I recently got my hands on a personal toy collecting grail item. For me a grail item refers to a hard to find toy that a collector has been searching for either due to availability or price that has a high personal value for them, either emotionally or to complete their collection. For me, one of my grail items was the Bandai Mobile Suit in Action RX-78-2 v2 Char Cassaval’s Gundam. This is a special limited edition repaint that was available in Japan with the PS2 Gihren’s Greed: Zeon’s War of Independence video game.
I’m a long time Gundam fan, I got my start as a customizer taking apart Bandai’s Gundam kits and bashing them into something new. Watching artists like Max Watanabe in Hobby Japan kitbash, sratchbuild, customize and paint Gundams inspired me to do the same.
When Bandai released the MSIA (Mobile Suit in Action) line the first offerings weren’t great. At the time Perfect grade, Master Grade and HGUC kits were on the scene and the initial MSIA offerings were too “toyetic” and lacked the flair, detail and engineering of the model kits. That all changed with the v2 RX-78-2 Gundam. Sculpting, engineering and paint were finally brought together making an incredible piece of hand candy.
I still collect MSIA, on off, hitting them on the after market. At home they continue to be a hit amongst my sons and their friends.
Here are some pics of the figures and a little information on them.
Gundam – RX-78-2 v2
This Gundam is credited as being the v2 version of the RX-78-2 Gundam. The v2 refers to a new sculpt and improved articulation. The figure has double ball ankes, double hinged knees, double elbows, forward and back motion in the shoulders and increased abdominal movement. There have a been a number of releases of this figure in different color variants.
Casaval Rem – 2002
This Gundam is one of my grail items. Made by Bandai/Sony for PS2’s Gihren’s Greed: Zeon’s War of Independence video game, it was only available in the Japanese market. At the time evilbay prices were out of my league but the figure has since dropped allowing me the opportunity to capture one.
I loved the idea of Char having a Gundam and then painting it red. Ever since I read about this beast I fell in love and have wanted one.
C3 – 2003
This Gundam was the 2003 C3 release and is credited as the Original EFSF roll out colors. I grabbed one since it was the right price. There are a couple of RX-78-2 variants that I’ll try and grab at some time in the future.
Gallery
Information about the exclusives was pulled from this link.