| SCM F91 Gundam F91 (no picture available)
Series: Super Creative Model (SCM) Title: F91 Gundam F91 Release Date: 2003 Suggested Price: Not for sale No. of Parts: 1 Gundam F91 figure + 5 parts Plastic colors: white, blue, red, orange, yellow, gray, green Gimmicks: beam rifle, beam saber (2) , VSBR (2), extending fins, opening face
Contributor: Chris "KokopelliChindi" Knudston Date: June 1, 2006 This figure isn’t available for sale but is instead a UFO catcher prize (think of those crane games). While the first thing you may think is ‘cheap piece of junk’ the SCM F-91 has surprising good quality. It's bigger than a MSiA, but smaller than a 1/100 kit. Made out of an acetyl resin, it's really hard and nothing bends or warps on the figure (accessories are another story). While it comes with the VSBRs attached, absent are the beam launcher and the beam shield. Also, the panel lines aren't inked. Well, it is a game toy, not a GFF figure.
The first thing you’ll notice is the mask is a little crooked. This is because there’s a mechanism hidden in the mohawk sensor that opens the mask to reveal the inner face. The v-fins are really sharp and stiff, unlike a MSiA. All the colors are real sharp with no bleeding. Unfortunately there’s a massive seam line running down the head and the lack of panel lines makes it very white.
The torso is very sharp. The small machine cannons and the vents in the chest are painted perfectly. The thruster array on the back is also molded and painted very well except for the fact that there’s an ugly seam line running down the middle of it. The waist joint is an elevated ball joint that allows 360 degrees of motion around the waist and 60 degrees up and down. Due to how the skirt armor is positioned, you can’t see the bottom of the torso unless you lean it all the way back. The skirt armor is a surprise: it’s actually better than a MSiA. All except the back plate are independently movable on peg or hinge joints and the verniers are painted perfectly. The back plate has an unsightly screw in the back.
The shoulder has a small amount of forward/backward motion and complete freedom of rotation around the joint. Both shoulders have the F, 91, and verniers painted dead-on. The radiation fins slide out along a track and have a tab molded into the so you can pull them out. Again, there’s a bad seam line down the middle. The arm is connected at a ball joint that allows even more motion. There’s a rotating joint at the end of the forearm and the elbow allows 90 degrees of motion. The right arm is pretty plain, but the beam shield in the left looks perfect aside from the seam line Unfortunately it’s molded into the arm, but there’s no beam shield included anyway. Hands are either trigger or relaxed grip. They fit in with a peg and hold all weapons tightly. There are more screws here in the back of the forearm and lower arm.
The hips have a wide range of motion and the seam line is along the panel line in the thigh. The knees only move 90 degrees. The lower legs look excellent aside from more seam problems, but need to be inked. The feet can move side to side a little and only a small bit up and down. If you move the guard aside you can see small pistons in the foot. In both the sides and legs there’s more screw holes.
Beam rifle- Really simple and molded nicely. Could use some inking on the details though. The hand holds it well, but the wrist tends to sag.
Beam sabers- The hilts look nice, but the hilt plugs into the beam rather than the other way around. This results in a bit of white plastic visible in the green beam. The beam has an odd frosted look to it and is easily warped. Overall not very impressive.
VSBR- These are the main gimmick of the kit. They slide smoothly along rails in the torso. If you’re picky you can look under the rails and see into the torso, but the gaps aren't very obvious. There’s also a pivot at the end of the connection that allows the VSBR’s to move once deployed. They pull out to reveal the internal detail with pipes and a fold out grip. The grip is massively undersized so you can only give the impression that the F91 is gripping them.
This figure can be described as good engineering, bad construction. The plastic, paint, and joints are a lot better than a MSiA, but the way the figure is assembled does damage to its appearance. It's got both good play and display value. Simply inking the panel line greatly improves the figure’s appearance. If the assembly was better and the beam launcher and shield were included, this would be perfect. However, if I put in a quarter (or 100 yen) and pulled this thing out of a game I’d be plenty happy. Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 stars <<back to Gundam |