MSiA NRX-044 Asshimar

Height: 11cm to top of head, 13cm to top of antenna in Mobile Suit Mode. 5cm to top of Mobile Armor Mode and 12cm long when Beam Rifle is attached.

Articulation: 28 total points of articulation pertaining to MS Mode: Ball-jointed neck; 8 points in each arm - quadruple-jointed shoulder, pre-elbow swivel, double-jointed elbow, ball-jointed wrist; ball-jointed waist; ball-jointed main thrusters on back; 3 points in each leg - ball jointed hip, hinged thigh, double-jointed ankle. Various other joints and hinges associated with Mobile Armor mode.

Accessories: Beam Rifle, Stand, Extra Hands x5.

Colors: Molded yellow, dark green, medium gray, and black(stand). Painted yellow, black, red, medium gray, green(monoeye).

Release Data: Released April 21st, 2005 in Japan at a price of ¥1700. This item is no longer in production as of this review (August 19th, 2005).

Gallery: 13 images.

Author: RAC

The Figure

Zeta Gundam is packed with distinctive mecha design, including a number of interesting and wildly varied transformable Mobile Suits. Of those, the Asshimar stands out to me because of this: in a series of designs that 20 years later I'd still classify as sleek and modern, the Asshimar looks like a classic flying saucer, and it does so without looking clunky and out of place. It's one of the simplest-looking MAs in Zeta, and one of the most menacing enemy MS.

Before we move on to the review proper, I want to say a bit about scale here: though at some points in the animation the Asshimar looks gigantic (and indeed, Roberto says to pilot Buran Blutarch that he can't win "on size alone"), at other points it's scarcely taller than Hyaku Shiki. Both of these points are in the same episode, its first appearance in episode 13. Its official stats give a head height of 19.3 meters, with the antenna bringing the total height up to 23.1 meters. The figure matches up to the official measurements pretty neatly, being a tiny, tiny bit taller than the Gundam Mk. II (which has a stated head height of 18.5 meters) not counting the antenna. It may seem a bit small- but that all depends on which still from the animation you look at.

The Head

Like most of the upper body, the head is covered in a yellow shell which will come into play for Mobile Armor mode. In addition to the ball-joint, there's a small slide to allow the head to lock into place for MA mode. There's plenty of swivel, but minimal tilt- Asshimar's head sits pretty much flat against its shoulders. Also, with enough time, the two shell sections can get slightly loose, so be careful when gripping the head. Also, treat the antenna gently, as it is somewhat thin and made of soft plastic.

The Arms

Counting the hinge the shoulder armor is attached to, the Asshimar sports a staggering four joints in the shoulder. These allow the Asshimar's arms to spread out a little bit, giving it the broad-shouldered look of menace it needs. The elbows are excellent, with the forearms folding flat against the upper arms easily, and the wrists hold snugly. The forearm armor is removeable, which makes it much easier to attach the hands, but it has a tendency to slip off the pegs that hold it still sometimes. It'll hold to the arm when it does this, but it feels uncomfortably loose.

The Torso

The Asshimar's upper torso is fairly complex, though it doesn't neccessarily look it. The front panels open to reveal some nice detailing, as well as a couple joints you'll be using for MA mode. The joints look quite at home there, though, fitting the general shapes and themes of the surface quite nicely. In the back, we have the Asshimar's large backpack, nicely detailed and featuring a pair of ball-jointed thrusters almost completely hidden on the underside. With a bit of adjustment, the backpack will become the rear of MA Asshimar's saucer section.

The waist is pretty much exactly as wide as it needs to be to allow for a ball-joint. The lower torso is a simple block that connects the legs to the upper torso- there's no skirt armor, the lack of any substantial waist allows for unlimited swivel and excellent tilt, and there's a hardpoint on the back for stowing the Beam Rifle. That's about all there is to say about it.

The Legs and Feet

Unfortunately, the hips don't have a very wide range due to the blocky shape of the upper legs. This is especially sad considering the lack of any skirt armor to restrict things. However, the flexibility of the waist gives Asshimar the balance to stand in positions that would be beyond many other MSiA, and a pair of extra joints in the thighs also help it quite a bit. They also help the knees, which would otherwise be restricted to a 90-degree bend. There are a pair of screws in each inner calf, in case that bothers you. It does make the figure look somewhat more toyish, I guess.

