Gunpla #59 - HG Gundam G40 - Industrial Design Ver. Review

Youtube review: https://youtu.be/wXUCmSyGI94

OK, this one was truly different from any other kits I've ever built since I started the hobby 7 years ago. The G40 was unique in every way possible: the name, the package, the assembly, the aesthetics, the articulation, the price tag, everything. From the first glance, it's obvious that this is the iconic RX-78-2 Gundam from UC timeline, and yet, the package didn't show any model number nor timeline like a HG normally does (e.g. HGUC), and no box art, just a black box with an big embossed silver 'G40' letters printed on it. Furthermore, the price tag of 3300 yen made everybody scratched their head. Just why did a HG kit become so ridiculously expensive? Interestingly, while it should be released as a regular retail kit, but for some reason, it was sold in very limited number at stores. It looked like Bandai didn't have much confidence to sell it as a regular retail kit.

Since the first time it was announced, G40 has drawn controversy among gunpla fans across the globe. Some people praises the brand new design and articulation, while the others despised its aesthetics and price tag. Tell the truth, I was among the people who hated it in the beginning. Anyway, after learning more details and building the kit, my respect gradually became stronger towards it. 

Many gunpla fans considered the design of G40 as 'ugly', especially with the curved aesthetics instead of blocky one as conventional RX mobile suit series. Anyway, the most controversial part of this kit was definitely the joints, particularly the hip joints. Due to fixed skirts of the kit, it utilized very unusual 'dropped' hip joints, which made G40 look so weird. The kit looked as it had a broken thigh. Anyway, there were big reasons behind this design. As I dug deeper into its design, I finally grasped the true concept of the design: G40 was the form of Gundam in case it's produced in real life. Surely, it betrayed the real-robot genre images many people cherish, but that 'broken thighs' are very reasonable in many real-life robot designs.

On the other hand, if there's aspects this kit excels at, then it should be the articulation. Never in my life, I've ever seen a kit so articulated as G40. It just could do any poses, from a cool poses to a absurd and ridiculous one. And while the price tag seemed so much expensive for a HG kit, the special artbook which came with it was truly worth it. 

You may love it or even hate it, but with the features came with the kit IMHO, G40 was one of the best HG of 2019.

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HG Gundam G40 Industrial Design Ver.

Pros:

• The most insane articulation of gunpla you've ever seen.
• The artbook was really nice bonus (I recommend you to read it before building the kit)

Cons:

• Hip joints look really weird
• Pretty expensive for a HG kit

Gunpla #58 - P-Bandai HGUC Gundam TR-6 Haze'n-thley II Review

Youtube review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jK8VR9G8RIM&t=1s

Since I have made a review for this kit on Youtube, I will just summarize some important things and post some nice pictures of it in this post. I understood that AoZ aesthetics and designs may not be for everyone, but IMHO, this kit was one of the best HG kits of 2019. Firstly, it's huge, and it's even taller than HGUC Fenelope, the biggest HG kit of last year. Second, it has interesting features and gimmicks, in particular with the transformation. Since it has two modes of transformation, you basically got three kits in one package: MS mode, top/bottom fighter mode and MA mode. Finally, similar with previously released AoZ kits in HG line, the Hazen'thley II is fully customizable, which means the kit could be easily kitbashed with the others from the same line. You got all these features with price tag less than 5000 Yen (original price), which is a good deal for such gigantic HG kit IMHO. There were of course downside of it, such as the lack of articulation on the torso and legs, complicated transformation, and mediocre marking stickers.

Mobile Suit Mode:

Rifle Mode

Crow Mode

Top Fighter and Bottom Fighter Mode

Mobile Armor Mode

Mobile Suit Mode with Hrududu II + Gundam TR-6 Hazel II ("Pseudo" Haze'n-thley II Rah)

Configuration with two Hrududu IIs

Mobile Armor Mode with Hrududu II + Gundam TR-6 Hazel II

Size Comparison

vs HGUC Second V (left) and MG RX-78-02 Gundam the Origin (right)

vs HGUC Delta Plus, Zeta Plus A1 and Zeta Plus C1

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RX-124 Gundam TR-6 Haze'n-thley II

Pros:

• Wicked design, arguably the best of AoZ series by far
• Two modes of transformation
• Good price tag
• Highly customizable for kitbash

Cons:

• Complicated transformation with lots of part-forming stuffs
• Lack articulation of the torso and legs
• Mediocre marking stickers

Gunpla #57 - P-Bandai HGUC RX-78-6 Gundam G06 [Mudrock] Review

Finally, the Gundam G06 a.k.a. Mudrock receives its HGUC treatment. Tell the truth, I was a little bit underestimating this kit because of  'unconvincing' pictures shown by the promo images when Bandai announced it few months ago. After completing the build however, I should revised my skeptical thoughts, because ... this kit is truly amazing!

