Kit Review

Straight build

MG Gundam ver.2.0 : GoldPlating Ver. (1/7)

MG Gundam ver.2.0 : GoldPlating Ver. (2/7)

MG Gundam ver.2.0 : GoldPlating Ver. (3/7)

MG Gundam ver.2.0 : GoldPlating Ver. (4/7)

MG Gundam ver.2.0 : GoldPlating Ver. (5/7)

MG Gundam ver.2.0 : GoldPlating Ver. (6/7)

MG Gundam ver.2.0 : GoldPlating Ver. (7/7)

MG Gundam ver.2.0 : GoldPlating Ver. - Upper body shot. The reflections are so strong that it looks different depending on th

Upper body shot.
The reflections are so strong that it looks different depending on the angle you view it from.

Head

MG Gundam ver.2.0 : GoldPlating Ver. - The back, backpack, and that sleek rear end.. (1/3)

The back, backpack, and that sleek rear end..

The shield also looks completely different depending on the angle of the light.

Legs with that flowing sheen.

MG Gundam ver.2.0 : GoldPlating Ver. - Mirror-like shine. The power of pure gold! (1/3)

Mirror-like shine. The power of pure gold!

MG Gundam ver.2.0 : GoldPlating Ver. - All runners except the clear ones are gold-plated — and the H, I, and J frame runners

All runners except the clear ones are gold-plated..
The H, I, and J frame runners are included as an extra set in a muddy brown molded color,
so you can build a second inner frame body with the gold plating.

MG Gundam ver.2.0 : GoldPlating Ver. - The completed gold-plated body and gold-plated frame, sitting on top of the brown fram

The completed gold-plated body and gold-plated frame, sitting on top of the brown frame.

You can assemble the H, I, and J runners into their respective frames like this, but..

MG Gundam ver.2.0 : GoldPlating Ver. - In reality, only one set of polycaps is included — the gold ones on the left — so if y

In reality, only one set of polycaps is included — the gold ones on the left —
so if you actually want to build a second frame using the extra H, I, and J runners, you'll need to track down another set of polycaps yourself.. ;

Two sets of frames included.. it really is something special.

Comparison of the brown frame vs. the gold-plated frame.

Gold-plated frame full body shot.

MG Gundam ver.2.0 : GoldPlating Ver. - Gold-plated torso frame. So intricate and dazzling @_@ (1/6)

MG Gundam ver.2.0 : GoldPlating Ver. - Gold-plated torso frame. So intricate and dazzling @_@ (2/6)

MG Gundam ver.2.0 : GoldPlating Ver. - Gold-plated torso frame. So intricate and dazzling @_@ (3/6)

MG Gundam ver.2.0 : GoldPlating Ver. - Gold-plated torso frame. So intricate and dazzling @_@ (4/6)

Gold-plated torso frame.
So intricate and dazzling @_@

MG Gundam ver.2.0 : GoldPlating Ver. - The arms and hip joints — really does look like fine jewelry, doesn't it? (1/3)

The arms and hip joints.
Really does look like fine jewelry, doesn't it?

MG Gundam ver.2.0 : GoldPlating Ver. - Dazzlingly brilliant leg frame. (1/4)

MG Gundam ver.2.0 : GoldPlating Ver. - Dazzlingly brilliant leg frame. (2/4)

Dazzlingly brilliant leg frame.

Now here's the brown frame.

MG Gundam ver.2.0 : GoldPlating Ver. - Actually, aside from H, I, and J, there are also some additional frame parts on the G

Actually, aside from H, I, and J, there are also some additional frame parts on the G runner and others..
So if you want to properly replicate the inner frame, the configuration shown above is the correct one.
In other words, the G runner only comes in gold-plated — there's no brown molded version of it.

MG Gundam ver.2.0 : GoldPlating Ver. - Detailed look at the brown + partial gold-plated frame. (1/4)

MG Gundam ver.2.0 : GoldPlating Ver. - Detailed look at the brown + partial gold-plated frame. (2/4)

Detailed look at the brown + partial gold-plated frame.