The ankles are also a victim of the design- while they seem to have the current standard, the double ball-joint, their range is very much limited by the shape of the lower legs. While the legs don't have the range of most other MSiA, it's pretty much the best you'll get with the Asshimar's design.

Mobile Armor Mode

One of the nice things about Asshimar's transformation is that only the hands need be removed to make it work. After that, it's simply a matter of making sure the various tabs are properly aligned, and that the hardpoint on the hips is pointed straight down for the Rifle and/or stand.

What you get is an extremely attractive Mobile Armor which is a perfect match for what's seen in the animation. It's sleek, the various seams meet up very, very well when you transform it correctly, and the design does a superb job of hiding the humanoid aspects of the design- particularly the upper torso, which is effectively gone in this mode. In short, Asshimar is one of the best transforming MSiA yet made.

Paint and Decoration

As with many other post-0079 designs, the Asshimar is plenty detailed enough to look just fine without panel lines. (Which is good, since 2005 MSiA haven't had them, leaving what was once a standard feature as "incentive" to buy EMiA.) Paint applications are universally sharp, with the thrusters in particular being a nice shade of red. The only coloration problem Asshimar really has is a question of materials: the harder ABS plastic used for the shell sections of the upper body doesn't quite match the PVC used for the torso and backpack. However, this is more pronounced in photographs than it is in person, fortunately.

Articulation gets 8/10

Mobile Armor Mode gets 9/10

Sculpt and Deco get 9/10

Accessories

-Beam Rifle

A fairly sizeable one, at that; the Asshimar's only weapon features a retractable handgrip and a ball-jointed tab on top, for storage in both modes. While this may look a trifle ugly and out of place at first glance, consulting the Asshimar's lineart reveals that this connector was actually part of the original design- nice to see that the designers were pretty clear on how it needed to attach.

The handgrip folds up neatly, and is pretty much invisible in MA mode. There's a small tab which flips the handle back out easily enough with a bit of pressure. The connector attaches firmly to the appropriate hardpoint in both modes.

-Stand

A simple, sheerly functional stand with no decoration. As I found out the day of this review, this is because it's being reused with the EMiA Zeta Gundam, which explains why the connector at the top is removeable. The entire stand assembles and disassembles smoothly, and holds together firmly. The connector fits both the socket on the Asshimar and the Rifle tightly, and balances just fine either way. Not much else to say: it's a stand, and it does its job well enough.

-Extra Hands

Despite having a single weapon, the Asshimar actually has more hands than the average MSiA, the extra being an open hand similar to those of the Dom Second Version or the Destiny Gundam, here used to steady the rather large Beam Rifle. An excellent move, and I approve wholeheartedly.

So, why include the extra hands, which include an extra Rifle hand and two Saber hands in addition to the right Rifle hand, the Open hand, and the factory-standard Fists? Well, in the animation, Buran Blutarch is pretty versatile, to say nothing of opportunistic, in his use of the Asshimar. He can be seen using the same model Beam Rifle carried by the Hi-Zack and Marasai in his Asshimar's off-hand at one point, and at another nearly destroys the Gundam Mk.II with its own Beam Saber.

Thanks to Bandai's including a full set of hands despite the Asshimar's limited standard arsenal, you're free to do any of these things for yourself. It holds the Marasai Rifle very nicely, though the EMiA Mk.II's Beam Saber is a touch loose in the hand. Still, it's a very nice touch, and while it'd have been nice to see one or both of those weapons actually included, they're not standard equipment, as I said, and a nice, solid Stand is a nice thing to have for a Mobile Armor mode that was designed to be airborne. Asshimar's not big on accessories, but what is has are good, and it's about as complete as it can get.

Accessories get 8/10

Closing Remarks:

The Asshimar is great. Superb arm articulation, and slightly below-average but not awful legs. Accessories are excellent, everything the Suit should rightly have, and it all functions perfectly. Oh, yeah: it's also the best transforming MSiA. Ever. Better than Saber, better than Epyon, better than anything else I can call up from memory at the moment.

I paid about $20 for mine after international shipping, and for an Excellent figure, that's fine by me. If you like the design, or you like transforming mecha, or even flying saucers, it's worth owning. Even if, for some reason, you'd prefer it was taller, you'll like it anyway. It's Excellent- no other word for it.

-RAC, Zeta Project