| MSiA
ZGMF-X10A Freedom Gundam
Series: Mobile Suit in Action!! (MSiA) Title: ZGMF-X10A Freedom Gundam Release Date: 01/2005 Suggested Price: ¥ 1500 No. of Parts: 1 Freedom Gundam figure + 14 parts Plastic colors: red, white, blue, gray, teal, black Gimmicks: can enter HiMAT mode, and posed in the trademark wings spread pose
Contributor: Cliff Lee Date: August 24, 2005 With the unknown status of the Gundam toy line in America (whether or not they were going to release a Freedom Gundam figure in the U.S.) I purchased the Japanese MSIA!! Freedom Gundam action figure that was released alongside the Gundam SEED DESTINY series in Japan, and the figure turned out to be quite a let down.
The head is pretty standard and decent looking. It's well colored and can turn a full 360 degrees. The head and main V-fin is white while the secondary (smaller) V-fin and eyes are yellow. The camera lenses on the front of the crest and back of the head are colored teal. The chin, the area around the eyes and forehead are red. The main flaw with this part of the figure is the neck armor located on the base of it's neck. Because of that part it's difficult to tilt the head straight up properly.
A simple torso that's colored black, with grey neck guards and vents. The tip of the chest where the cockpit is located is red and a bits of blue and white for the waist. The joints connecting the arms to the torso have improved allowing the shoulders and arms to sweep forward and back. I'll cover the wings and M100 "Balaena" plasma beam cannons in the Weapons/Accessories portion of the review.
The arms and shoulders are pretty basic looking but are very articulate. The shoulders are white with a splotch of red on the tip and the tip of the vent is blue. The arms are white with the elbow joint and fingers on the hands are grey. The figure came with three sets of hands, two in the fist position, two in the grasping position and two more in the grasping position with an extended index finger for holding the rifle. On its left arm there's a groove where the peg on the shield connects to it. The elbows are double jointed which allows the hands touch the shoulders. There's a joint the shoulder that allows the entire forearm to rotate around.
This is one of the parts that really brought the quality of the figure down. The legs are solid white with bits of blue on the knees, the thrusters just below the knee and on the calf are painted red and black while the feet are blue and white. The plate on its back has a groove where you can lock the beam rifle in place when it's not in use. The legs have several points of articulation which may sound good but it's pretty bad especially when the joints are loose. The knees are double jointed so that the heel and touch the "butt" of the unit and there are two joints in the base of the ankle which allows the feet to turn 360 degrees and tilt them up and down. As stated earlier the loose articulation poses a huge problem for the figure because the large wings on it's back throw's off the figure's center of gravity making it rather hard to pose. I'll cover the MMI-M15 "Xiphias" rail cannons in the Weapons/Accessories portion of the review.
MA-M20 "Lupus" beam rifle- The rifle's pretty standard. The base is gray with the covering in white and blue and the scope's lens is painted light blue. The rifle's second handle can be moved from side to side much like the Strike Gundam's rifle. There's also a peg on it that allows the user to store the rifle on the back of the figure as noted in the "Legs" section.
Shield- The shield is pretty ordinary, it's colored white, black and red. Another thing noticeable about the shield is that the handle cannot be adjusted as opposed to the MSIA Strike and Duel figures which is a shame. "Lacerta" beam saber handles- Another ordinary accessory, colored completely in white with a black line around the handle. They can be stored on top of the "Xiphias" rail cannons like in the show. Made out of a more flexible rubber than most of the figure this poses a problem when inserting the beam blades. Due to the flexible nature of handles the beam blades can easily slip out of the handles. Beam blades- This was an improvement over the earlier beam blades. They're a translucent pink and made of a much sturdier plastic than the earlier Gundam SEED line. This was an issue with my Duel figure where the peg of the beam blade snapped off and was lodged in the saber's handle. "Lacerta" linked beam saber handle- It's colored white with two black lines around it. Like the regular handles it's made of a flexible rubber which makes it hard to grip onto the beam blades at both ends. Wings and "Balaena" plasma beam cannons- This is the other part that brought down the quality of the figure. The wings are blue and black while the plasma beam cannons are white with bits of blue black and red. They can be set up with the rail cannons into HiMAT mode, but it cannot enter HiMAT mode with the wings spread out as shown sometimes in the show. The MAJOR problem with the wings and plasma cannons are that they're all extremely loose. When the wings are spread out in the trademark pose some parts of the wings and the plasma beam cannons tends to sag. As stated earlier in the "Legs" portion of the review the wings and cannons weighs quite a bit and can throw the figure off balance. A VERY disappointing aspect of the figure which happens to be one of its major selling points. "Xiphias" rail cannons- The cannons are colored gray with the tips and vents in the back colored red and black. The cannons fold up in three sections like in the show. There are handles on the cannons that can swing out of the barrel for the figure to hold onto. The beam saber handles can be locked down on to the hip armor that holds the "Xiphias" cannons. It would be ideal if the cannons were tighter and not as loose as they are.
I had high hopes for this figure, but it was no where as decent as I thought it would be. On a superficial level the figure is very stocky looking and the lack of panel lines makes it look unappealing. On a more practical level it can only enter the standard HiMAT mode, and the wings, plasma cannons and legs are extremely loose making posing it a chore if it could be done properly at all. All of its gimmicks couldn't save it from being a lousy figure. Even if you are a fan of the Freedom Gundam you will be quite disappointed with this figure. My suggestion to you is save those $20 and add on another $30 to get yourselves the MG Freedom Gundam instead. Overall Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars |
