SD Gundam Full Color Stage 14

With daylight in short supply this season I have resorted to digging in the archives so here comes another Gashapon SD set back from the good ol' days of ¥100 figurines. Stage 14 focuses exclusively on Mobile Suit ZZ Gundam and was originally released in February 2000.

 

This is one of those really straightforward sets where you can count assembly in seconds after having forced your way through the plastic bags that is. None of the figures in this set are terribly rare, the Gundam seems to be harder to find than the others which is not surprising. I actually had all the other figures already when I decided to pick up a full set from Mandarake, the price was only ¥1000 after all. The downside to order from there is that the Gashapon SD sets rarely show up in their webshop, presumably because they aren't worth that much in Japan.

 

 

 

074 : FA-010S Full Armor ZZ Gundam

The Full Armor ZZ Gundam figure is a little bit surprising in that it is the only super deformed Gashapon representation available of this mobile suit. You'd think it was fairly common like the MSZ-010 ZZ Gundam which has at least half a dozen versions out there (the last one seen in Senshi Forte in 2018). There is of course no FAZZ available at all.

 

Excellent detail on this figure, as you can see. It comes armed with the Double Zeta's twin beam rifle rather than the ginormous launcher we usually see it equip but I guess technology and economy just wasn't there so I'll give it a pass.

 

Posing together with the regular ZZ Gundam as seen in Stage 34 (left) and Stage 13 (right) respectively. There were no further versions of the ZZ's in the original Full Color series.

 

 

075 : AMX-004G Qubeley Mass Production Type

The Gashapon figure range is really huge yet for some reason Bandai skipped over two really obvious suit choices. I am talking of course about the Mk-II Qubeleys from ZZ piloted by the Ple clones. However, they did go ahead and offer a Mass Production Type instead, and since it is my favourite Qubeley variant I am happy to find it included here.

 

The Mass Production Type machine has a colour very similar to the Ple Custom Mk-II but they have a number of differences in the body. The most easy to recognize differences are found in the head sculpt (which now looks more like a mosquito) as well as the two Beam Cannons stowed on the back. It would be fun to source a couple more of this figure and repaint them in gray for the early production colours.

 

The AMX-004G is quite small compared to the base Qubeley figures. The Qubeley with the beam saber comes from Stage 44 (released October 2003) and a green-eyed machine from Stage 8 (April 1999).

 

 

076 : AMA-01X Jamru Fin

The Jamru Fin is an odd mobile armor-type machine pretty much built around a huge Hyper Mega Cannon. The machine was rushed out in a half-completed form in the latest stage of the ZZ storyline much like the Zeong in the original Mobile Suit Gundam series. Since there were three prototypes a total of three machines were built and decked out with pilots whose names all begin with a D (as in dumb...) and I guess they are a humorous nod to the original Black Tri-Stars which does the suit no favours but such was the ZZ storyline.

 

As usual with the Gashapon Full Color figures they aren't really full color at all, normally on the side facing forward. Not that it matters a great deal with this particular figure. I wish Bandai would have made it a bit larger. This is supposed to be a huge and intimidating machine yet it is actually smaller than the other mobile suits in this set.

 

 

 

077 : AMX-011S Zaku III Custom

The Zaku III is another enormous machine that stands several meters taller than the average mobile suit, yet here the figure is rather short when compared to your average SD Gashapon. I guess it has something to do with the fact that these machines are bulky and Bandai were somehow unable to make them both tall and wide at the same time, so something had to go. Still, the Qubeley in this set obviously had no problems so not sure what the root cause for this is.

 

Still the Zaku III in general is a rare figure and the Custom perhaps even more so. These two mobile suits would make perfect candidates for the new Converge #plus size figures, let's hope Bandai and FusionWorks agree with that sentiment. :)

 

The regular AMX-011 Zaku III finally made it into the SD Full Color series at Stage 51 in August 2004 and is a considerable larger figure and armed with both a beam rifle and a saber.

 

 

078 : AMX-014 Döven Wolf

Stage 14 is interesting in that all the machines selected for this set are considerably larger than your average mobile suit, yet at the same time several of them are disappointingly tiny. I'm afraid that the powerful Döven Wolf is double afflicted since it is not only tiny but flat as a pancake.

