I’ve seen claims across the Internet of Gundam Universe action figures going on steep discount at various stores (in some cases up to and including half price), but in all my searching I could never find these elusive sale prices. Until now.
I finally found one that was on clearance for 50% off (interestingly, I found it at another store a few days later for $20, which isn’t as good of a discount, but hey, it’s still a sale price). And it’s a pretty good one too!
It’s the Tallgeese II from good ol’ Gundam Wing.
About the Mobile Suit(s)
The Tallgeese II is of course a successor to the original Tallgeese, which I built a few years ago. However, looking back at those old build posts, apparently I never wrote anything about the Tallgeese’s history, weapons, appearances, etc. So let’s fix that, and then talk about its sibling.
About the Tallgeese
Briefly, the Tallgeese is the grandaddy of all mobile suits in Gundam Wing. The Gundam Wiki explains it like this:
The Tallgeese was the first armed mobile suit, and is the common ancestor of both the Gundams (specifically their prototype, the XXXG-00W0 Wing Gundam Zero) and the mass-produced military mobile suits (most notably the OZ-06MS Leo and its variants). The Tallgeese was a well-rounded unit featuring both long-range and melee weapons, and also has heavy armor coupled with high power "Super Vernier" boosters.
Unfortunately, performing high-speed movement put an immense g-force strain on the pilot, with one theory saying the pilot would experience as much as 15 Gs. To solve this problem and reduce production costs, the Tallgeese's design was simplified to create the Leo. After Zechs defected from OZ, Mike Howard, one of the original designers of the Tallgeese, equipped the suit with a large detachable booster unit that allows it to escape the Earth's atmosphere.
I love the idea of a really old mobile suit that’s still competitive with newer models. I also love the idea of a mobile suit that had to be mothballed because it was too powerful for mere mortals to operate.
And I love that this sumabitch still decides to pilot it anyway, and continues to do so even after it generates so many G-Forces that it gives him a heart attack.
The Tallgeese is just so ridiculous and extra, and I love it for that.
About the Tallgeese II
The Tallgeese II is made up of spare parts from the original Tallgeese, and has the exact same weapons and performance. The only things different about it are its color scheme and its head crest.
it shows up at the ass end of Gundam Wing - literally in one of the final episodes - just so that Treize can get in on the action of the final battle.
During said battle, it kills a bunch of mooks before basically allowing itself to get killed by the Altron Gundam in order to teach its pilot a lesson or something.
It’s weird. But there’s no denying that with its cool head crest and blue color scheme, the Tallgeese II looks pretty sweet.
Weapons and Stuff
The Tallgeese’s primary weapon is the Dober Gun, a flippin’ huge cannon. According to the Wiki, it’s technically a beam weapon, despite the fact that the way it is animated in the show suggests a ballistic weapon. Whatever the case, it looks cool, and it is quite powerful.
While not a weapon perse, the Tallgeese is also equipped with two massive thruster systems. This of course is what gives it its speed and flight capabilities. The idea is that by both being in the air and being fast, the Tallgeese is extremely difficult to target. And because of the long range nature of its Dober Gun, it can afford to keep its distance while still being able to attack.
Though if it does need to get in close, it of course still has beam sabers, which are conveniently stored on the underside of its shield.
Sure enough, this combination of speed and firepower proves to be quite effective. The original Tallgeese manages to survive all the way up to Episode 34 of a 49 episode show. That’s well beyond the halfway mark, when most Gundam protagonists get their midseason upgrade. And when you further consider that Gundam antagonists are known to get multiple upgrades throughout the course of a given show, the fact that the Tallgeese remained a singular threat for as long as it did is extremely impressive. It’s yet another reason why I love it so much.
About the Figurine
I feel like this is a perfect candidate for the Gundam Universe line, as it meets three important criteria:
- It’s a variant of an existing, more widely known mobile suit
- It’s kind of obscure. It’s one of those MS that you might now have seen if you haven’t watched the show
- Nowadays, model kits of the Tallgeese II - of any grade - are pretty much exclusive to Premium Bandai
Basically, if you really like the Tallgeese, you probably want this on your shelf, but you also probably don’t need it to be a model kit. So why not just by the action figure instead of trawling P-Bandai? If Bandai used this criteria more often when picking candidates for Gundam Universe, I’d probably have more of them.
Other Thoughts
- I'd argue that a lot of old mobile suit designs have a bit of a Roman and/or Greek warrior vibe, but the Tallgeese is the only one that really feels like some sort of Roman Centurion, what with its fancy head plume and its small, round shield. It's a great look, and I'm a bit shocked it took as long as it did for a mobile suit to really lean into that aesthetic.
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I think it's kind of funny that I love the Tallgeese but hate the Leo, despite the fact that they're so similar.
Some of it, I think, has to do with the color scheme. The Tallgeese - both the original and the second one - have such great looks, while the drab green of the Leo feels much too boring.
But there are also some small visual flourishes on the Tallgeese that the Leo lacks, and the result is that the latter looks so much less regal and intimidating.
(It also might help if they gave the Leo some better looking weapons, but I digress)
- The Tallgeese's gun and shield are actually mounted to its shoulder armor via a control arm. This means that it can let go of them as needed without worrying about losing them. It's such a smart idea, but again, it's something we don't see very often.