Size comparison with a cigarette pack.
Since the design height is small to begin with, this is one of the smallest kits in the MG lineup.

Both the standard head and the Hexa type are included.

Cockpit exposed.
The canopy does not open.

The hand construction is quite unique.
The thumb is molded together with the palm, while the remaining four fingers are swapped out as separate interchangeable parts.

The thumb moves on a ball joint.

You choose from four different finger parts depending on the situation.
There's a beam saber hand, a fist, a rifle grip hand, and an open hand —
and thanks to this system, the proportions feel a bit better than conventional hands.

The rifle grip fingers
have a long pin to keep the rifle handle from slipping out.
It's a bit of an unusual approach, but it does work in the end...

Beam rifle.

The center grip cover rotates.
This comes into play during transformation.

The beam saber handle stores inside the forearm.
It's impressive that they managed to include a storage space like that even with all the complex transformation gimmicks packed in there.

Befitting a late Universal Century design, a nice variety of beam effect parts are included.

The base frame articulation is full-fold, plain and simple.

The inner surface detail on the armor panels — which had been gradually disappearing for a while — is completely gone on the V Gundam. T_T

Instead, the shoulder and skirt armor interiors use part separation to add detail and a sense of depth.

Even with the armor on, the limbs fold almost completely.
It totally shatters the assumption that transformation kits have poor articulation.

Let's take a closer look at the leg articulation gimmick...

First, the wing at the back of the leg and the ankle connection are both articulated.

The front skirt can also be swung out to the side, giving the hip joints a bit more freedom of movement.

Just be careful — if you're not paying attention, the hip joints can split apart on both sides, so make sure they're properly secured.

Also, the fit between the hip polycap and the leg socket is a bit... iffy.
It tends to pop out as you move things around — not so loose that it's a disaster, but it's a bit of a worrying spot.

Because of the transformation gimmicks, the shoulder's range of motion front-to-back and up-and-down is quite limited.
On top of that, the waist is completely fixed with no rotation at all...

Thankfully, this kit includes not just the Hexa version head,
but also two Core Fighters to match.

A clear display stand for the Core Fighter that plugs into Action Base 1 is also included.

A 1/100 Uso figure with somewhat rough detailing.
Look closely and you'll spot a Haro attached to his right leg. (The Haro actually helps him stand up straight ^_^;)
The Core Fighter comes with figures of both Uso and Marbet,
but since they're both wearing helmets, you can barely tell them apart just by looking;

The lower body left after separating the upper and lower halves.

First, you split it into three parts like this...

Core Block.

Looking at the internal structure of this section,
the cockpit runs horizontally and the neck runs vertically, crossing each other on a cross-shaped rail.
You can really tell a lot of thought went into this gimmick...

Close up the backpack ducts that were spread open,

Fit the clear landing gear parts into the underside of the craft.
The landing gear parts don't clip in very securely.. it feels less like "snapping in" and more like just "setting them on top."

Plug the stand adapter into the rear underside of the craft and...

You can mount it on an Action Base 1, but it looks a bit bare, doesn't it?

Now for the torso transformation.

Unfortunately, the hand section has to be swapped out for a U-shaped part..
This seems less like an engineering limitation and more like an issue with the design itself.

Fold the front and rear skirts out flat horizontally, then

spread the front skirt open.

The forearm section, one of the most intricate gimmicks in this kit.
First, pull the red elbow section back, then

guide the wrist section upward along the internal rail.

Slide the wrist all the way up over the forearm, then

position the forearm section forward and lock it back into place — arm transformation complete.

As you can see, the wrist section slides freely along a large L-shaped rail.
The hold is solid and the movement is smooth — a really excellent gimmick all around.

Rotate the rifle's secondary grip 90 degrees and fold it in to mount the rifle onto the body.

Docking with the Core Fighter

Then plug the rifle into the U-shaped hand on the right arm — transformation complete.

This is the Top Fighter .

You can use the same stand adapter from the Core Fighter here too.

The Top Fighter from various angles.

Now for the Bottom Fighter transformation..
First, rotate the crotch armor and the body-locking parts 90 degrees to align them horizontally.

Rotate the side skirts toward the waist and lock them in place..

Press the thigh down toward the knee,
and the knee armor and rear leg wings naturally pop out.
Brilliant linked gimmick engineering..

At this point, if you attach the Core Fighter it tends to be unstable and keeps tipping forward..

But using the Bottom Fighter's dedicated stand adapter locks it in nice and tight.

Tried mounting it on an Action Base 1 using the adapter..
But the hip joints are too weak to keep the legs horizontal. T_T
Probably easier to just leave it on the ground.

Top Fighter and Bottom Fighter.
Since there are two Core Fighters included, you can display both at the same time.

Pull the legs back out and tuck the knee and rear wing sections back inside.

Top Fighter and Bottom Fighter in docked mode, alongside the Core Fighter.

It's even smaller than the F91, which is already one of the smallest kits in the MG lineup.
Compared to the First as a size reference, it really does feel tiny..

Together with the Sinanju Ver.Ka that set the hobby world on fire at the end of last year.
Both are 1/100, but the size difference is just staggering.