After the MG Unicorn Gundam Titanium Finish version was released in 2009, it was re-released in December 2016 (somewhat out of the blue) in new packaging. It goes by the name Red/Green Twin Frame Edition, and the existing pink clear frame runner now comes with a clear green runner included alongside it. There are also a few other small changes compared to the original Titanium Finish version — here's a quick rundown of what's different:
- Original pink frame + green frame added
- Updated to the OVA version with improved articulation (improved knee and waist articulation + head vulcan added)
- Blue runners (backpack/feet) changed from metallic molding to plated parts
- Frame molded color changed from gray to dark iron
- Weapon runners changed to a bluish molded color
- Yellow sticker color on the head antennae has gotten darker
- The Titanium Finish coating is also subtly brighter (could just be production variation)
So there are actually quite a few changes — more than you might expect — and the swap to OVA version parts is probably the biggest highlight. Just in case you've forgotten the history: the MG Unicorn was first released in December 2007, and then in March 2010 the OVA version (based on the anime) came out. The OVA version fixed the original's poor waist and knee articulation, and also added a vulcan cannon to the head (seethat review). The old Titanium Finish version was released in March 2009 — before the OVA version — so it was stuck with the pre-improvement runners.
This new 2016 Titanium Finish version is based on the OVA version, so the waist now rotates, knee articulation is slightly improved, and the head vulcan is included. That said, it's not a straight reuse of the OVA version runners — if you look closely, the F runner itself (which contained the knee-related parts) has been retooled and re-molded, so the runner layout is actually different from the OVA version. What I mean is: the original OVA version added a separate extra runner to swap in the new parts, but this time around instead of adding a runner, they just retooled the F runner itself with the updated parts already in place. The one exception is the head runner with the vulcan — that's still provided as an additional runner.
Anyway, even with the OVA version improvements, this isn't a kit you should expect great articulation from — but it does show off the solid joint strength that's typical of plated kits. The coating adds a bit of extra thickness, which unintentionally tightens up the joint tolerances, so the stability is much better than the regular version.
And honestly, throwing in two frame runners feels like a bit of a marketing gimmick — once you build it with one color, swapping to the other frame is pretty much impossible (...). It's not like swapping weapon parts; you'd have to completely disassemble the entire kit to change the frame, and there's a good chance the coating would get damaged in the process, so I doubt many people would actually go through with it. I myself tried to do a full disassembly and rebuild out of a sense of reviewer duty, but the parts were already so tight because of the coating that I gave up T_T. So for this review, I built it entirely with the green frame (which is different from the existing Titanium Finish version), but just keep in mind that you could go with the pink frame if that's more your style.
To sum it up — it feels like a kit where they wanted to reissue the MG Unicorn Titanium Finish, and figured they'd base it on the OVA version, toss in an extra frame, tweak some of the molded colors, and make it look a little fresh. That said, the price hike feels a bit steep for what you're getting with the extra frame runners and additional plated runners. The 2009 Titanium Finish was ¥8,000, but this Twin Frame edition is ¥12,000 — a whopping ¥4,000 increase. Blaming that entirely on 7 years of inflation feels like a stretch...
Anyway, for anyone who's been waiting for a reissue of the hard-to-find MG Unicorn Titanium Finish, this will be a welcome treat — but do keep in mind that you're essentially paying 50% more for a duplicate frame runner you probably won't use. That said, the kit's visual quality is just so good that it's still worth it for anyone who's been wanting one. :-)
MG Unicorn Gundam Red/Green Twin Frame Edition Titanium Finish | 2016. 12 | ¥12,000
AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.