First things first, the Mudrock came with 100% new parts. Yep, 11 runners, 2 sheets of stickers and 100% new molds, no reused runners from previously released kits. This alone makes the Mudrock on the same league with other 'original' pbandai kits such as Pale Rider, Gundam TR-6 Woundwort and Gundam Pixie. 

The Mudrock itself looks so quite different from most of its kind in UC timeline. In contrary with other RX-78 Gundam series, it doesn't have slits on the face plate. Also, with those giant cannons on the backpack, it looks more like a hybrid between gundam and guncannon. Moreover, the Mudrock bears a striking resemblance to Duel Gundam from MS Gundam Seed, especially with the green eyes. That's also the main reason I choose red eyes for the build, to distinguish it from the Duel Gundam. 

Did I said there are red eyes and green eyes? Yes, you get two colors of eye stickers. The sticker sheet itself is very minimal as it only contained the two eyes, two sensors and 'V' insignia of the gundam. Again, unlike any other HGs, this kit doesn't use stickers for color separation at all! However, of course, there were still parts which needed to be painted in order to match the color correctly, such as the thrusters on the backpack, crotch and legs. 

Anyway, the main feature of this kit is the ability to switch between the complete and incomplete version of Mudrock. For that purpose, you get two versions of shoulders and calves, and you can switch them easily. That's a really big bonus given by Bandai this time. No matter which version you choose, both are aesthetically awesome.

Another interesting feature is articulation of the forearms, which could twist in 360 degree. This was made possible by the use of special polycaps connected to the double jointed elbow, and it makes the arms having much wider range of moves compared to ordinary HG kits. This was the second time I saw this kind of feature after HGUC Gundam TR-6 Haze'n-thley II which was released last month. The articulation of legs are pretty much similar with HGUC Gundam Revived because they used similar joints system. The shoulders and torso, on the other hand, only use ordinary ball joints with few degrees of articulation. This, however, didn't prevent me to make various cool poses at all, because in general, the kit was solid and the articulation was really good. 

This kit came with a pair of clench hand for holding the beam sabers and one trigger right hand for the beam rifle. And as usual, you also got a pair of beam effect parts for the sabers. Finally, there's a sheet of marking sticker to add some details to the kit.

The verdict, as I mentioned before, this kit was amazing! 100% new parts, the ability to easily switch between the complete and incomplete version, the minimal use of foil stickers and  special articulation of the forearms in one HG kit, with a fair 2200 Yen price tag. The only downside I found were the lacks of hands and the use of ball joints for torso and shoulders. Should you buy it? Yes, I really recommend it! 

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RX-78-6 Gundam G06 [Mudrock]

Pros:

• Uses 100% new parts
• Could easily switch between Complete version and Incomplete one.
• Minimal use of foil sticker
• The forearms have special articulation which enables them to twist 360 degree.
• 2200 Yen price tag, for every thing mentioned above.

Cons:

• Still use ball joints on the torso and shoulders
• Lacks hands, especially the opened one.

Gunpla #56 - P-Bandai HGUC Mobile Suit Second V Review

Youtube review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj_dJB0TOjg

Tell the truth, I am not a big fan of Mobile Suit Victory Gundam (MSVG). It's not because the series was bad or one of the most brutal shows in the franchise, but rather because of its mobile suit designs. I personally feel most of them were too bland (e.g. Victory Gundam, Gun-EZ etc.) or too busy, like a toy (V2 Gundam and its upgrades). However, the Second V is an exception. I don't know anything about this guy until Bandai announced to release it as P-bandai kit several months ago. One reason is because Second V didn't appear in the anime, but rather in the novelization of MSVG, where it becomes the successor of V Gundam instead of V2. Anyway, one thing for sure, this mobile suit is cool!

