Entry Grade 1/144 RX-78 Gundam

Release 2011

Price Event Exclusive

The runners slide out from the side of the box.

When you open and unfold the box, the manual is printed on the inside.

Runners

Parts diagram

Manual

Straight build

Size comparison with a cigarette pack

Limb articulation and hollow areas are the same as previous kits.

Action pose

Alongside the HGUC First Gundam released in 2001.

With the EG 00 Gundam / Gundam Exia.

With the old 1/144 First Gundam and FG First Gundam.

<General notes on EG>
EG (Entry Grade) is a product manufactured at Bandai's Chinese factory in 2011, and it's a beginner-level Gunpla concept similar to FG (First Grade). Basically, these were planned as event exclusives rather than retail releases — in Asian regions, they were distributed free of charge to customers registered on the Bandai mailing list during special promotional periods. They were also used as hands-on building experience kits at various Gunpla-related events, and some shops sold them for around ¥300–500.

EG kits are characterized by roughly three molded colors and a manual printed on the inside of the box. A parts separator is included so you can pop the parts off without nippers. Overall, the sculpt and proportions are pretty decent, but since the part count is low, there are quite a few hollow areas here and there. In terms of articulation, the elbows and knees are fixed — typical of a no-grade 1/144 — though joint strength is solid. The included stickers aren't great quality either. All in all, this is the kind of kit that's more about experiencing a simple build than worrying about looks or posing.

Since this is an event exclusive Gunpla, you can't really expect top-notch quality — but it's fine to just appreciate it as a "huh, so they made one of these too" kind of thing.
-----------------------------
This particular kit is the EG 1/144 RX-78 First Gundam, and it's based on the 30th Anniversary HG Gundam design — the Odaiba Gundam — rather than the HGUC. That said, the proportions feel slightly beefier than the 30th Anniversary HG Gundam, which was a bit too slender, so in some ways this one actually looks better. Seems like a perfectly fine kit for painting practice. :-)

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.