| MSiA MBF-P03 Gundam Astray Blue Frame
Series: Mobile Suit in Action!! (MSiA) Title: MBF-P03 Gundam Astray Blue Frame Release Date: 05/2004 Suggested Price: ¥ 1200 No. of Parts: 1 Gundam Astray figure + 10 parts Plastic colors: red, white, black, gray, green, yellow, blue Gimmicks: beam rifle, beam saber (2), shield, hand (6)
Contributor: hydrogenizedsoy Date: February 5, 2005 The Astray Blue Frame was given to the Serpent Tail mercenary Gai Murakumo by the Junk Guild mechanic Lowe Guele after he found it in the ruins of Heliopolis. Gai went on to use the Blue Frame in a number of missions, and he often optimized the MS with mission specific optional parts and armaments. These nifty weapons and armors unfortunately did not make the transition to MSiA. What we get is A VERY basic figure featuring a bland assortment of accessories. The saving grace of this figure is the design. The Astray is a breakout mech design that reinvents the basic Gundam template. All that remains is the V-antennas, and even those are significantly tweaked.
The head is stylishly done, retaining the look of the manga faithfully. It is well colored and proportional to the rest of the body. It is connected to the body by a simple ball joint which works well (as opposed to the 2nd generation Zaku neck joints).
The body is a bit of a mixed bag. The backpack is unarticulated which is a bit of a disappointment, but I can see where it could have caused the designers grief in trying to implement such a range of movement. It would have been much too delicate. The waist's movement is hampered by the skirt armor and is essentially unmovable. The coloration is superb.
The arms are rather curious. The shoulders lack the 2nd generation articulation, opting instead to go for the traditional single ball joint that is functional but not superb. The junk guild logo is on the left shoulder and looks great. The elbow joints also lack the 2nd generation styling of the rest of the SEED MSiA line, again disappointing but not a huge detraction. However, the entire figure is marred by the offensive lack of paint on the hands. They are simply white, no panel lines or color added. This is very unfortunate because it greatly detracts from what is otherwise a beautifully done figure. It is inexcusable and unsightly. Whether it was omitted due to production costs or time, who knows, but it’s really too bad they choose to leave them as lumps of white plastic. It comes with three types of hand, the fist, trigger finger, and beam saber.
The legs boast the second generation articulation allowing them to be positioned in a number of poses. The knees do have a rather irritating habit of popping off should they be positioned in a kneeling position. The ankles are superb. They’re double ball joints, a first as far I’ve seen, and they work well. Again the coloration is superb.
Shield- The shield is the same as the Duel and Strike Gundam, with a movable hand grip and two ways of mounting the shield on the arm. Beam sabers- Instead of opting for the smooth blades of all previous MSiAs the blades are “jagged” near the aperture of the handle. When the blades are detached the handles fit well on the backpack. Beam rifle- The beam rifle has a streamlined design and a colored camera sight. It’s a much more elegant looking than the Strike’s.
The figure suffers a bit from gummy plastic which leaves the joints a little bit loose. Curiously I found this to be the case with most of the imported MSiA, perhaps they use a lower grade of plastic than the US. However, it does have panel lines which the US omits. The Astray is a wonderfully designed mecha, and the figure accurately reproduces the look and feel of the manga. The figure does though, feel incomplete. This is due to the lack of backpack articulation and the unpainted hands, marring an otherwise superb MSiA. Also with the large arsenal the Blue Frame possesses Bandai could have easily thrown in some additional weapons, a bazooka or perhaps some leg mounted grenade launchers. The Red Frame had the Gerbera Straight to even out its’ arsenal, the Blue Frame gets zilch. For the final ratings, points are detracted for the hands, backpack, lack of accessories, and limited use of 2nd generation articulation. The great design is the only thing that buoys this figure out from the bottom of the bin. Overall Rating: 3 out of 5 stars <<back to Gundam |
