Robot Tamashii Strike Freedom Gundam

This is the review of Robot Tamashii Strike Freedom Gundam from the anime of Gundam Seed Destiny... yeah we all knew it...

New mecha figure item maybe but in fact it is just an old item in a new version...

Why on earth we grabbed this item? Well, at first I thought it will be a good figure since they made in 2010 and since it's difficult to get the GFF version of Strike Freedom Gundam nowadays (Cosmic Region Strike Freedom Gundam) and I don't fancy those MSIA or HCM Pro series coz they are quite small in size and since only Robot Tamashii is the only available mecha figure series that offered this item recently - I guess the choice is between to get it or to ignore it.... I choose to get it.

Turn out to be, it is just something like 1/100 MG Strike Freedom Gundam in a small size (about 1/144 scale but not really, about 20% less but surely bigger than those MSIA and HCM Pro series) but with all the gimmick that you can get from the MG GunPlaMo kit counterparts without the need to do any assembly work on it.... playable out of the box, simple as that...

This mecha sure is popular - and thus big brother Bandai will soon release the 1/60 PG Strike Freedom Gundam and Bandai even ask Hajime Katoki, the genius pervert, to play a big role in defining the original design from Okawara Kunio. Its interesting to see what is the outcome but surely I can't afford to buy it....

Since last year, when Robot Tamashii series become more and more stable money making platform for Bandai, I have predicted that someday they will surely make the "grandpa" RX-78-2 Gundam and the Char Zaku maybe and after that the Zeta and ZZ and so on. On top of that, surely they will produce something from Cosmic Era (Seed and Seed Destiny) - it is just a matter of time.

And this year my prediction last year seems to become reality - they will release the RX-78-2 Gundam and eventually this Strike Freedom made his debut in the Robot Tamashii series as well... hopefully Strike Gundam with all the SWS will appear in Robot Tamashii series as well.

Let's have a look at this figure....

The box...





Out of the box....





You will get all these stuff....




The Gundam....




The DRAGOON's effect parts, the beam shield, beam saber....




Extra hands and the 2 rifle....




The heavy wings....




As usual, let's look at the Gundam first...











Details wise.... I think its what you would expect from Robot Tamashii series... quite good but surely I love to see more decals and this is the reason why I would prefer to have the Strike Freedom in GFFN series as Katoki will surely bombarded this figure with lots of decals plus I will enjoy the solid materials, the durability and the excellent frame.....

I would hope that Bandai will produce the GFFN Strike Freedom with Katoki touch and great materials but that can be just a wishful thinking....

I dislike the inner frame color - almost green - not as gold as we hope for.... this color is in fact the same color they used on the MG kits of the same Gundam.





The face....







Articulation is quite good, even with the wings attached, this Gundam can still do the kneeling pose... those wings are heavy....





Now, just like the 1/100 MG Strike Freedom Gundam... you might encountered some issues like heavy wing parts, obstructions and maybe a few other minor issues here and there...

Similarly on this Robot Tamashii version... you might still experience all those things and the wing parts is the obvious one - sometimes the wing can be annoying as well....

With the wings attached... I think it's quite challenging to make this Strike Freedom to do simple standing pose.... again I say it, those wings part are heavy....

Furthermore, we always see Strike Freedom flying around in the sky or the outer space.... we hardly see the Strike Freedom running on the ground... so in that case that's exactly what I can think off...

Using Tamashii Stage Act 3 and/or the Figma stand, I managed to perform all these....











The beam saber.... I think it is too long... for a figure at about 1/144 scale... I personally feel that the length is more suitable for a figure at 1/100 scale....






Bandai also provide the beam javelin thingy....






The DRAGOON's effect part.... For this review purpose, I just attached a few of them.... looks pretty cool though, I love them....







Overall, this is a good action figure from Bandai for those collectors who like Strike Freedom so much but feel lazy or have no time to work on the GunPlaMo kits version of it. Playable out of the box - that is in fact the concept. The wing part is heavy and sometimes it can be annoying but apart from that this Robot Tamashii Strike Freedom Gundam can do lots of brilliant action pose that you can think off and surely it has many features and gimmick to keep you entertained.

At 3,500 yen (roughly about SGD 56.00) before adding shipment cost, the price is in fact not far from the previously release Cosmic Region Strike Freedom Gundam in 2005 (the price then was 3,680 (roughly about SGD 60.00) - but if I have the luxury to choose, I will surely go for the Cosmic Region (also known as GFF) version as that one have lot's of Katoki touch and it is surely at 1/144 scale....

Although I hope that someday Bandai could release the GFFN version of this figure but that is more likely is impossible - so I guess for now, I could at least wished that Bandai will make Strike Gundam (GAT-X105) and all of the SWS to appear in Robot Tamashii series.




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