Compared to V or V2, the Second V looks more balanced, not so bland but not too colorful. It just looks more sophisticated in general, something that I feel MSVG lacks the most. Also, this mobile suit doesn't have model number as others, which is pretty interesting.

The kit came with 10 runners, where 6 of them were new molds. The backpack was completely built from new parts, while others: head, torso, and limbs shared some parts from HGUC V and V2 Gundam. Similar with most HG kits, some color separated parts were recreated with the help of foil stickers, such as inner parts of head (red, green and black), red circles on the elbows-side skirts-side calves (red), beam rifle lenses (blue) and mega beam cannon muzzle (black). Anyway, with the help of paint or Gundam Marker, the use of stickers on this kit would be very minimal, except for the red circles. Surprisingly, the blue body parts were actual parts, not stickers, which was a really big plus.

The articulation was pretty good. Head could move freely, 360 deg in rotation. Shoulder couldn't move to far ahead or above because of ball joints, and the arms used double-joint elbows. The legs could move around 80-90 deg to the front, but quite restricted for the backward or sideways, because of back and side skirts. Due to bulky calves, the legs could only bend around 100 deg. The body could swivel to the right and left, but not much to the forward-backward because of the ball joint. Overall, it's pretty normal and solid for a HG kit, and I didn't have much difficulty to pose it.

The backpack was arguably the most interesting part of this kit. It was pretty heavy, but not as heavy as kits from Seed series. It hosts two weapon platforms, the mega beam cannon and Minovsky Shield. There were two big thrusters (Minovsky Drive Unit), which could be opened or closed. The mega beam cannon has little articulation while mounting on the back, anyway, it could be detached and become a handheld weapon like beam rifle. However, it's pretty difficult to put the cannon on hands because of their tiny size and weak build. The Minovsky shield was most interesting because it has two modes: stored and deployed. It's basically constructed from 3 pieces of bits which could be 'folded' in the stored mode, and 'expand' in the deploy mode. To change between modes, we need to do a little parts-forming to the shield, as the main 'frames' are different for each mode. The deploy mode shield could be attached on the elbow, similar with beam shield of V or V2.

Speaking about accessories, this kit came with one beam rifle, two beam saber hilts (and their beam effects), one beam fan effect and one beam shield, similar with HGUC V, V-dash, V2 etc. Second V didn't come with Core Fighter, but I don't mind since V2 also doesn't come with one. Another interesting thing was the manual which had introduction about the mobile suit. It's pretty unusual for a P-Bandai HG kit for having such manual, but that was a really nice bonus.

The verdict, this is a nice P-Bandai kit, regardless you're a fan of MSVG or not. It has pretty good details, good color separation, few stickers, pretty decent articulation and nice gimmicks. Anyway, it doesn't come with core fighter, it uses red stickers which were quite a pain and quite expensive. For comparison, the original price of Second V is 2200 Yen (tax and other fees excluded), while V2 Assault Buster is 'just' 2000 Yen. However, I think with the quality and gimmicks come with this kit, it's definitely worth the money.

Should you buy it? That's your choice.

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Mobile Suit Second V

Pros:

• 60% parts use new molds.
• Good aesthetics, great color separation, blue parts are not using stickers at all.
• Nice gimmicks for the backpacks and weapon platform.

Cons:

• No core fighter
• Using red stickers for circle parts (elbow, side skirt and side calves)
• Pretty expensive.

Gunpla #55 - P-Bandai RG Perfect Strike Gundam Review

Youtube review: https://youtu.be/1SsJXJuGAcw

Strike Gundam is one of my most favorite machine of Cosmic Era. It was versatile and could adapt into any combat situations, thanks to its ability for utilizing the striker packs, from the highly maneuverable aile striker, the powerful close-encounter sword striker and the deadly long-range launcher striker. While the original Gundam Seed showed that Strike mostly utilized one striker pack at a time, the remastered version revealed the mobile suit in the form that the audiences had in their wild imagination: Perfect Strike, when all striker packs are combined into one machine.

