Series: Advanced Mobile Suit in Action!! (AMSiA)
Title: ZGMF-X10A Freedom Gundam
Release Date: 07/2003
Suggested Price: ¥ 2000
No. of Parts: 1 Freedom Gundam figure + 8+ parts
Plastic colors: blue, red, white, black, light gray
Gimmicks: improved version from the first release of the AMSiA line

Introduction

Contributor: Winn Sevilla
Date: January 24, 2004

Enter Bandai with its newest installment of the Gundam franchise, Gundam SEED.

Despite the fact that Gundam SEED is currently showing in Japanese television, Bandai already churned out its merchandise already. Newfound fans and critics found themselves flooded with kits. All sorts of "grades" seemed to invade the Gundam SEED market that was meant for all types of fans. For the first time, Bandai seemed to go all out for this installment. With fans disgusted over the Advanced Mobile Suit in Action's "inner frame" skeleton system, Bandai redeemed their designs to compensate on making an improvement.

With the series on its way to the end, new mobile suits are introduced and one of them is designated as the XGMF-10-A Freedom Gundam. Of course, most initial reactions to the Freedom's design was that it was a recycled design of the Gundam X series' GX-9901-DX "Gundam Double X." Criticisms moved on to mecha designer Kunio Okawara losing his touch, etc. However, all of it seems to have died down when the Freedom made its debut on episode 34 & proved it's overwhelming power on episode 35 - add along a really kicking song and dialogue. Critics were turned to fans of this MS as I would say so myself, Okawara did it again. Searching out undisclosed locations in my area for this AMSiA, I stumbled upon the 2nd last stock and also managed to snag the ZGMF-X09-A Justice Gundam as well.

The ZGMF-X10-A Freedom Gundam (Generation Unsubdued Nuclear Drive Assault Module) was the second of the two units secretly developed by ZAFT. Equipped with Neutron Jammer - Cancellers, a feature that allows it's nuclear reactors to operate freely without interference thus giving the unit tremendous & unlimited power output compared to battery powered reactor equipped mobile suits. Utilizing the Phase-Shift armor system that repels both physical and energy based attacks, wing binders that allow increased mobility, as well as an array of beam weapons in which has no power restrictions, the Freedom is an impressive mobile suit. The unit was handed over to Kira Yamato to fight for what he believes in, and to end the war as well.

One noticeable thing about this AMSiA is the quality of the material, which seems to be made of the same material used in the Fix Figuration line. There seems to be no warping and bent parts that you find in basic MSiAs and the paint used for the parts is typically in flat, non-glossy colors like the ones used in the Fix figures. Also, the scale for the figure itself is considerably very close when compared to the 1/144 HGGS kits. For the expensive price, the material, paint quality, scale AND the improvements totally makes it worthy to acquire one.

Box art- As the "2nd Wave" of AMSiAs to be released, the box art follows the basic design, with the figure and weapons on one side and the figure in the other. Of course, with the "inner frame system" omitted its not featured here anymore like it never existed. Whew.

Head

Unlike the Justice Gundam figure, the head is restricted it on vertical articulations due to a flaw on the lower neck base. At least the sharp details make the design much more appreciable.

Torso

Excellent details, waist articulation and has a solid feel into it. Front skirt armors are ball jointed, while the side skirt armors are connected via pegs understandably because they house the dual rail cannons - very stable in that manner. The beam saber hilts can be stored in that area as well but because the space allocated is too shallow, they tend to slip off hen you accidentally come in contact with it while posing / playing it.

I've always been curious on just how backpack of the Freedom works. The main backpack system is a solid structure, connected to the rear torso through a screw-type peg that resembles a bolt. There was a thread in the Gundam Mailing List that complained of the peg's shape that made connection to the torso so difficult - no matter how much possible force is applied. Ritchie Ramos however, managed to connect both in a sheer demonstration of his brute finger strength.

The wing binders themselves are composed of two sections for each side. The first section is connected to the backpack via a hinge, which I find stable. The second - connected via a peg to the first, is composed of two parts that hides the high plasma cannons. Honestly, the stability from this point on isn't good since they're connected via ball joints where simple pegs would've done the job. As a result, the wing binders that hides the high plasma cannons aren't parallel to each other. It's not really a pain, but at it should've been a clean one.

Overall, the wing binders can be posed to "spread out" for cool poses. Also, they're not that back heavy that eliminates that concern.

Arms

Following the Justice, sideward articulation is limited to around 30 degrees. Shoulder armors are ball jointed to the upper arms and has little articulation. Hey, at least its more firm now. The elbow joints, are single jointed but unlike the Justice, looks more solid and thicker. Still, this figure is supplied with only two sets of hands: closed fists & rifle holding pairs - which means you don't have the proper pair of hands needed to grip the shield handle.

Legs

With the design taken from the GX-9900-DVictory Gundam X Divider and the RX-93 Nu Gundam's rear leg verniers (which is fixed unlike the kit versions, drat!), the result is good. The knees are single jointed, while foot articulation is double jointed just like the 1.144 HGGS version.

Weapons and Accessories

MA-M20 "Lupus" beam rifle - Identical to the Strike Gundam's beam rifle except for additional armor laced with blue on the edges. The support stock is articulated. I would suggest that you glue it with the hand for the rifle though - its simply too loose to handle.

MMI-GAU2 'Picus' machine gun - Vulcan cannons located on the head. They're small but very easily identifiable.

MA-M01 'Lacerta' beam saber - NO BEAM BLADES and cant be jointed to form a "Naginata" as shown in the series. Ugh. Why leave us hanging?! The saber hilts themselves can be inserted through slots located on the side skirt armor, but are tolerable to loosen when accidentally come in contact with.

Shield - Very thick and heavier than the Strike & Duel's shield. Although it has a support tab that can be fitted on the arm and a handle, you need at least the type of hands that is not too open in the gap so it can hold the shield. (Bandai only supplied 2 pairs: closed fist & rifle holding!) Bandai should've opted to use a support brace instead.

Conclusion

Bandai has reconstructed the design of these new AMSiAs where they learned the hard way that a solid structure is much more tolerable than a skeletal structure - its about time. But the lack of no beam saber blades, a loose set of rifle hands and no shield brace are still a disappointment, but tolerable.

But consider the Fix Figuration styling, coloring and Katoki-ish design, and add along the fact that it performed well on the series, PLUS the fact that it is a major improvement over the first wave, it's well worth the price!

Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

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