Bandai Carddass BattleSpirits Collaboration Starters

I am always on the lookout for more Gundam-themed official artwork and so this quest also covers various Gundam-themed card games. The turn today has come to the multi-IP card-dueller BattleSpirits premiered by Bandai and Sunrise in 2008. More specifically, I had the opportunity to purchase the three "Operation" starters you see on display below, numbered 52, 53 and 54 respectively. This should give us a fair idea of the scope of this game, where Mobile Suit Gundam can simply be considered a bit of a guest appearance. The three starters were released in March 2020 and I have only ever encountered them this one time.


As you can see we have three distinct eras to pick from, the Cosmic Era of SEED, the Anno Domini-timeline of MSG 00 or the Universal Century in the Unicorn phase. I am really liking the artwork on display here and I was curious about what to find inside. Let's crack them open!




SD52 : Operation SEED


Starting in numerical sequence then with the Operation SEED package we find the following inside: A pre-assembled deck of 43 cards, a handful of blue tokens plus a larger five-sided one (these are cores and a soul core I am informed), a play area slash rules-sheet and a quick reference sheet showing which card classes the various cards belong to.


The play area is printed in dull greyscale and sports a turn of play-sequence on it as well as a deeper full-colour introduction of the rules on the flipside. I would wager you can find these online because it would be a bit annoying having to table-flip each time you want to reference the rules.


Here is a closer look at the different cards found in the box. It is pretty much exactly what you expect it to be. We have Athrun and Kira with a couple of the G-project mobile suits joining in. The top five card-types are full-foil while the rest have a plain finish to them. The iconography is really a mess and the card colours not entirely obvious at first glance but there you go. Judging from the card numbers the cards found in the box appear to be unique to this particular starter with the exception of the Lacus-card which seems to be pulled from a traditional random booster series of cards. A companion set of 86 different cards was released in 6-pack booster packs (released in May 2020) but I have yet to ever come across such a pack unfortunately.




SD53 : Operation 00


The contents of the 00-package mirrors the set-up seen in the previous box, although the exact configuration in regard to card types and distribution is a little bit different. Here the focus of course is on the four classic Celestial Being machines - the Exia, Dynames, Kyrios and Virtue - and their pilots. We even have a pop-up appearance of the Gundam Nadleeh.






SD54 : Operation UC


Lastly, we have the Unicorn-set which features the Unicorn pair and a surprisingly large number of mass-production type suits, making this set the most interesting out of the three in my opinion. Other aspects of the box contents mimic the previous two boxes, I assume these are fairly well balanced against each other from a gameplay point of view.






The three card lists with the different card rarities can at the time of writing be explored in greater detail on the BattleSpirits site here. Can't say I understand the whole thing about placing different rarities on cards in a fixed starter however.


A quick comparison of the BattleSpirits card-size compared to some of the similar Gundam-themed card games and collectibles out there. From left to right we have Gundam CrossWar, Cardbuilder UC, Gundam TryAge, BattleSpirits, the classic Gundam War, Gundam War NEX-A and Duel Company.


If you are interested in exploring this series further, here are some useful links to other sets released with a Gundam-theme:

[CB13] Collaboration Booster Gundam Fighters of the Universe (2020-05-30)
[CB16] Gundam Collaboration Booster Iron Flower's Battlefield (2021-02-27)
[CB25] Collaboration Booster Pack Gundam The Witch from Mercury (2022-11-26)
[CB27] Collaboration Booster Pack Gundam The Witch’s Awakening (2023-03-25)
[CB29] Collaboration Booster Pack Gundam -The Witch’s fate- (2023-12-16)
[CBX01] Collaboration Booster EX Gundam -DESTINY And FREEDOM- (2024-02-03)



All in all, I don't think it is worth the hassle for Gundam card-collectors to bother seeking out the BattleSpirits decks. Pretty much everything we see here has also been released in other games. The card designs are great though if a bit artistically hodge-podge as the basic card-aesthetic doesn't necessarily lend itself that well into the mech battle theme in my opinion. Perhaps save your money for that elusive Gundam War Dramatic Starter pack instead.

