Kit Review

Straight build + Panel lining + Decals

Size comparison with a cigarette pack

A very German-looking helmet. The cockpit hatch on the chest opens up and down.

MG Gundam Spiegel - Just like the God/Shining, the chest slides in and out to make room for the arms-crossed pose. And it's s

Just like the God/Shining, the chest slides in and out to make room for the arms-crossed pose.
And it's still a pain because it keeps getting pushed in every time you touch it, so you're constantly having to pull it back out;

The head antenna comes with two options as usual — a soft one and a plastic one.

Core Lander detachment

MG Gundam Spiegel - The Core Lander. It doesn't really look like it was built for flying, but it's still a step up from the S

The Core Lander. It doesn't really look like it was built for flying, but it's still a step up from the Shining's :-)

The top and bottom look pretty much the same?

The Core Lander cockpit can open and close, but the cockpit and pilot detail is still pretty rough.

Core Lander comparison between God Gundam, Shining Gundam, and Gundam Spiegel.

MG Gundam Spiegel - There are 4 hand sets included, but uniquely, the clear hands are missing. Instead, you get a set of hand

There are 4 hand sets included, but uniquely, the clear hands are missing.
Instead, you get a set of hands for the "hands on hips!" pose.

Outer armor removed

The inner frame. Same as the God Gundam's.

The upper body is identical to the God/Shining.

The legs are also the same as the God/Master.

The cylinder gimmick above and below the knees.

In frame-only mode, a kick can get up about this high.

As always... the frame articulation is great, but once you put the armor on, it takes a big hit.

The shoulders swinging forward dramatically is the same as well.

Action pose. An example using the two bent hand sets.

The Spiegel Blade attached to the arm can be rotated 180 degrees and placed directly into the hand.

Spiegel Blade action pose

Kneeling pose

Kneeling pose in frame-only mode

The arms-crossed pose comes out pretty naturally. Probably because of the bent hands being used for it.

Spiegel's signature "hands on hips~" pose.

The dedicated hand parts for the "hands on hips~" pose match up really naturally.

MG Gundam Spiegel - The included 1/20 Schwartz Bruder & Rain Mikamura figures. Unusually, two figures are included, and R

The included 1/20 Schwartz Bruder & Rain Mikamura figures.
Unusually, two figures are included, and Rain's figure even comes with 2 interchangeable faces. (Is this the original Pinky?;;)

Rear view of the 1/20 figures

The four MG Mobile Fighter G Gundam crew. Of them, Spiegel seems to get the least attention.

Fittingly Gestapo-like — that cocky stance really suits it.

The 4th and final MG from Mobile Fighter G Gundam is Gundam Spiegel. The lineup up to this point — the main unit God Gundam, Shining Gundam, and the iconic rival Master Gundam — all made perfect sense. But Gundam Spiegel...??? Why they went with Spiegel of all things is a bit of a head-scratcher.

"Spiegel" means "mirror" in German. True to its roots, Gundam Spiegel is the representative combat mech of Germany. If you've watched Mobile Fighter G Gundam, you'll know that a ton of "Gundams" representing various countries show up — Japan, China, Hong Kong, the Netherlands, Germany, France, and so on. Quite a few of them have pretty wild designs, like the windmill-shaped Nether Gundam representing the Netherlands, or the Viking-styled Norway Viking Gundam. Gundam Spiegel, representing Germany, draws from the imagery of the German military in WWI and WWII — it's got that distinctly German helmet and thick thighs, a classic Gestapo-style look.

Outside of the three main units released before it, there probably weren't many other suits that had a strong enough case to be made into kits. Choosing Gundam Spiegel out of those was likely because it had a decent fanbase, and it was also one of the most suitable suits for reusing the existing action frame as-is. My guess is that the focus was more on recycling the action frame than on the suit itself. -.-;

Anyway, it doesn't really feel like a suit that deserved a spot in the MG lineup, but here it is, and it does have a pretty unique charm — though perhaps because the justification for its existence feels thin, it's become one of the most notorious shelf-warmers across various online shops.

Since it basically uses the same action frame as the God Gundam line with just the armor swapped out, the quality isn't drastically different from the previous kits. That said, the armor does seem to restrict the range of motion the most out of the bunch, so action poses feel a little more constrained.

Color separation, molded colors, and seam line coverage are all solid and above average... but overall, it does feel like the least amount of care was put into this one out of the four Mobile Fighter G Gundam MGs. It's a bit plain, I guess? There's no special weapon, no clear hands like the God Finger or Shining Finger... Instead of clear hands, you get a set of hands for the "hands on hips" pose, and as you can see in the photos above, it does look pretty natural.

Perhaps in an attempt to make up for all this plainness, Gundam Spiegel uniquely comes with two 1/20 figures. You get Spiegel's pilot Schwartz Bruder, and also a figure of Rain Mikamura — the girl who has that kind of relationship with main character Domon Kasshu. Two figures in one kit is already generous, and Rain's face can even be assembled in two ways — masked or unmasked — making this quite a fan-service-heavy figure set.

Anyway, it's definitely not a bad kit by any means, but the recognition and popularity just aren't quite there... and it doesn't really have that look that grabs someone who's never seen it before. If you're a hardcore Mobile Fighter G Gundam fan, or if the German military-style Spiegel appeals to you, it'd make a great addition. Or if you're a Rain fan, you might just want it for that one-of-a-kind figure. For everyone else though, it's definitely the kind of kit that'll make you go "...and you are?" ^^;

MG GF13-021NG Gundam Spiegel
Category	Rating	Analysis
Seam Lines	★★★★☆	Seam lines are barely visible except on the backpack and a few other spots
Molding Color / Color Separation	★★★★☆	Molded colors/color separation are excellent. A few minor misses on the backpack and some other areas.
Proportions	★★★★☆	The Gestapo-esque image comes through well.
Articulation	★★★★	Frame articulation is top-notch. Range of motion drops off quite a bit once the armor is on.
Joint Strength	★★★★☆	Still way too stiff, which continues to be a bit of an issue.
Internal Frame	★★★★☆	Full-body action frame. Focus is on the movable frame rather than detail.
Detail	★★★★	Detail is at a decent, average level.
Weapons / Accessories	★★★★☆	8 hands. Unusually, 2 figures included! Figure faces are also swappable.
Parts Count / Price	★★★☆	209 parts total. Parts per ¥1,000: 83.6. The fewest parts of the bunch.
Uniqueness	★★☆	Unique, but its reason for existing is a bit hard to pin down
Dalong's Point : 82 pts.

MG Gundam Spiegel | 2002. 8 | ¥2,500

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.