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Strike Freedom Gundam

Comments

8 comments posted
Nicely done...

Great detailing--I get this feeling that you put more effort into Gunpla than the bulk of those purchasing these kits!

Now, while I appreciate the work many modelers like yourself put into these kits, the kits themselves tend to do nothing for me. Chock it up to Gundam overload...for the past 10 years!

I'm not about to comment on where I think Bandai/Sunrise should take the franchise, but I was wondering if you thought they'd branch out and start making MG kits of some of the lesser-known (in my opinion, more interesting) designs.

I've always felt that the original Zeon suits were much cooler than the Fed stuff...especially the marine suits. So, with the current activity in Seed designs and what they've already done in the past, do you think we'll get to see MG kits of suits like the GOOhN or the ZnO?

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Sanjeev

Sanjeev's picture
Posted by Sanjeev on 23 January, 2008 - 15:47
RE: Sanjeev

Thanks for the commentary and its always welcome.

Meantime, while I cannot see anything of ZAFT making it to MG form that isn't one of the Gundams I know Bandai is making ammends and attempts at other lesser known machines and variations. They're recycling the Strike IWSP edition and the Strike Noir Gundam into a "Custom" edition from the Seed Astray books, but for the rest of the SEED universe mecha expect LG and HG 1/144's at the most. Recently they released the RX-0 Gundam Unicorn from the novel of the same name as a Version Ka, once I get to build it, I will have a review of it for CDX. The design is fairly fresh and relatively unknown in the US because there's no word on if/when the book might see a Domestic release. Also of the "They really Called this a Gundam?" side, they produced the Turn A Gundam for MG #100. While its a far cry from the RX-78-2, it was still a star machine and was fortunate to recieve a model.

The only other thing going on is the massive recreation of ZEON mobile suits now. With Version 2.0 becoming Bandai's set up for the next year, you can expect a lot more to come.

Gunpla Rob's picture
Posted by Gunpla Rob on 23 January, 2008 - 17:06
Bummer...

...on the lack of love for ZAFT mecha.

Oh well...what can ya do? I picked up a cheapie 1/144 of the GOOhN, but it's pretty horrendous. By Bandai's usual gunpla standards, it barely qualifies as gashapon-quality.

Anyway, you bring up an interesting point about Turn A. I almost forgot about that thing. I'm not sure how I feel about the design, but I at least appreciate the effort at being stylistically different.

I definitely look forward to your completion of the model...and, of course, subsequent review! ;)

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Sanjeev

Sanjeev's picture
Posted by Sanjeev on 23 January, 2008 - 21:08
Model- and series-wise, I

Model- and series-wise, I cannot comment on the Turn-A. However, while it was certainly a departure from the traditional Gundam look in many respects, I felt it was breath of fresh air for the franchise; not enough to enrage people, but just enough to liven things up and shake people out of their stupors a bit. (I assume that Syd Mead's take on the Turn-A was better received than his remake to the lead ship from "Yamato 2520"?) I like the Turn-A in some ways- the sharp, angular shapes that are the trademark of Mead's style as a futurist- but others were enough to equally turn me off to it- the white mustache, no visible thrusters/backpack, odd placement of the core fighter.

Question: I always get them confused- mostly because I have not seen either "...SEED" or "...SEED Destiny"- but why did Bandai intentionally design the ZGMF-X10A Freedom Gundam and ZGMF-X20A Strike Freedom Gundam to look so similar to each other? I'm sure that to a fan they're as different as the Zeta Gundam versus the ZZ Gundam are, but to me their names, colors, and weapons seem so similar that one seems more like an upgrade of the other. Was that confusion intentional, or was Bandai being lazy when they designed the Strike Freedom Gundam?
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CollectionDX Staff

EVA_Unit_4A's picture
Posted by EVA_Unit_4A on 24 January, 2008 - 03:02
Blame Game

Well Bandai's only partially to blame, say in terms of liscensing and merchandising on the Strike Freedom and Freedom similarities. I think your blame can rest firmly on Kunio Ohkawara's head. But you have to admit that the Bee Craft team did an awesome job with the model!

The thing is like I've mentioned in both reviews for the Strike Freedom 1/100 HG and the MG here. The Strike Freedom is the designed upgrade based on the original Freedom, so naturally its face, chest, arms, legs, and basic wing layout are similar, but differ in their collection of weapons. While the Zeta and Double Zeta shared principles without looking entirely like each other, both were transforming mobile suits, but naturally the Zeta's "decendent" looked nothing like its parent. If you want to be technical, the Zeta was merely a stand alone Prototype, and that its real relatives are the mass produced ZETA PLUS series that appeared only in the "Gundam Sentinel" novels. While not upgrades, they did match the design specs of the Zeta more accurately than the ZZ.

Thanks for Reading!

Gunpla Rob's picture
Posted by Gunpla Rob on 24 January, 2008 - 09:36
Concerning size

Hey, this might come across as a stupid question, because for a lot of people, it s..
Anyways, I've just started to become interested in Gundams. So my question is, how tall are the 1/100 scale resp. 1/144 scale figures?

Thanks!!

Final Fusion approved!

Scienticon's picture
Posted by Scienticon on 29 January, 2008 - 10:43
Sorry for the Late Response

I missed this comment, but its never too late to answer.
The 1/144 scales stand about 5 to 7 inches tall and the 1/100 scales break 8 inches to about 13 inches depending on the design (RX-78 compared to MSA-0011).
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Rob
The Gundam Model Guy

Gunpla Rob's picture
Posted by Gunpla Rob on 28 June, 2008 - 09:00