Some time ago - I don’t exactly remember when - one of my local malls got some official Bandai Gashapon machines. Initially they had one machine dedicated to Gundam gatchas, but by the time I got to go and see it for myself, they were all sold out.
And then it was replaced with some other product. And then another product. And then another product. Until finally they restocked it with more Gundams.
To be specific, the machine was (and once again is) stocked with toys from the Gashapon Senshi Forte line. You can view the website here to see all the different Series they’ve released over the years. I think most of them look pretty great, except for Series 8, which is almost all mecha from Gundam SEED (as well as Command Gundam just to tease me).
Guess which series was in the machine … ?
But hey, beggars can’t be choosers, and I’ve been begging to learn what these Gundam Gatchas are like. So I pulled the trigger, and while I didn’t get my beloved Command Gundam, at least I got what is by far the best of the SEED Mecha:
Yep, it’s the Freedom Gundam.
(But seriously, why couldn’t it be stocked with one of the Series that has an adorable Rick Dias in it?)
About the Mobile Suit
I’m not going to go in the weeds and give you all the details on the Freedom Gundam. That would require me to either watch Gundam SEED, or do some research on Gundam SEED, and neither of those things are happening.
All I know about the Freedom is that it is seemingly considered the best mobile suit design in the entire show. Seriously - I don’t think I’ve ever encountered a SEED fan who has bad things to say about it.
Indeed, even I - a SEED hater - can understand the appeal of the Freedom. The color placement is on point, and it makes the most of the spiky, angular aesthetic that dominates the show’s mechanical designs. If I’m going to have get a SEED gacha, this is the best choice.
About the Toy
It’s a gashapon. It comes in a little transparent capsule, and while it’s not super obvious as to everything that’s inside, you can still tell very clearly which one you got:
Let’s crack it open and take a look:
Damn. I’m not sure what I expected from this toy, but it wasn’t this. Here are some of the things you’ll find inside:
- A tiny display stand
- Folded and unfolded versions of the Freedom Gundam’s hip guns
- A tiny runner full of polycaps for its joints
- Two pairs of hands
- An incredible amount of detail and color separation for something that’s so small and cheap
This is basically an extra tiny SD Gundam, and that’s way more than what I was expecting.
Let’s throw it together to see how it looks.
Out of the Box
Wow! Look at all that color in the head, and the chest, and the feet (and the shield, and the wings …) It honestly looks pretty good as-is. But as you can (hopefully) see, there’s still a few places that could use some color correction, as well as surprising amount of panel lines. Naturally I’m going to touch it up, but first, let’s do some size comparisons.
Size Comparisons
Here it is next an actual SD Gundam:
SD Gundams are already very short, so that gives you an idea of just how tiny this Gacha toy is. That only makes me even more impressed that they managed to cram so much into such a small package.
Here it is next to a standard sized High Grade:
It’s kind of making it look more like a Master Grade!
Now let’s see how it looks with a touchup.
Touched Up
There is actually quite a lot you can do to plus up this gacha, but because it’s so small it ends up being fairly quick and easy (provided you have a small enough paint brush)
And as good as it looked before, it’s even better now:
I’m genuinely impressed at this little guy. It’s a pint-sized powerhouse:
And even though it’s articulation is limited, the fact that it has any at all is very welcome. It means I can get at least a handful of action poses:
And we can get still more thanks to its extra accessories:
Doing the Math
So this gacha is great, and you might assume I’ll be getting more. Sadly, that’s not the case. At least not right away.
Here’s the thing - each series in this product line contains 5-6 different toys. That’s not a lot, meaning you’re very likely to get some duplicates (and that’s to say nothing of the fact that one or more of them could be “rares” that are less evenly distributed).
Now for the math - in Japan, these gachas cost a little over $2 each. But here in the States, a single one of these toys costs $5.
That’s quite a bit more; in fact, depending on where you shop, that’s slightly less than the cost of a real SD kit, or even some of the lower end High Grades (like this one). And when you frame it that way, it seems overpriced, no matter how cool it is.
Let’s put it this way; am I happy to pay paid $5 to have the experience of getting a Gundam gacha? Absolutely.
Would I be willing to pay that much for a second toy in this series, knowing the odds are high that I may get a dupe? Not really.
Would I be more willing if they cost as much as they do in Japan? Definitely - at that price I’d buy a whole bunch, and I wouldn’t feel burned if some were duplicates.
Would I be willing to buy another one from a different series, knowing that I’d be guaranteed to get a new mobile suit? Without a doubt.
So that’s where I’m at with these gachas. I might get some more if a new series shows up, but until then I’m happy enough with my little Freedom Gundam.