pair posing together on the cover.


The windowed box features a coloured cardboard inlay to act as background and the figure comes sandwiched between plastic covers with an additional plastic bag wrapped around it to protect the paintwork. On the right is a close-up of the barcode.


Man, this Ramba Ral figure really oozes of confidence and gravitas - what a fantastic sculpt this is! All the features are both lifelike and cartoonish at the same time and the colour separation is excellent, aided both by great painting and the 3D-detail. Shading and weathering together with excellent creasing of the uniform brings this character very close to reality. He looks more like 50 than the supposed 35 however, the war has taken its toll (and I imagine having to be bested by some snotty amateur kid doesn't help either...).


Choose your sidearm - this is the single customization option the figure will give you. Later MegaHouse Gundam figures will often feature an optional arm or even head but this is still 2008 tech.


I'm not 100% onboard with the decision to put Ral's boot on a little rock as it takes away from a lot of diorama opportunities. I guess you can always crop the photo a bit if you are going for a hangar or ship bridge scene but I would have preferred a clean baseless option.


Mr. Ral has been reissue twice so far. The original green box from August 2008 features both Dozle and Ral on the cover and are of the same style. The two reprints feature completely different box designs. The December 2018 figure with the Gouf on the cover is stylized to match other contemporary releases - Char's box has a Zaku II face on it, Matilda Ajan's box features a Medea and so on.


Here is the duo back-to-back, as teased on the box cover. Dozle is a real ox and 2.1 meters tall but I still don't think this pose works that well, Ral just seems completely dwarfed. On the last picture I gave him a little podium to stand on (like certain presidents...) and I like them better when they are more level. All in all, both of these figures are great with the sculpt of Ral being one of my absolute favourites across the board.

Bandai Namco Ichiban Kuji Mobile Suit Gundam Witch From Mercury - Suletta Mercury

We don't often get to see Mobile Suit Gundam-themed prize pools in the Ichiban Kuji-lottery. I'm struggling to even remember what the last set was - I believe it was the UC0079 and SEED set in 2021 which featured those enormous Masterlise Mechanics figures of the Freedom and the RX-78. Nevertheless, the premiere of the Witch from Mercury television series was backed up by a wave of its own which premiered in the lottery in November 2022. Tickets ran at 700 yen and would each give you a single shot at this A-level prize. This was the only figure in the set, other prizes were mostly acrylic stand displays, keychain charms and similar bric-a-brac. If you are curious you can see the entire list of prizes here.


The figure comes in one of those unwieldy windowed boxes that are extremely unsuitable for shipping - it is about 25 cm tall and mostly filled with nothing. Still, it keeps the figure safely tucked in a sandwich-style blister pack. Notice the barcode and product code 62400 for easier identification (all different prizes carry the same barcode).


At least one of the advantages of this way of packaging is that very little assembly will be required, and you can view the figure without taking it out of the box although there is only a window on one side. Assembly involves attaching the feet to a circular stand trough pegs, exercise a bit of caution here as you never know when you might have that bad day when you actually manage to break one off.


This depiction of Suletta Mercury (lead character in the Witch From Mercury) carries the additional title Mogumo designed version. I'm not going to pretend to know anything about Japanese animation artists but given that he is listed as the main character designer for the show this seems like an odd description. I imagine it might allude to the original concept art of the character which later evolved to what we can see in the anime today, I don't really know. What I do know though is that this sculpt has the same air of overabundance of energy (which is the hallmark of every annoying character ever) and just exudes a lot of positive feeling. The pose looks a bit odd from the sides and personally I would have preferred a more neutral posture but I can clearly see what the artistic expression is all about. I guess I just like my characters in uniform to be more gloomy and stoic. :)


The paint detail and printing is really crisp across the board and at a level that we can only dream of seeing Premium Brands like Converge CORE also being held to.


I think it is interesting to compare this figure with the other recently released Suletta figure. That figure was also manufactured by Bandai Namco/Banpresto but instead aimed at the shelves of the local gaming arcades. I really do like the compact packaging of the (only slightly) smaller figure.


Based on the box sizes you'd be forgiven to think the size difference between the two figures would be much larger. Here you can clearly see two different styles of sculpts, the details of the Ichiban Kuji figure have been smoothed over for a more cartoon-style design in the smaller figure. The quality still remains very good for both figures and while I personally prefer the Ichiban Kuji sculpt the Banpresto version is perfectly fine on its own and roughly three times cheaper on the secondary market.