Kit Review

Straight build + Panel lining + Decals

Size comparison with a cigarette pack

Upper body and head.
The torso is pretty much the same as the Normal.

MG Gundam AGE-1 Spallow - Back and arms (1/3)

Back and arms

Legs

The feet are tiny little things — like bound feet..

Outer armor removal shot

Internal frame

MG Gundam AGE-1 Spallow - Frame detail shots. (1/6)

MG Gundam AGE-1 Spallow - Frame detail shots. (2/6)

MG Gundam AGE-1 Spallow - Frame detail shots. (3/6)

MG Gundam AGE-1 Spallow - Frame detail shots. (4/6)

Frame detail shots.

Articulation with the frame exposed

Crouching pose

Frame action pose

As expected, there's no inner armor detail molding either..

Cockpit hatch open

The Spallow's only weapon, the Shiguru Blade.

The Shiguru Blade can be stored on the rear of the backside.

You can swap between a total of 4 different hand types.

I do like how the Shiguru Blade locks in really securely to the weapon-holding hand parts.

1/100 standing figures of Flit and Yurin are included to recreate scenes from the show.

Once the armor is on, articulation becomes quite limited.

MG Gundam AGE-1 Spallow - I figured the slim ankles would give it a wider range of motion, but.. it's more average than I exp

I figured the slim ankles would give it a wider range of motion, but..
It's more average than I expected.

MG Gundam AGE-1 Spallow - When you rotate the thighs, the upper thigh armor keeps popping off because the connection is too w

When you rotate the thighs, the upper thigh armor keeps popping off because the connection is too weak.
It's pretty annoying every time you try to pose that area.. I ended up just gluing it down myself. ^^;

The shoulder cover opens up to allow the shoulder to raise upward.

The forearm armor moves in two stages.

MG Gundam AGE-1 Spallow - Shiguru Blade action poses (1/4)

MG Gundam AGE-1 Spallow - Shiguru Blade action poses (2/4)

Shiguru Blade action poses

MG Gundam AGE-1 Spallow - Action poses on the Action Base (1/4)

MG Gundam AGE-1 Spallow - Action poses on the Action Base (2/4)

Action poses on the Action Base

MG Gundam AGE-1 Spallow - Action pose 2 (1/3)

Action pose 2

MG Gundam AGE-1 Spallow - Action pose 3 (1/3)

Action pose 3

Together with the HG Gundam AGE-1 Spallow.

MG Gundam AGE-1 series collection

Straight build

Following the MG Gundam AGE-1 Normal and Titus, the Spallow has now been released as an MG too. It was such an obvious release that nobody was really hyped for it, and with a weak background story and a design that isn't all that appealing.. it's honestly fair to say this MG launched to pretty much zero fanfare.

As you'd expect given the lore, a good number of parts are carried over from the MG AGE-1 Normal, but more than half the runners are new Spallow-specific ones, so it does feel reasonably fresh. There aren't any major changes to the inner frame structure or characteristics, but the design differences do mean the arm and leg frame designs are new as well.

One issue unique to the Spallow: when you rotate the thighs, the upper thigh armor tends to catch on the hip joint and pop off easily. The connection is already weak, and it keeps getting in the way, so it's kind of inevitable.. you might want to just glue it for your own sanity. On top of that, the feet are tiny little bound feet by design, so it's hard to keep it balanced in a standing pose — that said, I do think the overall articulation and joint strength are a slight step up from the Normal and Titus.

The kit quality itself doesn't have much to complain about, but the biggest problem is that it's saddled with a bunch of fundamental disadvantages. Setting aside the weak background of being a minor unit in an already unpopular anime, the design itself is just so spindly overall.. the kit's proportions don't really look all that cool. The design was never that appealing to begin with, but usually when something gets the MG treatment the proportions at least get a serious upgrade — not so with the Spallow. ^^;

And again, it's a lore thing, but the only weapon is a single small blade called the Shiguru Blade, which makes the whole kit feel pretty bare. In terms of pure parts count it's not drastically less than the MG Normal or Titus, but the overall volume of parts is smaller for the same price, so when you open the box it feels a bit sparse. You start wondering — is this really a ¥3,500 kit on the same level as the MG Normal and Titus?

In short, the biggest problem with this kit is that it's just plain dull with nothing to get excited about, and that quietly dragged the score down quite a bit. ^^; At least the Normal has main character status so it'll have a baseline fanbase.. and the Titus has its chunky style going for it so it has its own niche.. but the Spallow is just skinny and kind of sad in every way. T_T

Anyway, if you're an AGE fan or personally love the design, it's a perfectly decent MG kit you can enjoy — but if you're choosing between kits at the same price, I can't help but recommend the Titus or Normal over this one. :-)

MG AGE-1 Gundam AGE-1 Spallow
Category	Rating	Analysis
Seam Lines	★★★★★	Seam lines eliminated through extensive use of single-piece parts and smart parts breakdown
Molding Color / Color Separation	★★★★★	Clean color separation worthy of an MG
Proportions	★★★★☆	The original design is what it is, but.. the proportions feel a bit hollow.
Articulation	★★★★☆	The slimmest of the AGE series, but not noticeably better in articulation.
Joint Strength	★★★★★	Tiny feet aside, overall joint strength is good.
Internal Frame	★★★★☆	Full inner frame, but the detail still feels a bit underwhelming.
Detail	★★★★☆	Simple looks. If you're not paying close attention, it could pass for a 1/100.
Weapons / Accessories	★★★★☆	It just doesn't have weapons to speak of, so the bare feeling is unavoidable..
Parts Count / Price	★★★★☆	271 parts total. 77.4 parts per ¥1,000. Low volume, but passable.
Uniqueness	★★★★☆	The quality itself is fine, but it's the most boring kit in the AGE series.
Dalong's Point : 93 pts.

MG Gundam AGE-1 Spallow | 2012. 4 | ¥3,500

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.