As Otagaki Yasuo's manga Gundam Thunderbolt got adapted into an OVA anime, the previously released Thunderbolt HG kits were re-released with updated molded colors. The first one out of the gate is naturally the main character's kit — the Full Armor Gundam — and Bandai's official name for this new kit is HG Full Armor Gundam Thunderbolt Ver. which it is.
But here's the thing — the kit released earlier back in December 2013 was also called HG Full Armor Gundam Thunderbolt Ver. the same thing, so officially there's absolutely no way to tell the two apart by name. As a result, individual retailers have been tagging the new Thunderbolt version on their own as "Animation Ver." It seems like Bandai's intention is to just discontinue the original early Thunderbolt kit and only produce the new OVA animation version going forward. Anyway, it's probably easiest to just call the kit that came out before the OVA the Cartoon Ver., and the one that came after the Animation Ver.That seems like the most convenient way to tell them apart..
In the end, this kit is basically just the existing Cartoon Ver. with the molded colors bumped up slightly darker. The white has become a slightly bluish white, the dark gray has gone to black, and the deep blue has also shifted ever so subtly. The problem is that the degree of change in molded colors is so minimal that even when you stand them side by side, it's hard to clearly tell them apart in photos — they look pretty much the same -_- ;;;
On top of that, the seals and stickers were included completely unchanged, printed names and all — so if they were only going to tweak the molded colors this slightly, you really have to wonder why they bothered releasing it as a new kit at all. It honestly feels like nothing more than a re-release with new box art to commemorate the OVA... So for the detailed features of this kit, please refer to the HG Full Armor Gundam Thunderbolt Ver. review, and for this review, it should be enough to just get a sense of how subtly the molded colors have changed.
So while there's nothing particularly new here, the kit itself is genuinely excellent quality. It's on the pricier side for an HG, but the build process — putting together all those finely color-separated parts — is a lot of fun, and with the huge amount of stickers and seals on top of that, even a straight build looks absolutely fantastic.
Bottom line: if you already own the original HG Full Armor Gundam Thunderbolt Ver., there's really no reason to buy this one again. But if you're building it for the first time, it's a great kit I'd happily recommend. Just make sure to check the name and box art carefully when ordering — though honestly, since the molded colors are so similar either way, you'll probably be happy with whichever one you end up building. :-)
HGGT Full Armor Gundam Thunderbolt Animation Ver. | 2016.4 | ¥2,900
AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.
