Ah, Gundam. The endless pit into which I throw my money. I first became fixated on Gundam through the images used in Helen McCarthy's Super Play magazine column, which often had wonderful illustrations from various Gundam series featured within. When I started to visit Japan 15 years ago, I fell in love with the Fix Figuration line, which solved two major issues I had as a collector - I can't build models and I can't paint them. Fix Figuration were pre-built and had a lot of weathering and paint applied to them, making them look very detailed and substantial. I still have the Alex from that line in my non-Metal Build display, simply because it's an awesome representation of the unit. It's now joined by several Metal Robot Spirits entries, which are sturdier and have even more paint applied.
It's been a fun year for Gundam figures, with the cracking Metal Build Nu and Justice Gundams bolstering my shelves, alongside a few Metal Robot Spirits goodies courtesy of Mandarake. The latest of these is now sat on my desk as I type, the beautifully stupid Ex-S Gundam from the Sentinel novel released back in 1987 as a side story to Zeta Gundam and Gundam ZZ. Masaya Takahashi was responsible for the writing, which featured older characters and mature themes. The incredibly intricate Gundam designs were provided by Hajime Katoki who became a seminal figure in Gundam mechanical design, working on Wing, Unicorn and Hathaway among many others.
The Ex-S Gundam is a masterclass in over-designing. It has many impractical bits of chunk on every surface, from 80's shoulder-pads to storing beam sabers in its jutting knee spikes, it's almost impossible to pose due to something getting in the way of anything you're actually trying to move. Even the rifle has such a hugely elongated stock that it stops you bending the Gundam's arm at the elbow while holding it. There are fins sticking out the back of the legs (as if they would make it any more aerodynamic) and maneuverable, giant gas pods, funnels, wings, laser hip skirts and the INCOM wire system that, if you didn't know what they were, would make absolutely no sense whatsoever. Of course, it transforms in the show (though not here) which explains some of the kibble. It should be a complete disaster. And yet...
It has beam sabers in the knees!
Defying all aesthetic logic, the end result of Hajime's endeavours is a beautifully over-the-top, thoroughly detailed and very 80's Japan idea of the future. It's precisely because of all the jumbled parts that it looks realistic, there's just so much happening that it really could be some NASA-like space construction. It certainly defies gravity, looking as though it would crush itself under all that extra bulk, with much of it held in place with small joints that really shouldn't support the weight either.
Joints are nice and tight, even on this second-hand unit, and the paint is just a matte delight - the primary colour palette of grey, blue and yellow work seamlessly together, the Ex-S looking every bit the successor to the Gundam name. And it's very pointy - from winglets to sharp feet, it all looks as though it should be very fast indeed. The level of detail for a figure of this size is also very impressive, with vents, panels, thrusters and pods making the figure look complex. The tampos are perfectly applied, with warnings, faction logo and unit designation all adding to the sense of scale.
If all this insane heft is too much for you, the Ex-S can be stripped down, with the fuel pods and boosters all detachable. The box includes some fillers for the ports, and that really shows off how lean the unit is under all the added extras. It also makes the shoulders look a bit silly, and honestly I can't see anybody buying this to leave half the figure in the box, so while it's nice to see the option exists, and that the toy designers added pieces to smooth out the surfaces, it's an option I think most will leave well alone.
The obligatory Desk Shot
What really works with the Ex-S is that, from a distance, it has a great silhouette. The long legs even out the upper-body bulk, the four thruster-mounted beam cannons sticking up behind the shoulders like futuristic chimneys, it just has a deliciously industrial feel to it. But it really clicks when you start admiring it up close - there are rivets in the fuel tanks, metal painted details between the armour, metal paint inside the thrusters, which you have to look up from below the unit to even see - every new examination yields a new delightful surprise. God only knows how this escapes someone's head and makes it to a final design, the complexity is insane, but fully embraced here with a build quality that's second to none.
It should be obvious by now that I'm a fan of this figure. I've seen the Fix Figuration version in-package but never felt compelled to spend the money to add it to the collection, and in hindsight I was probably right to wait for a toy format that's less rubbery and firmer at the joints. If you can dig the bonkers design, this is one of the top Gundam figures in my collection, an absolute beast of a concept given form - Gundam to the extreme. Very appropriate for the decade where everything was over the top and all the better for it.
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