Happy Holidays! As of this post anyway. And while I still have 2 unopened kits (too lazy to build), I'll instead do a review on one of my personal favorite Gundam design: the Gundam Double X. Try not to search for Gundam X with safety filter off.
I have a total of 4 Robot Damashii figures, all of which are Graham Aker's suits. This is my 4th. 4th because the 1st one I owned is now long dead (RIP GN Flag). I got this toy for 900 PHP... which is not bad considering it's over 2k originally and cheaper than the kit. And it's brand new to boot (*me justifying buying toys in general).
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| It took him 2 hours to edit this image... and it's no where near as epic as the one in the anime |
I have a total of 4 Robot Damashii figures, all of which are Graham Aker's suits. This is my 4th. 4th because the 1st one I owned is now long dead (RIP GN Flag). I got this toy for 900 PHP... which is not bad considering it's over 2k originally and cheaper than the kit. And it's brand new to boot (*me justifying buying toys in general).
Package
Packaging is relatively simple. Unlike the packaging post 2015, this one comes in a pretty big box.
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| Big yet no size comparison whatsoever |
The back shows the figure in various poses including the satellite canon deployment. Of course we'll get to that in a sec.
Removing the clamshell tray from the box greets you with the figure, accessories and backpack all laid out in landscape. Normally, I would expect a more compact packaging via layering, but this was when Bandai's didn't skimp on it's tamashii lines (see modern figuarts boxes).
Aesthetics
Gundam Double X has always been one of the main suits that's not traditional in color, mainly because the blue is much darker (black even). It's wide, pointy and sharp. This figure is slimmed down from the original 90s line art, which makes it look better imo. If you're wondering where the Freedom Gundam took it's inspiration, well you're looking at it.
1st thing 1st before we go to the figure, you'll need to assemble the backpack as it comes separate from the main suit. 1st with the cannons: they attach via a ball joint on the backpack. The binders itself is ball-jointed with a swivel built in so you can move it out of the way. I suggest to be extremely careful of the attachment because it's extremely tight.
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| tight balls |
You'll now then slide the assembly onto designated slots on the backpack. It can only go one way so you won't make a mistake on which side goes where.
After that, voila! You now have the full Gundam Double X in all it's glory. Or Gundam DX moving forward.
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| His work jargon is melting into his normal vocabulary |
The toy itself looks pretty good. As mentioned, it's a much sleeker version of the Gundam DX. The HG is a bit chunkier than this. The lower abdomen specially and the face of the suit are narrower. I imaging it'll look closer to this figure if ever they do make a metal build out of this.
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| Either his camera is slated or the table the toy is on is slanted |
As it's a figure, it has all the details painted in. THe eyes are done is very reflective mettalic green. It does sorely need some panel lines, but you do get some filled in for you, like on the arms.
I especially love the gunmetal color they used for the machine cannons and thrusters. The paint applications are very clean and unsightly nubs are kept to a minimum. There's even some silver on the cannon tips.
A quick close-up reveals how much sharper the head sculpt is. In the HG, you get safety nubs on the cheek spikes. This one can actually draw blood because of how sharp they are.
The chest microwave energy receptacle is painted gunmetal and has a nice transparent green "windows" that just pops. Just the the Master Grade, this has a full on sculpt, unlike the neon green one used by the HG.
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| he's using all his willpower to avoid licking it. Looks like a green Fox candy |
The only point where the aesthetic fails are on the shins as they have very obvious seams but that's nitpicking at this point.
Overall, it's very, very good. I feel bad now since I can't make my kits look as good as the figure. It's also pretty hefty. Most of the 90s Mobile suits were pretty chunky (As designed by Okawara). This is how I imagine a ver Ka of the DX would look like.
Articulation
Modern HGs are super articulate. How does this figure stack up against the current kits?
Well this figure is from 2013, so you don't get the fancy pullout joints on the new ANIME Robot Damashii figures. Still, as an action figure, it should be pretty good.
Head has a very wide range of movement. It can look really up.
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| ball joint spotted |
And it can look really down. There's actually a double ball joint used for the neck, and this grants the figure excellent neck articulation...
... and it's ruined by the design of the head. The shoulder canons are just close enough so it can look straight, but the cheek spikes hits them everytime. The clearance is very small. The double jointed neck helps, but it's scary moving the head around as I might end up breaking the thing.
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| He's ham fisted... he just doesn't want to say it upfront. Also why the RG sinanju keeps falling apart |
The shoulder is mounted to the torso via ball joints, but they do not pull forward or up to give better range. Despite that, it still has very decent range.
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| He can't hold anything without shaking it it to bits |
It has good arm articulation, but the shoulders can't really go up very far, hindered by the armor. It has double jointed elbows and a bicep swivel, but do be careful ass it might pop of the shoulder caps.
