BLOG: Box Art Extravaganza IV
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First and foremost, nope — these box art posts aren’t switching from awesome German numbering to Roman numerals. "IV" here represents Invisible Victory as in Full Metal Panic – Invisible Victory, the fourth animated series in the franchise. As previously mentioned, the initial wave of 1/60 kits will consist of three kits — Arbalest, Gernsback, and Gernsback Commander Type with their packaging style as seen.
It’s still a puzzle how Bandai determines if a kit should be ‘graded’ or not. Case in point the Pacific Rim Uprising kits being given the HG treatment while these ones aren’t. That said, these kits do have better part separation than High Grades, hence the probable omission. There’s also a question of whether the line will cover more designs as Invisible Victory is only a 12 episode series and is set to premiere on April 13, 2018.
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Not really planning to get this kit thanks to the darker color scheme, but thanks to the online exclusive HG Heavy Gundam, buying this kit is now a must.
Being yet another retool of the HG Gundam Local Type and shares the same color scheme as its North American Type variant, the Gundam FSD only differs as far as the chest vents and included weapons/accessories as concerned. Heck, it also includes parts to build the North American Type sans the rear shoulder mounted cannon. All the more reason that this should’ve been the online exclusive instead of the Heavy Gundam. In any case, everyone’s still waiting for the inevitable HG RX-78-02 Gundam which would likely come sooner as Gundam THE ORIGIN draws to a close.
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Okay, so this collector hasn’t really been following on these wave of ‘revive’ kits that started with the HGUC GM Ground Type, spilled over to the Blue Destiny units and eventually led to a new version of the HGUC Gundam Ground Type. Having built the older kit just a couple of years ago, there are a lot of kits that deserved ‘reviving’.
But Bandai being Bandai, they probably just took the opportunity since these are similar mobile suits that would require slight retooling. But then again, they should’ve done the same treatment with the HG Gundam AN-01 Tristan, considered by many as one of the worse kits in 2017. They could’ve made a totally new kit then retool to produce a ‘revive’ Gundam NT-1.
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Technically the second kit to be released in the High Grade Build Divers line but still taking the first spot thanks to its designation as the zeroth kit is the HGBD Gundam 00 Diver, the main protagonist machine in Gundam Build Divers.
The new series already made its debut last week and it does inject something new to the ‘Gundam Build’ dynamic being used so far. It is more similar to Gunpla Builders that a virtual copy of the Gunpla is fighting rather than the actual kit itself. Then the whole online open world mechanic is added to give more depth and because it’s the trend nowadays. And much like its predecessor, the Built Strike Gundam, there will be an option unit available later on — the Diver Ace Unit — to complete this mobile suit and form the Gundam 00 Diver Ace.
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Here’s the packaging art for the second Real Grade to come out of New Mobile Report Gundam Wing Endless Waltz or Mobile Suit Gundam Wing Endless Waltz, the title used in the American broadcast.
It is the standard Real Grade style packaging although there’s something off in the description line for Tallgeese with it just saying the series name and the model number. For Wing Gundam Zero EW, it actually says "Colonies Liberation Organization Mobile Suit XXXG-00W0" while this one just breaks the fourth wall. They could’ve used something like "Preventer Code Name ‘Wind’ Mobile Suit OZ-00MS" since this is indeed piloted by code name ‘Wind’ of the Preventers. Missed opportunities aside, the kit does look amazing and is a great addition to the Real Grade line.
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