The latest Gundam Converge news...

Holy Toledo! These new Converge behemoths aren't anything to sneeze at. Not one but TWO Pale Riders? Now here's something I can really start longing for. Holy... how many of these should one plan to buy?

First up is the "standard" RX-80PR Pale Rider mobile suit as your standard Converge EX retail figure. The kit will contain gear to configure the machine for either space combat or with heavy land battle equipment. The figure is planned for release in March next year with a recommended price tag of ¥2600.

Second is the Premium Bandai exclusive also set for March 2019. This is a variation on the Pale Rider with the HADES system activated. This is mainly visible in how the visor turns red and some ports open up all over its body and shine yellow, a feature not entirely unlike the Unicorn Destroy Mode. Again the figure features space and land combat gear and the price tag remains the same at ¥2600.

In one way it seems odd that the two options have been separated into different boxes but on the other hand I don't mind as I would want to get multiple figures of it anyway. Bring on March 2019 already!

SD Gashapon Warrior DASH 05

We are rapidly approaching the end of 2018 and with it comes a string of planned or already released figures in Converge, Senshi Forte and Mobile Suit Ensemble. Today however, we will do a stroll down Gashapon memory lane with a closer look at Gashapon Warrior DASH 05, one of the fine sets released in this relative short series of figures.

SD Gashapon Warrior DASH 05 was released in February of 2016 and is already proving to be somewhat elusive on the market. It is especially the three Iron Blooded Orphans mobile suits that are tricky to find, you should still be able to locate the Mobile Workers from Gundam The Origin as well as the odd one out, the SD Superiorlander.

The figures in this set were distributed as random Gashapon capsule toys selling at ¥300 per figure. I have purchased mine as a set as well as a couple of loose extras paying about $3-$4 for each. Unless you are in Japan with boots on the ground your best bet of finding these is probably stumbling on a full set from one of the sellers on eBay.


01 : ASW-G-11 Gundam Gusion Rebake

The Gusion Rebake is a sleek machine from Iron Blooded Orphans with oversized shoulders (which store a pair of folded sub-arms) and a massive rear skirt armour. This armour has a dedicated peg on the mobile suit's back but it can also be attached to the left arm and wielded like a traditional shield.

The mobile suit is armed with two optional weapons which can fit into either hand. A 120mm long range rifle and a large halberd for close combat action.

Overall the figure features a nice colour scheme and attractive facial features although these can be a bit hard to spot under all the oversized head armour. I have never seen this figure sold separately and it is probably the most tricky to track down of the ones in this set.


02 : ASW-G-66 Gundam Kimaris

Going up against the Gusion Rebake is the mighty Kimaris operated by Gjallarhorn. This super deformed figure also sports a nice colour scheme and some really detailed paint applications on its head.

Unlike the Rebake which mustered three accessories the Kimaris has to do with only a combat lance, the Gungnir, for protection. If the name of Odin's spear strikes familiar it may be that you remember Z.A.F.T. deploying a massive EMP device with the same name in Gundam SEED.

While the Gusion Rebake has never been seen again or earlier in Gashapon or Shokugan effort there is a rare incarnation of the Kimaris in the short lived Gashapon series Gundam Frame Operation which was retired after only two sets in 2016.

I also find it a bit strange that neither of these two impressive mobile suit designs have made it to Gundam Converge. FW did start an IBO effort early on in the Converge Reboot but it quickly came to a halt after producing a pair of Barbatos and two variations on the Schwalbe Graze. Hopefully we will see a strong comeback and expansion of this line up either here or in one of the current Gashapon series because there is still a lot to do.


03 : EB-06s Graze Commander Type

As impressive as the previous two figures are, it is still the third Iron Blooded Orphans-design that remains my favourite. Not only because it is a no-nonsense design, but also because it is a mass production type that you can army build. It goes hand in hand of course with the regular olive green ground combat type Graze mobile suit which we were treated to in Gashapon Warrior DASH 04.

The Graze Commander Type figure comes armed with a single 120mm combat rifle which seems a little sparse for an army builder where variation is key. At least Gashapon figures can hold weapons in both hands unlike most of their Gundam Converge counterparts which opens up a couple of possibilities.

The other main gimmick of the Graze (also implemented on the grunt type Graze) is the visor that can open up to reveal its Head Sphere Sensor (or replica of a Zeonic monoeye if you are feeling less generous about is design...).

Gjallarhorn fields three ship units of one Graze Commander Type and two standard Graze mobile suits at the lowest unit level.

The current SD Gashapon line-up of Iron Blooded Orphans designs. A good starting point but there is a lot more that can be done... :)

 
04 : MW-01 Mobile Worker Late Type (Mash Custom)

After the three initial IBO designs we return to the Universal Century timeline for an encounter with an early Zeonic mobile suit design from The Origin. The Zeonic Mobile Worker is an amalgamation of mobile suit and forklift.