Either way.. it really does feel like two kits in one.

MG Gundam ver.2.0 : GoldPlating Ver. - Gold-plated Core Fighter. (1/4)

MG Gundam ver.2.0 : GoldPlating Ver. - Gold-plated Core Fighter. (2/4)

Gold-plated Core Fighter.

The nose section.

Underside view

Core Block.
Being so small, the gate marks are pretty visible. ㅠ_ㅜ

The non-frame parts from the H, I, and J runners end up as leftover parts.

Even the 1/100 figure is covered in gold..

MG Gundam ver.2.0 : GoldPlating Ver. - It picks up fingerprints way more easily than most other plated kits.. Normally you'd

It picks up fingerprints way more easily than most other plated kits..
Normally you'd use cotton gloves when handling pure gold, but I didn't have any, so I just shot the photos wearing plastic kimchi-making gloves instead..''

MG Gundam ver.2.0 : GoldPlating Ver. - Maybe because it's gold, the surface doesn't scratch that easily.. but fingerprints an

Maybe because it's gold, the surface doesn't scratch that easily..
But fingerprints and smudges build up constantly, so I kept wiping it down with a lens cloth.

MG Gundam ver.2.0 : GoldPlating Ver. - Firing pose (1/5)

MG Gundam ver.2.0 : GoldPlating Ver. - Firing pose (2/5)

MG Gundam ver.2.0 : GoldPlating Ver. - Firing pose (3/5)

Firing pose

MG Gundam ver.2.0 : GoldPlating Ver. - Kneeling bazooka pose. (1/6)

MG Gundam ver.2.0 : GoldPlating Ver. - Kneeling bazooka pose. (2/6)

MG Gundam ver.2.0 : GoldPlating Ver. - Kneeling bazooka pose. (3/6)

MG Gundam ver.2.0 : GoldPlating Ver. - Kneeling bazooka pose. (4/6)

Kneeling bazooka pose.

MG Gundam ver.2.0 : GoldPlating Ver. - Gundam Hammer pose. (1/4)

MG Gundam ver.2.0 : GoldPlating Ver. - Gundam Hammer pose. (2/4)

Gundam Hammer pose.

Beam Jabelin pose.

MG Gundam ver.2.0 : GoldPlating Ver. - This is the Federation Base Gold Version, which was also released as a Club MG limited

This is the Federation Base Gold Version,
which was also released as a Club MG limited edition.

MG Gundam ver.2.0 : GoldPlating Ver. - The plating finish is completely different.. It's not really gold-plated — more like a

The plating finish is completely different..
It's not really gold-plated — more like a gold-colored coating.

MG Gundam ver.2.0 : GoldPlating Ver. - Mid-air shooting pose displayed on the gold base. Looks great together! ^^ (1/7)

MG Gundam ver.2.0 : GoldPlating Ver. - Mid-air shooting pose displayed on the gold base. Looks great together! ^^ (2/7)

MG Gundam ver.2.0 : GoldPlating Ver. - Mid-air shooting pose displayed on the gold base. Looks great together! ^^ (3/7)

MG Gundam ver.2.0 : GoldPlating Ver. - Mid-air shooting pose displayed on the gold base. Looks great together! ^^ (4/7)

MG Gundam ver.2.0 : GoldPlating Ver. - Mid-air shooting pose displayed on the gold base. Looks great together! ^^ (5/7)

Mid-air shooting pose displayed on the gold base. Looks great together! ^^

MG Gundam ver.2.0 : GoldPlating Ver. - Beam saber pose (1/5)

MG Gundam ver.2.0 : GoldPlating Ver. - Beam saber pose (2/5)

MG Gundam ver.2.0 : GoldPlating Ver. - Beam saber pose (3/5)

Beam saber pose

MG Gundam ver.2.0 : GoldPlating Ver. - Together with the First 2.0 Titanium Finish. The Titanium Finish is a fantastic plated

Together with the First 2.0 Titanium Finish.
The Titanium Finish is a fantastic plated version in its own right, but..
Compared to the pure gold plating version, it's just not in the same league... ^^;

Calling out all the gold versions for a coating comparison~!

