Post by V2 on Mar 3, 2009 23:10:17 GMT 8
Robot Damashii Side MS 007: GN-008 Seravee Gundam
Piloted by Tieria Erde, the GN-008 Seravee was the successor to the GN-005 Virtue. Initial armament is composed of two GN Bazookas (that be combined into the "double bazooka mode") and four GN Cannons on the legs and backpack that can be fire linked - addressing to the earlier flaws of Virtue's GN Cannons delayed charging time between shots). Eventually both bazookas and cannons can be linked together to form the "hyper bazooka" and "double hyper bazooka" modes. With all weapons combined, they can be utilized to perform the "Hyper Burst" attack - a big ball of energy that can break even the thickest of armors. And if that’s not enough, all GN Cannons have the ability to become manipulators capable of wielding beam sabers making it capable of executing its 6-saber attack. What’s more, the Seravee can have its backpack's "gundam head" component switch to "Face Burst" mode - releasing compressed GN particles for a drastic increase in power when needed. Like its predecessor, the Seravee also has the ability to create a "GN Field" - an impregnable barrier composed of GN particles for protection against beam and projectile-based attacks.
Like the Virtue's GN-004 Nadleeh, the Seravee also has similar but improved system - the GN-009 Seraphim. Rather than having the whole unit hidden underneath armor like the Nadleeh, the Seraphim is cleverly disguised as a backpack - transforming to MS mode when needed. This eliminates the need to "picking up the Virtue's pieces" (literally) when the unit is to be restored after its use. With all these features, the Seravee does not only perform well at long range - but is also deadly at short range - even capable of taking down even Innovator-type MS .
2311 A.D. - Four years after its defeat, Celestial Being returns and begins anew with its intervention of armed conflict with its Gundams. Tieria Erde, stripped of his dependency to Veda now finds the resolve to stop the oppression of the Earth Federation's elite group A-LAWS and their cohort in the shadows, the Innovators. Throughout the past and forthcoming battles, Tieria rejects his status as an Innovator himself and decides to become "human"... but will he be able to defeat his fellow Innovators - the ones with similar if not greater abilities than himself?
Alas, I was stuck on deciding between with two options on the getting which version of the Seravee/Seraphim: HCMPro or RD? Seeing the price difference between the two versions were just around 500 yen, I decided to wait for the RD instead. When a local importer announced the arrival of their stock, I managed to get one thru a phone call and 45 minutes of travel later. Yep, that was a good call.
GN-008 SERAVEE GUNDAM
HEAD
The construction of the head is very solid, because if this you can’t find any deformations or smudges whatsoever. Even the yellow and white antennas are not bent - which is really surprising since it’s extremely rare to find gundam antennas like this. The only minor flaw I find is that the neck joint's clearance is somewhat too low - which makes it look like it doesn’t have a neck at all (neckless???). Also due to the wideness of Seravee's head there's a limit on the range of articulation but I’d say it’s still within tolerable limits.
TORSO
Like the head, it feels solid feel and you can’t find any deformities too. The waist joint is quite tight which means no floppyness when playing it around. The huge side skirts (in which the lower part is also movable) are connected via ball joints that don’t hinder the articulation of the legs whatsoever. There's no rear skirt armor since to the huge Seraphim backpack covers this area when connected.
ARMS
This is where it’s really it really impresses me - the connection from torso to shoulders is MG-ish. There is an "angular joint" form the torso that connects to the shoulders in which you can extend it to the certain angles for sideways articulation. Elbow articulation is around 120 degrees - not as good as double jointed but it still works out. Add along the tightness of the joints, the arms will not flop or droop down when it’s holding the GN Bazookas (which I find quite light for something relatively large as well).
LEGS
Despite the bulky design of the Seravee, both pelvic and knee articulation range for the legs is pretty much good. I find the length of the ankle joints somewhat quite short however, but still this does not cause problems on the articulation range nor the balance of the Seravee itself.
yes, I had to "borrow" the TransAm Raiser's beam saber... still, it gives off an idea on how a TransAm Seravee would look though...
WEAPONS
GN Bazooka II X 2
The construction of the GN Bazookas are quite solid and light for its size - resulting to least (if not zero) floppyness for the arms. Aside from the handles, there are small peg supports on each bazooka that mounts on the forearms - for added support in "double bazooka" mode I guess. The details are just simple - the internals are painted in a dark-yellow color. Also, the sensor cover can be moved to show the details inside or to open up the barrel in "double bazooka" mode.
