Maguanac Auda Custom

Synopsis: Another member of the Maguanac Corps.  I guess the Maguanac Corps is the only grunt suits allied to the gundam pilots in the series. 

  When they had released these figures I had hopes that maybe a few of the Mobile suits they did not make initially would finally see a figure being made.  But whom am I kidding?  I had also hoped Zeta would come out in the summer and look what happened.  Oh well, with Gundam SEED figures due out at anytime I can at least be glad that the toy aisles will be filled with Gundam toys other then Superior Defender. 

The Figure:

  The head is nicely detailed and the paintjob is neat, no messy splotches.  The articulation of the head is hampered by the torso; a common problem with all the Maguanac MSiAs.  It can move about between 15-40 degrees.

  The arms lack panel lining but it does not need it.  The shoulder armors feature a brown-yellow color scheme that makes up for the plain crème colored arms.  The shoulder armor does not hinder the version 2 joints.  The left arm has a nice forearm although the claw is a minor disappointment.  I expected a more articulate figure although the claw thumb can rotate.  The Right hand connects to a ball joint giving nice motion.  The hands that come with the figure include 1 right closed fist and 1 sword fist.

   The legs of the Auda and Abdul figures have the same leg molds and unfortunately the rear skirt armor does hinder the version 2 joints in the knee.  Leg movement and interference from the waist armor is evident.  Though most Gundam Wing designs suffer from that flaw the flexible skirt armor and hip armor on a ball joint try to a certain degree of success fix that flaw.  The rear skirt armor mentioned above is strictly rigid unlike any of the other Maguanac figures.

   The torso is detailed like Abdul's color-scheme.  The torso twisting is 360 degrees with a lot of work.  The backpack does not have any color but has two barely movable thruster nozzles.  It is supposedly removable though it is a pain to try.

The Accessories:  Like most Gundam Wing Accessories, the weapons are a little over-sized for the figure and for some that enforces the toy-feel of the figure.

Shield:  Well detailed and well painted this shield was one of the first MSiAs (bought Abdul and Auda's at the same time) I saw to attach via an odd U-shaped brace that goes on the elbow without hampering elbow movement.  Because of the brace the shield can be fastened to the front or side of the figure.  Not a bad idea, just a really really big shield.

Heat Tomahawk:  The back of the Blisterpack depicts the tomahawks between Rashid and Auda as being different in size (Rashid's supposedly smaller).  This is not the case however; the Tomahawks are from the same mold.

Play Value:  A good guy grunt suit for the Gundam Wing Universe is never a bad thing whether as fodder, backup, or an objective it is always good.  With on weapon the figure does not have to worry about switching out with one weapon or another to hinder flow of play.  Though with only one weapon I would say that can make the figure lack in play value.

Display Value:  Standing with your Gundam Wing MSiAs can allow these guys to standout to a point.  Gundam Wing Designs are all decorated and while this MSiA follows that line, Gundam designs can make these guys look sparsely designed.  The large weapons these figures have can a beneficial factor as well as grouping all three together.  Making them look more like a team then the five gundams themselves plus the version articulation helps out immensely. 

Dollar Value: Picked up this figure at kmart for about $6.99. A low price and you can still find them at Kmart.  It just does not feel like a deluxe figure even with the detailing and version 2.0 treatment.

Conclusion:  This is a novel figure, although the weapons loadout is nearly nonexistent, the figure compensates in terms quality and articulation.