MG Gundam ver.2.0 : GoldPlating Ver. - Comparing with two 24k gold-coated limited editions from way back. Those 24k limited e

Comparing with two 24k gold-coated limited editions from way back.
Those 24k limited editions were actually contest prizes, so they're pretty rare items in their own right..
There's also a First 1.0 24k gold-coated limited edition out there, but I couldn't get my hands on that one. OTL

MG Gundam ver.2.0 : GoldPlating Ver. - Comparing with one of them — the NT-1 24k plated version — the difference in feel is i

Comparing with one of them — the NT-1 24k plated version — the difference in feel is immediately obvious.
24k technically means pure gold, but it seems like the name was just for show and it wasn't actually pure gold. -_-
For starters, the color and depth are different, and the coating quality is different too..
The 24k version, aside from having a slightly smoother metallic surface,
has pretty much the same bright yellow color as regular gold-plated kits.

MG Gundam ver.2.0 : GoldPlating Ver. - Now comparing with the gold coating on the official release MG Hyaku-Shiki. The differ

Now comparing with the gold coating on the official release MG Hyaku-Shiki.
The standard gold coating method — spraying clear yellow over a silver base —
is, as expected, worlds apart from the pure gold plating.

Now together with Hyper Mode God Gundam / Master Gundam.

MG Gundam ver.2.0 : GoldPlating Ver. - Hyper Mode also uses the standard silver base + clear yellow paint-style coating, so i

Hyper Mode also uses the standard silver base + clear yellow paint-style coating,
so it's simply no match for the gold plating that covers this kit in pure gold.

Club MG First — all four limited editions together.

MG Gundam ver.2.0 : GoldPlating Ver. - Each one has its own personality and looks great, but the ultimate winner is still the

Each one has its own personality and looks great, but the ultimate winner is still the gold-plated version..

The other limited editions reflected in the gold-plated legs.
Pure mirror shine.

MG Gundam ver.2.0 : GoldPlating Ver. - So many First kits and their limited editions have come and gone.. but the ultimate bo

So many First kits and their limited editions have come and gone..
But the ultimate boss is still the gold-plated limited edition!

◆
What is the Club MG Limited Edition?

At the end of 2010, there was an event where you could register the MG numbers included in existing MG kits on the Bandai Hobby Shop website in Japan to apply for limited editions — known as the Club MG limited edition application event. There were a total of 7 limited editions you could apply for, and the list was as follows.

MG RX-78-2 Gundam ver.2.0 Pure Gold Plating Model - 150 points
MG
RX-78-2 Gundam ver.OYW Titanium Finish - 60 points
MG RX-78-2 Gundam ver.OYW
Chrome Plating - 60 points
MG RX-78-2 Gundam ver.1.0 Titanium Finish - 50 points
Action Base (Federation)
Gold Plating - 15 points
Action Base (Zeon) Gold Plating - 15 points
Action Base (Universal)
Smoke Clear - 7 points

Each MG kit number earned 1 point, and you could register those points and apply for as many as your total allowed. The limited editions were then released in March 2011 in the quantities ordered. The crown jewel of these Club MG limited editions was, of course, the pure gold plating model! At a whopping 150 points — meaning you had to buy 150 MG kits just to apply for one — its rarity was absolutely guaranteed.

