Review: HCM-Pro Freedom Gundam

HCM-Pro No.39-oo ZGMF-X10A Freedom Gundam
1:200 High Complete Model Progressive
Freedom VS Destroy VS Impulse Part I of 3
~ R E V I E W ~

01. I n t r o d u c t i o n

good day to everyone. here's another sets of reviews on the new HCM-Pro SEED figures. i got so excited before when i found out that there will be an HCM-Pro Destroy Gundam. and before that Bandai also announced that there will be an HCM-Pro Freedom first. and me, being a SEED fan, i started giggling about these. i know i said before that i have to cut some of my collections, but to my dismay... Bandai started to unveil all their upcoming products. so here i am again, pressured and cramming to collect everything. basta yung kakasya lang sa budget. :D ok, so much for the introduction...

02. P a c k a g i n g

standard HCM-Pro box. cool CG artwork. hoping that artwork is bigger. big box. small figure. yun na yun eh. ;D honestly, this new figure has a big box compared to the previous released HCM-Pro figures. i.e.: Force Impulse. it has a smaller box compared to this one. when i saw the box at first, i was expecting that there will be accessories enough to fill the box. but... like what i said on my first sentence. big box. small figure. :( for that, i give the packaging review:

>>> Rating: 3.5 <<<

03. P r o d u c t & D e t a i l

here's the content of the figure: (1) Freedom, (2) HiMAT wings, (1) beam rifle, (1) beam rifle's grip w/ attached manipulator, (2) beam saber, (1) lacerta beam saber attached w/ manipulator, (1) special beam saber effect part w/ attached manipulator, (1) shield, (1) shield's handle, (1) shield's arm connector and (1) ABS-made V-fin. here we can see the sprue tree on the shield. this is great feature. it's like cutting a sprue from coated kits. the sprue cut marks will not be visible. although we have to trim it nicely, so the other shield's half will flatten evenly on the other half. you can also see the special effect part of the beam saber. this is for reenactment of the battle scenes with Destroy Gundam. showing also is the beam rifle. i was surprised that Bandai colored the blue part of the rifle. because as far as i know, everyone is pissed at Bandai for not seperating the blue part of the beam rifle on the model kit. :-/ next, showing the clear display stand for Freedom. IMHO, i like the stand, but somehow my Freedom tends to fall after a couple of minutes of display. :( on the breast part shows the N-Jammer thingy. this is the power source of Freedom. after removing it and seeing where the N-Jammer is resting, question arises. :D how were Kira's cockpit fit in that area? hehehe. and if you were Kira, di ka ba matataranta at nasa ilalim mo lang yung Nuclear Energy? hahaha! :D

next, showing the nozzles on the legs. it has some silver paint touches on the sides. i like it. :D and the articulation of the feet, i guess it has the same articulation like its MG counterpart. on the back, it shows that the wing binders uses the balljoint system. this is great because you can move the wings easier compare to the MG and EMSiA counterparts. and no worries too, if the balljoint got loosen. you can easily apply a small amount of superglue on the sockets. cool huh? ;D same goes to the side skirt armor with the rail cannons, it uses ball joints too. and the skirt armors has details. nice. ;)

>>> Rating: 4 <<<

04. HCM-Pro-VS-EMSiA Scale & Proportion Comparisons

this section shows both HCM-Pro and EMSiA Freedom figure. the purpose of this section is to show you guys the height difference and comparison on the proportions. i can say that i like the proportion of the HCM-Pro better than the EMSiA version. it's a lot sexier. remember in anime, Freedom is kinda sexy compared to Strike Gundam. ;) and the HCM-Pro wing is longer compared to the EMSiA's. one thing i notice is, EMSiA's usually have a bigger manipulators compared to their HCM-Pro counterpart. the downside of the HCM-Pro compare to EMSiA? the scale... if only they were bigger. :-/

reminder: since there's a new line called Super HCM-Pro, it's not impossible to release everything again in 1:144 scale. but i think that's too expensive na for us to collect. imagine a price worth of one cool-looking MG kit. ;)

>>> Rating: 3.5 <<<

05. A r t i c u l a t i o n s

i love the articulation on this small baby. :D i love it even better than the EMSiA counterpart. hehehe. ;D like everyone said, HCM-Pro is almost a small version of the MG kit counterpart. articulated and highly detailed. i took some shots of the Freedom in a maxed out position. well, that's maxed out for me. don't want to loosen the joints for moving and stretching that much. and the cool thing on the articulation is the wing. it uses the balljoint system. mas flexible, IMO. and for that i give this section -- 5. ;)

>>> Rating: 5 <<<


06. Lights. Camera. A C T I O N !

here's some pose i did based on the famous pose, as i remember, of Freedom during the SEED and SEED Destiny anime. even though this figure is so small, i had fun posing it and playing with it. so i guess, i'll give this section 5 for fun factor. :D

>>> Rating: 5 <<<

07. C o n c l u s i o n

my conclusion is... i advice everyone to get this figure. just for the fun of playing with it. if you love Freedom Gundam, then this figure is really for you. imagine, the fun of playing your favorite Gundam. now i only wish that there's an HCM-Pro Justice Gundam. by the way, since i don't have an HCM-Pro Strike Freedom, there's no way of telling which is better -- Freedom or Strike Freedom? but based on the online photos of Strike Freedom, i find it less accurate from the anime. or in a way, nawala yung pagiging maangas nya compared to this HCM-Pro Freedom. if i decided to buy the HCM-Pro Strike Freedom, i'll make a comparison between these two. ;)

so overall, i rate this HCM-Pro figure -- 4.5.

>>> Overall Rating: 4.5 <<<

Thanks for looking. ^^,