 

This figure just makes me disappointed. It is really tiny, has a strange overall flat appearance and colour applications are really limited. It doesn't help that this particular figure is kind of bent out of shape on top of it all. A shameful display, as the old saying goes...

 

 

079 : NZ-000 Queen Mansa

The last figure in this wave is a gargantuan mobile armor, a figure that is surprisingly common and has representations in several Gashapon and Shokugan figure series. Ironically I don't mind its diminutive size that much as I do the mobile suits we saw above, those at least had a chance to look intimidating while a figure like the Queen Mansa is pretty much doomed from the get go.

 

This figure is also a little bland in the colouring department, but the sculpt is great and even includes a little Neo Zeonic logo on the back skirt. If you want a more intimidating Queen Mansa for the SD display consider picking up the Senshi Forte iteration although it is a bit large to pose comfortably next to SD Full Color figures, especially the tiny Neo Zeon ones.

 

 

Conclusion

 

Stage 14 is par for the course when it comes to the early SD figure sets. It contains a really nice unit mix which makes it especially collectable from that point of view, although most of them could have benefitted from a slight size increase, say 25 to 50 percent or so.

 

Gundam Ace February 2004 promo pack

Time for a little novelty item review. Do we have any Gundam War fans here? If you are into the collectible card game aspect of Mobile Suit Gundam you will probably be familiar with Bandai's Magic-clone Gundam War, which saw multiple card sets during its run between 1999 and 2011. Apart from the common releases you can of course expect to find crossover promotion where cards are inserted into other product lines or with partner companies here and there. Gundam Ace Magazine routinely features promotional items like these and this here is a little bonus item accompanying the February 2004 issue of the Gundam monthly.

 

This pack features an exclusive promo card for the game (well... not really) and a little postcard set. The promo might seem like an interesting rarity but holds no real value. I think I paid ¥100 for the pack (sans the magazine) so it is not like it was a massive investment. :)

 

Let's take a look at the postcards first. They feature random illustrations by various artists (some signatures I can read and others not...) and feature motives mainly from the early Universal Century era. All the cards are attached together like a little mini-booklet from which they can be separated. First up we have a pretty nice drawing of my man Char Aznable himself, followed by a really artsy Haro collage which looks like scribbles made by someone in a notebook during a meeting that has dragged on for too long.

 

Haro again, this time with some freaky partner balls that I don't know what they are imitating. This is the only card in the set that has a horizontal alignment.

 

Here are two of the better ones. First we have a young Haman Karn the way she was styled in the comic Char's Deleted Affair released by Kadokawa (there are even some nice mini-figures that I will eventually get around to posting up here). She appears to be saying some random thing about a year of excellence, Google Translate doesn't do handwritten text very well. Next we have a character completely unknown to me. I'd wager she's a supporting character from one of the many Gundam-themed console games or perhaps another Manga. The insignia should be a dead giveaway except I don't recognize that either. Definitely Zeon though.

 

Here's another really cool illustration. A war is hell-type of illustration with a non-descript soldier up front. Next we slide into caricature territory with an angry Gihren Zabi giving a speech in front of a whole army of cheering chibi-style Zakus. He is probably screaming about a happy new year or something to that effect...

 

Another Zeon girl and another player aid character from a game I'd wager. At the top we have New Year's greetings but the app is drawing a blank regarding the scribbles at the bottom I'm afraid, with highlights such as "Good in the Universe" and "Space T 90"... The next card appears to be more of the same, except this operator is with the E.F.S.F. instead. Here the translate app at least figured out that she is sending well wishes for 2004.

 

The last two illustrations are portrait studies from the Cosmic Era. First we have Lowe Guele from SEED Astray, perhaps better known as the pilot of the ever popular Astray Red Frame. He is followed by a very violet-eye colour Kira Yamato who is of course the pilot of the Freedom Gundam although here he is still wearing the O.M.N.I. recruit uniform.

 

Finally, here we have the promo card itself. Card SPGA-1 belongs to the purple neutral faction and features a combination of several cropped in illustrations with art-styles all over the place. The card's special effect allows you to purchase a new Gundam Ace Magazine on the 26th of every month. Yes, that's correct, the effect even carries over to the real world. Meant as a dry joke of course, the card features a custom backside to avoid anyone from actually trying to add it to the game itself.

