It appears that Bandai is cashing in on the obvious popularity of the RX-78-2 Gundam ver. Ka and Unicorn Gundam Metal Composite releases. So much so that they’re actually releasing two more new repaints this October and November.

For October, there will be a Tamashii Nation limited release of the Metal Composite RX-78-2 Gundam ver. Ka (Rollout Color ver.). Basically, it’s the Gundam ver. Ka in white paint except for the mechanical parts which remain in gray. There are red highlights too, particularly the parts that are in red in the regular painted version as well as some other parts like the vents, etc.

For November, Bandai is releasing the Metallic Coating version of the Metal Composite Unicorn Gundam. I wouldn’t really call it metallic. I’ve seen some of the protos and they look more like a pearl finish to me. But whatever. I honestly don’t see the reason in releasing something that’s basically just “shinier” than the previous release. But if Bandai thinks that there’s a market for this, then go ahead. Whatever floats their boat, I guess. I would have been more amazed if after they released the GFFN FA Unicorn Gundam, they release a GFFN Banshee or a Metal Composite Banshee/FA Unicorn Gundam. But a pearl finish re-release of what already appeared to be a fine action figure? Nah.

Here’s a promo shot of the Metallic Coating ver. of the Metal Composite Unicorn Gundam.

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When I started collecting Japanese toys, my starting point was robots. I was into the super robot genre before anything else (Voltes V, Daimos, Combattler V, Mazinger Z, etc.). As I grew older, I moved towards the real robot genre because the technology was more realistic than the super robot genre even though the entire concept of robots being used for war was still very much out of this world or that the technology to power such large 20-meter units was still very distant.

Old school mech + steampunk design = AWESOME

My first serious acquisitions of Japanese toys were Gundams. Gunpla to be specific. And as my budget increased, I was able to afford larger model kits. I started with a few HGUCs (High Grade Universal Century) and then moved to MGs (Master Grade) and finally, when I could afford it, purchased my first PG (Perfect Grade). But as my work life got busier, I had less and less time to spend on building and painting gunpla which was really sad for me since I still had a lot of model kits that I wanted to build but just didn’t have the time to do so. My work shift also did not allow me to conveniently build and paint model kits after work (I get off work at 12mn since I work during Europe hours but live in the Philippines). Continue Reading

Musha Gundam, Blue Destiny Gundam, Psyco Gundam Mk. I

My recent posts were most about Nendoroids and with the new camera, I figured I should also shoot the robots that I have at the office so I decided to break them out from confinement and take some shots. Dynamic mode works wonders for the robots even in flourescent lighting.

I just love how close you can shoot pics with this camera, something I couldn't do with the 50mm f1.8 lens on my 400D.

The wide angle of the lens allows me to shoot from this angle with ease.

Makes you know how Spike Witwicky felt when he first saw Prime.

Of course, I also had to shoot my PVC Miku Hatsune but the barrel distortion isn’t helping the photo come out well. It works wonders for robots to give that huge size illusion but doesn’t work well with Miku-chan.

I currently own two Gundam Fix Figurations and both of them come with alternate armor pieces (I am aware that some GFF’s done have alternate armor pieces but I just so happen to have ended up owning two that do have these). The first one was the Shin Musha Gundam and the second one which I bought recently was the Gundam Blue Destiny Unit 1/2.

I never really liked the first armor set of the Musha Gundam and very much prefer the second one which what is currently attached right now. The other set is just gathering dust. As for the Blue Destiny, I’m not too fond of the GM head for the Unit 1 so I’m more often than not sticking with the Unit 2 configuration.

What I’m wondering, mainly for GFF owners, is have you ever permanently glued or superglued armor pieces for a certain form on your GFF?

I mean, let’s be honest here. While GFFs have amazing quality and detail, the armor pieces don’t always fit perfectly and more often than not, an armor piece falls off or pops off when you move an arm or a leg. My Shin Musha Gundam’s shoulder armor pops off almost every time I try moving the arms for a slashing pose. If I make the mistake of accidentally knocking it over, most if not all the armor pieces fall off.

So have you ever permanently grafted an armor configuration onto your GFF?

