Robot Damashii [Side MS] Geara Zulu Part 1

Returning in different form
Done with gashapon for the moment with the review of HGIF Gundam Character 3 Vol. Gundam SEED Destiny, the next review will be on a Robot Damashii [Side MS] action figure. ^^


Robot Damashii [Side MS] Geara Zulu from "Gundam UC". ^^

As mentioned in the introduction of its HGUC Gunpla version, I always like the design of Geara Zulu. The look hearken all the way back to Zaku II from UC0079, and I guess it's that sense of familiarity which made Geara Zulu seems so special to me. ^^ And of course, the many ornaments of the Sleeves that decorate the various parts are great design elements that look really appealing to me. They are definitely not as exaggerated as Sinanju, but they are really not bad as a grunt unit's markings. ^^

Speaking of which, the Neo Zeon remnants might be facing financial difficulties in fielding a strong army, but they have no problem modifying and refitting old suits to all have the Sleeves' emblems. ^^; I guess the budget for visual upgrade is worth it on their books, or maybe white and black paints are just abundant on Palau for them to use. XD On that note, if I'm a MS pilot in the world of "Gundam UC", I would rather join the Sleeves and get one of those MSs with nice ornaments and engravings. Even though the chance of me getting KIA is much higher because of the lower specs of my MS as compared to my adversaries from E.F.S.F., but my final resting place looks really good. It has that feel of antiquity, elegance and flamboyance. When junk collectors find my suit maybe 100 years later, they would go, "Destroyed he was, but damn, he got one really nice-looking suit." XD

And then they would find a ReZEL and go, "Oh gosh, not another one of those greenish blue Methuss with a GM head again!" XD

I have the HGUC version of ReZEL Commander Type by the way. Its transformation gimmick and large cannon are good designs that I like, but I like Zeon MS design way better. ^^

Even though I have the HGUC Gunpla version of Geara Zulu, I wanted to have a completed figure as well. It would be nice to have a version where the emblems are already done by someone else instead of having to paint everything yourself. XD I just applied foil stickers for the one I did back in July 2007, but I'll be working on another Geara Zulu eventually, with proper paint and panel line work in the future, much like Sinanju. ^^ So I'll have to be working on painting those emblems one day. ^^;

Anyway, between this and the Guards type, I really like the latter for its even more flashy emblems and abundance of spikes - if you want to spice up the look, might as well go full frontal throttle eh? ^^ So, for the Robot Damashii version, I was holding back on a potential Guards type release. However, when it was announced as a Tamashii Web Shop limited release instead, I said to myself, "Forget it, just get the regular version." ^^;


The limited Guards type version (already released).
Images are from Tamashii Web Shop.
And that was pretty much how this item joined my collection in November 2010. ^^

And that's not to knock on this regular grunt type as something I bought just because there was something else I couldn't get. That's not the case at all. With "Gundam UC" the anime being an adaptation of the novel, all the MS designs in the novel were made known long before the anime debuted. So it was very not very hard to see that both types were going to make it to the Robot Damashii line (and they did, with Angelo Sauper's customized unit as well). I was thinking of getting both types really, but I would rather get just one and save the money for other things. With the Guards type out of the list with its limited release treatment, my money went (back) to the default regular grunt type. ^^






The figure and beam rifle are visible through the front window.



Design on the various sides of the box.




Introduction of the figure, its accessories and a bit of action on the back of the box.


Box open.







Content.
The figures, weapons and other accessories are neatly arranged on a single tray.



Rear view of the content's plastic tray.


A silver "backdrop" for the plastic tray plus the instruction sheet.




The instruction sheet shows how the weapons are to be mounted on the rack and some of their configuration.






With the top cover of the tray removed.



Straight out of box Geara Zulu. ^^
The slot to mount the weapon rack is already on the rear skirt armor, so unlike the HGUC Gunpla version, no part removal is required to equip any of the weapons. ^^

More images of the figure and introduction of its weapons and accessories coming up in the next posting. ^^