Further Gundam Nonsense

Had to go digging for these pics!  I had apparently planned to post these to the same site the previous Gundam pics were at, but I never did.  No idea why.

Anyway, these are all figures I obtained in my last trip to Anime Central (Acen, in what...2011?  Yeah, pretty sure that's it), an anime convention.  I make sure to bring a good chunk of cash to grab some much sought after figures and random robots.

This is a Robot Damashii GM Sniper II, from the series MSG 0080: War in the Pocket.  There's lots of badass suits that barely get any screen time.  This guy flies in front of the screen at one point!  Not even sure he gets to take a shot.  BADASS though!  Look at that rifle!  So cool.

As I've said: I prefer the MSiA toyline, but the Robot Damashii figures are growing on me as time goes on.  They're finding ways to make them feel more sturdy.  I doubt they'll beat out MSiA for me, but they're certainly feeling more like they're worth the money now and I'm not gona break 'em by just moving them.  Plus...well I don't have any choice.  This is the current line, and if they make any new versions of older MSiAs that never got upgrades, then I'm gona get 'em!  For instance: this GM never got a figure before!  Certainly a model or two, but never a figure. 

This is the Sinanju, an obvious nod to the Sazabi.  Here he is displaying all his ridiculous sabers!  This guy is from the current show in the UC timeline: Gundam Unicorn.  I only know what I've looked up, 'cause I haven't tried to watch the show yet.  Doesn't stop be from buying cool robots, of course. 

For your reference: the sabers are connected to make one giant double bladed saber, and I have his wrist sabers plugged in for extra ridiculosity. 

There he is with his predecessor, the Sazabi.  I guess the pilot of the Sinanju is a clone of Char (the guy who piloted the Sazabi and the original show's main antagonist/alternate main character sorta).  I haven't looked that far into it, but his name is *snirk* Full Frontal hehehe...heh...and he's got a fabulous perm. 

It's a nice figure for careful posing, but he's kinda annoying to play with.  Lots of little things that move and get in the way, and he's one of those brittle-feeling guys.  I doubt it would break that easy, but it just has that feel, you know?  Totally badass though!  Thing is a monster.  Especially in the beam saber department: He's got the two in the wrists that can just turn on in the wrists or be held in the hands, then there's the beam axe/sword murder-death-kill machines.  They store in the shield and can be used there to make the shield bladed, or be removed and used as axes or swords, and also be attached at the hilts to make that double number further up.  I wouldn't be surprised if he had ass sabers and one big 'ol saber stickin' out the "full frontal" - seems like a "compensating for something" kinda suit, is what I'm sayin'. 

Now we're back to the Robot Damashii RX-78 you saw in the last Gundam post.  As I had stated there, if you're interested, get the hardpoint version 'cause this first version I got has tiny hands and don't really perform as best they can.  Dunno how that got past the designers...

But hey, I'm not buyin' another one!  This shit is expensive, yo.  And heck, he still gets the job done. 

I've got to apologize for the ridiculous loadouts in these pics - I didn't take any standard pics because I've got so many RX-78s that I've pretty much done all the classic poses you can get out of him.  So with this guy I took advantage of all the CRAZY CRAP this guy comes with.  For some reason he's got double the loadout: two beam rifles, two shields, two bazookas, and two Gundam hammers.  Well okay, one Gundam hammer and...well you'll see.

Oh yeah, and I dunno why the second one was called a "hardpoint" version, because this one has hardpoints all over him to stick these weapons wherever you want.  It's possible the second version has MORE, but man that has to be a fuggin' LOT 'cause this one is riddled.

So this is a Gundam Hammer. I'd show you a video of the weapon being used in Gundam Battle Assault 2, but the only video that does it well on youtube has some real screwed up audio that burns my ears, so I'll spare you.  Needless to say: It's a big goddamn spiked mace on a chain.  No idea why that was ever made.

Well someone thought it wasn't good enough to get the job done, because this is the HYPER HAMMER.

Now they've shown the Hyper Hammer before, but it's never been like this.  This is a cartoony gigantic version just for this toy!  It was a fantastic idea, as you can see.

And yes, the holes on the ball are rocket boosters.  It's a gigantic jet-powered spiked ball on a chain.  Sadomasitastic!

In the end I do have to suggest this one, but I wouldn't get rid of my other RX-78 MSiA figures.  There's good things about all of them including and past the 2.0 version (don't even bother with the 1.0 original unless you've got a collection going on).  This one feels sturdy and comes with a shitload of stuff to please your every whim.  I find it refreshing because there's only so much you can do with this guy over the years, so they just decided to blast it balls-to-the-wall.  They gave him all the stuff in duplicate plus a huge jet-power spiked ball on a chain, so I can't really find many things to complain about.

Except the hands.

Now the next three are some real winners that I was SO happy to find: all SCM EX figures.  I explained in the last Gundam post that SCM EX figures from Banpresto are all figures you win in crane machines, but they're just over-the-top awesome.  You can get so many realistic poses out of them it's crazy.  Granted, in terms of robots they're VERY stylized versions of your classic Gundam suits.  More like guys in suits than robots, but they're so slick you won't care.

Yes, I got two more RX-78s.  They're SCM EX - you don't understand!  They're just so SOOO awesome.  These two are actually different in subtle ways: The one on the left is the standard RX-78-2 Gundam in "real type"colors.  It's a color scheme done by a specific artist years ago in an attempt to paint it more realistically.  The one on the right is the prototype RX-78-1.  It has different arms (larger saber handles, for some reason), and the armor over the ankles has some slots in it.  Also, on the right hip there's a charger for the gun, before they fully decided what they wanted to do with it (the gun is also different in prototype form).  Both too cool to skip.

First, the Real Type.

I swear these things are just beautiful little works of toy art.  You won't find a better mix of lots of articulation that WORKS.  This might normally be in the "too much" zone, but it all works so damn well that you end up with fantastic poses with minimal work.  You'll be messing with these figures for hours.

Here's the Prototype.

I don't know how these things can get into that walking-forward pose without falling over, but they do.  If you find an SCM EX figure and you like toys in general - just buy it.  Be careful though, the boxes are kinda plain and honestly don't seem like they hold the awesomeness inside that they do.  I was inspecting these boxes for what seemed like forever to make absolutely certain that these were what I had wanted.  Sometimes they're just boring collectible figures with a few different cuts to make a pose or two, and the boxes are just so unassuming 'cause they just go in crane machines.

I sadly tossed the boxes, so I can't show you...but you get what I mean.  The only pics I can find are on Ebay and I don't wana post links to pages that may not be there in the future.

Finally, I did find one that wasn't a Gundam!

And yeah, this chunky SOB can pull off the same moves as the Gundam.  These folks at Banpresto are the masters of articulation, I tell ya.  Anyway, this is a Black Tri-Stars High Mobility Zaku II.  You can tell it's high mobility from the larger backpack and different lower legs with the boosters.  One of those suits that was never seen in any show (to my knowledge) and just in either side stories, possibly mangas, or Mobile Suit Variations (books showing off variations on suits that never appear in shows, though many end up being used in later things). 

So that's that!  Any other Gundam pics are sadly from so long ago that I don't think they'd be very interesting, but I do plan on focusing on more in the future; especially older favorites from the MSiA line.  Stay tuned!