I finally learned how to solve this teensie little dilemma. It’s actually harder to solve this than the 3×3 at the start but once you learn the method of doing so, it’s easier than anything else.

Apparently GFF Blue Destiny-kun doesn’t trust it one bit. He thinks it’s a Zeon mobile suit disguised as a Rubik’s cube.

Earlier, I made a quick Musha Gundam review. The Musha Gundam has the plate armor minus the pipes in different parts and lot less bulkier. It looks less modern and is closer to the original samurai armor design. The Shin Musha Gundam is a design that looks bulkier and it actually looks meaner than its previous version.

The toy already comes in this form but I felt that it was better to do the Musha Gundam review first before doing the Shin Musha version. Doing the armor change procedure gives me insight on the GFF inner frame design, the upsides and lowsides of the toy itself.

Gotta love the detail on those knees. The pipes give the Shin Musha Gundam a bulkier, more powerful look. It’s like the robot can take hits and still be able to charge forward at full speed. This thing just looks absolutely awesome!

Excellent detail on the knees.

I love the detail on the front armor.

Compared to Musha Gundam, Shin Musha has thrusters on its backpack.

Imagine getting punched by that fist. Your mobile suit will definitely cave in.

Sword drawn.

The stand that comes with the action figure is really nice. Makes for awesome action poses.

Must buy? Definitely!

It’s snowing outside and I’m up in the middle of the night. But before I fell asleep awhile ago, I manged to shoot and upload some shots of the GFF Musha Gundam. This is the Musha armor. The Shin Musha version pics will be up soon.

Do note that this is my first ever GFF.

While this GFF has lovely detail especially on its samurai armor, I do have a mix of Raves and Gripes. I’ll start with the Raves:

Raves:

• amazing armor detail
• lots of weapons = lots of fun
• it has a samurai sword!

Gripes:

• the shoulder parts pop off…annoyingly often
• some armor parts, especially around the leg area are loose
• the ankles loosen really fast

Look at what I was able to snag in Narita Airport. Thanks to Danny for the tip. I wish we were stranded overnight in Narita instead of Nagoya. I would have gone to Akiba instead. I’m just quite happy with this purchase plus the fact that it was bought directly from Japan with me picking it off the shelf. That’s a momentous moment for me. Dorky, I know but give me this spot of sunshine for now.

Brand spanking new!

Waiting to be unboxed.

I wish they would sell these kinds of containers in the Philippines. Bought one and drank it up happily just because it's a different aluminum can. I am crazy like that.

Getting ready to be unboxed. Musha-kun being escorted Miku-chan.

More pictures of the unboxing and review coming up in another post.

Images from GFF Maniax

I saw Marvin’s dilemma about getting the GFF Metal Composite Psyco Gundam Mk. II. I’ve encountered that dilemma myself but it’s more because I didn’t have the money at the moment to afford buying a Gundam that’s over Php5K. But I think I can list up a couple of reasons why one should get this and why one should not get this.

And at the end of it all, you might be able to apply this to every other purchase you’re having nightmares about with regards to whether you should purchase it or not. So let’s have a look at the Psyco Gundam Mk. II and how it stands beside the Mk. I first.

The Mk. II uses a purple color scheme, still has the barrage of decals, impeccable paint detail and it actually looks like it’s ready for a fist fight. It stands a couple of millimeters taller than the Mk. I and (personally) I find the hand design to be nicer. But then it’s really a matter of preference if you ask me. I would love to own one simply for the novelty of owning both but if the Mk. II came out before the Mk. I did, I might not have given it a second glance. When I showed my partner the Mk. II and I told her I wanted to buy one, she said “ack! It’s purple! Ew!” And that is from the woman who told me outright when I showed her a picture of the Mk. I when I was in Germany: “We must buy that robot”. Needless to say, this is one helluva gorgeous action figure. The articulation is of course limited, same with the Mk. I. All I could do with my Mk. I was wave its arms around. The legs could only bend so far and you couldn’t even make it kneel. It’s like having one of those expensive and large Transformer toys that can do nothing but stand on your shelf and look menacing. But that’s it.

