Kit Review

Straight build

Size comparison with a cigarette pack

Upper body

Head

Border Break Heavy Guard type-II - Arms and side skirt structure (1/3)

Arms and side skirt structure

Rear view

Back with weapons removed

Border Break Heavy Guard type-II - Chunky legs (1/3)

Chunky legs

All 3 weapons feature folding or collapsing gimmicks for storage.

Border Break Heavy Guard type-II - Like the Cougar Type-I, various weapons can be mounted on the chest or forearms — but the

Like the Cougar Type-I, various weapons can be mounted on the chest or forearms —
but the other weapons on the Heavy Guard type-II are too large,
so in practice only the small Wiesel machine gun mounts cleanly on the body.

Border Break Heavy Guard type-II - All 3 weapons can be mounted on the back simultaneously. (1/3)

All 3 weapons can be mounted on the back simultaneously.

Border Break Heavy Guard type-II - Like the Cougar Type-I, the verniers on the side skirts can be extended via a swappable pa

Like the Cougar Type-I, the verniers on the side skirts can be extended via a swappable parts system.

Leftover parts.
Most of them are common Frame Arms parts.

For such a stocky body, the articulation is actually pretty decent.

Border Break Heavy Guard type-II - Saword Rocket action poses (1/4)

Border Break Heavy Guard type-II - Saword Rocket action poses (2/4)

Saword Rocket action poses

Border Break Heavy Guard type-II - Titan grenade launcher action poses (1/5)

Border Break Heavy Guard type-II - Titan grenade launcher action poses (2/5)

Border Break Heavy Guard type-II - Titan grenade launcher action poses (3/5)

Titan grenade launcher action poses

Border Break Heavy Guard type-II - Aerial action shots using the Kotobukiya display stand. (1/4)

Border Break Heavy Guard type-II - Aerial action shots using the Kotobukiya display stand. (2/4)

Aerial action shots using the Kotobukiya display stand.

Together with the previous release, the Cougar Type-I.

The Cougar is a bit taller, but the Heavy Guard is definitely the beefier one..

Following the Cougar Type-I, the second Border Break kit is the Heavy Guard type-II.
Just like the Cougar, it makes extensive use of the existing Frame Arms skeleton, while all the outer armor is newly designed.

True to its name, the Heavy Guard's overall bulky and weighty design is well reproduced, and the molded colors are nicely subdued for a Kotobukiya kit. The color separation is also close to the source design, making the straight build plenty enjoyable on its own — a typical Koto kit through and through. The snap-fit has also improved quite a bit, so building without glue isn't too worrying. (That said, a bit of glue here and there is still the safer bet..)

When a kit gets this beefy, joint strength is naturally a concern — but the core structure of the Border Break series is solid enough that the joints hold up well across the whole body without major issues. Articulation is also good for its size, so action poses come together nicely. The one weak point is the weapon attachment on the body; the weapons are simply too big and heavy for the mounting points, so there's not much you can do about it. You can mount all 3 weapons on the back at once, but even a small bump can knock them off, so handle with care.

The Border Break series sits at the very top of Kotobukiya's quality lineup — the range that feels closest to Bandai — and the Heavy Guard type-II carries on that tradition well. If you like the design, this is definitely a kit you can enjoy without any major complaints. :-)

Border Break Heavy Guard type-II | 2010. 3 | ¥3,500

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.