Gundam Converge #20

When the first iteration of Converge reached volume 20 after roughly five years of awesomeness, Bandai and FusionWorks decided it was time to reinvent the series and a new standard was set for the figures. We also saw an overall change in the art direction as the figure proportions took on a more realistic look (although it sometimes went in the other direction with the heads being proportionately larger). Volume 20 itself was also pretty much a "leftover" set with no major mobile suit to front it and I guess this also gave Bandai the perfect excuse to begin reissuing the mobile suit catalogue all over again. :)

 

Converge figures are getting steadily more complex; two bags of parts per figure is becoming a common sight.

And so here we are, almost exactly five years later, and Converge #Sharp has also hit its twentieth release and shows no sign of slowing down. It does look however that we will have to endure four long months until the next set - volume 21 - is slated for release. I have a feeling the cause for this hiatus is found in more recent world events however. It also gives me a chance to catch up with all the Converge sets that were released these past few weeks alone.

 

 

236 : GAT-X105+AQM/E-X01 Aile Strike Gundam

 

I can't believe that we had to wait so long for Converge to bring back the Strike Gundam; we've pretty much gone through all the other familiar faces by now so it seemed a curious omission. Mind you, Converge has only really dipped its toes into the Cosmic Era, but we did see Akatsuki already in Converge #03 and a Strike Freedom followed in #04 but since then it has been radio silence. Still, the fact that we have two machines in this set, another two in the Gold Edition jubilee set as well as the Aegis and Blitz scheduled for #21 makes me hopeful we will end up seeing even more faces in 2021. I mean, they haven't even done the X10A Freedom yet and the Buster is also missing.

 

The figure for the day however, is the Aile Strike Gundam. FusionWorks has gone all in on this figure equipping it with its Aile Striker Flight Pack and managed to squeeze it into the box with not a single bent part to boot. Words seem pointless here, this is such a good looking machine and the detail is nothing short of superb. The black and metallic colouring around the shoulders and knees is one of the highlights of the Strike and this figure has turned out really well here.

 

The Strike comes armed with its signature Beam Rifle and Shield combo and also contains two removable beam saber hilts that attach to the Aile Striker Pack. While no beam saber is included with the figure you can borrow one from the Duel Gundam and choose to remove a hilt from the backpack to simulate this in even more detail.

 

You can of course display the Strike minus its Aile Striker Pack which makes it feel a little naked but this is after all the basic mode of the suit. Comparing it to the old Converge figure from volume 6 (released in February 2012) you can clearly see the changes in style between old and contemporary Converge figures.

 

Here the Strike borrows one of the Beam Sabers from the Duel Gundam. It borrows more in fact, since it also requires a hand swap to wield it. The two figures are easily compatible in this regard though, which opens up some extra customization options.

 

Here we have the Strike family as seen through the Converge lens (I suppose I could have added the Strike Rouge as well...). From left to right we have the FX-550 Skygrasper carrying the Aile Striker Pack compatible with the old Strike Gundam figure (both are from Converge 6). Next up is the fantastic Perfect Strike Gundam which was an early CORE release from August 2016 and lastly the new Aile Striker. It would be cool if FW and Bandai decide to expand on this line-up with a Launcher Strike and a Sword Strike as well as an updated Skygrasper but I don't really expect that to happen unless they make a really over-the-top 2.0 version of the Perfect Strike.

 

 

237 : GAT-X102 Duel Gundam

 

Next up we have the Strike's brother and sparring partner, the aptly named Duel Gundam. This machine s kind of the vanilla version of the GAT frame which was later developed into specialized machines such as the Blitz, Strike and Buster.

 

I don't know exactly what it is, but there is something about the proportions of the Duel which makes it look a bit weird. The waist is very thin and the head feels very large compared to the rest of its body, kind of like a bodybuilder who hasn't been working on the legs for a while. Other than that the colouring is great and I really like its menacing looking face.

 

The components for this figure are a bit unusual. Instead of the expected rifle + shield configuration we have a wild eyed machine carrying two modular beam sabers with really nice translucent effect parts. Notice how the hilts of the beam sabers are actually intended for being placed on the backpack for when not in use, instead of being combined with the effect parts. The Duel already comes with hands holding beam saber hilts which makes it unique in all of Converge's history.