Even though I build pretty much every Bandai Gunpla out there, collecting 150 Gundam Points was physically impossible unless you bought multiple kits at the same time. The reason is that the MG numbers are only included in MG kits released in recent years, and since I'd been picking them up one by one ever since MGs first came out 16 years ago, I had maybe 50 at most — including the clear event numbers. Because of this, Dalong.net ran a big Gunpla number collection event, and we were able to gather a large number of Gunpla numbers. And since applications and pickup were only possible in Japan, thanks to the help of a local member, I'm happy to be able to review this Club MG limited edition. :-)

◆ Wait, it's actually pure gold -_-;

This gold-plated version — which you could call the ultimate limited edition, the final boss of exclusives — is, according to Bandai's own claims, a genuinely luxurious limited edition coated with real pure gold. There have been a few gold-coated limited editions in the past, but this is the first time it's been done with a complete pure gold coating, so they've stamped "pure gold" all over the packaging. Even so... a Gundam actually coated with 100% pure gold? I was incredibly curious to see it for myself.

So I opened up the incredibly impressive-looking box, and honestly, the reflected light from the pure gold under the lights was almost enough to make you squint. I've built quite a few of Bandai's plated limited editions, but this was the first time I'd ever seen a kit actually coated in real pure gold. In terms of brilliance, plating quality, intensity of the reflected light, and depth of color — it was in a completely different league from any other plated kit I'd seen before.

For reference, one of gold's biggest characteristics is its incredible malleability, so coating the entire kit probably didn't require as much gold as you might think. Still, to coat all those runners... I'd personally estimate it took at least two to three don (a traditional Korean unit of weight for gold) — which in Korean won would be several hundred thousand won, maybe?

Normally, gold-plated versions are made by first applying a silver base coat, then spraying clear yellow or orange over it. It's actually a method that many modelers in the hobby use, and it does produce a pretty premium-looking finish. But this kit uses pure gold plating (Gold Plating) — meaning it's not a spray process but an electroplating process, and it uses actual pure gold as the material, making it a truly special process. Either way... I honestly didn't expect them to actually go ahead and coat it in real gold like this;;;

◆ A pure gold frame thrown in as a bonus?

What's interesting about this limited edition is that every runner except the clear runners has been given the pure gold plating treatment, and then three additional runners — the H, I, and J runners that make up the inner frame — have been included in a standard dark-yellow molded color. As a result, there are three more runners compared to the regular First 2.0 kit, and instead of the usual single-layer box, it comes packaged in a wider, two-layer box.

So in terms of contents, you can actually build two versions of the frame — one in the dark-yellow color and one in gold. But looking at the assembly guide included for the gold-plated runners, it actually recommends assembling with the dark-yellow molded version rather than the gold-plated one. From that perspective, it almost seems like the gold-plated H, I, and J runners were just thrown in as a bonus for display purposes.

So the idea is to build the main body using the dark-yellow frame, and then use the gold-plated frame runners to build one additional separate frame — but the problem is that only one polycap runner is included. So I boldly(!) sacrificed one MG First 2.0 kit just to take its polycaps and build an extra gold-plated frame;;

As you can see in the photo above, the gold-plated frame looks absolutely stunning with the real gold coating — it has this gorgeous, jewel-like quality. Since it's a much more intricate and detailed piece compared to the main body, it looks even more impressive, and honestly the frame looks more expensive than the body itself. (And in reality, the surface area covered in gold is probably larger too.)

So you might be wondering — why not just ignore the manual and put the gold-plated armor on top of the gold frame? Well, there are several obstacles. First, as expected, the gold-plated frame has much tighter tolerances and is extremely, seriously stiff. It's so tight that some parts actually risk breaking — so assembling it with a gold frame AND gold armor would make articulation nearly impossible, and I didn't even attempt it. Even if I had tried, both the armor and the frame are each wrapped in a layer of gold plating, so the fit would be incredibly tight and the risk of breakage would be even greater.

Anyway, the bottom line is that the gorgeous gold frame is an excellent bonus, and even if you have to sacrifice one MG First 2.0 to get the polycaps since individual part orders aren't available, it's definitely worth it.

