by Strike X105 » Sat Sep 05, 2009 9:24 am
Well, just preordered the 00 Raiser...wow that's expensive, but with the Light up GN drive and stand, etc. it's actually not a bad deal, really. Shame they won't make one without the extra crap for less, but oh well. I was torn on this since I like 00 but I'm not a huge fan, but then, my collection wouldn't be complete if I didn't. Between this and Black Convoy MP, I'm done for a while...until they make a blue frame PG which I'm sure is coming in the future...Bandai loves their repaints.
Blurrz, MG Zero was a great kit for it's time. When it came out, MG was really turning a corner from merely being a step above HG to becoming really great. It's just time isn't kind to it, it's not Bandai's fault as much as it is just the design itself. If you really want to get a good Zero rendition, go for the 1/100 HG and add some paint (not as good as the MG, but half the price so if something happens oh well), or just pony up the extra and get the PG (They're pretty cheap, about 100-120 on ebay now), it is the worst of the PG kits, but still superior to any MG or HG out there. If this is your first PG, you'll be blown away by it, however after building the PG Strike/Red frame or MK.II, you'll realize how it falls short compared to them.
Here's a PG breakdown with my observations:
RX-78-2: Granddaddy of all Gundam, and all PG kits. Good kit by today's standards, cheap, and simple, but it's supposed to be.
Zaku: I like this kit, most people don't. Limited by the design itself, but still manages to be capable of a lot of posing. Hose system is ingenious, don't have to worry about the beads falling off like on an MG. Bad news is the feet are limited for posing, as the ball joint for the foot to ankle pops out if you try and pose it to far back. Good side is it's under the armor so it's not visible, and doesn't affect it at all. Horrible LED wiring...
Zeta: Beautiful PG, awesome Transformation (about 45 min), cool gimmicks, lots of posability. The bad is the insane transformation will scare the hell out of you that you'll break something, and it's ultra unbalanced. Be very careful posing it. Static poses are ok, but dynamic poses not so much, make sure you have it solidly planted.
Zero: Ugh...great kit gone bad. Looks amazing, lots of metal in the inner frame to compensate for the backpack, great posability and frame design. But the backpack with the wings wrecks it. Can't hold many good poses, to backheavy, wings with the auto spring spread randomly, this thing would be a lot better with a stand. What was Bandai thinking?! I have made a wooden stand for it that works well. Anyone wants the specs to make one of their own, shoot me a PM.
MK.II: Tedious build up, cockpit is a pain in the ass (The little ball), Bazooka clipped to it's back makes it backheavy. Great kit though, lots of posing, very heavy and durable feeling.
GP01: In regular mode, a good figure model. In FB mode, it's basically a static kit. Looks great with the stand/hangar though, very cool. Not as backheavy as you might think in FB mode.
Strike: Perfection, sheer perfection. The ultimate PG, and quite possibly the ultimate action figure/mecha. Rivals Revoltech posability, very balanced, details are incredible. Armor actually shifts itself via PC's on slides to compensate for bending the legs, arms, etc. Beecraft version also is a plus over the anime version. No pics can do it justice...you have to see this one for yourself. Aile kit is a must too.
Red Frame: Strike retool, almost as good. Looks great, almost the posability of the strike (it's the same frame almost), but the armor hinders it a bit more than the strike. Still easily the secondbest, and the aile stand works on it.
Well, that's it until the Raiser is released. I can also do the Glorious HY2M if anyone's interested in the dom or gouf, or any older 1/60 kits, or RD, HG, etc.