Kit Review

Straight build
+ panel lining + stickers

Size comparison with a cigarette pack

HGUC Zssa [Unicorn Ver.] - Detail shots (1/4)

HGUC Zssa [Unicorn Ver.] - Detail shots (2/4)

Detail shots

Rear view with the main thrusters removed

Weapons

Detail on the inside of the shield.

HGUC Zssa [Unicorn Ver.] - The missile pod covers on the chest detach and plug into the sides — but they don't hold very well

The missile pod covers on the chest detach and plug into the sides.
They don't hold very well when closed and tend to pop off easily, so be careful not to lose them.

HGUC Zssa [Unicorn Ver.] - Leg missile pods open. The thighs are reproduced with an internal slide gimmick (!!!) of all thing

Leg missile pods open.
The thighs are reproduced with an internal slide gimmick (!!!) of all things,
and the lower legs are nicely done with a mechanism that spreads open toward the front.

HGUC Zssa [Unicorn Ver.] - The main thruster missile pods have a structure where the inner and outer sections rotate independ

The main thruster missile pods have a structure where the inner and outer sections rotate independently.
The small inner missile pods in particular tend to pop off while rotating, so watch out for that..

HGUC Zssa [Unicorn Ver.] - Main thruster detail. (1/4)

HGUC Zssa [Unicorn Ver.] - Main thruster detail. (2/4)

Main thruster detail.

Only the cover attached to the side has any movement.

You can also mount it on a stand.

Articulation is just a modest 90-degree bend.

The Zssa's real appeal is definitely the missile pods all open!

HGUC Zssa [Unicorn Ver.] - Full salvo pose. The articulation isn't great, but this one scene says everything there is to say

Full salvo pose.
The articulation isn't great, but this one scene says everything there is to say about the Zssa..

HGUC Zssa [Unicorn Ver.] - Beam rifle firing pose (1/3)

Beam rifle firing pose

Beam saber action

HGUC Zssa [Unicorn Ver.] - You can detach the main thrusters and pose them separately like this. (The stand is sold separatel

You can detach the main thrusters and pose them separately like this.
(The stand is sold separately, of course~)

HGUC Zssa [Unicorn Ver.] - Together with the Dreissen and Doven Wolf [Unicorn Ver.] — ZZ's "black history" mechs brought back

Together with the Dreissen and Doven Wolf [Unicorn Ver.] — ZZ's "black history" mechs brought back to life thanks to Gundam UC.

Straight build

The Unicorn magic continues! This time, the Zssa from the "black history" ZZ gets the HGUC treatment as a Unicorn Ver. It's definitely a welcome item for old-school fans ^^

These kinds of dug-up old mecha kits tend to fall into one of two categories: ones that get a sharp, modern redesign, and ones that feel like they were just adequately reproduced at a standard HGUC level. The Zssa falls into the second camp — the detail overall feels pretty plain, and it's not exactly a high-quality kit.. It's more like the significance is just in the fact that it got renewed at all?

That said, being a 2014 release, the color separation and the all-missile-pods-open full salvo scene reproduction — the Zssa's biggest selling point — are done well. The problem is that only this part is actually good, and the rest isn't much different from a kit made about 10 years ago... that's the catch.

The missile pod open gimmick is well done — the chest uses a detach-and-attach method, while the thighs and lower legs use movable mechanisms. The thighs in particular feature a rare internal slide gimmick, and the lower legs spread open nicely using two support pieces. The only issue is that the detachable chest covers don't hold very well when closed and can pop off for no reason, so be careful not to lose them.

And due to the structural nature of the kit, articulation isn't great. The fixed head combined with the massive main thrusters means the waist barely rotates at all, making it tough to get poses going. On the flip side, the full salvo pose with all missile pods open is satisfying enough that action poses using the other weapons feel almost pointless anyway.. (ahem)

Anyway, the detail and parts layout feel a bit rough around the edges for a modern kit, but the solid color separation on the missile pods and the well-executed open pose reproduction alone make this a worthwhile dig-up item in my book. Looking at the runners, a ZZ version (not just the Unicorn Ver.) seems like a sure thing down the line — but either way, if you're an old-school fan, this is a kit worth having some fun with :-)

HGUC Zssa [Unicorn Ver.] | 2014.6 | ¥2,400

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.