The latest in the GAT series of mass-produced Gundam-like mobile suits from the SEED DESTINY universe, the GAT-04 Windam is the newest frontline mobile suit used by the naturals of Earth in their latest war with the PLANT colonies and their population of genetically-enhanced Coordinators. I was so pleased with my GAT-01 Strike Dagger action figure that I thought it might be a good idea to include its more advanced counterpart as a part of my collection. Also the fact that it's painted with an eye-popping color scheme of white, navy blue and turquoise made it an attractive purchase. So how did the MSiA incarnation of the GAT-04 Windam stand up? Let's find out…

I have to say that I'm really fond of the paint job on the Windam's head, there are little to no flaws or run-overs or clumps, not even along the edges between the yellow, blue and white. The detailing is equally as pleasing with well-defined panel lining, crisp edges and no visible manufacturing flaws such as unsightly gaps and improper molding. To my pleasant surprise the Gundam-like triangular communications antennas did not suffer from warping or bending during manufacturing or shipping neither in all the time of spent playing with the head. The head has some good articulation at 30° vertical, 360° horizontal and 5° of side-to-side tilt thanks to the tall neck-mounted ball joint it's attached to and the absence of high neck guards that would only get in the way.

The paint job on the torso is well done with very little runoffs or bleeds in the paint or the seams, the only place that had any serious flaws were the cooling vents on the chest, and realistically speaking I'm not that surprised considering the fact the vents are so small and tight. The mid-section is the only real disappointment, at least in terms of articulation. The waist is limited to a mere 30° horizontal and 10° of tilt. This is due to a number of factors: 1) the mid-section is rectangular, 2) it's recessed into the waist section, and 3) the armor skirt panels protrude a few millimeters above the “top” of the lower section and thus get in the way of the rectangular mid-section.

The shoulder armor is flush with the shoulder portion of the upper arm. The shoulders are attached with clip joints that attach to pegs recessed inside the upper torso. The arm can move just shy of 90° outward. The elbows have 175° forward articulation while the armor around the elbows restricts backward movement to only a degree to two at the most. The ball joint for the wrist is mounted at the end of the forearm and attaches to matching spherical cavities inside each hand and allots 5° of articulation.

From the hips the legs can move 5° inwards, 30° outwards, up to 90° forward if you're willing to bend the front skirts and 85° backwards. The knees feature typical double hinge joints that allot for 165° of backward motion and only a couple of degrees forward thanks to the design of the knee guards. The ankles are attached using double ball joints mounted on each end of carefully molded hydraulic-looking peg that gives the ankles 60° of all round motion. Combined with the pair protruding on the back of each heel, the Windam's legs have no inherent trouble at all with stability.

Beam rifle- The Windam comes with a large beam rifle that's almost as long as the Windam is tall. The detailing is on par and the painting of the targeting scope is near perfect. The rifle features a swiveling handle grip

Shield- The shield is one the centerpieces of this MSiA package. The detailing and paint job are exquisite with little or no visible flaws and highly visible panel lines, even the shield's missiles are well painted with brilliant red. The wrists on each forearm have a total of three rectangular slots, each of which can be used to attach the shield on. Using these slots together with the sliding handlebar solidifies the Windam's grip on the shield, making it easier to pose.

Beam sabers- The beam saber hilts fit well inside the grip of each open hand and attaches to the clips atop each waist storage compartment with relative ease, though I still recommend caution when attaching them to avoid warping. The beam saber blades are molded with hardened plastics that have now come to be standard and are consequently very strong and sturdy with little chance for bending and warping.

Anti-armor penetrators- The anti-armor penetrators come in two sizes, large and small. The small ones are used strictly for storage inside the hip-mounted compartments on either side of the Windam's waist. The large penetrators cannot fit inside the storage compartments, but are the ideal size for fitting inside the open hands included with the package.

Striker Packs- The Windam features the ability to combine with the Jet and Doppelhorn Striker Packs that come with the MSiA Dagger L and Neo Roanoke' custom Windam. The Striker Packs attach into a pair of cylindrical cavities and a recessed section on the Windam's back.