Speed Grade 1/200 Zeta Gundam

Release 2008.3

Price ¥933

Unlike the First and Wing, which came in bags, the packaging has been changed to a box.

Runner shots

The runners are painted as-is, just like you'd expect.

Speed Grade Zeta Gundam - Most of the runners come with a heavy coat of paint applied. (1/6)

Speed Grade Zeta Gundam - Most of the runners come with a heavy coat of paint applied. (2/6)

Speed Grade Zeta Gundam - Most of the runners come with a heavy coat of paint applied. (3/6)

Speed Grade Zeta Gundam - Most of the runners come with a heavy coat of paint applied. (4/6)

Most of the runners come with a heavy coat of paint applied.

Parts diagram

Manual

Straight build

Size comparison with a cigarette pack

Displayed on the stand with the unit name engraved in intaglio.

Weapons loadout

A straightforward 90-degree range of articulation.

Speed Grade Zeta Gundam - Action poses (1/4)

Speed Grade Zeta Gundam - Action poses (2/4)

Action poses

Together with the HGUC Zeta Gundam.

Together with the Speed Grade First Gundam.

<SG Common Notes>
SG (Speed Grade) is a lineup that kicked off in 2007, with a total of 4 kits released through 2008. The concept is to assemble precisely painted parts at a 1/200 scale and complete a high-quality-looking Gunpla in a short amount of time.

To achieve this, most of the parts are provided with paint already applied on the runners, and the goal is to reproduce figure-level color accuracy with just simple assembly. Once you finish building one, the painted finish actually makes it feel more like a figure than a plastic model — though in terms of construction, it's definitely still a Gunpla that you have to assemble piece by piece.

These pre-painted runners aren't typically handled at the Shizuoka factory, so SG kits were produced at a factory in China. Maybe that's why they're offered at a pretty affordable price of under 1,000 yen given what's included. They also all come with a stand that has the unit name engraved in intaglio, and when not in use, the support can be stored on the underside of the stand — a nice little touch. Despite being small kits, they come with a solid assortment of weapons and accessories too.

That said, being in this awkward middle ground — neither quite a figure nor quite a Gunpla — it never really caught on with the general public. And since pre-painted kits are harder to mass-produce by nature, the line met its end after just 4 kits were released.
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The third kit in the SG series is the Zeta Gundam, and unlike the previous First and Wing Gundam releases which came in bags, this one comes in a box. That reflects the increased amount of content inside — and the price went up accordingly, from ¥733 to ¥933. (At the time of release in Japan, it sold for ¥980 including the 5% consumption tax.)

The quality of the pre-painted parts — a hallmark of the SG line — is the best in the series, and even a quick straight build delivers a Gunpla with impressive color reproduction. Being 1/200 scale, though, the Waverider transformation isn't included.

Articulation is an honest 90 degrees, but the ankles are more flexible than the previous kits, which makes posing a bit easier. That said, the joints are still excessively stiff, which is a bit of a pain. The knee joints are especially bad — even though it's a tiny kit, you'll be sweating bullets trying to get it into a pose.

Anyway, the overall look is the best in the series, and it's honestly impressive that you can build a Gunpla this good for under 1,000 yen. It's gone up in price since it was discontinued, but it's clearly a fun kit that offers something genuinely different. :-)

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.