Courtesy of our good friends at HobbyLink Japan, we’ve been sent a toy from the Mobile Suit Crossbone Gundam: Steel 7 manga to review. Specifically, the Robot Damashii Crossbone Gundam X1 Full Cloth that’s on sale. In addition, to give the toy some context, we’ve also linked gameplay footage of it in action at the end of the review.

Crossbone Gundam is a really interesting series, as it follows events stemming from Gundam F91 and takes us to Jupiter. There we learn that the Jupiter Empire is planning some nasty stuff for Earth, using their stranglehold over our energy supply as leverage. Thankfully the Crossbone Vanguard are now the good guys and are bent on thwarting their plans. However, they can’t do it out in the open and as such have themed themselves as pirates. The iconic X-booster at the rear of the Crossbone Gundams is to allow better maneuverability in Jupiter’s gravity well, but really it’s to emphasise the skull and crossbones motif.

Designed by Hajime Katoki, the Crossbone Gundam mecha have quite the following. Despite the fact that the series has only been in manga form up to this point, the Gundam fanbase go crazy for it. With good reason too, as the manga was written by Yoshiyuki Tomino and is very much part of the Universal Century timeline. Much of the popularity is also down to the characters, with the protagonist Tobia Arronax being particularly likeable.

This brings us to the XM-X1 (F97) Crossbone Gundam X-1 Full Cloth. Basically a pimped out version of the X1 Kai Kai, as donated by Kincaido Nau it appears in the later manga Steel 7. Armed to the teeth and with all manner of defensive technology equipped it’s one of the most potent mobile suits at the era of the timeline.

It’s also one of the most powerful units in Gundam Extreme Versus, having been featured as a high cost mobile suit in every iteration thus far. A Full Cloth in the right hands is a terrifying opponent to face. Whilst we’ve had a Master Grade kit of the design, this Robot Damashii figure is the first toy of the mobile suit and it is really incredible.

Toy: Robot Damashii Crossbone Gundam X1 Full Cloth
Price: 4,675 yen
Size/Weight: 24.5 x 20.0 x 6.5 cm / 270g

Now, we must explain that we also bought the original Robot Damashii Crossbone Gundam toys from a while back. Those were some of the first toys in the line and whilst good were pretty basic. This new Full Cloth has been completely re-designed and re-sculpted. The detailing has also taken a noticeable jump up in terms of quality too. The biggest change though is the amount of articulation present. Whilst the base X1 Kai Kai figure is nicely sturdy (without the weird feet joints that plagued the earlier toys), the Full Cloth armor is wonderfully complex. You also get all manner of gimmicks, from the heat daggers tucked into the calves to all the nice I-Field and beam sabre effects. Sadly, it lacks the beam shield effects though.

All in all though, this is a really nice toy of the Full Cloth. The quality in terms of the design’s reproduction is spot on and it’s sturdy enough to be played with without fear of damage. The joints also afford some really nice poses (though we recommend getting one of the Tamashii stands for that, sold separately). Considering that the base figure is similar to the other three classic Crossbone Gundam mobile suits, we’ll be seeing more figures in the future and that alone is wonderful news. Anyway, this is a really great Robot Damashii toy and comes totally recommended to all Crossbone Gundam fans.

[flash https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S460URnfG68]

[flash https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRRQo9zbt-M]

[flash https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAnZAJJdVDY]