Good Afternoon Everyone!
Since it's Thursday, I decided to do a throwback. I'm gonna review my old Gundam Wing kits from the 90's
Starting with the boy that wears a sando and shorts in any occasion, the silent but deadly protagonist pilot of the titular MS, Wing Gundam. The first suit from Operation Meteor that appeared in the show.
Let's admit it, we 90's kids pretty much opened our eyes to Gundam Wing as our "first" Gundam experience. Some may say Gundam X or Gundam G. I used to rush home so I can watch it in Toonami.
I've seen those too but I didn't know at the time that they're separate shows but nonetheless we were all amazed on how awesome these mechas fight and how they look so damn cool.
Anyway, Let's get on with the review.
Boxart:
Since it's a "No Grade" it's pretty much the most basic looking box you can get. A nice artstyle for the the box, the next kit's in line and a brief summary of the kits specs and capabilities.
Truth be told, this is enough to entice a kid to buy it or force their parents to buy it lol. I used to pass by the toy store when I was a kid and these boxes always gets my attention.
As usual, my parents keeps telling me it's "expensive" so choose another toy.
*Dreams were shattered.*
But, since I'm earning now, this is pretty cheap lol.
Oh yeah, there are two versions of these kits. The other version has the pilots portrait included in the box art and these kits usually comes with a mini figure of pilots.
Oh yeah, there are two versions of these kits. The other version has the pilots portrait included in the box art and these kits usually comes with a mini figure of pilots.
Manual:
You'll be greeted by a manual with the kits picture but this one is built by a pro. The other colored pages shows the details of the MS and a bit of info about Heero, the pilot. Also shows the next kit you can get.
The Kit has 4 runners, which is a lot for a No grade. No grades nowadays can't compare to how awesome these kits are. To think that this was made in the 90's, Bandai is already showing their amazing engineering for an affordable price.
The runners are molded in red, white, dark blue, yellow and gray which is a lot for a No grade. It's practically a High Grade with less inner frames.
Contents:
This kit has been with me for a long time and I'ts already built and painted so I don't have assembly pics but I did disassemble him so I can describe the parts nicely.
No grades back then are already in the thin line between High grades and statues. What I meant by this is, most parts are just two pieces slapped together with polycaps in between to serve as joints and articulation points.
If notice, most parts uses a peg, so the articulation will be pretty obvious. The thighs uses a ball joint which can be poseable to a certain degree only.
Also, all NG kits only comes with 2 open hands. Hands back in the day were inluded in the polycaps section so they have that rubbery feel.Most of the weapons can be held securely with these hands.
Articulation:
Well, that's pretty much the limitations of a No Grade kit but don't get me wrong, these level of articulation back in the day is all you need to satisfy a kid.
Articulation is mostly rotations due to pegs and elbows can bend a decent 90 degrees. The legs can bend more due to his transformation gimmick.
Thanks to that knee mechanism, he can pull off a decent kneeling pose.
The wings are also pegged at the back and can also swivel left and right. The wing flaps can move in and out as well.
Details:
The overall silhouette of the Wing Gundam is really impressive, those wings really made him stand out.
I painted and lined this kit so don't expect yours to be like this out of the box. It's a No grade and it's gonna be a pretty basic build that usually relies on stickers.
They do provide good stickers but some parts still needed to be painted to get that show accuracy.
The stickers I used are the eyes and the chest piece, the rest is painted detail like:
- Forehead camera
- Blue and yellow on the shoulders
- The white parts in the torso
- The white and gray in the feet
- The yellow and white on the wings
- The blue on the binders connector, it's molded in gray
- The gray on the chest vulcans
I forgot to paint the head vulcans though but it's not obvious hahaha!
It's a lot of work but trust me, it's worth it and nice to look and when you display it, it doesn't look like a cheap toy that you bought in some dollar store. LOL.
Accessories:
Pretty simple but those are the only weapons he uses anyways. Even these things needed painting, I used the green sticker for the shield though, I liked the reflective look haha.
Anyway, it's mostly the gun that needed a lot of work, the gun metal and yellow parts are painted. The shield needed mostly white only to break the monotony of the red and for the beam saber, you need to paint it green because it comes in white (I used a green sharpie because the shade of green is close.)
Trust me, give it some time and effort, this kit would match some HG kits today.
You can connect the beam rifle in the shield but that's mainly for the flight mode.
