Kit Review

Straight build

Size comparison with a cigarette pack

Upper body close-up

The head. It's got that rooster comb thing going on;

The massive stabilizer on its back. That thing throws the center of gravity way back;

Leg shots

HG Gundam Kyrios - The shield can also transform into a claw. Even for an HG, the color separation is great and the gimmicks

The shield can also transform into a claw.
Even for an HG, the color separation is great and the gimmicks work properly..

HG Gundam Kyrios - The beam saber is uniquely mounted on the inside of the rear skirt. These Celestial Being Gundams all have

The beam saber is uniquely mounted on the inside of the rear skirt.
These Celestial Being Gundams all have their beam sabers in quirky spots.

HG Gundam Kyrios - You have to detach the legs during transformation, and probably because of that, the hip joints don't hold

You have to detach the legs during transformation,
and probably because of that, the hip joints don't hold well and the legs keep falling off -_-;

HG Gundam Kyrios - Articulation is pretty good.. As expected, the HG Celestial Being Gundam legs have double joints as standa

Articulation is pretty good.. As expected, the HG Celestial Being Gundam legs have double joints as standard.
If you swing the leg slightly to the side to clear the front skirt, it raises up much higher like in the right photo.

Thanks to the transformation gimmick, the shoulders can also raise up 90 degrees.

HG Gundam Kyrios - Action poses.. This kit pretty much sacrifices natural ground-based articulation for the sake of transform

Action poses..
This kit pretty much sacrifices natural ground-based articulation for the sake of transformation T_T

Yeah.. you've pretty much got to put it on a stand ^^;
Shown here on the 1/144 universal Action Base 2.

HG Gundam Kyrios - Once it's on the stand it looks pretty dynamic. (1/3)

Once it's on the stand it looks pretty dynamic.

HG Gundam Kyrios - One of Kyrios' highlights — the transforming GN Shield. It properly transforms into a claw hand. And it's

One of Kyrios' highlights — the transforming GN Shield.
It properly transforms into a claw hand. And it's not loose either, so that's a plus.

HG Gundam Kyrios - Kyrios' unique draw pose — but.. just like the HG Dynames, the beam saber only comes with the handle and n

Kyrios' unique draw pose
But.. just like the HG Dynames, the beam saber only comes with the handle and no blade -_-

You can kind of force it by using the blade that plugs into the center of the GN Shield's claw form.. ;;;;

Transformation

First you remove the legs. Two special parts are needed for the transformation.

HG Gundam Kyrios - Detach the stabilizer on the back and extend it fully, then raise the two yellow ear pieces and pull out t

Detach the stabilizer on the back and extend it fully,
then raise the two yellow ear pieces and pull out the shoulder locking pins.

HG Gundam Kyrios - Raise the shoulders 90 degrees and lock them in place by plugging the shoulder locking pins into the top o

Raise the shoulders 90 degrees and lock them in place by plugging the shoulder locking pins into the top of the stabilizer.
This makes the connection really solid.

Just the upper body transformed. Ooh.. it looks pretty clean!
(though you do need to pull out the hands)

Transforming the legs. Just bend them bit by bit..

Plug in the connector parts in the middle and spread the wings.

Now reconnect the upper and lower body..

Attach an extra part to the arm to secure the rifle,
then remove the rifle's handle and fix it to the body.

Then attach the shield on the left side and the transformation is complete!

After transforming, you're left with 2 hands, the rifle handle, and 2 hip joint connectors.

Transformation complete.. Looks pretty convincing!

HG Gundam Kyrios - But uh.. the underside is a bit of a mess ;;; Those legs splayed out in a frog pose — not exactly a dignif

But uh.. the underside is a bit of a mess ;;;
Those legs splayed out in a frog pose — not exactly a dignified look..;;

You need to put it on a stand for it to really look the part.

Wow.. it's really slim. Makes the Zeta Waverider look chunky by comparison.

Enjoy it from various angles..

HG Gundam Kyrios - Comparison with the FG Kyrios. The HG is way better in terms of color separation and gimmicks, but the FG

Comparison with the FG Kyrios. The HG is way better in terms of color separation and gimmicks, but the FG actually stands more stably.

A shot with the HG Exia

The three polka-dot HG Gundams waiting for Virtue.

Five polka-dot HG kits

The third Gundam from the polka-dot crew, Gundam Kyrios, has been released as an HG. As you probably know, Kyrios is a transforming unit, and even at the HG 1/144 scale, the transformation is pulled off cleanly through partial part-swapping. In terms of color separation, it's on par with other HGs — definitely a step up from the FG — but there are still plenty of stickers and areas where the color separation falls short.

As expected, HG Gundam Kyrios comes with a number of drawbacks, and that's largely because it's a transforming unit. Like most transformation kits, the various transformation gimmicks can cause issues with proportions, articulation, joint strength, and more — and Kyrios is no exception.

The first thing that really bugs me is the legs. Since you have to detach the legs from the body during transformation, the hip joints are intentionally kept looser than on other kits. To be fair, that's probably to make detaching easier, but the problem is that in MS mode, the legs pop off way too easily the moment you try to pose them at any angle. T_T On top of that, because of all the transformation gimmicks, it's hard to get the legs into a natural-looking stance compared to other polka-dot HG Gundams.

The long, oversized stabilizers on the back throw off the center of gravity quite a bit, making it genuinely tough just to keep the thing standing. You could try leaning the body forward, but unfortunately the foot contact with the ground is pretty poor too, so getting a decent pose is surprisingly difficult. The foot-folding gimmick creates a big step between the front and back of the feet, making it hard to plant them flat on the ground. And if you try to spread the legs out to the sides for a wider stance, the weak hip joints just give out and the legs pop off — so wide-legged poses are basically off the table.

Anyway, getting it to stand with decent-looking proportions is pretty much a lost cause... T_T

On the flip side, the transformation itself goes surprisingly smoothly with just a few part swaps. It's easy to transform, and the proportions and overall look in flight mode are really, really great. Compared to the Zeta's Waverider, the silhouette is incomparably sleeker, and even though it doesn't go through that many transformation steps, it absolutely nails the feel of an aircraft. Several locking gimmicks do their job well during the transformation, so everything holds together solidly in flight mode too. In short, when it comes to the transformation itself, it feels like they gave it everything they had at the HG level.

The shield's claw transformation gimmick is also reproduced almost perfectly — but just like with the HG Gundam Dynames, there's the irony that the beam sabers only come with the hilts and no actual saber blades.

In conclusion, the transformation process, the proportions and style in flight mode, and the gimmicks are all fantastic and look great — but the proportions and stability in MS mode leave a lot to be desired. ^^; It seems like trying to nail both at the HG scale was just asking too much.

The polka-dot HG series had been on an incredible streak of top-notch quality, and HG Gundam Kyrios feels like a slight stumble in that run — but even so, it's clearly a cut above the HG kits from the SEED era. Whatever else you might say about it, the flight mode looks absolutely killer. :-)

HG Gundam Kyrios | 2007. 11 | ¥1,700

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.