Series: Mobile Suit in Action!! (MSiA)
Title: RX-110 Gabthley
Release Date: 10/2005
Suggested Price: ¥ 1700
No. of Parts: 1 Gabthley figure + 15 parts
Plastic colors: brown, green, battleship gray, gunmetal, yellow, black,
rocket red, pink
Gimmicks: transformation, pair of shoulder-mounted mega particle cannons, pair of detachable legs + grapple claws, pair of detachable legs (2), Feyadeen rifle, beam saber hilt + yellow beam blades (2), pair of trigger finger handsets, pair of open palm handsets, pair of closed fists

Introduction

Contributor: MavHunterExtreme
Photography: MHEX
Date: January 16, 2006

One of several prototype transformable mobile suits tested by the Earth
Federation Titans during the Gryps War, the RX-110 Gabthley was developed by Paptimus Scirocco - the pilot of the PMX-003 The O - for mass production. The Gabthley was unique yet effective high performance mobile suit that featured two shoulder-mounted mega particle guns as well as a massive Feyadeen rifle/beam saber weapon that could be utilized by the Gabthley's mobile suit and mobile armor mode. Despite its high performance though, the transformable Gabthley was deemed - quite pragmatically - to be too complicated and too expensive for mass production.

It was the Gabthley's unique design with it smooth, rounded contours and its extensive array of weaponry that drew me to the "Mobile Suit in Action" series RX-110 Gabthley action figure. So how did the MSiA incarnation of the RX-110 Gabthley stand up? Let’s find out…

Head

The head's paint job is beautiful, the sensor eye, visor and back-mounted optical sensor are dead on with no visible bleeding or inconsistencies. The neck can tilt 45° vertically, but due to the yellow collar attached to the base of the head it can only rotate 60° from side to side. It's possible to force the head to rotate even more if you force it, but I wouldn't recommend it since the yellow collar warps fairly easy if you do force it.

Torso

Rather than a standard ball joint, the torso features a simple peg
mechanism that realistically allows the Gabthley to twist 10° side-to-side.
The design of the torso emphasizes strength and durability over articulation, which I think is a smarter decision for transforming between
mobile suit and mobile armor modes. The skirt armors are divided in halves attached in between the hips and upper torso on two hinged rods with ball joints at the end that fit into recessed cavities on the skirt armor halves that can independently move 60 depending on what mode the Gabthley is in. There's a tail vernier/binder integrated to the back of the waist with a strong hinge joint that can move 90° vertically.

Arms

The arms are attached to the torso using a vertical rod mounted to the
torso with a ball joint and a hinge joint on the other end for the shoulder.
This unique design lets the shoulder move 30° forward/backward AND 85°
vertically! The arms could move up to 80° outwards but the shoulder armor
limits it to 45°. The connection between the upper arm and the shoulder
twists 360°, and the elbows feature double hinge joints with an intermediary piece that allots the elbow 175° forward motion and 45° backward. The handsets attach onto the forearm-mounted miniature ball joints and feature 5-10° of overall articulation.

Legs

Depending on where the skirt armor is positioned, the legs can move up to
90° backward/forward and 30° side-to-side. The upper legs can also twist up to 360° depending on what mode the Gabthley is in. The feet have limited articulation at 20° forward/backward and 5° side-to-side. Combined with the feet's narrow profile and the Gabthley’s unusual shape and profile make this figure particularly difficult to pose in mobile suit mode.

Weapons and Accessories

Transformation- The transformation from mobile suit to mobile armor seems daunting at first, but proves quite simple after the first time.
Essentially, the transformation comprises of five parts: (1) removing the
hands and legs, (2) bending forearms underneath the shoulders and
repositioning upper arms, (3) inserting MA sensor head onto torso over head, (4) inserting claws into place and repositioning legs, (5) and finally
attaching the Feyadeen rifle. To revert to mobile suit mode, simply reverse
the steps to transform back.