Gashapon HG Mobile Suit Selection 35

Today we will power through another of the legacy Gashapon HG figure sets, this one from December 2004, nearly 20 years ago on the dot. The set was coming out on the very late tail end of the Gashapon HG saga and is noteworthy in that it only contains mobile suits picked from the SEED Destiny show which was running at the time. The current episode would likely be somewhere around 10 which is also when the Saviour made its first appearance in the television series.


Being late era Gashapon figures the attention to detail here is pretty meticulous and you can get an idea of the figure complexity from the above parts breakdown. As usual, the figures can be picked apart even further, this is how they appeared when they came out of their original plastic bags for the first time.



ZGMF-X56S/α Force Impulse Gundam


I am not a huge fan of the derivative Force Impulse design in general but this figure is absolutely killing it. The attention to detail is excellent and the pose is superb. As usual with finned type mobile suits you can expect to have to deal with a bit of plastic warping here and there, some figures will be better off than others, it is all pretty random.


The figure has a couple of gimmicks to it. The first is that the Force Silhouette backpack is removable and in its place you get this small blue backpack that attaches in its place, effectively converting the figure to the basic Impulse Gundam form. We also get this all-white colour Force Silhouette Flyer which is screaming for some colour apps and a peg hole to make it compatible with the standard Gashapon HG action base. I guess they tried.


The Force Impulse had a really random re-appearance in the single set of figures known as "Ultimate Solid", released in November 2008. The new figure has a fairly advanced, weathered paintjob and also sports a new exclusive accessory, an enormous Excalibur sword (full review here).






ZGMF-X88S Gaia Gundam


Next up we have the trio of Z.A.F.T. experimental suits that just so happens to look very similar to the second generation Earth Alliance machines from SEED, all down to being piloted by a similar troika of deranged pilots. The first challenger is the black Gaia which is highly reminiscent of the original Raider Gundam but this time it transforms into a black panther instead of a bird of prey. This figure of course has no transformational features about it and there also isn't any mobile armor mode variant available in this Gashapon series. The closest match you can find is an old 2006 SEED Styling-S figure of its four-legged mode. I was going to post up a comparison photo of it here but I couldn't figure out where I kept it so it may come up later. :) All-in-all this figure looks really crisp but its features include several thing and long parts that may require straightening out.






ZGMF-X24S Chaos Gundam


The Chaos is next with its beautiful green, black and white colour profile. Its aesthetics are vaguely similar to the old Calamity Gundam but it now sports a new backpack with two remote weapon pods of the same type as seen on the Moebius Zero piloted by Mu La Flaga. I have never seen a figure that can transform into its weird looking mobile armor form - which is somewhat similar to the Aegis Gundam - you may have to grab an actual model kit to access that mode.






ZGMF-X31S Abyss Gundam


The Abyss finally is your big-shouldered submersible Destiny look-alike of the Forbidden Gundam, replacing the Forbidden's large angled shoulder pads with sleeker rounded Qubeley-like shoulder binders. The close-combat aspect of the Nidhoggr Scythe is similarly replaced by a large Beam Lance. Like its brethren the Abyss can transform into an Asshimar-like mobile armor but and again I am not aware of any figure that represents this mode.


The full Phantom Pain-piloted trio side by side. Seen here without their large plastic supports that clip to the back of the legs these figures don't always cooperate willingly but you should be able to display them without supports for the most part.






ZGMF-X23S Saviour Gundam


Finally we have the fifth of the Z.A.F.T Second Stage mobile suits, the Saviour in a somewhat leaning pose. The colour feels a bit too pink compared to the original but the colour apps are on point for the most part with just enough whites and blacks to break up the red. Crazy spread out poses like these mean these Gashapon figures can be a bit of a pain to store unless you want to disassemble them, at least partially.