Just to make modellers happy there are a number of variations of the Mobile Worker design. We have the Early Type, the Late Type and the Final Type. Only the Late Type has been modelled in Gashapon form thus far.

This red painted version of the mobile suit was used by the man who would eventually be known as Lieutenant Junior Grade Mash, member of the Black Tri-Stars ace unit. The paintwork on this figure is a bit disappointing considering that there are many details that have been completely ignored and the lower part of the body is just all-red.

The DASH 05 Mobile Worker figures feature no accessories but come with two gimmicks of their own. The head can be opened up to reposition the monoeye in traditional Zeonic fashion and the claw on the right hand can be opened and closed. If you have two Mobile Worker figures you can also toy with replacing the left arm on one of them with a second claw arm from the other to give it a bit of a twist.


05 : MW-01 Mobile Worker Late Type (Ramba Ral Custom)

Figure five in this set is a simple colour variation of the previous, replacing the red colour with blue. This is of course the signature colour of Zeon ace pilot Ramba Ral, also known as the Blue Giant. I have yet to read up on the Origin but was this really a thing back then? Ral can hardly have been a mobile suit combat ace at this point when mobile suit warfare was yet to be conceived but perhaps there is some nice ret-con in Origin that explains it all...

The DASH 05 figure is indeed a simple colour swap of Mash's red one. The two figures share the same lack of accessories and feature the same gimmicks.

The Late Type Mobile Worker has also been released in Gundam Converge and was actually given the honour of appearing in the very first Converge Reboot set. As you can see the two figures have a very different vibe going about them.

 
06 : Superiorlander

Bandai has been sticking random SD character figures into Gashapon sets for a while now. This time around we get the Superiorlander (or Superior Lander), which hails from the SD Gundam Gundlander saga. Where the Musha Gundam is inspired by ancient Japan and the Knight Gundam of Feudal Europe the Gundlanders apparently seek their inspiration from the dark ages. Or something to that effect...

I don't know anything about this figure's back story and can only state the obvious here: It is a mobile suit wielding horns, some kind of sword, an Ox-decorated shield and a cape. Because why not?

It is a pretty spectacular design and Bandai have clearly spent a lot of effort on this figure. I wonder if it would have been a more common name with Gundam collectors if only Fumina-chan would have chosen this over that Winning Gundam design...

Superiorlander from DASH 05 (February 2016) and DASH Real Type Color Ver. 01 (August 2016).

The Superiorlander has actually also been released as a "real type" colour variation so the figure can't have fared that bad. Of course it is hard to understand what the "Real Type" moniker actually means for something outside of the Universal Time line but there you go; a figure with shiny metallic colour apps and a more subdued colour scheme. Not bad indeed.

So there you have it folks. Gashapon Warrior DASH 05 features six real dark horse designs with no obvious overused high-profile mobile suits stealing the limelight. Although I am really fond of all the figures in this set this one can clearly be skipped by the more casual collectors out there.

Dengeki Hobby 1:8 Lacus Clyne (Captain Outfit)

The final item for our October One-Off Week is a semi-obscure figure from Dengeki Hobby. This little 1:8 scale Lacus mini was a companion item for the Dengeki Hobby Magazine June 2004 issue as can be seen on the cover image here.

During its run, the magazine often featured special items such as this one and some are more interesting than others (the Advance of Zeta figures and kits come to mind). While these bundled Dengeki items usually aren't too expensive on the second hand market availability can be a bit of an issue. Finding them is often the hard part. I picked mine up a couple of years ago in Japan for... hmm, I think it was about ¥500.

Alright, let's take a closer look inside the pink (of course) box...

As you can see this is not a cheap chunk of plastic with some haphazard paint on it but actually quite the complex design with several layers of individually painted pieces. There is a lot of attention to detail with nice gold trimmings on the sleeves and edges of the captain robe. As you can see, the head sits on a ball joint and the figure can also swivel at the waist. The rest of the parts remain static however for the pose to work.

Now, before we look at the figure, let's just remind ourselves what Captain Lacus Clyne is actually supposed to look like. Here we can see her on the bridge of the Eternal during the battle at Jachin Due during the climactic end phase of Mobile Suit Gundam SEED.

And then... well, then there is the figure from Dengeki...

I guess this figure is a fine example of attention to detail but missing the overall goal. While the details in the outfit are dead on for the most part, the colours seem a bit off. Then there is that soft round face almost looking like a Chibi character. And that intense purple hair... is this Lacus Clyne or the latest entry into the Bratz line?

The figure has an unusual way to make the pieces fit together. Two big lumps of plastic extend from the back of each part of the robe and they are then squeezed together inside a rectangular block locking them tightly in place and keeping the figure together. The base then connects into the very same block. This works really well except that the rod that connects to the base feels a bit flimsy and could have been a bit sturdier.

