Series: Mobile Suit in Action!! (MSiA)
Title: YMS-16M Xamel
Release Date: 01/2003 (US)
Suggested Price: $10.99
No. of Parts: 1 Xamel figure + 5 parts
Plastic colors: yellow-brown, light gray, dark gray
Gimmicks: detachable artillery base with a 680 mm artillery cannon, adjustable 8-tube missile launcher, adjustable stabilizer wings

Introduction

Contributor: Derrick "tomduo" Lang
Date: January 21, 2004

In the opening battle of Gundam 0083, one suit stood out to me, the huge goliath known as the (italics) Xamel. The mobile suit looked just like a bad guy who just devoured lesser mecha. When I was shopping in K-Mart for some Wasp Spray, my normal trip to the toy aisle led me to purchasing this incredible suit. And my only regret was giving it to my brother as a birthday present, but then he let me play with this!

Head

Like the lineart, the head is imbedded as part of the chest, and is immovable. It is very detailed, but has no movement.

Torso

Perhaps the heaviest torso I have encountered, this solid brick has very limited waist articulation. This again, is in part of the faithfulness to the lineart, and the fact that this suit wasn't designed to contort. Otherwise it fits it's purpose.

Arms

The shoulders are pretty basic first generation shoulders, save the shoulder pads. They are attacked with a hinge, that increases movement of the arm without the pads falling off. However, this is a moot point, as the arms aren't useful at all. The hands cannot grasp anything, but feature nice wrist articulation. The elbow joints feature a joint covering much like the lineart, which also restricts movement greatly. But since the arms are pretty much useless, it's not a big loss.

Legs

Two words describe these legs: heavy and solid.

The knees feature joint coverings much like the elbow joints, and these also have limited articulation. The feet, however, have great articulation. Unfortunately, the mass of the suit stops them from being any use.

Weapons and Accessories

680mm artillery cannon- This huge, long range cannon makes this suit. The longest barrel I've seen on any MSiA folds back to be secured on the artillery base. When folded out, the middle snaps together to form the menacing weapon. This gives it a wide range of movement, capable of tagging almost any target. However the barrel suffers from warping, and not even the 'steam to soften the plastic so it can be molded into shape' trick worked on the heavy plastic that the cannon is made from.

Artillery base- What looks to be the back of the MSiA turns out to be a detachable base for the artillery cannon to sit on. This makes a portable weapons station that any MSiA can use (Great play value!). The base fits onto a rectangular peg on the rear waist of the Xamel, and when freed is balanced by a lowering stand.

8-tube missile launcher- A pretty useless piece of plastic that attaches to the Xamel's shoulder. It can get in the way of the artillery cannon, but folds down so it doesn't.

Stabilizer wings- Attaching to the sides of the Xamel, these wings serve little purpose but to be warped and make the MSiA look bad. Steam them to make them pretty, or just leave 'em in the box, the Xamel looks good without them.

Conclusion

A bold release by Bandai, I never expected to see this in MSiA form. I fully recommend this suit, just don't expect this to play well with others. No weapons from this can swap with other MSiAs (aside from the Artillery Base), and no parts can be used to make your own custom MSiAs without a massive change to the parts. Points were deducted for severely limited articulation on this suit, and warping issues with the accessories. Still, if you see one, just buy it. You will not be disappointed, and even if you are, you will have a paper weight who can take out any intruder before they get close.

Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

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