 

The unusual pose of the Duel figure is inspired by Yzak Joule's duel with the Forbidden Gundam. The Forbidden's experimental Geschmeidig Panzer energy deflection armor makes it difficult to hit with ranged beam weapons so a frustrated Yzak went in up close and personal.

 

As cool as the dual beam saber pose is I have to admit that I would much have preferred a conventional loadout on the Duel with its blue shield and beam rifle. The Strike and the Duel figures are designed with parts swapping in mind and by borrowing the hands and gear from the Strike you can reequip the Duel but that means you are a pair of hands short on the Strike Gundam. FusionWorks could at least have included a set of empty hands with this figure. Perhaps the designers have already prepared a Duel Gundam with the Assault Shroud equipment for later release, such a figure could then include the missing rifle and shield and I would be very happy if that turned out to be the case.

 

 

238 : LM313V10 Second V

Just like Converge has recently been going through the Gundam F90 and War in the Pocket series so they have also started a closer look on the Victory Gundam mobile suit line up. We have already seen a nice string of releases culminating with the massive Shrike Team CORE set that was delivered just the other week and here the designers have dug up a really rare concept design, so rare in fact that it doesn't even have a designation on the box art.

 

The Second V is basically an upgunned Victory Gundam with improvements in both offensive and defensive capabilities. Apart from its regular beam rifle the machine carries a weapons rack for the new gear options on its back making this yet another complex and surprising retail Converge figure.

 

The Second V comes armed with a large Mega Beam Cannon which is mounted on its back (this cannot be held in hand) as well as a special Minovsky Shield which is made up of three components. These normally deploy and combine with the mobile suit's regular beam shield (such a shield is not included with this figure, you can see it on the Victory machines below) but here you have to make do with having it stored on the back.

 

Recent League Militaire mobile suits from Converge; the Victory Gundam the Victory Dash, Victory 2, Second V and the LM111E03 Gunblaster. I can't wait to put my hands on the Victory Hexa and Gun-EZ from the new CORE set; this line up is going to be superb. And then we have the Assault Buster coming out in the first Converge Plus wave in January too! I assume it will be possible to display the Assault Buster figure in its Victory 2 Buster and Assault modes as well.

 

 

239 : XM-X0 Crossbone Gundam X-0 Ghost

 

We saw a great string of Crossbone Gundam figures over the past two years and here comes the major missing face, at least as far as I am concerned. I don't know much of the lore from the extended Crossbone mangas but I can recognize that silver colour X-0 Ghost anywhere.

 

This set is just full of exquisite mobile suit designs and this one kind of takes your breath away with all that shiny colour. The X-shaped Core Fighter is made from soft plastic and as you can see mine is a bit bent out of shape which is a little bit unfortunate. This figure by the way, appears to be the hardest to get of the figures in volume 20. I had to purchase this set piecemeal since Mandarake, who normally supplies my Converge fix, has to this day not yet offered a complete set which is highly unusual. The price of the X-0 Ghost has also fluctuated a lot, I have already seen figures going for ¥1000 and so I foresee that it will become somewhat rare.

 

The X-0 Ghost follows the strange gear options trend started by the Duel Gundam. This figure also carries two beam sabers with beautiful translucent blades, however here the two sabers are combined and held in one hand - another unique feat for Converge. I do have some slight reservations here however which you will see below.

 

The X-0 Ghost figure has a weapons sharing deal going on with the EMS-TC02 Phantom Gundam from Converge #19. At least to the extent that the box art points out that you can equip it with the same type of Buster Rifle as carried by the Phantom Gundam. Again this means hand swapping and as you can see the colours of the hands do not match up completely. I don't know if the Phantom Gundam is also expected to be able to use a dual beam saber but it certainly can if you want to.

 

Bandai featured the X-0 Ghost already back in June 2013; then as a promo item for the Gundam Ace magazine. That old figure has always been one of my favourites and it stands up really well compared to the new iteration. I especially like its crossbow. We did see this weapon appear on one of the Crossbone Gundams also in #Sharp (can't remember if it was on the X-3 or the X-1 Full Cloth) so I find it a bit disappointing that it has not been included with the new X-0 Ghost. Solution: Purchase both figures.