◆ Building the gold-plated kit

Plated kits in general tend to have tighter tolerances due to the added coating layer, which makes assembly a bit stiff. When you pick up the gold-plated runners for this kit, they feel noticeably harder and more metallic compared to runners from other plated kits. That feeling does make you think, yeah, they really did coat this thing in actual pure gold... but surprisingly, the underlying plastic is set to a softer formulation, so nipping the gates and cleaning up gate marks is actually smoother than you'd expect. If anything, the hard clear kit runners are trickier to clean up.

The frame, which has that soft ABS-like feel in the dark-yellow color, assembles pretty much the same as a regular Gunpla build — but assembling the gold-plated frame was seriously hard on my fingers;; Some parts have such tight tolerances that normal hand strength just isn't enough to push them together, and overall you really have to force everything in hard. I thought about using my teeth to press parts in, but I was worried about damaging the surface... so I just muscled through it by hand. That's also part of why I gave up on putting the gold armor over the gold frame. Either way, if you're not careful, the assembly is stiff enough that breakage is a real concern.

On the other hand, fitting the gold-plated armor onto the dark-yellow frame is comparatively manageable — though it still doesn't snap together as smoothly as the normal version, so you do need to be careful and take it slow to avoid breakage.

Despite how hard and solid the pure gold plating looks, the gates are surprisingly soft, so cleaning up gate marks isn't too difficult — but the downside, as expected, is that the dark gate marks are pretty visible T_T It's kind of the unavoidable fate of any plated kit, but since the gold plating is so brilliantly shiny, the marks stand out even more... (This is where you need the wisdom of the Red Sun...)

Anyway, between the gold frame and the armor, fingerprints show up way too easily, so I had to wear vinyl gloves throughout the build and photo shoot — which meant assembly took longer than expected, and so did the review photography..

◆ Brilliance, brilliance!

As you can see in the photos above, this pure gold-plated First 2.0 is clearly in a different quality class from previous gold-plated kits. With the silver base + clear paint type of gold coating, you can easily spot areas where the paint has pooled or been applied unevenly depending on the surface contours. The color itself also tends to lean more yellow, and while it does have a nice shine, the depth is somewhat shallow.

This pure gold plating, on the other hand, has an extremely even layer of pure gold formed across every surface front and back, with almost no uneven spots to be found. The overall color is also "real" gold — which makes sense, since actual pure gold was used in the coating. The result is a surface that's deeper and richer than a standard gold coating, yet at the same time incredibly smooth with a finish that's close to perfect mirror reflection.

Honestly, for a kit coated in real gold like this, you'd really need to shoot it in natural light to capture the full brilliance — studio photography just doesn't do justice to that blinding shine, which is a bit of a shame. (I may add more photos in the future.)

◆ The ultimate limited edition

There have been countless plated limited editions over the years, but none of them can really compare to this pure gold-plated First 2.0. It genuinely feels like a solid gold ingot you could take to a jewelry shop when you're short on cash — it's the kind of kit that somehow messes with your sense of calm (lol).

It was an ultra-special limited edition to begin with, requiring you to go through 150 MG kits to get one, but I do feel genuinely grateful to Bandai for putting together such a dazzling exclusive. Sure, you could say it's all just part of a marketing strategy — but from a Gunpla enthusiast's perspective, a Gunpla coated in real gold is simply irresistible. Though I'd imagine... among those who managed to get their hands on this gold-plated Gundam, most are probably keeping it sealed and unbuilt. It's a bit intimidating to actually build, and just looking at the runners is satisfying enough (lol). Me, I assembled it with the spirit of a reviewer... (while also feeling a little pang of regret T_T)

Anyway, I want to thank everyone who helped make this Club MG limited edition review possible — something I never could have done on my own. I built and reviewed it more carefully and lovingly than anything I've done before, so I hope you enjoy the photos, even if they're not perfect ^^

MG Gundam ver.2.0 : GoldPlating Ver.

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.