There are a lot of things that I can love about the Mk. II though, The face looks very Zeta’ish and menacing. There so many thrusters which makes it even more amazing because each thruster or hole on this thing is painted in very good detail.The hand and leg designs look fantastic and I’ve quite particular about how the feet and hands look on my Gundams. That’s why I don’t buy a lot of them.

Anyhoo, let’s get to the part where we debate about whether one should get this or not. But before that, I should say that I’m giving this the WMB badge. If I had the money to buy it, I wouldn’t think twice. Still, there are a lot of deciding factors that need to be discussed.

Why buy it?

1. It’s a gorgeous piece of craftsmanship. And it’s in die cast metal too, well the inner frame at least. The armor pieces are made from hard ABS plastic.
2. If you already own the Mk. I, then owning this would make it nicer because you have both versions.
3. You’re a Gundam fanatic. Duh.
4. You have a lot of shelf space and you need another robot to fill up the gaps that are collecting dust at home.
5. You need something to show off at your office desk and since 80% of your officemates don’t know shit about Gundams, you will buy this and say you built it from scratch (works half the time, actually).
6. You’d rather spend your money on robots than PVC figurines of sexy anime characters who cast-off their clothes and show you their animated jiggly-bits.

Why not buy it?

1. To be honest, one Psyco Gundam in the house is enough. I’ll just end up wasting saliva explaining to people why a Mk. II exists. If they saw Zeta, they’ll recognize the Mk. I but will not know shit about Mk. II.
2. The Mk. II is more expensive than the Mk. I. Mine cost me 5K+ when I bought it last year. I would not be surprised if this one gets past the 6K marker. That’s too big of a hole in my pockets at the moment.
3. My partner doesn’t like it because it’s purple and she lurves the Mk. I because it’s black and scares the shit out of people who visit their house (it’s at her house pointing at whoever mistakingly sitting beside it on the sofa as if saying your manbits/jiggly-bits are mine!!!!)
4. It would eat up more space. Yes, the base is no bigger than any regular GFFs but it’s still hulkingly huge, action figure-wise in both width and height. This baby stands as tall as a PG (Perfect Grade). If you don’t have space for a PG, you don’t space for this much less two.
5. With the money you’d spend on it, you can probably get two or three other smaller Gundam model kits or GFFs. The 00 Region Exia is one nice alternative. *winkwink*

Again, it’s really a matter of preference. If you’re really that much of a hardcore Gundam collector and you have the money and space for this baby, then by all means, by it, no questions asked. Odds are you already have one and you’re playing with it right now while you’re reading this. But if you’re just a mediocre Gundam collector, with other important stuff to spend on and you already own the Mk. I, then perhaps you might want to spend your money somewhere else. Yes, I did say I’d be willing to buy this given that I had the money, but there are other factors that need to be weighed. Yes, I’ve spent bigger money on Gundams than this but that’s because I really wanted to get that particular model kit (PG Strike). That cost me more than 10K if you were to count the paint I bought and the Aile Strike Pack that I had to buy separately. But then, that’s the only PG kit I own so my collection is more of one or two of everything. Getting the Mk. II may seem at some point to be two of the same thing but in a different color scheme. They’re nearly the same size, they transform the same way, it doesn’t really bring anything new to the table unless you really have a thing for wire-guided NT beam hands.

So there. I’ve put up my reasons for getting or not getting a Psyco Gundam Mk. II. Thanks to Marvin for putting up that post. It gave me a topic to talk about in my blog.

Saw some newer merchandise pics of the GFF Gundam Mk. III and I’m starting reconsider if this is worth buying or not. Let me show you the pictures first.

In Jeremy Clarkson’s tone, I say “Look at that!” Thanks to Hajime Katoki being the main artist for Gundam Sentinel, this one’s looking a lot like the series’s Gundams.  I’m so loving the armor add-ons!!! And it’s got beam sabers all over. How cool is that?! And the rifles! All the additional armaments look awesome. It’s nothing compared to the other GFF’s add ons. I mean, the Deep Striker definitely beats this one hands down in additional parts but this is definitely something that’s worth adding into the fray.

I change my opinion of the Gundam Mk. III. This is definitely something that you guys should add to your GFF collection.