Post by V2 on Jun 10, 2009 23:49:34 GMT 8
ROBOT DAMASHII SIDE MS 032 - GN-000 0 GUNDAM
When Aeolia Schenberg initialized his plan of armed intervention with Celestial Being, one of the integral components of this plan was the deployment of advanced mobile suits called Gundams. Their first prototype unit - the 0 Gundam only had the basic armaments - a GN Beam Rifle, GN Beam Saber and GN Shield. Despite the few armaments, the 0 Gundam was the most advanced MS of its time thanks to its equipped GN Drive - thus providing the unit with an inexhaustible energy supply, abilities and absolute power.
Throughout the years, the 0 Gundam saw limited (but very important) battles and was handed down to numerous factions until it was finally fell unto the hands of Ribbons Almark - the Innovator who was pulling the strings behind the corrupt and merciless group A-LAWS. Later the 0 Gundam was destroyed in a climactic battle with the Gundam Exia R2, piloted by the "True innovator" Setsuna F. Seiei thus finally achieving Celestial Being's objective. :frustrated:
Okay, I really wasn’t supposed to get this "00's RX-78" since when the development pics were shown since I don’t like getting units piloted antagonists but after someone mentioned "well you can switch the drives after all, that way you can tell who's piloted which version" and the final battle was shown, it did change my decision after all. So when I managed to get one locally, I was in quite a surprise...
GN-000 0 GUNDAM
HEAD
Sculpt and QC is pretty much flawless - typical trait for the RD series. Articulation is pretty good - aside from the usual ball joint there's extra articulation at the base of the neck for flying purposes. Another nice thing here is that there's an extra antenna made of hard abs material - kinda like the HCMPro series (but this time it isn’t stuck on a runner) - how generous of Bandai.
TORSO
Two tight articulation points - One at the actual waist & one at the middle "abs" provides great posability for this part. The only QC problem I find on this is that the red lining for the "intakes" have some smudges - but it’s barely noticeable anyway. The "soft" fins mounted on the chest are also prone to bending but Bandai generously provides replacement fins as well so that already covered. The front/side/rear skirts on the crotch area moves well enough that they won’t hinder legs movement whatsoever.
ARMS
The arms are connected via ball joints to the torso - in which the top area is exposed to provide extra range for raised arm poses - just like how Master Grade engineering would do it. Elbows are double-jointed and what’s interesting is that the armor on the underside - is connected moves along when the elbows are moved - reminiscent of the MG RX-79G series elbows. Handsets come in 3 sets: one for handling the weapons (which perform their job very well), one closed fist and one open palm (though i find the design for this one somewhat too fat).
LEGS
I am really impressed with this area. First off, the joints are a new design compared to previous releases. Articulation on the pelvic joints has great range - in which I think seems to be an improved version from the GFF "Frame Model's" versions. The knees are also a surprise - this is probably the 1st time an actual Bandai action figure actually has the knee area separate into "segments" to provide articulation - kinda like the MG series. What bothers me aesthetically however, is the fact that it somehow ruins the concept of knee armors - you're not supposed to expose an area that prone to be targeted... but heck that's just me techno blabbing.
If you'll look at the pics provided, you'll note that the foot area is quite impressive - it has the engineering design that almost rivals an MG/HGUC - resulting to excellent range for excellent posability!
BACKPACK
There are two versions on how to display this toy: a GN Condenser unit & a GN Drive unit. Both are connected well to the backside of the 0 Gundam and stays firmly plus they're hollow and light in construction so they definitely won’t cause balance issues whatsoever and the "cowling" covers them up pretty well. So, would you have Lasse or Ribbons pilot your 0 Gundam?! Pick your poison.
WEAPONS
GN Beam Rifle
Though the mold is good, the colors used on it (flat charcoal black) make it look somewhat dull and the rifle barrel looks too small. Those minor flaws aside, it fits well with the hands.
GN Beam Saber
The hilt is pretty nice in mold and can be mounted on the holder (connected via balljoint to allow a range of positioning for "drawing" poses) located in the right side of the cowling. The blade is in clear reddish-pink in color and fits well unto the hilt.
GN Shield
Thanks to reverse tabs located on the forearms, the shield's brace (connected to the shield itself by a tight ball joint) locks firmly on the hand. There's also a handle to let it be mounted to the hands and with it you can do a variety of poses. Finally, the design and QC of the shield is flawless.
pic reference from hobbysearch
CONCLUSION
I AM REALLY IMPRESSED, IF NOT AWED. Eventually my expectations on this release to be a "regular" RD was forever changed thanks to a few things: the new engineering designs for the joints giving it "MG-ish" articulation, the generous extra parts and the 99% flawless QC - it really shows that Bandai takes special attention to the Robot Damashii line - by making their products better and better by each release. Despite it being a tad more expensive than the MSiA/EMSiAs of yesterday, I would say it’s still pretty much justified.
So if you don’t want this unit because it was piloted by the antagonist, well hey... you can switch power supplies after all... but don’t let that reason you from getting one of the best RD releases of its time!