 

 

240 : RX-77D Guncannon Mass Production Type

 

The tail end of the set is reserved for another two mobile suits from the U.C. 0080 War in the Pocket television miniseries and continues to expand on the range of suit options from the show. I really like how FusionWorks have been consistently sticking with a couple of shows or timelines at a time and been really committed to fleshing out the mobile suit selection of each setting. The 0080 era has got a lot of new faces in Converge as of late and there is apparently still more to come.

 

The Mass Production Type Guncannon is, as its name implies, an enhancement on the original RX-77-2 Guncannon design. Unlike the old RX-77-2 which has appears in Converge quite a few times over the years this is the suits very first appearance and as far as Gashapon and Shokugan go, it is exceedingly rare. I can only think of the 1:400 Gundam Collection line being the only other source to have featured it. (Incidentally there is also a really rare RX-77-4 in the 1:285 Gashapon HG line and an RX-77-3 in the 1:400 Mini Figure Selection series, would love to see these in Converge also).

 

The new Guncannon is sharing components with the GM Command series and as such also comes armed with a GM style machine gun (I don't know why it doesn't get to have a shield). Its two 240mm cannons will normally swing forward above the shoulders but are permanently fixed in stowed mode on this figure.

 

The Mass Production Type Guncannon is significantly beefier than its RX-77-2 Guncannon counterpart; they almost seem out of scale with each other (just like the tiny new Zaku II figures look next to many other Converge mobile suits).

 

The War in the Pocket era line-up now consists of the Gundam Alex together with the Guncannon Mass Production Type, a GM Sniper II and two variants of the GM Command. This team rocks! Notable omissions are the GM Cold District Type (I hope it will eventually show up) and a really bulky Alex in Full Armor Mode which would be icing on that cake.

 

 

241 : MS-09R-2 Rick Dom II

Converge Sharp has been really kind to the Dom-series mobile suits as of late. The original MS-09 first appeared in Converge #13 in December 2018, it was then followed by that lovely realtype Color version in November 2019 and here we just skip right past the MS-09R Rick Dom and go straight for a Rick Dom II which is another completely new face for Converge.

 

The Dom-type figures are is always impressive to look at. From their bulky legs jam-packed with thrusters to those sexy black shoulders and the fantastically weird faces, all combined with large heat swords and gigantic types of bazookas in hand. The Rick Dom II follows this approach and adds a redesigned backpack with extra fuel tanks into the mix. This machine means business.

 

The Rick Dom II is armed with the classic Dom-style bazooka and also features a Heat Sword which is only intended to be stored on a peg at the side of the backpack. I guess you could paint the blade of the sword yellow and stick it into the figure's right hand if you wanted, but it would look a bit silly together with that trigger finger sculpt.

 

Going for a stroll down memory lane I just selected a few comparisons; the MS-09R Rick Dom from Converge 10 (this is the secret version armed with a Beam Bazooka released in April 2013), a base MS-09 Dom here in "realtype" colors (from the CORE Realtype Color ver. set from November 2019) and the new Rick Dom II. I am going to go out on a limb and guess that we will see the MS-09R Rick Dom also in Sharp. I'd wager that it will pop up as a red Char's Custom machine armed with a Beam Bazooka and sold together with a G-3 Gundam, surely such a set can only be a question of time?

 

The Zeonic line-up for War in the Pocket is still a little limited in Converge Sharp so I had the new Rick Dom II, Kämpfer and Zaku Kai join up with a Hy-Gogg and a Z'Gok Experiment from the first era of Converge. We have seen hints that a Gelgoog Jäger will follow next year and I wonder if the Hy-Gogg and Z'Gok-E will also make a return, perhaps as Converge Plus figures?

 

 

Conclusion

 

Converge #20 really ticks a lot of the right boxes for me. This set contains several high profile machines and four of them are brand new faces for Converge with only two reissues. I am not entirely convinced by the unconventional weapons for the Duel Gundam but perhaps that can be remedied with future releases (or by picking up a spare Strike and stripping it of its gear). However, that is such a shallow complaint for a set this fantastic. A set that is to me a given in any serious Converge collection.