Kit Review

Straight build + Stickers

Size comparison with a cigarette pack

Detail shots

Two heat sabers are included.

The heat sabers can be stored on the backpack and side skirts.

HGUC Efreet Kai - You can open the head hatch and rotate the mono-eye, but the fit is loose so it tends to spin around on i

You can open the head hatch and rotate the mono-eye,
but the fit is loose so it tends to spin around on its own.

Only 2 leftover parts

Arm, leg & shoulder articulation

HGUC Efreet Kai - Various dynamic poses with the heat sabers (1/8)

HGUC Efreet Kai - Various dynamic poses with the heat sabers (2/8)

HGUC Efreet Kai - Various dynamic poses with the heat sabers (3/8)

HGUC Efreet Kai - Various dynamic poses with the heat sabers (4/8)

HGUC Efreet Kai - Various dynamic poses with the heat sabers (5/8)

HGUC Efreet Kai - Various dynamic poses with the heat sabers (6/8)

Various dynamic poses with the heat sabers

Together with the HGUC Efreet Schneid, released as a standard retail kit.

Together with the HGUC Blue Destiny Unit 1 "EXAM".

Together with the RE/100 Efreet Kai.

This kit is the HGUC Efreet Kai, released as a Club G (Premium Bandai) online exclusive. It's the mobile suit from "Mobile Suit Gundam Side Story: The Blue Destiny," which previously got the RE/100 treatment back in 2016. It's based on the standard retail HGUC Efreet Schneid released in 2017, with a good number of new parts added to the mix.

The parts changed for the Efreet Kai cover the head, shoulders, arms, waist, legs, backpack, and weapons — so much of the exterior and color scheme has been reworked that it almost feels like a brand-new kit. The joints and overall structure are shared with the HGUC Efreet Schneid, so it still delivers solid articulation and joint strength. That said, the downsides carry over too — the rotating mono-eye is loose and tends to wander wherever it wants, and there's quite a lot of seals to deal with.

For weapons, you get two heat sabers and missile pods on the sides of the legs. The heat sabers can be stored on either the backpack or the side skirts. Since the heat sabers are the only hand-held weapons, posing options are a bit limited — but you can still pull off plenty of dynamic poses with them alone.

Overall, it feels like a straight-up scaled-down version of the RE/100, so it's not exactly groundbreaking visually — but from an HGUC 1/144 scale standpoint, it's practically a brand-new kit. The look does rely heavily on seals, but it's a pretty clean and well-made little kit with solid quality. :-)

HGUC Efreet Kai | 2017.9 | ¥1,800

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.