Kit Review

Straight build

Upper body front and rear shots.
It's not a fully clear kit — it's a smoky-type clear kit.

Head section. Stickers were applied to the eyes.

Leg section

Shield, arms, and rifle.
You can get a good sense of just how transparent it is.

Together with the Core Fighter.

Clear Core Fighter.

Action pose

Two-handed beam rifle action

Bazooka action

HGUC Gundam ~ Clear Color version - Beam saber action (1/3)

Beam saber action

HGUC Gundam ~ Clear Color version - Fully armed action (1/3)

Fully armed action

Last Shooting pose

Together with the normal HGUC First.

It seems like they'll never stop milking the First...

HGUC Gundam ~ Clear Color version - Together with the Suntory Museum version (left) clear First. As you can see, there are ac

Together with the Suntory Museum version (left) clear First.
As you can see, there are actually two different clear versions of the HGUC First.

HGUC Gundam ~ Clear Color version - As you can tell from the close-up shots, the left Suntory version clear First is a fully

As you can tell from the close-up shots,
the left Suntory version clear First is a fully transparent clear,
while the right Gunpla Expo limited clear First is a smoky-type clear.

Zooming in on the arms and legs, the difference in transparency is really obvious.

The shields look the same though.

HGUC First gathering!

HGUC Gundam ~ Clear Color version - For anyone who might get confused about which is which, here's a breakdown of each First.

For anyone who might get confused about which is which, here's a breakdown of each First. (Click!)

Anyway... the main character is the main character, I guess.

This kit is the HGUC RX-78-2 First Gundam Clear Color version, released as a 2008 Gunpla Expo limited edition. Those of you with good memories might recall that there was actually a previous HGUC clear color limited edition — the Suntory Museum limited HGUC First Gundam. As you can see in the comparison shots above, it was released in a slightly different style.

The original Suntory Museum limited edition was released as a fully clear kit, but this Gunpla Expo version clear First is a smoky-type, slightly translucent clear. The fully transparent clear version was so see-through that it felt like it lacked presence — though it did have a crystal-like sparkle to it. This smoky-type clear version doesn't have that same sparkle, but it does have a subtler, more understated kind of presence.

As is often the case with limited editions, the change in molding process and the tighter tolerances from the coating layer tend to make the joints a bit stiffer, and this kit is no exception — the joints are noticeably tighter than on the standard release. Aside from that, there's really not much else worth mentioning beyond the difference in plastic molding.

The kit itself is the same as the existing HGUC First, but even among clear limited editions, they manage to put out so many different variations — very fitting for the First. :-)

HGUC Gundam ~ Clear Color version

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.