| MSiA AMX-004 Qubeley
Series: Mobile Suit in Action!! (MSiA) Title: AMX-004 Qubeley, AMX-004-2 Qubeley Mk. II, AMX-004-3 Qubeley Mk. II Release Date: 11/2005 (re-release) Suggested Price: ¥ 1500 No. of Parts: 1 Qubeley figure + 20 parts Plastic colors: white, magenta, pink, battleship gray, grimy black, blue (AMX-004); glossy dark violet, magenta, pink, battleship gray, grimy black, pale yellow (AMX-004-2); red, yellow, pink, battleship gray, grimy black (AMX-004-3) Gimmicks: transformable into “cruise mode,” beam cannon/beam saber hilt + yellow beam blade (2); funnel (10), closed fist (2), saber hand (2), outstretched hand (2)
Contributor: MavHunterExtreme Photography: MHEX Date: December 6, 2006 The original AMX-004 Qubeley was the personal mobile suit of Axis general/Neo Zeon Dictator, Haman Karn and was a revolution in Zeon mobile suit design and Newtype technology, being the first mobile suit to use a miniaturized Psycommu [psychic communication] unit and the first to use funnels, the mass-produced version of the Bit weapon pioneered in the MAN-08 Elmeth Mobile Armor from the One Year War. The AMX-004-2 Qubeley Mk. II and AMX-004-3 Qubeley Mk. III units that appeared after the Gryps War of Zeta Gundam introduced minor improvements in performance and firepower by adding more funnels and pioneering the Psycommu headset. The large impact it had on mobile suit design and construction in the Universal Century saga, together with its unconventional design and high degree of combat effectiveness made the Qubeley an attractive addition to my collection. I originally chose the AMX-004-2 Qubeley Mk. II because of its “stealthy” paint job, but after having seeing the original AMX-004 Qubeley in action in Zeta Gundam I decided to add it to my collection. So how did the AMX-004 Qubeley and its variants compare in the MSiA lineup? Let's find out…
The Qubeley's head is long and swept back with a pointed, almost mousey-looking nose and nicely detailed panel lining. The eyes are also well done, giving the Qubeley and its variants a very menacing look that compliments its overall appearance. The head is mounted on a ball joint which is connected to an organic-looking double hinge joint neck similar to the neck on the MSiA RX-78GP03 Gundam Stamen. This unique design enables the head to tilt back 90° to its cruise mode position and still offer a good range of motion at ° horizontal movement, the head would have been able to traverse 360° if it weren't for the long, swept back design (which is just too cool to complain about anyhow).
The torso is well detailed with cooling vents and conduction cables neatly molded into the frame. The only problem I've encountered is that the pink cockpit hatch is easy to push into a crooked position during play. The torso incorporates a design feature I first remember seeing on the “Mobile Suit in Pocket” Contio: the use of a ball joint to connect the two halves of the torso together to give it some real articulation. The entire upper torso can rotate 360° and tilt a maximum of 15° all around while retaining enough strength to support the top-heavy torso and still resist normal wear-and-tear. The waist serves as a support point for the upper torso and is not articulated. The front skirt panel on the waist however, utilizes a miniature b-joint that allots 20° of articulation, which makes it easier to pose the legs.
The shoulders feature a variation of the double b-joint system employed on the MSiA MSN-03 Jagd Dogas from Char's Counterattack, with the first b-joints located inside the torso with 5° of shoulder articulation. One problem I've encountered on my Qubeley Mk. II is that the shoulders tend to droop down when left in their normal position (possibly due to either imperfections in the b-joint, or from wear-and-tear). However, I've found that twisting the shoulders in the right way tightens the ball joints and better enables them to support the heavy weight of the shoulders. The arms are then attached to a standard generation one shoulder b-joint directly on the torso. Although not a predominantly popular design among some hardcore fans, this concession has proven to the Qubeley's benefit by displacing the heavy weight of the shoulder binders onto the much stronger torso-mounted ball joints as well as freed up space for a maximum outward arm movement of 60°. The elbows use single hinge joints that can move 90° forward and only a couple degrees backward. Miniaturized ball joints are at the end of each forearm to attach the hands with and provides up to 5° of wrist articulation. This design is normally easier to work with than the traditional peg-in-hole method employed in earlier generation MSiA action figures, but in this case the wrist guard that covers the back of the hands tends to get in the way and makes changing the hands more difficult. In this case it's easier to first remove the forearm from the elbow joint, then gradually pull on the handset with your thumb at a downward angle while applying enough force to remove the handset. For installing handsets, just reverse the said procedure. One must be careful with exactly how much pressure is applied to the hands since no ball joint yet made is unbreakable.
The hips allow for about 35° of outward leg movement while retaining 60° of forward & backward movement. The knees feature a T-shaped double hinge joint that gives the knees 90° of backward movement and eliminates all forward movement. The T-joint also gives the attached knee armor a solid base allots 90° of articulation, thus enabling it to either point straight out or cover the knee in cruise mode. The ankles feature 10° horizontal articulation and 20° forward & backward. The sharp-looking toes are connected to the foot using a single hinge joint at the base of the immense pink heel, allowing the foot to bend 30° degrees in place. The hinge does tend to wear out pretty quick and makes posing Qubeley more difficult.
Beam cannon/beam sabers- Each beam saber handle can fit inside a respective hole in each forearm to store each beam saber handle. The sabers can be somewhat of a pain when first installing the beam saber handles into each forearm hole, since the holes can be smaller than the handles themselves which can cause the handles to bend & warp if too much pressure is applied. Removing them is thankfully much easier, since you can use a fingernail to remove them from place. The beam saber blades attach & remove easily into the cavities in the handles with a slightly elongated peg. The blades themselves are among the longest I've seen, measuring roughly 4 1/2 inches in length. Each beam saber hilt fits into specially molded hands with the thumbs molded directly onto the fingers. I love the fact that Bandai's designers incorporated such handsets into their lineup since these have better grips and are more resistant to wear-and-tear. Funnels- The Qubeley's funnels are among the smallest I've seen and thus are easy to lose, and can be a choking hazard either for small children or pets. The funnels themselves are constructed using rather malleable materials that can easily be bent, warped, or damaged when attaching them to the tail binder. It's easier just to keep them inside the packaging or to leave them attached to the funnel binder, since getting them on or off is a major pain. The funnel binder is attached to the Qubeley's back with a single hinge joint that tends to wear down pretty quick under the binder's weight, but it has the strength to hold the it in the deployment position.
With its superb paint job, construction and articulation, the Qubeley and its counterparts are masterpieces that are guaranteed to satisfy all. I'm especially excited at the steady progress Bandai's been making designing and incorporating more large-scale mobile suits such as the Xamel, Qubeley's, Jagd Doga, Sazabi, The O and the Baund Docs into the MSiA lineup. Personally, I look forward to the day we see other large mobile suits like as the Quin Mantha and Nightingale included in the MSiA lineup. High Points: Superb paint job, excellent neck, shoulder, knee, foot, and torso articulation, ability to transform into cruise mode, nifty wing binders, and specially molded beam sabers w/matching handsets. Low Points: Top-heavy torso [mostly due to the wing binders], difficulty changing hands, difficulty holding some poses, and flimsy funnels. Overall Rating: 5 out of 5 stars <<back to Gundam |