While you can pose the figure without the robe this means it has no support and the only way to make it stand up is to lean it against something or build your own support which either way will probably end up destroying the floating in space effect which is really the only thing this figure has going for it in the first place.

There is plenty - and I do mean plenty - of Lacus figures on the market and it would be hard to find one that has less likeness than this one. The similarly sized Gashapon ranges are virtually littered with great looking Lacus figures. In this figure's defense however, 90% of them are from SEED Destiny. Finding a Lacus figure with the captain robe from Mobile Suit Gundam SEED is actually not an easy task. The only other example I can think of is a 1:6 scale resin kit from Global which I would love to show off here except that I haven't built it yet...

Above you can see Lacus wearing the same outfit (sans the robe) in the great version released in 2003 in the MegaHouse Excellent Model RAH.DX Gundam Archives line-up. And for something really spectacular, how about the SEED Destiny captain outfit in 1:6 scale from Atelier Sai below? In the end, the Dengeki Hobby figure is little more than a cheap novelty, but I wouldn't hold it past a skilled modeller to kitbash another Gashapon Lacus figure from SEED that has a better likeness and do a headswap. Perhaps a project for me to consider in the future... :)

With this entry we have come to the end of the October One-Off Special. I hope our readers had as much fun as I did in going into some different directions and don't be surprised to see the blog continuing to expand into more figure lines as time goes on.

Seika Sharpener Collection EX : Aile Strike/Strike Rouge (Gundam Ace Magazine)

Back in the dark Pre-Internet era when I was a youngling yet to develop my Newtype potential and become a hoarder of Mobile Suit Gundam related junk I was often found with a pencil in my hand. The pencil was the ultimate tool to take the step into space and countless intergalactic adventures and horrible encounters were found at the spot where the pencil connects to paper. Towards the end of the 20th century the mechanical pencil had pretty much replaced them in everyday use. The sharpener business can't exactly be blooming in the 21st Century. Yet here I am with a large collection of pencil sharpeners that will never get to chew on even a single old pencil... Perhaps this is why Seika worked so hard at pumping out sharpener figures to stay relevant? We've seen several sets of Mobile Suit Gundam sharpener figures as well as other licensed products such as SDF Macross and Evangelion and who knows what else.

The product we are examining today comes from the Seika EX line of extra fancy sharpener figures which are larger than the original series. The EX sharpener figures are declared as 1:280 and there are a couple of sets with figures from Mobile Suit Z Gundam as well as Mobile Suit Gundam SEED. While none of these figures are particularly valuable they are tricky to come by since cheap junk like this doesn't always suit itself well for international trade. I found mine at Mandarake (of course...) and paid ¥1200 for the box.

This particular box is a special for the Gundam Ace magazine and although I don't know the details it most likely came as a freebee with one of their issues during 2004. The box can be seen to refer to SEED Part 2 which is a 12-piece set of EX Sharpeners which these two figures probably are intended to promote. I do actually have a box of figures from that set which I haven't opened up yet, I'll probably get around to reviewing those in the future.

One interesting aspect is that the Aile Strike is not included in that figure set but the Strike Rouge is, it is possible that it exists as a secret colour variation though I suppose. The set does feature two "Impossible to Find Items!". How reassuring...

The Gundam Ace figures come in a compact cardboard box and each is contained within a separate box inside it. The delicate fins of the Aile Striker backpack are made of soft and bendy plastic to keep them safe from breaking, but as you can guess this makes them prime candidates for warping. Even though the Striker packages came with extra cardboard wrapping to protect their shapes the way they came out of the box (as seen below) means you can look forward to lots of trouble trying to bend them into their proper shape again.

Except for the backpacks, the Strike and the Strike Rouge figures are really sharp and on point. They have very detailed paint applications even besting those of Gundam STANDart and come with panel lining and some washes out of the box. Awesome!

The one thing I do not appreciate about these figures is the gigantic footprint they leave. While it makes them very stable and allows for some decorative mini-scenery around them I still wish they were smaller. The pencil sharpener itself is as you can see very content with a much smaller base.

Just look at these unit markings, absolutely amazing. I can't think of anything in this scale that can best these two figures.

To get a feel for the Seika EX figure size here the Aile Strike poses with some members of its family. We have a Sword Striker from STANDart on the left (1:220 scale), the compact Perfect Strike from Gundam Converge (center) and the Launcher Strike from Gashapon HG MS. The latter Gashapon series is often said to be around 1:285 scale but the individual figures vary wildly as all figures tend to be about the same height.

I like both the older Seika Sharpener figures which are somewhere around 1:400 in size and the larger EX line. I am slowly working on expanding my EX collection as best I can so that it can be featured in more detail here on the blog. Below you can see the two Strikes with a representative from the Zeta Gundam set and the SEED Part 2 set.