| MSiA
RMS-117 Galbaldy β
Series: Mobile Suit in Action!! (MSiA) Title: RMS-117 Galbaldy β Release Date: 06/2005 Suggested Price: ¥ 1500 No. of Parts: 1 Galbaldy β figure + 15 parts Plastic colors: magenta, maroon, battleship gray, white, gunmetal, green, black, yellow, pink Gimmicks: beam rifle, beam saber hilt + yellow beam blade, six piece Ballute system attaches to torso and legs, pair of trigger fingers, pair of open palm handsets, pair of fists
Contributor: MavHunterExtreme Photography: MHEX Date: January 7, 2006 My single favorite mobile suit is the YMS-15 Gyan, which enjoyed a very brief history in the Gundam universe. The Gyan's legacy would continue to live on though in the Galbaldy, a mobile suit designed to succeed the Gyan. With the tide of war turning against the Principality of Zeon though, the Galbaldy design was revamped to incorporate new beam weapon technology and equipment used on the MS-14 Gelgoog production lines. This resulted in a hybrid design of the best of the YMS-15 Gyan and the MS-14 Gelgoog, the Galbaldy Alpha. With the defeat of Zeon though, the Earth Federation seized the plans for many experimental mobile suits - including the Galbaldy a - and modified them for their own forces. One product of this was the RMS-117 Galbaldy b, a refined variant of the original Galbaldy a that served primarily on the moon and its surrounding areas. Once I found out Bandai had opted to design and manufacture the Galbaldy b for their "Mobile Suit in Action" lineup, I knew I had to get my hands on it. So how did the MSiA incarnation of the RMS-117 Galbaldy b stand up? Let’s find out…
The detailing around the head is impressive. The sensor eye's paint job is perfect despite the fact it’s located in a small area that is recessed 2mm back in the head. I especially love the cables molded around the neck, it’s a nice touch that goes to show the high level of detail and craftsmanship that has been cultivated by Bandai's designers in the “Mobile Suit in Action” lineup. The head has 30 degrees of lateral and vertical movement if you keep the head level. If you raise the head to the apex of its vertical movement though, the head can then traverse 360 degrees laterally.
The shoulders are attached using a recessed hinge-joint that provides 10-15 degrees of lateral movement. When I first saw this figure, I was certain the torso was going to be just a simple peg joint that would only allow the torso to twist with 360 degrees of lateral movement. To my surprise, I was dead wrong. The upper torso is connected to the hips using a recessed ball-joint that gives the Galbaldy b 30 degrees of articulation in addition to being able to twist 360 degrees. The torso's joint is solidly built, yet fluid enough to make posing easy. One thing that was strangely disappointing is the warped skirt armor on my figure. The rear skirt is attached at least 5mm off center to the right, the front skirt panels are thin and flimsy and they're attached so tightly against the waist that they hinder leg articulation at the hips. Now this could be an isolated flaw for my figure, but it's still disappointing nonetheless.
The shoulder armor pieces are attached using the standard sectioned arm peg attached to the upper torso with a hinge joint. The shoulder armors are securely attached to the peg and don't suffer from the usual problem of loose connection often associated with shoulder armor. The arm's design allows for 75 degrees outward arm movement and 360 degrees vertical movement. Now, most "Mobile Suit in Action" figures can twist about halfway about their upper forearms. This is done in part to aid articulation without causing undue wear to the rest of the figure's arm. Several years earlier, Bandai used to have the elbow joints twist right at the point where they were attached to the upper arm. Bandai has revived this construction technique for the Galbaldy since having the upper twist would not be practical due to the design of the upper arm with its railing-like protrusions. Thus far, this arrangement has worked out sufficiently well for the Galbaldy b. The elbows feature double hinge joints with an intermediary piece to facilitate better elbow articulation. The elbows can only move 175 degrees forward due to a ramp-like protrusion on the arms. Most surprisingly too, the elbows cannot move backwards at all. This is due to the design of the intermediary piece in the elbow joint which locks the forearms straight when the arms are completely outstretched (INGENIOUS!). The Galbaldy b’ hands attach to wrist-mounted mini ball-joints with five degrees of articulation.
The legs can move 45 degrees outward, up to 100 degrees forward and up to 60 degrees backward from the hip. The knees feature double hinge joints with an intermediary piece that features 85 degrees of backward knee movement and five degrees of forward motion, all within acceptable levels. The feet are attached to the legs using a short shaft with ball joints at either end, giving the feet 20 degrees of articulation, which limits the Galbaldy Beta's range of poses.
Beam rifle- The beam rifle is well molded and appears to be accurately proportioned and built and the paint job and detailing are exquisite. The rifle's handle and trigger fits perfectly in the Galbaldy's grip, and the stock doesn't warp very easily either. All-in-all, the Galbaldy's beam rifle is perfect.
Shield- The Galbaldy's shield attaches to the forearm using a shield clamp very similar to the one used on Maganac figures from the Gundam Wing universe that attaches to the forearm using the familiar peg-in-hole method. The clamp has two miniature ball-joints, one which rests directly above the attachment hole on the forearm and one that rests atop the vent-like protrusions near the elbow. When the shield is attached the ball-joints give the shield approximately 20 degrees of articulation and easily allow the shield to rotate 360 degrees, making posing a snap. The shield can assume either a full shield or buckler configuration thanks to the twin pairs of rectangular pegs and matching cavities in the shield halves. Underneath the shield lies two trapezoidal protrusions which I can only assume to be housings for the missiles carried by the Galbaldy b, which is a nice touch to the shield’s utility.
Beam saber- The hilt of the beam saber is made using typical PVC plastic and has thus proven itself resilient to wear-and-tear. Like the beam rifle, the beam saber fits perfectly inside the Galbaldy's hand and does not wiggle or wobble in place. The beam saber blade couples together with the hilt using a skinny peg that slides into a recessed cavity, securing the blade nicely. The blade is also made of the same stiff, lightweight plastic used in the MSiA Strike Dagger's beam blade and is thus very durable. The odd thing is that there is no apparent place to store the beam saber hilt anywhere on the Galbaldy.
Ballute system- The ballute system comes in six pieces: the chest rockets, backpack, two power/induction cables and two leg-mounted packs. Each piece attaches securely onto the Galbaldy. The chest rockets and backpack use clips to attach to the top of the torso and rocket backpack and let the force of gravity do the rest of the work. The leg parts attach using a round peg in the side of the knees and a rectangular peg on the lower leg. The cables proved to be the most difficult part to attach since they have to pulled and stretched into place. They are equally as difficult to attach since the ball-joints at the end of each cable are so small and have to be inserted into the holes on the chest rockets and backpack. All-in-all, the ballute system is a nice addition to the Galbaldy's array of accessories, but its immense size and weight make it top heavy and difficult to pose with.
The Galbaldy b comes out as a fine release in Bandai's Zeta Gundam series "Mobile Suit in Action" lineup. With its winning combination of articulation, good paint job, solid construction and bevy of accessories, the RMS-117 Galbaldy b easily takes the spot as one of my favorites in the "Mobile Suit in Action" series, behind only the YMS-15 Gyan and the AMX-004 Qubeley and its variants. With the release of the Galbaldy b, I greatly hope that Bandai will also Another design I would also like to see revamped in light of the MSiA Anyway, that's enough campaigning on my part. Go out there and get the Galbaldy b ASAP. High points: Great torso articulation, solid overall construction, good Low points: Warped skirt armor, limited ankle articulation. |
