MSiA MS-09 Dom Second Version

Height: 11.5cm to top of head.

Articulation: 35 total points of articulation: Double-jointed neck; 7 points in each arm - double jointed shoulder, ball-jointed shoulder armor, pre-elbow swivel, double jointed elbow, ball joint wrist; double-jointed waist; ball-jointed main thrusters on back; ball-jointed side skirt panels; hinged thrusters under skirt; 6 points in each leg - ball jointed hip, upper-thigh swivel, double-jointed knee, ball-jointed ankle, ball-jointed foot.

Accessories: Giant Bazooka, Heat Sabers x2, Sturm Faust and Mounting Ring, Raketen Bazooka, Extra hands x8(one double-hand)

Colors: Molded black, purple, white, yellow, and medium gray. Painted red, blue, black, white pink(Monoeye and bazooka cameras) and black ink(panel lines).

Release Data: Released June 18th, 2004 in Japan at a price of ¥1575. This item is no longer in production as of this review (February 20th, 2005).

Gallery: 9 images.

Author: RAC

The Figure

The original Dom was one of the earliest MSiA released in Japan, and one of the first First Gundam releases in the US. While it hasn't aged quite as poorly as the Zaku or the original Gundam, I'd been hoping that Bandai would see fit to do a Second Version. Now that they have, I'm pleased to say it exceeded my expectations.

First off, the new Dom is slightly taller than the original, and looks taller than it is. This is mainly due to the fact that the Second Version's head is set deeper into the torso, which also gives the effect of making it look more menacing. It's also wider at the shoulders and the lower leg. It looks better, bigger, and meaner than the original Dom by quite a margin.

The Head

Unlike the simple plug that kept the original head attached, this head is on a hidden double ball-jointed neck, and has articulation comparable to a longer-necked Gundam-type head. The only thing you can't really do is tilt the head to one side or the other- it only moves straight up and down and straight side-to-side because of the shape of the head. The head sculpt has also been improved- there's an amazing amount of detail in the neck area and bottom of the head that you'll never see unless you decide to pop the Dom's head off for some reason. It should also be noted that the head is a fair bit rounder, and the red cross-shaped frame for the Monoeye has been made far more prominent, beating the original's "pinhead" shape by a mile.

The Arms

The shoulders are a combination of ball and hinge joints, like all Second Versions, and has a fair range of swivel. The shoulder armor is attached to a ball-joint mounted between the torso and the arm, and I can't think of anything you could do with it that would allow it to be in the Dom's way. The arms are double-jointed and the forearms can lay flat against the shoulders. In fact, the forearm seems to have been curved slightly, specifically for this purpose. The wrists have a good range of movement, as always.

The Torso

The torso has the best flexibility of any version of the Dom I've encountered thanks to the black portion of the midsection, which has a swivel at the top and ball-joint at the bottom. There's a spectacular range of front-to-back tilt and pretty much 360 degrees of swivel. Not quite on par with the ZAKU figures, but very, very close. The backpack, or what passes for one on a Dom, has ball-joints for the Heat Saber mount (which is now far smaller and better-looking) and the main thrusters. The thrusters on the backpack and under the skirt have a different look than most MSiA's, presumably to reflect the Dom's role as a ground-type Mobile Suit.

The skirt is divided into five pieces, with ball-jointed side panels for ease of leg movement. It's scarcely necessary, as the shape of the skirt has been tweaked so that it'll barely touch the leg in all but the most extreme poses. Still, it adds a few extra degrees of freedom, and I'm sure it made lengthening the rear skirt for the Rick Dom a breeze for Bandai. The thrusters underneath are now much more detailed and are on a hinge joint.

The Legs and Feet

Basically anything they could have done to the legs would've been great to me, as my original Dom has a molding error and the left leg keeps falling off. The legs turned out extremely well overall and use pretty much every joint that could be expected for a pre-Destiny figure. There's a swivel in the upper thigh that lets you turn the leg as far out to the side as you wish, and a fair amount inwards, though the purple part of the thigh stops at the hip joint due to its shape. The knees are a straight-up double joint, which works well and is pretty much all you could do, due to the shape of the legs. They practically lock into an upright position, which I like.

The feet are the two-part Second Version feet, which work very well, and the flared leg helps to hide the Bedroom Slipper Effect that the Gundam, Gouf and Zaku suffer from. Due to the shape of the feet and legs, they provide very stable poses at very sharp angles. The feet don't tilt that far back, but that's more an issue of the original design. If you look inside the leg, you can see a series of vents rather than the three thrusters of the previous Dom. The molding is sharp and these look much more suitable as hoverjets than the old version.

Paint and Decoration

The paint on my figure is sharp and clean, with the only sloppiness being around the edges of the red areas. Not terribly noticeable anywhere except the head, and even there it doesn't detract from the look of the figure unless you get really close. The purple on this Dom is a lot richer than the original- taste will vary, but putting my old Dom next to the new one makes the original look faded, and not terribly good at all. Panel lines are inked, and are nice and sharp and clean.

Articulation gets 9/10

Sculpt and Deco get 9/10

Accessories

-Giant Bazooka

The Dom's trademark weapon is considerably larger now, with greater detailing. It fits into the hands well, the secondary handgrip turns a full 360 degrees, and the ring under the barrel also moves. My Bazooka isn't quite straight- it droops a bit at the front. I think this is due in part to the fact that it's made in sections to acommodate the swivelling handgrip.

-Heat Sabers

Much nicer than the original, of course. Longer, less bendy, not tapered, and molded in the correct colors rather than painted. However, the handgrip seems to be glued on to achieve the "not painted" part, and the blade is very slightly(but noticeably) angled because of this. They're a bit tough to get into the appropriate hands, but they'll stay put once they're there.

-Sturm Faust and Mounting Ring

And now we get into new accessories! The Sturm Faust is sharply molded and straight, thank goodness. It's a fair bit larger than the one included with the MSiA Kampfer. The ring plugs into any one of the three hardpoints on the Dom's skirt, one on each side and one in the back. As always, the hands grip the accessories nicely- it looks a bit better in the trigger-finger hands than the Saber hands.

-Raketen Bazooka

The other new accessory, very nicely-detailed. The magazine is removeable, and there's some very fine detail up inside the connection point! The handgrip is mounted on a ball-joint and fits the hand well, though the secondary grip on the back of the plate is a bit of a tight fit- you'll want to detach the hand and reattach once it's in place.

-Extra Hands

The hands are molded very sharply and look great. There are nine in all, or ten depending on how you look at it. Two trigger-finger hands, two plain gripping hands, two fists, the best open hands I've ever seen, and one joined pair of hands, suitable for bashing a Medea Transport or anything else you desire. It's a particularly nice mold, and it looks like they were molded separately even though they're a single piece.

Accessories get 9/10

Closing Remarks:

The Dom Second Version is extremely impressive. It's flexible, especially for such a bulky design, and comes with a great array of weaponry, not to mention a staggering selection of hands. There are a few minute problems, but you have to be examining the figure very, very closely to see them. I paid roughly $18 for my Dom on import, and I'd recommend it enthusiastically at that price.

Once again, Bandai shows that they learn from their mistakes and have produced a figure that is vastly superior to its predecessor. Don't even look at the old Dom. Pretend it doesn't exist. If you have any affection for the Dom design or Gundam action figures in general, this one is worth your time and money. It is unquestionably Excellent.

-RAC 2/20/2005