The Perfect Strike has been released several times in gunpla form, most notably, by 1/144 HG Seed Remastered and 1/100 MG (as P-bandai) in 2013. Of course, long before that, many gunpla fans have tried to recreate this iconic mobile suit, especially in RG line. While it is possible to make RG Aile Strike Gundam to be equipped with Sword/Launcher Striker packs, a modeler has to modify the Aile Striker with some parts from HG Perfect Strike Gundam or even stratch-built parts to perfectly recreate the Perfect Strike Gundam. It took at least 7 years until Bandai officially released The Perfect Strike Gundam in RG line.

I know what you're thinking right now: Is this just an RG Aile Strike Gundam with Launcher/Sword Striker packs slapped together? Well ... 90% correct! This is indeed the very same RG Aile Strike Gundam plus Launcher/Sword Striker packs, minus the Skygrasper. Nevertheless, the RG Perfect Strike came with several new parts which were previously absent from RG Aile Strike or RG Skygrasper.

A single new runner of RG Perfect Strike with battery packs, new aile striker and stand connector

Firstly, it came with battery packs and parts of modified Aile Striker packs for hosting the Swords and Launcher Striker packs. So, no need to cannibalize the HG Perfect Strike anymore! The new Aile Striker also has slightly different design from the old one. The bonus is, there are parts to make the original Aile Striker, if you want to make it instead the perfect one, of course. The battery packs could be removed individually if you wish.

Secondly, and this is an important addition: a special support part for the waist-body connector. Aile Striker is heavy already, and you can imagine what will happen if another two heavy weapons are attached to it. The purpose of this support part is to fill the gap between waist-body connection, hence preventing the body from bending backward when Perfect Strike pack equipped to the Strike Gundam.

Special support part for body-waist section

The last new additions are a 'standard' clear stand (with new connector) and a big sticker sheet. The stand is necessary since the backpack is so enormous and it's impossible for this kit to stand on its own feet (if you could do it, please teach me how). The stickers are identical with RG Aile Strike + Sword/Launcher Strike with some new stickers for battery packs, which made me a little bit disappointed, because I would like to see some new 'Perfect Strike' markings as MG version.

Having nearly identical parts with RG Aile Strike makes this RG Perfect Strike posses all the weakness of the former: flimsy parts and weak joints, typical of early RG kits. While I had no problems with the limbs and articulated hands, the joints of front/back/side skirts really got on my nerves! They kept falling off every time I tried to pose this kit. Another annoying thing is, the figurine of Kira Yamato which came with it. Bandai seemed so lazy to give us a new figurine of Mu La Flaga who was the 'real' pilot of Perfect Strike. This kit also comes with fixed hands (of Sword/Launcher Strike), Strike Shield, and the beam effects.

Anyway, another bonus which is a big plus (in my opinion) is the ability to make Launcher Strike Gundam or Sword Strike Gundam individually, even though the manual has never mentioned about this. Yes, this kit also came with the backpacks for both Strike modes. It's a shame that the new Aile Striker doesn't have gimmicks to switch between normal and perfect Aile Striker as MG version did. Otherwise, this kit will be truly 'perfect'.

Posing with this kit was basically same with posing RG Aile Strike. While the stand could basically do its job, I eventually used action base 4 and 5, with 8mm U-shaped connector for posing purposes because the standard RG action base connector was really easy to wear off. Nevertheless, once it's get into the proper poses, this kit was really cool to watch!

Verdict? Despite few additions, the RG Perfect Strike Gundam is a cool kit, especially for collectors. The support part did its job pretty well, even though the kit couldn't stand on its own.If you don't have RG Aile Strike Gundam and don't want Skygrasper just to make Perfect Strike Gundam, then this kit is truly for you. Otherwise, I think you shouldn't spend money for it (except if you don't bother for having nearly identical kits, of course).
   
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GAT-X105+AQM/E-YM1 Perfect Strike Gundam

Pros:

• All Strike Gundam weapon packages in one kit
• A special support part to prevent body from bending backward
• Ability to switch into Launcher/Sword Strike Gundam individually

Cons:

• Suffers from early RG 'syndrome': fragile parts and weak joints
• Old figurine of Kira Yamato instead of Mu La Flaga
• No 'Perfect Strike' markings on the sticker decals as MG version