With the GN Bazookas, you can display the Seravee wielding them in the following few modes:
a. Double Bazooka - opening the latches on the bottom part of the GN Bazookas docks both of to form the this mode.
b. Buster Cannon - by adding the ball-peg accessory to the socket at the rear end of the Bazooka, you can connect it to the socket on the GN Cannons on the backpack.
c. Double Hyper Bazooka - Double Bazooka with the top part combined with one GN Cannon in the backpack.
GN Cannon X 2 (Backpack)
Mounted on the backpack, these GN Cannons have good range of forward firing angles. You can also exchange them with the ball-peg parts to allow the arms to stick out of the barrels to connect them with Seraphim's open palm handsets or weapon-holding handsets (for wielding beam sabers). You just have to remove the covers and remove the cover plastic part and insert the ball-peg+hands on the socket. Since these cannons double as Seraphim's arms, you tend to misalign the elbow joints (due to lack of locking tabs) when posing the cannons around but I still don’t find it a serious issue since the joints are also pretty tight.
GN Cannon X 2 (Legs)
Unlike the cannons on the backpack, these are more solid. For firing mode you can just swivel them upward. You just have to perform the same method used if you want to change them from cannon mode to hand mode. A good bonus is that you can "extend" them further forward - for mimicking that "surprise thrust" attack the Seravee made against the Arche Gundam in episode.
GN Beam Saber X 2
Same standard beam sabers that came with the RD 00 Gundam & Arios Gundam. Quite disappointing since they should've packaged it with 6 beam sabers - for that special 6-saber attack.
ACCESSORIES
Handsets
Seravee comes with two sets of hands: one pairs of closed fist and weapon handling ones. A slight disappointment here since it would've been nice if Bandai provided an extra pair of open palm hands to mimic the "death grab" move in the series.
GN Cannon Covers X 4
As the name implies, these are the covers used when the GN Cannons are in firing mode. They fit quite well - not too tight and not too loose. A note when placing them: make sure you position the "excess tab" on the top side so that they'll be easy to remove.
Ball-peg Adapters X 4
These are used for mounting Seraphim's hands on the GN cannons. Simply put, you just have to plug Seraphim's hands to the ball end and insert the peg on the hole on the GN cannons. Pretty nifty approach for Bandai.
GN Bazooka Support Handles X 4
Initially I don’t know why Bandai added an extra pair of these aside from the fact that the GN Bazookas already have one already attached.
pic reference from gamu toys & hobbysearch:
Note: Due to the many small-sized accessories of the Seravee, I would strongly advice owners to keep them in a container. I lost one ballpeg and ended up looking for it 3 hours off the floor since they're that small.
GN-009 SERAPHIM GUNDAM
TRANSFORMATION
Switching from backpack mode to MS mode is relatively easy.
a. straighten out the legs. do this carefully and slowly.
b. flip the feet forward & adjust the knee armors to outward position.
c. swivel the GN Cannons sideways-outward, then point them downward.
d. holding the shoulder pull the lower arms sideways-outward. remove the covers of the arms to allow removal of the cannon's cover then plug the ball-pegs to connect the hands.
e. remove "chest face".
f. relocate the top sensor compartment to the back of the unit - on top of the GN drive to lock it in place.
g. pull the neck joint upwards then push the arms down-inwards (this mechanism also serves as support to the neck joint.).
f. plug in the head of Seravee.
HEAD
Quite a good sculpt this head's got. Design-wise, the red "war paint" application below the eyes makes me wonder if it’s really supposed be there - since this is the only version with that kind of look but I still find it quite nice. Also I find the balljoint connection on the neck too tight - which is scary when you're transforming it from MS to backpack mode and vice versa - I'd suggest trying to applying very small amounts of lubricant to easy removal.
TORSO
Technically the torso itself is the "gundam head" to boot. You can exchange it with the optional "open face mode" part for fun (gurren gundam?!). At first I found the antennas of the "gundam head" getting in the way of the head antennas - but it turns out you just have to pull the antennas waaaay back (I still prefer them in a higher angle position - kinda like how the Exia's fins are positioned).
ARMS
For a "transformable" part that has dual functions, they perform pretty well. The arms have a good range of articulation as arms and can do a variety of poses. I only find one very minor flaw on this area: The elbow joints are too tight - when you move the lower arms around you tend to twist the upper arms out of place - this can be corrected though with bit irritating sometimes.
LEGS
The legs, despite looking nimble still look great as well - the design and jointing are made quite well (you definitely can’t attain this kind of quality in MSiA/EMSiA line). One flaw I find here is that the ankle joints have very limited range - resulting to poses that result to standing only. Though the feet are already designed small to begin with, it would've been remedied if they improved the articulation on the ankles.
WEAPONS
Aside from the arms transforming back to GN Cannons as its built-in weapons, Seraphim shares the same pair of beam sabers with the Seravee. It’s also capable of wielding the GN Bazookas, but considering that this rendition has limited ankle articulation and the small feet provide little coverage for proper balancing, I don’t think it can handle such a task unless you have a stand to support it.
ACCESSORIES
Handsets
There are six pieces of hands are provided for the Seraphim's use - one pair of open palm and two pairs for weapons handling. With this, the Seravee can also perform the six-saber attack.
CONCLUSION
I hate to say it, but I’m really impressed with the Robot Damashii series with this release. This baby's got most of the important bases covered: sculpt, details, balance and gimmick - all in which are excellent. It just shows that Bandai's really done their homework assignment to come out with a toy that has to make people think they're getting the best bang for their buck. Initially I was thinking of getting the HCMPro but after considering the price difference of around 500 yen compared to the RD, I opted to wait for this version instead - and heck that was a really good call.
But then as everything is not always perfect, there are some flaws with this toy - the lack of additional beam sabers (four to be exact) would make one scramble to get from other RD 00 series releases (heck, I even used the one from my 00 TransAm Raiser!) to complete Seravee's 6-saber attack mode.
Also, Seraphim's lack of balance due to low articulation range in the ankles is another minus - making it limited to basic standing poses only (this can be remedied by a stand for support of course).
Finally on a personal preference, as much as I appreciate having a transformable Seraphim, the fact that Seravee having no backpack when the Seraphim unit is in MS mode somehow displeases me (it looks somewhat "butt naked"). I wish Bandai would be kind enough to provide a dedicated Seraphim unit "fixed" in backpack mode to make it truly "complete". For this I'll have to experiment with getting an HG00 kit version of the Seravee or Seraphim - just to see if the kit versions' Seraphim system (fixed backpack mode or transformable version) is compatible (with minor modifications only) with the RD version.
Nonetheless, the flaws still do not drag the excellence of this release - a score of 8 out of 10 if I would put it. If you want a Seravee/Seraphim toy that really gives you a good-sized bang for your buck, then the Robot Damashii version is your best choice.
Piloted by Tieria Erde, the GN-008 Seravee was the successor to the GN-005 Virtue. Initial armament is composed of two GN Bazookas (that be combined into the "double bazooka mode") and four GN Cannons on the legs and backpack that can be fire linked - addressing to the earlier flaws of Virtue's GN Cannons delayed charging time between shots). Eventually both bazookas and cannons can be linked together to form the "hyper bazooka" and "double hyper bazooka" modes. With all weapons combined, they can be utilized to perform the "Hyper Burst" attack - a big ball of energy that can break even the thickest of armors. And if that’s not enough, all GN Cannons have the ability to become manipulators capable of wielding beam sabers making it capable of executing its 6-saber attack. What’s more, the Seravee can have its backpack's "gundam head" component switch to "Face Burst" mode - releasing compressed GN particles for a drastic increase in power when needed. Like its predecessor, the Seravee also has the ability to create a "GN Field" - an impregnable barrier composed of GN particles for protection against beam and projectile-based attacks.
Like the Virtue's GN-004 Nadleeh, the Seravee also has similar but improved system - the GN-009 Seraphim. Rather than having the whole unit hidden underneath armor like the Nadleeh, the Seraphim is cleverly disguised as a backpack - transforming to MS mode when needed. This eliminates the need to "picking up the Virtue's pieces" (literally) when the unit is to be restored after its use. With all these features, the Seravee does not only perform well at long range - but is also deadly at short range - even capable of taking down even Innovator-type MS .
2311 A.D. - Four years after its defeat, Celestial Being returns and begins anew with its intervention of armed conflict with its Gundams. Tieria Erde, stripped of his dependency to Veda now finds the resolve to stop the oppression of the Earth Federation's elite group A-LAWS and their cohort in the shadows, the Innovators. Throughout the past and forthcoming battles, Tieria rejects his status as an Innovator himself and decides to become "human"... but will he be able to defeat his fellow Innovators - the ones with similar if not greater abilities than himself?
Alas, I was stuck on deciding between with two options on the getting which version of the Seravee/Seraphim: HCMPro or RD? Seeing the price difference between the two versions were just around 500 yen, I decided to wait for the RD instead. When a local importer announced the arrival of their stock, I managed to get one thru a phone call and 45 minutes of travel later. Yep, that was a good call.
