MSiA MBF-02 Strike Rouge


General and Technical Data

Series: Mobile Suit in Action!! (MSiA)
Title: MBF-02 Strike Rouge
Release Date: 08/2004
Suggested Price: ¥ 1500
No. of Parts: 1 Strike Rouge figure + 21 parts
Plastic colors: gray, light blue, white, pink, rose pink, light red, dark green, yellow, black, red, transparent pink, dark blue, light gray
Gimmicks: AQM/E-X02 Sword Striker, AQM/E-X03 Launcher Striker, bazooka, "Armor Schneider" combat knife (2), 57mm high-energy beam rifle, open hand (2), trigger hand (2), shield
Introduction

Contributor: White Wolf
Date: February 4, 2005

Well, even though this is a pink version of Strike Gundam, it is still an awesome MSiA. This comes with a lot of stuff too, both the Launcher and Sword Striker packs and the bazooka used in episode 22. Though the Strike Rouge was only seen with Aile Striker pack, you can still buy Strike and swap packs. Let's get on with the review!!
Head

The head on this MS is very good. It has neat details and is painted in the pink color. It has a great range of motion too. (Mine came with a defect though, the crest was side ways. :( I had to cut it off and re-glue it, but now it's perfect!
Torso

The torso, though it is small, is painted almost perfectly. The hole in back holds the striker packs in tightly and the Armor Schneider holders on sides of waists hold the Armor Schneiders very well. All of the little details are painted good. But there is one thing I don't like, the waist has almost no articulation except moving side to side a little bit.

Arms

The arms are double-jointed and the shoulders can move forwards and backwards. The hands hold the weapons well except for the Agni High Impulse Cannon, sometimes the hand snaps off, but if you get it on there the right way, it'll fit. The arms are painted with the pink colors and black panel-lines. The Launcher and Sword Striker Pack parts that go on the shoulders fit nice and snugly, but you might not want to take them on and off very much because the piece that keeps them on will snap in half.
Legs

The legs are double-jointed and are painted well. They are detailed differently than the MSiA Strike Gundam's legs. Some parts that are panel-lined on Strike Gundam's legs are not panel-lined on Strike Rouge's legs and vice versa.

Weapons and Accessories

Launcher Striker pack- This pack has the high impulse cannon which is connected to a piece that goes on Strike Rouge's back and has a little handle that comes out of the side for the right hand to hold on to. The cannon can also fold up on the back of Strike Rouge. The shoulder piece is in two pieces, the front and back, which put together on the shoulder pad, fits well and the flaps on the side can move up and down.

Sword Striker pack- This pack has the anti-ship sword that can have the beams come of and on, but the main beam is hard to put in. Fits in hands well. The grappler is very neat because it also serves as a shield. The extender that you put between the main piece and the actual grappler is good for poses but is very loose so it cannot be put facing down or it will fall out. The shoulder piece fits snugly and the beam boomerang is a neat feature. It can come off and it has a beam you put on it and it can fit in the hand. The backpack thing fits snugly and holds the sword well.

Beam rifle- The beam rifle is molded nicely and has a moving handle.
Armor Schneider combat knives- Though smaller than the ones in the show, they fit in the hands very well.

Shield- The shield is painted nicely and fits into arm and hands well.

Bazooka- The bazooka is neat because you can take the back blue "canister" off and you can take all the clips out. It features a moving handle and fits in the hands well.
Conclusion

This is an awesome MSiA and even though it is pink, it still comes with 2 Striker Packs and a cool Bazooka. This is a highly recommended MSiA and if you're a fan of Gundam SEED, this is a MUST HAVE!! This beats spending your time trying to find the Launcher Strike Gundam U.S. version and waiting for the release of Sword Strike Gundam just to have all Striker packs, but instead, you can just buy Strike Rouge. LOTS of accessories and one great MSiA.

Overall Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Alternate Angle

Contributor: hydrogenizedsoy
Date: February 4, 2005

By itself, the Rouge is unremarkable, a repaint of a previously released MSIA. Take into account though that this was packaged with the basic assortment of Strike weaponry (the shield, beam rifle, and combat knives), the bazooka, and the Launcher and Sword packs and you get a fully accessorized figure with enough big guns and oversized swords to satisfy even the most extreme weapons fetishist. Curiously though, the Agni cannon and the bazooka have the gimmicky firing mechanisms identical to the US releases, but they lack the plastic missiles. Why would they include this function, but fail to provide the ammo for it? Weird. I also noticed that the joints were made of a softer plastic then the US releases, making them looser. This doesn’t detract from the figure, but again it’s interesting to the note the differences between a Japanese release and an American. Although the Rouge doesn’t come with a skygrasper, the mission packs can still be attached to one.

I’ve decided to score the packs individually (since the American releases will feature the mission packs individually), and then the figure as a whole.

Launcher pack score: 4 out of 5 stars
Points detracted for difficulty of getting figure to hold the cannon,
inclusion of firing mechanism but failing to provide projectile.

Sword pack score: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Points detracted for flimsy sword blade and lack of movement for the rocket anchor

Score for the whole package: 4.5 out of 5 stars
While the individual packs and figure may be slightly flawed, the sheer
number of goodies you get with the Rouge glosses over them. Kudos to Bandai for an excellent MSIA.

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