The hardest step of the transformation process is removing and replacing the legs. Each leg is attached to the inside of each upper leg with a long,
ball-jointed rod that inserts into a recessed cavity. The combination of the
leg's shape, the skirt armor, and the legs make them difficult to remove let
alone replace. One thing you must be careful of is the hinged brown plates
on the knees, it's really easy to snap them off and believe me they are not
easy to get back on either. It's best to push them inwards until they're
right against the knee. I've found this makes it less likely that you'll
snap them off in the future.

Grapple claws- The grapple claws are attached at the knees with two long
peg-mounted beams that swing up to 120°. Combined with the joints in the thigh, the grapple arms have an excellent range of motion in both mobile suit and mobile armor modes. Each arm's three claws are attached with miniature ball joints with 5° overall articulation.

Feyadeen rifle- This weapon is without a doubt one of the largest I have ever seen, aside from the MS-R09 Rick Dom's beam bazooka and the YMS-16 Xamel's 180mm cannon. The weapon has been manufactured using new lightweight plastics that are incredibly strong and resilient to wear-and-tear. It's amazing that Bandai hasn't tried using these materials for the "Mobile Suit in Action" lineup sooner considering the potential of this plastic. The rifle’s molding and detailing is superb, and its grip fits perfectly in the figure's trigger finger handset, though the gun's large stock and hooks attached just aft of the handle can make it difficult to position the gun at times. The Feyadeen rifle attaches to the mobile armor mode using a protruding clip that’s normally covered up by the mobile armor’s sensor head when it’s stored on the mobile suit’s back. The gun can be difficult to attach sometimes because of the aforementioned tail vernier/binder and the hooks, once you successfully attach the weapon though, the hooks can be used to secure it to the tail binder. Another cool feature of the Feyadeen rifle is its ability to function as a beam saber as well. The other end of the weapon features a barrel similar to most beam rifle barrels where one of the yellow beam saber blades can be attached, turning the Feyadeen rifle into a beam spear or beam polearm (or whatever you want to call it).

Mega particle cannon- The cannons are attached to the shoulder guards using a combination of a hinge and ball joint with 85° of overall articulation and up to 120° side-to-side, which gives the mobile armor mode a very wide angle of fire and allows the mobile suit mode to launch Guncannon-like attacks.

Beam sabers- The beam sabers are molded to a level on par with the ones
included with the MSiA RMS-117 Galbaldy b, one of my all-time favorite
action figures with its firmly molded hilts that fit perfectly into the Gabthley’s open handsets. The yellow beam blades are manufactured with the same materials used for the Feyadeen rifle and thus have unbeatable quality and durability, not at all prone to the problems of bending and warping.

Display stand- The Gabthley comes with a simple two piece display stand that raises the mobile armor mode by the Feyadeen rifle’s stock approximately 1cm off the ground. The display serves its purpose well enough, though I would have preferred it lifted the Gabthley a little higher. One thing I will warn everyone about is the prong that holds the figure in place. It’s attached onto the stand using a clip that comes off easy whenever the Gabthley is removed from the stand. The piece is also fairly fragile and easily comes apart, but thankfully it’s easy to repair.

Conclusion

The MSiA release of the RX-110 Gabthley from Zeta Gundam comes out strong. Good articulation, strong construction, bevy of accessories and loads of details (the many movable verniers most especially) make this action figure a true treasure. Though the Gabthley’s mobile suit mode does suffer from some problems with leg articulation and balancing, the mobile armor mode more than makes up for it. For those who are fans of Zeta Gundam or transformable mobile suits/mobile armors, this is a definite must have.

With the release of the RX-110 Gabthley, I think it would be interesting to
see if Bandai decided to apply their experience and talent with the Gabthley towards other transformable mobile suits such as the AMX-003 Gaza-C, MSA-005 Methuss, ORX-005 Gaplant or even the PMX-000 Messala. Don’t forget, there’s also the imminent release of the NRX-055 Baund Doc to look forward to in February 2006.

High Points: Great articulation for the shoulders and mega particle cannons; well done paint job; strong joints; awesome mobile armor mode.

Low Points: Difficulty changing legs for the transformation; limited neck,
upper leg and ankle articulation; problems posing mobile suit mode.

Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

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