ZGMF-1000 ZAKU Warrior (Lunamaria Custom)


The last two slots in this set are given to a couple of variants of the ZAKU Warrior, the Cosmic-era rip-off of the Zaku II. While this is overall a really cool design I'll never be able to come to terms with how they just lifted in the Zaku II, Dom and Gouf into Destiny. SEED Freedom continues this creative bankruptcy with variants of the Gelgoog, Gyan and Z'Gok. I mean what the hell..? Anyway, the figure has a couple of neat posing tricks available to it. The figure comes with two optional right arms, one with the elbow bent at a sharper angle. This makes more sense when we compare Luna's machine to the mass-production type below.






ZGMF-1000 ZAKU Warrior


The mass-production type figure is a simple colour swap of the red version but it also replaces the Beam Tomahawk-equipped right-hand with that of a Beam Assault Rifle-holding one. While you need to get both figures to access both weapons this opens up some interesting posing variations. Notice by the way the two peg holes on the flipside of the shoulder shield. These are intended for storing spare ammunition-drums for the machine gun, although no such accessories are included. I don't know why these are not present, maybe a late change to cut on production costs?


Here we can see a trio of ZAKU Warriors utilizing the different weapon options and also right-arm variations. One of the more interesting design choices in this Gashapon-line I think and I wish more figures had synergies like these.






Conclusion

Overall, this set is an auto-include for any Cosmic Era collectors but most Universal Century-aficionados will probably just want to focus their resources somewhere else. Gashapon HG figures are not that easy to come by these days but from a price point of view this set shouldn't set you back that much. Last time I bought a set was in 2021 and it cost only ¥800 so maybe around ¥1500 or so today (provided you can find it of course).

Banpresto Glitter & Glamours Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Freedom - Lunamaria Hawke

The Bandai Glitter x Glamours line features various female characters from all sorts of anime themes and we have seen them here on the blog a couple of times before; I believe this latest offering is the third Mobile Suit Gundam-themed appearance. The figure was released as a prize item sometime in the spring of 2024 but you should be able to easily find it on the secondary market, expect prices somewhere in the ¥1200-1500 range.


The flowery theme on the box is consistent with the previous Gundam-figures in GxG and is one of the highlights of the product in my opinion. I really the colourful layout and you'd better because as you can see a lot of space and money is wasted on selling you a near empty cardboard box. In this day and time you'd think manufacturers would be more interested in cost-saving measures when it comes to shipping Chinese factory air around.


It is not like the voluminous box needs it space to secure the figure in a blister-sandwich either, we have a multi-compartment plastic bag stuck inside some cardboard padding and it does the job just as well. This figure comes preassembled, you just need to press the back end of the left foot into the provided support piece and you are done.


Well, there is not a whole lot to say about this figure, I think the images speak for themselves. The sculpting is excellent, the paint-applications are on point and there are no unsightly bends or deformations present. The support piece is bordering on being too small, you will need a very flat and sturdy surface to display this figure. I would advice against putting it high up on an unprotected shelf as the slightest vibration could potentially cause it to topple over. Having said that I am really pleased to see it in place of the typical large diameter circle base which keeps figures well apart from each other, with figures like this you will be able to group multiples together to form interesting scenes. I do wish the support piece was made in a different colour though, preferably clear.


Whenever I encounter figures such as this I always wonder why Gundam Converge or Ensemble cannot be more consistent in their paint applications or avoiding bent components. Personally I would much prefer un-poseable statue-like mobile suit figures to articulated but low-grade painted or sloppily applied details that we tend to see these days. Let model kits be model kits and figures be figures.


The Lunamaria Hawke figure is a companion release to this previous SEED Freedom version Lacus Clyne. As you can see both the boxes and the figures display very nicely together, I would love to see more figures like these but in flight suits. I had some reservations about the first Gundam-themed GxG figure (Gigi Andalucia from Hathaway's Flash) but these two are solid options for a display that won't eat too deeply into your wallet. For those with endlessly deep pockets you may want to check out Swimsuit Lunamaria from the MegaHouse GGG-line released last year.