Kit Review

Straight build + Stickers

Size comparison with a cigarette pack

Various angles

Detail shots

Stickers are used instead of color separation on the belly, front skirt, and shoulders. (Ugh..)

Square Claymore open gimmick on both shoulders

The revolver of the Revolving Stake on the right arm can be pulled out to the side.

Movement of the binders on the back of the shoulders

The included stand plugs in at an angle into the inside of the rear skirt, not into the hip joint.

Only two types of hands are included.

Leftover parts

Articulation limited by the bulky limbs

The shoulders can swing forward quite a bit.

HG Alteisen - Revolving Stake action (1/6)

HG Alteisen - Revolving Stake action (2/6)

HG Alteisen - Revolving Stake action (3/6)

HG Alteisen - Revolving Stake action (4/6)

Revolving Stake action

Triple Machine Cannon action

Square Claymore attack pose

HG Alteisen - Aerial pose using the stand (1/3)

Aerial pose using the stand

Together with the previous HG Cybaster.

Together with the Kotobukiya Alteisen Ver. Progressive released in 2010.

The second entry in Bandai's Super Robot Wars HG series is the Alteisen. It's famous for its hefty build and striking color combination, and overall it comes out smooth and clean in typical Bandai fashion. The signature Revolving Stake, Square Claymore, and Triple Machine Cannon are all faithfully reproduced.

First off, the excellent molded colors and color separation give it a great straight build look. The proportions feel solid and well-grounded. Instead of separate weapons, two types of interchangeable hands are included, and both the Square Claymore open gimmick and the Revolving Stake revolver gimmick are nicely implemented.

The articulation isn't exceptional due to the bulky limbs, but the solid joint strength means you can pull off a good variety of poses without much frustration. You can use the included stand — plugged into the inside of the rear skirt — to do aerial poses, but I honestly wonder if this kit even needed a stand. Given the nature of the unit, ground poses are the way to go, and the stand isn't even used in any of the sample photos in the instructions. I think they'd have been better off dropping the stand and cutting the price by ¥500 or so.

The one disappointing aspect of this kit is the sticker points that feel like the color separation was left half-finished. The red parts on the belly and front skirt, and the white stripe on the shoulders are all handled with stickers. These are areas where color separation would have been structurally feasible, so it's a bit suspicious (?) that everything else is cleanly separated while just these spots get the sticker treatment. It's a classic Bandai-style cut corner that we haven't seen in a while — moments like this make you feel like Bandai has the skills but lacks the craftsmanship compared to Kotobukiya.

Kotobukiya has released two Alteisen kits in the past. There was the one released in 2004, Alteisenand the renewed version released in 2010, Alteisen Ver. ProgressiveThe 2004 version was from Kotobukiya's very early days, so durability and quality were quite lacking. The renewed Progressive version came with improved joint strength and color separation. Comparing this kit to the Progressive version (see the comparison photos above), they show a similar level of sculpt quality.

That said, the Bandai version definitely has a cleaner look thanks to its subtler, finer molded colors, and it's also slightly larger and bulkier. On the other hand, Kotobukiya edges ahead in color separation — the belly, front skirt, and shoulder areas that Bandai covered with stickers are all cleanly separated into individual parts on the Kotobukiya kit. There's also a difference in joint strength, with the Bandai version showing overall more stable and snug joints.

All in all, it delivers the clean, quality feel you'd expect from Bandai. Kotobukiya's Progressive version from over a decade ago was a decent kit too, but it's hard to come by these days. The incomplete color separation is a bit of a letdown, but given the superior joint strength and molded color quality, there's plenty of reason to pick up the Bandai HG Alteisen. :-)

HG Alteisen | 2021. 12 | ¥4,000

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.