Robot Damashii GN Archer

Height: 10cm to top of head in MS Mode with overall height of 15cm, 17cm long in Fighter Mode. 29cm long in Archer Arios Mode.

Articulation: 24 points in all: Double-joint neck; 5 points each arm- ball-joint shoulder, upper-arm swivel, double-jointed elbows, ball-joint wrist; mid-torso joint; ball-joint waist; 5 points each leg- ball-joint hip, double-jointed knee, double-jointed ankle. Various other joints associated with transformation.

Colors: Molded white, red, black, magenta, transparent green, and transparent pink. Painted yellow, black, white and red.

Accessories: GN Beam Rifle x2, GN Beam Saber, Archer Arios adapter.

Release Data: Released October 25th, 2008 in Japan at an MSRP of ¥2500. This item is no longer in production as of this review (March 4th, 2010).

Author: RAC

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This is actually the first Damashii figure I wanted. If people were worried I'd condemn the line based on Arios, they better thank their lucky stars I didn't get this first.


The Figure

I wanted the GN Archer because it looked like a GM with wings, and somehow that just appealed to me. Its Fighter Mode being a take on the Methuss (in my opinion) was a draw as well, since I like the poor hapless Methuss. The fact that it combines with Arios was also a plus- I do like combining when it's done well.

The Head

The head's a bit broader than the lineart suggests, which may be why it looks so big on such a slender body. I've seen the yellow fin on the back of the head referred to as a ponytail, but it just looks like a fin to me. It's practically invisible unless you're shining a light directly on the visor, but there really is a Gundam face back in there, just like in the lineart- nice! The neck seems to be a pair of ball-joints like I assume Arios' to be, and it has great tilt and full swivel (once you move that fin out of the way). But, both balls are extremely loose, so it's essentially a bobblehead. I'd love a little bit of resistance here.

The Arms

The shoulder armor is mounted to the shoulder block on a shallow peg. It has hinged plates on the outside which keep out of the arm's way, and the arm can swing 90 degrees out to the side, straight out from the body. The shape of the cutout for the shoulder joint is odd, though: it's too tall, and if you're not careful the armor can pop off of its mount and push down on the arm until it's level with the top of the torso. It's tough to pull back up, too. The arm has a roughly 180 degree range- the backpack containers block the rear arc, but it's still much better than Arios. Likewise the forearm swivel is solid and doesn't seem to be in any danger of falling off.

I wish I could say the same for the elbows and wrists. The elbows don't pop loose as often as the wrists, and they have close to a full U-bend thanks to the requirements of the transformation. Meanwhile you get one pair of hands, open for holding all accessories. What the hell, Bandai? This is not a US-MSiA release from 2001. (I could've bought 3 or 4 MSiA for the SRP on this in 2001! ) The hands are throwbacks to that time in more way than one: the thumb and forefinger are linked in the same way the Gundam Second's Beam Saber hands were. These also like to pop off, and they're too small for the recycled Beam Saber. The popping off is more of a problem on the right than on the left, so it may be an error with my figure. That was more palatable when I used to have an assortment of other hands to try, and I wasn't paying $30 a figure and considering it a steal.

The Torso

The torso is probably more traditionally Gundamish (or GMish, really) than most of the 00 Gundams. It's also, like the rest of the MS, pretty slim and skewing towards what would be considered feminine proportions on a person. There is a mid-torso joint here. Unlike Arios it's not a transformation joint, but like Arios it only rocks back and forth a tiny bit- just enough to be slightly noticeable. The waist has good tilt in every direction. Swivel? None. Maybe a half-degree in either direction, and that's an accident. The square upper torso seats into a square socket on the lower torso; square peg + square hole = no swivel. Even if it could move, you wouldn't get very far because the Fighter nose on the upper torso would crash into the containers on the lower torso. So I guess it's not a great loss. The shape of the single skirt armor piece does limit the hips a little, but so do the side-plates on the legs that I'll get into below.

The backpack is... well, it's the Fighter Mode. The nose of the fighter is on a hinge on the upper back, and the containers are on the lower torso. The bad news is that the backpack completely dominates the figure to a degree that even the worst Cosmic Era offenders can only dream of. The good news is that wearing a Methuss on your back makes you pretty stable; GN Archer can have one foot up in the air and still balance just fine. You can't adjust the backpack quite enough to support two feet in the air, though.