When Aeolia Schenberg initialized his plan of armed intervention with Celestial Being, one of the integral components of this plan was the deployment of advanced mobile suits called Gundams. Their first prototype unit - the 0 Gundam only had the basic armaments - a GN Beam Rifle, GN Beam Saber and GN Shield. Despite the few armaments, the 0 Gundam was the most advanced MS of its time thanks to its equipped GN Drive - thus providing the unit with an inexhaustible energy supply, abilities and absolute power.
Throughout the years, the 0 Gundam saw limited (but very important) battles and was handed down to numerous factions until it was finally fell unto the hands of Ribbons Almark - the Innovator who was pulling the strings behind the corrupt and merciless group A-LAWS. Later the 0 Gundam was destroyed in a climactic battle with the Gundam Exia R2, piloted by the "True innovator" Setsuna F. Seiei thus finally achieving Celestial Being's objective. :frustrated:
Okay, I really wasn’t supposed to get this "00's RX-78" since when the development pics were shown since I don’t like getting units piloted antagonists but after someone mentioned "well you can switch the drives after all, that way you can tell who's piloted which version" and the final battle was shown, it did change my decision after all. So when I managed to get one locally, I was in quite a surprise...
GN-000 0 GUNDAM
HEAD
Sculpt and QC is pretty much flawless - typical trait for the RD series. Articulation is pretty good - aside from the usual ball joint there's extra articulation at the base of the neck for flying purposes. Another nice thing here is that there's an extra antenna made of hard abs material - kinda like the HCMPro series (but this time it isn’t stuck on a runner) - how generous of Bandai.
TORSO
Two tight articulation points - One at the actual waist & one at the middle "abs" provides great posability for this part. The only QC problem I find on this is that the red lining for the "intakes" have some smudges - but it’s barely noticeable anyway. The "soft" fins mounted on the chest are also prone to bending but Bandai generously provides replacement fins as well so that already covered. The front/side/rear skirts on the crotch area moves well enough that they won’t hinder legs movement whatsoever.
ARMS
The arms are connected via ball joints to the torso - in which the top area is exposed to provide extra range for raised arm poses - just like how Master Grade engineering would do it. Elbows are double-jointed and what’s interesting is that the armor on the underside - is connected moves along when the elbows are moved - reminiscent of the MG RX-79G series elbows. Handsets come in 3 sets: one for handling the weapons (which perform their job very well), one closed fist and one open palm (though i find the design for this one somewhat too fat).
LEGS
I am really impressed with this area. First off, the joints are a new design compared to previous releases. Articulation on the pelvic joints has great range - in which I think seems to be an improved version from the GFF "Frame Model's" versions. The knees are also a surprise - this is probably the 1st time an actual Bandai action figure actually has the knee area separate into "segments" to provide articulation - kinda like the MG series. What bothers me aesthetically however, is the fact that it somehow ruins the concept of knee armors - you're not supposed to expose an area that prone to be targeted... but heck that's just me techno blabbing.
If you'll look at the pics provided, you'll note that the foot area is quite impressive - it has the engineering design that almost rivals an MG/HGUC - resulting to excellent range for excellent posability!
BACKPACK
There are two versions on how to display this toy: a GN Condenser unit & a GN Drive unit. Both are connected well to the backside of the 0 Gundam and stays firmly plus they're hollow and light in construction so they definitely won’t cause balance issues whatsoever and the "cowling" covers them up pretty well. So, would you have Lasse or Ribbons pilot your 0 Gundam?! Pick your poison.
WEAPONS
GN Beam Rifle
Though the mold is good, the colors used on it (flat charcoal black) make it look somewhat dull and the rifle barrel looks too small. Those minor flaws aside, it fits well with the hands.
GN Beam Saber
The hilt is pretty nice in mold and can be mounted on the holder (connected via balljoint to allow a range of positioning for "drawing" poses) located in the right side of the cowling. The blade is in clear reddish-pink in color and fits well unto the hilt.
GN Shield
Thanks to reverse tabs located on the forearms, the shield's brace (connected to the shield itself by a tight ball joint) locks firmly on the hand. There's also a handle to let it be mounted to the hands and with it you can do a variety of poses. Finally, the design and QC of the shield is flawless.
pic reference from hobbysearch
CONCLUSION
I AM REALLY IMPRESSED, IF NOT AWED. Eventually my expectations on this release to be a "regular" RD was forever changed thanks to a few things: the new engineering designs for the joints giving it "MG-ish" articulation, the generous extra parts and the 99% flawless QC - it really shows that Bandai takes special attention to the Robot Damashii line - by making their products better and better by each release. Despite it being a tad more expensive than the MSiA/EMSiAs of yesterday, I would say it’s still pretty much justified.
So if you don’t want this unit because it was piloted by the antagonist, well hey... you can switch power supplies after all... but don’t let that reason you from getting one of the best RD releases of its time!
Before you were hesitating to grab one but seems you've changed your mind and you don't have any regrets at all!
