Robot Spirits: GNX-609T GN-XIII A-Raws Type

No, seriously, I’m a Gundam.

Yea or Nay?
It’s a neat looking robot with decent articulation and a neat set of accessories, but at the original price of 2500 yen, it’s pricey for what you get. Wait and see if there’s anywhere selling them on clearance. It’s a good toy, but not an essential purchase. Mildly Recommended.

Origins
Part of the Robot Damashi line by Bandai, and originally retailing for 2500 yen, the GNX-609T GN-XIII A-Raws Type comes from Gundam OO (primarily second season), and if there’s one thing I like about Gundam OO, it’s the fact that they have a pretty high ratio of mechs that don’t look like Gundams. Don’t get me wrong, Gundams have an aesthetically pleasing base design, but when a series has 95% of it’s robots all based on that same basic design, things start to get a little boring and even tiring. So it’s nice to get something different like the GNX-609T GN-XIII A-Raws Type, which definitely looks like a ninja. And just like ninja, they follow the Law of Conservative Ninja. That is to say, since there were a lot of them, they were amongst the cannon fodder of season 2 of Gundam OO.

Review: Form
It’s a robot ninja with a GunLance, what’s not to dig? This guy looks… cool, kinda. It’s cool, but also weird. But hey, it’s a robot, it’s allowed to look weird, and the weirdness adds to the coolness. So overall, I guess it just plain looks cool. It also looks like a ninja. Not a Ryu Hayabusa or Storm Shadow or Strider Hiryuu ninja, but a regular cannon fodder ninja. And again, that adds to the coolness.

In short, looks-wise, the GNX-609T GN-XIII A-Raws Type looks… cool, kinda. But once you take into account all the guy’s accessories, he’s just plain cool, and he’s of a good size too. He’s a little taller than your typical 1/18th scale Ironman II figure, but he’s still within the range that you can consider him to be one of Ironman’s many robotic enemies. He’d also fit in pretty well with your G.I. Joes if you’re not a “gritty realism” type fan; Star Wars as he’d make an excellent droid; or Marvel Universe as Ultron, because all robots in Marvel are Ultron.

Review: Function
Articulation is decent. His feet aren’t as crazy posable as the Robot Spirits OO Gundam (main mech from Gundam OO, season 2), but they’re still pretty good. This guy has a lot of panels and flaps sticking out though, which does get in the way of going willy nilly with posing him. As a result of this somewhat decreased ease of playability, I gotta knock a point or two off this guy’s playability score.

Nonetheless, he’s still a figure with lots of posability and he’s got the balance to pull off some pretty good poses.

Review: Extras
Accessories for this figure are great. They’re what push this figure from being a “Neat, but don’t bother”-toy to a “Neat, might as well”-toy.

Naturally, it comes with an extra pair of hands for holding his stuff and sort of acting like fists. He’s got a tiny buckler type shield to offer virtually no protection at all. A lightsaber, as per the norm for Gundams. A neat looking machine gun. And of course, his GunLance, which is way cool. It’s hard to imagine it shooting anything other than maybe lasers, but hey, if nothing else, it’s still a pretty darn good lance.

He also comes with this bum attachment thing, but it’s detached more so the figure can fit in the box rather than as an actual extra.

OVERALL
A good, solid toy. The GNX-609T GN-XIII A-Raws Type looks good, plays & poses pretty darn decently and comes with plenty of great swag. From a technical aspect, he’s gold. But at the same time, he’s a Red Shirt mecha and looks like one, as such, he isn’t an essential purchase, especially at the original suggested retail price. If you see him cheap on an online store or loose (and complete, this is a figure that needs its accessories), then sure, go ahead and get him.

Pros: Looks good, has good posability and great accessories.
Cons: Not a super striking design and not quite worth full retail.

Grade: B-