Boy howdy, is this another one of those articles about a long forgotten toy and line? And since it is a rather old article and memory is failing, I apologize in advance if I get anything wrong here, but trying to google this little bugger has been tough. I remember when I was trying to buy him a few years ago, and it was pain to come by. The hunt was difficult and expensive, but it paid off eventually. I was able to find one on eBay for a pretty penny.
This figure was a 2002 release of the Bandai Mobile Suit in Action RX-78-2 second version Gundam in Titans colors. This was a Dengeki Hobby Exclusive, limited to Japanese residents. I don’t know what the price was back then, but I’m pretty certain I paid upwards of $100 for this bad boy. You can find him on eBay for cheaper when he pops up these days.
I think this is supposed to be the Gihren’s Greed game that Bandai released. The colors are based off Titans colors, which, according to Gundam Wiki, was formed at the end of Stardust Memory as part of an elite fighting force of the Earth Federation Forces. And before I get any further into this, after the One Year War (Universal Century (or UC) 0079) the Gundam universe got incredibly complex, and, to be honest, I lost track of who were the good guys and who were the invaders. What I do know is that, for the most part, the series continued to revolve around Amuro Rey and Char Aznable.
Titans took on the navy blue-black colors that are represented here. While this figure is supposed to represent the Gihren’s Greed version, it’s not one-to-one. Bandai used the existing second version Gundam mold and repainted it. Shoulder pads and other parts would have to be changed out for pure accuracy. But who cares! This figure is awesome.
The figure is tiny, about four inches tall, and is a fantastic sculpt of the RX-78-2 Gundam design that is famous for putting Gundam on the map. I’m always amazed by the MSIA and Extended versions that came out; the detail at this small scale on PVC plastic is an art form of its own. The figures have panel lines and crazy-ass details. And the sculpts are sharp! Not softened by material or molding. And after 11 years they are a hell of a lot of fun to play with.
These little figures are articulated out the wazoo! Ball joints and double joints allow them to make just about any post work. The other day I posted about the Perfect Grade Mk 2, and this MSIA figure has about as much articulation. The only key joint missing is an ab joint. And, well, technically is has a bit of that at that waist, enough to make some decent posing.
The paint on this figure is a little choppy, the black is kind of a thick glossy black and it feels odd when handling the figure. The other variants that I have are better painted. I wonder if using a matte or satin finish would improve the feel of paint, making it less “goopy” and thick.
As many may remember, I posted about some of these before, in context of “grail” figures, you can find the article here, and, without a doubt, this Titans version is one of the grail versions that I hunted down. There is one more that I need to complete my grail quest, and, don’t worry, I do have a 5th one in hand; the 6th hasn’t eluded me, but I haven’t hunted him for a while. There is a 7th request that was never made into a second version sculpt, but I have a custom in the works for him.
Until next time, you can discuss this figure further on
