Kit Review

Straight build + Stickers

Size comparison with a cigarette pack

Four old-kit Dragonar series mechs are bundled together.

Articulation that's very much old-kit style.

DRAGONAR-2 PLUS LIFTER-2

Dragonar 2 Lifter Equipped Type

Body only

Lifter 2.
It's quite wide side to side.

Both wings can be folded as shown above.

Rotation of the barrel and wings

Action pose

DRAGONAR-3 PLUS LIFTER-3

Dragonar 3 Lifter Equipped Type

Body only

Lifter 3

Both wings can be folded as shown above.

Action pose

DEINS

Dyne

Backpack articulation

There's a gimmick where you load a BB pellet into the bazooka and fire it.

1/144 Dragonar Set 1 - Action pose (1/4)

1/144 Dragonar Set 1 - Action pose (2/4)

Action pose

DREU

Drau

The wheel-shaped head can actually rotate too.

Action pose

WEAPON SET

Included weapon set

Two types of articulated fingers are included.

The parts above are weapons for the old-kit Dragonar 1, but Unit 1 is not included in this kit.

Twin rocket launcher for Dragonar 2

Dragonar 2 Lifter Equipped Type pose with twin rocket launcher attached

Multi-discharger, missile pod, and antenna for Dyne

Dyne posed in ground-type configuration with the weapon set attached

Active homing missiles and launcher for Drau.
They can be fired using a spring gimmick.

Drau posed with active homing missiles

Giganos Army combat bike included with the weapon set

Leftover parts

Together with the newly released HG Dragonar 1 Lifter Equipped Type.

Comparison shot of Dragonar 1, 2, and 3 with lifters attached.

This kit is the 1/144 Metal Armor Dragonar Set 1, a repackage of the old Dragonar kits. It was re-released to commemorate the launch of the HG Dragonar 1 Lifter Equipped Type, and it bundles five kits together — the old 1/144 Dragonar 2 Lifter Equipped Type, Dragonar 3 Lifter Equipped Type, Dyne, Drau, and the weapon set that was previously sold separately.

First off, since these are old kits from the 1980s, everything needs to be glued together. That said, even for old kits the assembly is fairly decent, and they use polycaps to give smooth movement and solid joint strength. Sure, the range of motion is pretty limited and the weapons and hands have to be assembled as one piece — but hey, that's the charm of old kits. ^^

According to Bandai's promotional material, the molded colors have been refreshed compared to the original releases — but since these are still single-color molded kits, you're going to need to paint them regardless. Even so, once you slap the stickers on over the improved molded colors, they actually look pretty decent even as a straight build. The one thing that bugs me is that the sticker adhesion isn't great, so they tend to lift on curved surfaces.

For Dragonar 2 and 3, the lifters can be detached, and both also have a wing-folding gimmick. Dyne gets a special treat — a spring-loaded bazooka that fires BB pellets — and you can also kit out each mech with various weapons using the included weapon set.

Sure, at the end of the day this is just a reissue of some charmingly aged old kits — but for old-school fans like me who have fond memories of Dragonar, it's a pretty exciting little package. Seeing it next to the HG Dragonar 1 released over 30 years later really drives home just how far things have come, but it was a great little trip down memory lane. :-)

1/144 Dragonar Set 1 | 2022.4 | ¥4,000

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.