Posing:
See? The color really brings life to this kit. These are just ground pose and the Wing Gundam should be flying so let's make him fly!
Sadly, kits in the 90's dont get stands unlike some HG kits of today. You can use an action base 2 but 90's kits don't have a peg for connecting them so you need to use a different adapter. The one that looks like cradling their crotch LOL.
I don't like this connector much because it lessens the thigh movement making him look like he's always spreading his legs. Anyway, you can still pull off decent poses.
Of course this won't be complete without the Wing Gundams signature transformation gimmick! Yes, this kit can fully transform.
Transformation:
It's pretty close to the Airmaster Gundam from Gundam X. You rotate the head and lower body, remove the hands bring out the claws and bend the shoulders and elbows.
It's nice that they manage to include this in a No Grade kit That knee mechanism is still being used in the recent HG wing gundam, I think. Anyway, same bend it to make it look like its been dislocated and straighten the feet.
Lastly, store the rifle into the shield and attach it to the backpack to serve as the "pseudo" head for the Neo bird form.
There you have it, Neo Bird mode, as the name suggests, it does look like a bird with the wings and claws.
"Wing Gundam" could it be more obivous?
Again, you can still connect it to an action base 2 but you really can't do much in this form aside from staring at it and using your imagination. LOL.
Comparisons:
Here he is next to his 90's friends and of course the Grand Daddy Gundam to supervise them rebellious teens lol.
Sadly, I don't have an existing review of the Gundam X and Shining Gundam at the moment but stay tuned for that!
For the HG 1/144 RX-78-2 Gundam, you can check the review here:
Here he is with the only other 1/144 Wing Gundam I have. The High Grade Wing Zero Gundam Custom from the movie Endless Waltz.
I was surprised how short he is compared to the WZC but If you wanna know more about the Angelic MS, check the review here:
Conlusion:
Detail 10/10:
For a 90's kit, it's molded well. There's a lot of nice lining you can do make it more lively. I dunno why they stopped making No Grade like this. No Grades from SEED/Destiny and up are just plain annoying.
It's good for kids and painting practic though.
It's a simple kit but it really captures the Wing Gundams look.
Articulation 6/10:
It's not much to do dynamic poses but enough to do some basic poses. Then again, the Wing Gundam isn't that dynamic in posing anyway, he's a straightforward "kill first, talk later" kind of suit.
It's nice that the wing are poseable and the knees have that knee mechanism to be able to fully transform without relying on optional parts.
For a No grade, it's pretty decent but not up par with todays standards. This kits are usually meant for display rather than being super dynamic anyways.
Accessories 10/10:
I gave it a 10 beacuse they technically give you everything he uses. Back in the day, Gundam are very basic and straightforward with their load out.
Nowadays, ever since Build Fighters started, Bandai really emphasized on custom parts and add-ons which can be a good or bad thing depending on the kit. Let's talk about that another review hahaha!
Anyway, the Wing Gundam doesn't have much weapons but enough to dominate the battlefield. Just paint them up to look realistic.
Parts 9/10:
It's amazing how generous Bandai is in the 90's. Almost everything is molded in color, but some pieces are left to be molded details instead like the yellow pieces in the shoulder and beam rifle or the white parts in the red wing and torso sections.
I guess the kit would have a higher price if they molded a lot of parts for a simple kit.
It's not much and can be dealt with painting but as a kid, you really wouldn't notice those subtleties. Another thing to look out for is this kit has a lot of obvious seam lines. Since it's mostly two pieces slapped together with polycaps to act as joints, its to be expected.
If you're a perfectionist builder, this will really get on your nerves haha! But I don't mind them, It's to remind me how different kits are back in the day.
Verdict 8/10:
It's a good kit and after all these years it still holds pretty well although the left elbow on mine got loose a bit.
This is a kit that reminds me of the first Gundam show I watched on TV. People usually get it for nostalgia purposes, to reminds them of their childhood.
I'd still recommend it over those Entry Grades and No Grades being sold today. They have nice decent articulation enough for simple poses and a full transformation gimmick.
It's simple straightforward kit that will test your painting skills as well if you don't like stickers. Any kit would be amazing if you spend a lot of time and patience on it.
I know my build isn't "pro" standards but I like what I achieved and it feels like the actual Wing Gundam to me haha!
I have the other Wing kits on stand by so stay tuned!
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