GN-008 SERAVEE GUNDAM
HEAD
The construction of the head is very solid, because if this you can’t find any deformations or smudges whatsoever. Even the yellow and white antennas are not bent - which is really surprising since it’s extremely rare to find gundam antennas like this. The only minor flaw I find is that the neck joint's clearance is somewhat too low - which makes it look like it doesn’t have a neck at all (neckless???). Also due to the wideness of Seravee's head there's a limit on the range of articulation but I’d say it’s still within tolerable limits.
TORSO
Like the head, it feels solid feel and you can’t find any deformities too. The waist joint is quite tight which means no floppyness when playing it around. The huge side skirts (in which the lower part is also movable) are connected via ball joints that don’t hinder the articulation of the legs whatsoever. There's no rear skirt armor since to the huge Seraphim backpack covers this area when connected.
ARMS
This is where it’s really it really impresses me - the connection from torso to shoulders is MG-ish. There is an "angular joint" form the torso that connects to the shoulders in which you can extend it to the certain angles for sideways articulation. Elbow articulation is around 120 degrees - not as good as double jointed but it still works out. Add along the tightness of the joints, the arms will not flop or droop down when it’s holding the GN Bazookas (which I find quite light for something relatively large as well).
LEGS
Despite the bulky design of the Seravee, both pelvic and knee articulation range for the legs is pretty much good. I find the length of the ankle joints somewhat quite short however, but still this does not cause problems on the articulation range nor the balance of the Seravee itself.
yes, I had to "borrow" the TransAm Raiser's beam saber... still, it gives off an idea on how a TransAm Seravee would look though...
WEAPONS
GN Bazooka II X 2
The construction of the GN Bazookas are quite solid and light for its size - resulting to least (if not zero) floppyness for the arms. Aside from the handles, there are small peg supports on each bazooka that mounts on the forearms - for added support in "double bazooka" mode I guess. The details are just simple - the internals are painted in a dark-yellow color. Also, the sensor cover can be moved to show the details inside or to open up the barrel in "double bazooka" mode.
With the GN Bazookas, you can display the Seravee wielding them in the following few modes:
a. Double Bazooka - opening the latches on the bottom part of the GN Bazookas docks both of to form the this mode.
b. Buster Cannon - by adding the ball-peg accessory to the socket at the rear end of the Bazooka, you can connect it to the socket on the GN Cannons on the backpack.
c. Double Hyper Bazooka - Double Bazooka with the top part combined with one GN Cannon in the backpack.
GN Cannon X 2 (Backpack)
Mounted on the backpack, these GN Cannons have good range of forward firing angles. You can also exchange them with the ball-peg parts to allow the arms to stick out of the barrels to connect them with Seraphim's open palm handsets or weapon-holding handsets (for wielding beam sabers). You just have to remove the covers and remove the cover plastic part and insert the ball-peg+hands on the socket. Since these cannons double as Seraphim's arms, you tend to misalign the elbow joints (due to lack of locking tabs) when posing the cannons around but I still don’t find it a serious issue since the joints are also pretty tight.
GN Cannon X 2 (Legs)
Unlike the cannons on the backpack, these are more solid. For firing mode you can just swivel them upward. You just have to perform the same method used if you want to change them from cannon mode to hand mode. A good bonus is that you can "extend" them further forward - for mimicking that "surprise thrust" attack the Seravee made against the Arche Gundam in episode.
GN Beam Saber X 2
Same standard beam sabers that came with the RD 00 Gundam & Arios Gundam. Quite disappointing since they should've packaged it with 6 beam sabers - for that special 6-saber attack.
ACCESSORIES
Handsets
Seravee comes with two sets of hands: one pairs of closed fist and weapon handling ones. A slight disappointment here since it would've been nice if Bandai provided an extra pair of open palm hands to mimic the "death grab" move in the series.
GN Cannon Covers X 4
As the name implies, these are the covers used when the GN Cannons are in firing mode. They fit quite well - not too tight and not too loose. A note when placing them: make sure you position the "excess tab" on the top side so that they'll be easy to remove.
Ball-peg Adapters X 4
These are used for mounting Seraphim's hands on the GN cannons. Simply put, you just have to plug Seraphim's hands to the ball end and insert the peg on the hole on the GN cannons. Pretty nifty approach for Bandai.
