Kit Review

Straight build
+ panel lining

Size comparison with a cigarette pack

Upper body

Head

HGUC Extreme Gundam - Arms and weapons (1/4)

HGUC Extreme Gundam - Arms and weapons (2/4)

Arms and weapons

Backpack.
The back of the head has a pretty unique look, right?

Legs

The beam rifle can be stored neatly inside the shield.

4 hands in total.

There is a beam saber, but... it's just plain plastic.

HGUC Extreme Gundam - If you remove the yellow antenna on the back of the head, there's another face underneath. The back doe

If you remove the yellow antenna on the back of the head, there's another face underneath.
The back does have a face built into it, but there's no actual face-swapping gimmick — it's just molded detail.

HGUC Extreme Gundam - Not sure if the snap-fit tolerances weren't dialed in properly, but for a recent kit, there are surpris

Not sure if the snap-fit tolerances weren't dialed in properly...
For a recent kit, there are surprisingly a lot of parts that pop off here and there.

HGUC Extreme Gundam - The articulation is a bit middling. The arms fold all the way, but the legs only get to about 90 degree

The articulation is a bit middling.
The arms fold all the way, but the legs only get to about 90 degrees.

Interestingly, the front skirt doesn't lift up — instead it swings down forward.

The forward/backward shoulder movement is decent.

HGUC Extreme Gundam - Two-handed beam rifle pose. Looks pretty natural. (1/4)

HGUC Extreme Gundam - Two-handed beam rifle pose. Looks pretty natural. (2/4)

Two-handed beam rifle pose.
Looks pretty natural.

HGUC Extreme Gundam - The shield can also be carried like a bag. (1/3)

The shield can also be carried like a bag.

HGUC Extreme Gundam - Hovering action (1/3)

Hovering action

HGUC Extreme Gundam - Beam rifle action (1/4)

HGUC Extreme Gundam - Beam rifle action (2/4)

Beam rifle action

HGUC Extreme Gundam - Beam saber action (1/3)

Beam saber action

Together with the HG 30th Anniversary First.

Straight build

The Extreme Gundam, the final boss of the arcade game Gundam Extreme VS, has been released as an HG kit. It's a bit of an oddball in terms of where it fits — kind of like the Gundam Saviour from the live-action Gundam, in terms of concept. The problem is that, just like the Saviour, the quality feels a bit half-baked. -.-;

For starters, it has decent color separation for an HG, and the heavy use of clear parts gives it a pretty unique look. The overall silhouette kind of reminds me of the F90 for some reason, but it's hard to say it really looks like anything in particular — so I guess it is its own original design. ^^;

The defining features of the Extreme Gundam are the clear parts embedded all over the body, along with a guitar-shaped beam rifle, a massive shield, and the ability to store the rifle inside the shield. The overall build quality is clean, and being a brand-new design, it does have a fresh feel to it.

That said, the overall kit quality is a fair bit behind the impressive standard of recent HGUC releases. It feels closer to a TV series HG than an HGUC — the articulation is average and the joint strength is just passable. On top of that, the snap-fit tolerances seem a bit off, as the elbow, shoulder, and ankle guards tend to keep popping off.

Honestly, it doesn't really feel like a kit that was developed with a lot of care, but it's a decent enough build that you can enjoy without too much fuss. If the design appeals to you, it's worth picking up and building without any high expectations — just for the fun of it. :-)

HGUC Extreme Gundam | 2011.2 | ¥1,600

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.