The Legs and Feet

No thigh swivels, to start. Like Arios, the side plates on the thighs keep the legs from moving out to the sides very well. Unlike Arios, they're separate pieces and will fly off if you push the leg too far in a direction it doesn't want to go. Nice. Meanwhile, the double-jointed knees are much better, able to bend into a tight V assuming you can plant the leg between the Fighter Mode parts on the back to do so. The fins on the lower legs are hinged and tilt to the sides slightly for Fighter Mode. The ankles are fair, with adequate tilt in every direction, and the front of the ankle armor moves slightly to get out of the way. The feet are tiny- good thing it doesn't really need them to stand up. And here's one that gets my goat: the white parts on the top of the feet are painted on the red parts. And they're pink. Painting white on red plastic is always tricky, but I forgive paint errors more readily on $7 children's toys; for $25+ collector's pieces that's totally unacceptable.


Transformation

Pretty easily accomplished: line up the fin and fold the nose of the Fighter Mode over GN Archer's head. Turn the arms around, then the wrists, and fold up the elbows. Then fold the knees similarly, and fold the feet flat. Then, just swing the containers down. Unlike Arios, nothing really locks down, though. That was one of Arios' best features.


Fighter Mode

It's a nice-looking design, a slightly sleeker, more angular Methuss. There's a clear green cockpit on the nose- does Soma have to move to that for fighter mode, or is she piloting the thing from a piece sticking off the back in MS Mode? Neither seems ideal. The Fighter is big enough that it's harder to notice the MS feet sticking out from the back, but it still follows the transforming MS conventions for the most part. In Transformers terms, this thing is totally a Shellformer.

It doesn't really have the sense of stability that the Arios did in its Fighter Mode. It's not a Methuss level of mess thankfully, but the nose moves because of the waist joint, and the rest of it shifts around when you're holding it. The fins on GN Archer's legs serve no purpose in this mode except to make sure the Fighter doesn't sit level without a stand. (Tamashii Stage not included, but available separately from Bandai!) The containers do open, though it takes more force than I like, and small accessories would probably fit inside. The Beam Rifles do, but not well enough to close the containers around them- and I'd be terrified to put the Beam Saber inside for fear of never getting it out again.


Accessories

-GN Beam Rifles

They're strangely simple, and I like them for that. I usually object to guns being just big rectangles, but this rectangle is so rectangular it barely even looks like a gun, if you get me. The handgrips are on the inside of each Rifle so that they're well-hidden from most angles. They fit the hands pretty nicely too- you're much more likely to knock the entire hand off than the Beam Rifles.

-Beam Saber

It's the same mold as Arios' except the blade's harder to get seated properly- it likes to rock back and forth. Also, GN Archer's tiny little "feminine" hands can barely get halfway up on the grip. And still no storage. So you're probably best off assuming GN Archer has no Beam Sabers, and this is the second Saber that Arios was missing.

-Archer Arios Adapter

Here's the fun part: GN Archer attaches to Arios as a booster unit when they're both in Fighter Mode. (It also attaches because since it has no GN Drive of its own, docking with Arios is the only way it can recharge- all I can say is that better be a heck of a speed boost for a disadvantage that big.) To make it work, you remove Arios' tailfin and replace it upside-down. Which is really kind of a stupid thing to have to do to a piece that's supposedly on a hinge, but there you go. Next, attach the included gray block to Arios' feet, and then plug the tabs into the slots around GN Archer's head while locking the other two tabs around its waist.


Archer Arios Mode

It looks good- Archer is more than solid enough to look like a credible booster unit. And the combination is fairly solid as long as you handle it from the central block where Arios' legs and GN Archer's nose meet. The front and back ends get misaligned easily because of the waist joints, so it takes some fidgeting to get right. Unless you really need an articulated, serpentine starfighter. And who does, really?

It's not a bad combination- I've seen far worse, far less stable. But with the big fin sticking off of the bottom of Arios now, it hammers home the problem that I addressed in both reviews: these figures should have stands. Latter-day transforming MSiA usually had stands, and there is absolutely no way to display Archer Arios without some kind of stand.


Closing Remarks

Okay, so let's talk rating. When I reviewed Arios I cut it some slack because it was a transforming figure that, while limited, didn't have any major points of failure. It transformed stably, and the arms, while prone to loosening, were not prone to falling off in my hand. Also, it was my first Robot Damashii, and I tend to measure things by the standards a line sets- which I couldn't reliably do then. And I got it at much less than the Japanese SRP, which helps. I rated it Very Good, which was probably a notch too high at the time.

Now, GN Archer has better articulation, and the Archer Arios Mode comes out relatively okay. But its Fighter Mode isn't as stable. And the forearms pop off, and the wrists pop off, as do the hip plates. And it has no extra hands. And it can barely hold its Beam Saber with the hands it has. And it has one of my pet-peeve paint errors in the pink-topped feet. And while this is a fault of design rather than manufacturing, the containers dominate Mobile Suit Mode. And after shipping it will run you thirty dollars and up. All of which I find pretty unacceptable. It has some redeeming qualities, but the flaws are sufficient to qualify it as a figure that Could Have Been Better.

-RAC