GN Bazooka Support Handles X 4
Initially I don’t know why Bandai added an extra pair of these aside from the fact that the GN Bazookas already have one already attached.
pic reference from gamu toys & hobbysearch:
Note: Due to the many small-sized accessories of the Seravee, I would strongly advice owners to keep them in a container. I lost one ballpeg and ended up looking for it 3 hours off the floor since they're that small.
GN-009 SERAPHIM GUNDAM
TRANSFORMATION
Switching from backpack mode to MS mode is relatively easy.
a. straighten out the legs. do this carefully and slowly.
b. flip the feet forward & adjust the knee armors to outward position.
c. swivel the GN Cannons sideways-outward, then point them downward.
d. holding the shoulder pull the lower arms sideways-outward. remove the covers of the arms to allow removal of the cannon's cover then plug the ball-pegs to connect the hands.
e. remove "chest face".
f. relocate the top sensor compartment to the back of the unit - on top of the GN drive to lock it in place.
g. pull the neck joint upwards then push the arms down-inwards (this mechanism also serves as support to the neck joint.).
f. plug in the head of Seravee.
HEAD
Quite a good sculpt this head's got. Design-wise, the red "war paint" application below the eyes makes me wonder if it’s really supposed be there - since this is the only version with that kind of look but I still find it quite nice. Also I find the balljoint connection on the neck too tight - which is scary when you're transforming it from MS to backpack mode and vice versa - I'd suggest trying to applying very small amounts of lubricant to easy removal.
TORSO
Technically the torso itself is the "gundam head" to boot. You can exchange it with the optional "open face mode" part for fun (gurren gundam?!). At first I found the antennas of the "gundam head" getting in the way of the head antennas - but it turns out you just have to pull the antennas waaaay back (I still prefer them in a higher angle position - kinda like how the Exia's fins are positioned).
ARMS
For a "transformable" part that has dual functions, they perform pretty well. The arms have a good range of articulation as arms and can do a variety of poses. I only find one very minor flaw on this area: The elbow joints are too tight - when you move the lower arms around you tend to twist the upper arms out of place - this can be corrected though with bit irritating sometimes.
LEGS
The legs, despite looking nimble still look great as well - the design and jointing are made quite well (you definitely can’t attain this kind of quality in MSiA/EMSiA line). One flaw I find here is that the ankle joints have very limited range - resulting to poses that result to standing only. Though the feet are already designed small to begin with, it would've been remedied if they improved the articulation on the ankles.
WEAPONS
Aside from the arms transforming back to GN Cannons as its built-in weapons, Seraphim shares the same pair of beam sabers with the Seravee. It’s also capable of wielding the GN Bazookas, but considering that this rendition has limited ankle articulation and the small feet provide little coverage for proper balancing, I don’t think it can handle such a task unless you have a stand to support it.
ACCESSORIES
Handsets
There are six pieces of hands are provided for the Seraphim's use - one pair of open palm and two pairs for weapons handling. With this, the Seravee can also perform the six-saber attack.
CONCLUSION
I hate to say it, but I’m really impressed with the Robot Damashii series with this release. This baby's got most of the important bases covered: sculpt, details, balance and gimmick - all in which are excellent. It just shows that Bandai's really done their homework assignment to come out with a toy that has to make people think they're getting the best bang for their buck. Initially I was thinking of getting the HCMPro but after considering the price difference of around 500 yen compared to the RD, I opted to wait for this version instead - and heck that was a really good call.
But then as everything is not always perfect, there are some flaws with this toy - the lack of additional beam sabers (four to be exact) would make one scramble to get from other RD 00 series releases (heck, I even used the one from my 00 TransAm Raiser!) to complete Seravee's 6-saber attack mode.
Also, Seraphim's lack of balance due to low articulation range in the ankles is another minus - making it limited to basic standing poses only (this can be remedied by a stand for support of course).
Finally on a personal preference, as much as I appreciate having a transformable Seraphim, the fact that Seravee having no backpack when the Seraphim unit is in MS mode somehow displeases me (it looks somewhat "butt naked"). I wish Bandai would be kind enough to provide a dedicated Seraphim unit "fixed" in backpack mode to make it truly "complete". For this I'll have to experiment with getting an HG00 kit version of the Seravee or Seraphim - just to see if the kit versions' Seraphim system (fixed backpack mode or transformable version) is compatible (with minor modifications only) with the RD version.
Nonetheless, the flaws still do not drag the excellence of this release - a score of 8 out of 10 if I would put it. If you want a Seravee/Seraphim toy that really gives you a good-sized bang for your buck, then the Robot Damashii version is your best choice.
keeping the site active as a place to dump info for easier backtracking.