It does not have an AB crunch but the wait joint is very articulate and is smooth and tight. Exactly what's needed for a top heavy suit.
It has double-jointed knees, and the front and back skirts can be moved.
The hips are mounted weirdly. You'd normally expect it to be mounted somewhere in the middle of the crotch, but the joint here is actually much higher up, which causes problems on the hip area. The hips tend to hit the side skirts. The side skirts themselves are ball jointed, but they don't really go up that far. It cannot do the splits for example without popping the side skirts out.
The ankle is crazy articulate, with a ball joint mounted on top of the shins and the feet itself are on swivels. The front bit can move up and down while the ankle armor is on a ball joint. For a mostly space suit, it's got pretty wide range of foot articulation.
If there's one gripe posing this figure, it's that some parts are extremely look. The right forearm armor just sits there with bare any friction and the side skirts like to pop off as the waist and hips hit them. Very annoying.
Overall, it has all the basics. While you can get it in good poses, anything much more dynamic (ala revoltech) is out of the question. The waist will start hitting the side skirts and the hips will just make them pop-out even faster. Still, it's not mean to be super melee focused anyway, so it should be good enough.
Accessories
Earlier you saw a shot of the accessories alreay, but let's break down what you get.
HANDS! Any action figure would be a fail if it doesn't have extra hands. Even Marvel Legends are doing it already. It's got weirdly open palms, trigger finger, saber holding and for some reason, another pair of holding hands with a smaller diameter opening.
You mount them via ball joints on the wrist. Did I mention that the wrist itself have a swivel in it?
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| you old fart... of course you did not mention it. The image is here and not on the articulation section |
You also get a pair of beam sword effect parts and it's corresponding hilts. For that, you'll need to pop of the fake one on the side skirts and use the bigger one with the actual peg hole. This is where the HG claws some points back as the Hg has a functioning feature here whereas the Damashii requires a part swap.
You also get a beam rifle and a shield. Pretty standard rifle, and the shield is funky and much smaller vs Seed shields.
The shield itself has some articulation, and it mostly pegs onto the back of the left arm.
You also get these pegs on the skirt... but there are no pegs on the rifle for storage... Not even in the instructions.
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| Or he's just too stupid to look for it |
There is also a port at the bottom for a tamashii stand.
It can technically carry all of it's armaments on itself.
And onto the part where the HG trumps the Robot Damshii, the twin satellite cannon mode. On the HG, you just flip out the radiator fins. Here, you swap out everything.
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| it's just 6 pieces.. jesus christ on a bike |
1st for the forearms, you remove the super loose black armor and pop-off the grey bit as well. The grey bit is essentially a non-powered fin.
You now take one of the forearm fins and attach the black armor there. You'll need to set aside the grey plate and make sure to not loose it.
The legs work the same as the arms. You get a black armor and the grey deactivated fins.
You'll need the black armor bit mounted onto the fins. Also the fins have uniquely positioned pegs so make sure to check and not force the parts in.
Once you have all that done, it'll end up looking like this.
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| "I am a just God" |
For the shoulders, you'll need to slide out a grey piece from the shoulder.
And replace it with the opened targetting sensor.
And now it's ready to accept the satellite cannon.
I find it easier to remove the backpack for this. Simply flip the canon around, extend the barrel and flip open the solar panels.
Mount it back, and clip the targeting sights onto the cannons and you are in business.
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| I am a glorious God |
Unlike the HG, the solar panels here are flat. The details come from the intricate paint patterns using 2 different shades of gold. It's reflective, but not as shiny as the foil stickers on the HG, nor does it have the depth of the MG. Still, that a whole lot of paint for a figure this cheap.
Here's an attempt to make it look like it's charging up using only my lightning equipment.
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| it's only slightly more yellow |
Size Comparison and Other Comparison
Most Robot Damashiis are sized a bit smaller than High Grades, at least the older ones. This one though is sized quite nicely. It almost scales very well with standard HG. I have only IBO kits lying around so here are some comparison shots.
Summary
One of the reasons I stayed away from Damashii's is that there will almost always be a model kit version that's vastly cheaper (with the exception of Gundam WIng :(((). This figure originally retailed for over 2k PHP (5000 yen). Right now at clearance price of 900, it's even cheaper than the HG, so given the chance, I'd say buy this over the HG. The HG out of box will need a bit of work to make it look decent. The proportions of the HG is a bit off too. This figure has much better proportions, is already painted and has decent articulation. If you do end up paying full retail though, well it's still pretty good but I am biased since I got it for cheaps. This Robot Damashii is leaps and bounds better than the older 00 ones. Makes me wonder how the new figures feel.
Pros:
- Cheap, at least locally.
- crisp sculpt and excellent details
- good paint applications
- hefty and solid
Cons:
- loose bits. Needs to be treated with Future
- cannot do dynamic poses
- is a parts former
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