Kit Review

Straight build + Panel lining

MG Dunbine - Size comparison with the universal standard — a cigarette pack. At around 20cm, it's on the slightly larger side

Size comparison with the universal standard — a cigarette pack.
At around 20cm, it's on the slightly larger side among MG kits.

MG Dunbine - The heavy backpack naturally makes it lean forward... but cleverly, those long yellow wing parts reach the groun

The heavy backpack naturally makes it lean forward...
But cleverly, those long yellow wing parts reach the ground and act as a support stand. ^^;

Upper body front shot

Smooth and simple legs

MG Dunbine - Check out the texture of the eye parts — they really do look like actual fly eyes. ;; The two yellow stripes on

Check out the texture of the eye parts — they really do look like actual fly eyes. ;;
The two yellow stripes on top of the head are handled with seals.

MG Dunbine - The soft pipes on the shoulders, the dark green clear armor on the chest, the yellow on the sides — the parts an

The soft pipes on the shoulders, the dark green clear armor on the chest, the yellow on the sides —
The parts and color separation use a wide variety of materials and textures. Definitely worthy of MG quality.

The bio-frame in the legs is molded in pink soft parts. A little creepy, honestly..

The wing parts are molded in translucent yellow.

The interior texture of the aura converters on the back is also done in soft rubber — all squishy and unsettling.

MG Dunbine - Oh wow... these are totally chicken feet~ ^^; All three toes move individually. Check out those claws molded in

Oh wow... these are totally chicken feet~ ^^;
All three toes move individually.
Check out those claws molded in opaque milky white.

There are roughly 4 hands included — just a flat open hand and a sword-gripping hand.

MG Dunbine - A sort of hatch-open scene. The covers on the head and legs are designed to come off very easily — almost like t

A sort of hatch-open scene.
The covers on the head and legs are designed to come off very easily — almost like they're inviting you to pop them off whenever you feel like it..

Inside the head... there's a brain.. (creepy..)

Inside the legs... a muscular frame..

Interior of the aura converter

Cockpit hatch open. It's made up of dark green clear parts, and the way it opens is a bit unique.

First you open both sides outward like shown, then lift the center piece up.

The pilot's pose looks pretty miserable. ;; Must be a tight squeeze in there.

MG Dunbine - The pegs that hold the covers that open to either side of the cockpit come loose way too easily. Probably best t

The pegs that hold the covers that open to either side of the cockpit come loose way too easily. Probably best to just glue them in place..

MG Dunbine - Those yellow wing parts are roughly held in place by two parts like shown... if you don't snap them in tightly,

Those yellow wing parts are roughly held in place by two parts like shown...
If you don't snap them in tightly, the wings end up wobbly. ;;
So ideally you should glue those two parts together snugly so the wings don't feel loose.

Outer armor removed

The aura converters on the back.

Internal frame.

MG Dunbine - The body is less of a frame and more just the cockpit — that's pretty much all there is to it. The monitors on e

The body is less of a frame and more just the cockpit — that's pretty much all there is to it.
The monitors on either side of the seat are handled with seals, but the effect feels a bit weak..

The arm frame is more of a "skeleton" concept than a mechanical structure.

The squishy leg frame. Looks like muscle with the skin peeled off..

That muscular pink cover can be removed easily.

And then you're left with just the bare skeleton. You could almost call it a double-frame setup.

The head frame... well, the brain part really jumps out at you. ;;

In frame state, the neck rotates 180 degrees.

The range of articulation in frame state is pretty good overall.

Quite a few poses are possible ;

Looky here~

MG Dunbine - But the frame looks so creepy it feels less like a mechanical structure and more like some kind of biological or

But the frame looks so creepy it feels less like a mechanical structure and more like some kind of biological organism.

MG Dunbine - Articulation... the arms are pretty average, but the legs — thanks to the lack of a lower skirt — can kick up re

Articulation... the arms are pretty average, but the legs — thanks to the lack of a lower skirt — can kick up really high.

MG Dunbine - The arm-mounted weapons can also be attached separately, one on each arm. The fit is a bit iffy though, so if yo

The arm-mounted weapons can also be attached separately, one on each arm.
The fit is a bit iffy though, so if you bump them the wrong way they just drop right off.

Action pose

Drawing the sword~

Wings (?) spread out wide.

Pretty imposing in its own way.

The included 1/35 pilot figure. The molding was barely visible so I cranked up the contrast quite a bit.

MG Dunbine - Alongside the MG Gundam Ver. O.Y.W. 0079, which you could call a standard-sized MG. Dunbine is pretty chunky, is

Alongside the MG Gundam Ver. O.Y.W. 0079, which you could call a standard-sized MG. Dunbine is pretty chunky, isn't it.

MG Dunbine - Together with the non-Gundam MGs at the same 1/35 scale — the Ingram and Griffon. The Ingram is about the same s

Together with the non-Gundam MGs at the same 1/35 scale — the Ingram and Griffon.
The Ingram is about the same size, but the Griffon is still just massive..

A bold experiment that ultimately had to be written off as a failure — the bonus MG Dunbine..

Straight build front/rear

If there's one kit in the MG lineup that really stands out from the crowd, it's this one.
The MG Dunbine. MG is obviously a "Gunpla" lineup, and the Patlabor series already broke that rule — but actually, the non-Gundam MG kit that came out even before Patlabor was none other than Dunbine. Not even a Gundam, and yet it's got the MG label slapped right on it~!!

When this thing came out back in 2000, quite a few people — myself included — were a bit caught off guard. An entirely different mecha series in the MG line, which had always been considered the exclusive domain of Gunpla, Bandai's bread-and-butter product?! It wasn't just Dunbine — it felt like an unspoken rule had been broken, raising hopes that other mecha could come crashing in too. Rediscovering classic legendary robots through MG-level craftsmanship... just the thought of it was exciting, right?

So with that modest sense of anticipation (well, it wasn't exactly a massive sensation or anything), Dunbine arrived — and it was clearly on a whole different level from the old kit, with a proper MG-worthy look to it. On top of that, it came with a concept and parts layout that set it apart from the existing Gunpla MG lineup, bringing a real sense of freshness along with it.

First off, the color separation was even better than before — and the parts layout making use of all kinds of different material properties was genuinely surprising at first. The squishy leg muscles done in soft rubber, the translucent yellow wings, the eye parts that actually feel like real fly eyes, the claws in milky white that really nail that claw feel, the rubber joint covers... the massive dark green clear chunk of a cockpit cover... Either way, the ¥3,500 price tag putting it in the higher-end bracket seemed to be a direct result of all these varied materials and color separation choices.

Thinking about it from the other angle (just my personal take), I can't help but wonder if MG Dunbine came to be precisely because Dunbine was the right kind of mecha to show off MG-level quality. It was always conceived as an insect-like mecha from the start — with its muscular bio-frame, fly wings, claws and all — the kind of unique design that, given the right technology, just begs to be made into something really cool. Either way, when it comes to color separation and material variety, it's pretty clear this thing is top-tier even across the entire MG lineup.

In terms of articulation, the arms are just your standard 90-degree bend, but the legs — with no skirt armor in the way — can kick up almost to a split. The knees bend pretty well too, so leg articulation is definitely solid... but the ankle range of motion is narrow. The feet are sculpted to look realistically like chicken feet, but they barely move — so even with great hip and knee articulation, the range of poses you can actually pull off is pretty limited. (-_-;) That's why even the action pose photos don't really feel all that dynamic. A stand probably would've helped a lot for getting more dramatic poses. Still, joint strength is decent enough that nothing feels loose. ^_^

The biggest disappointment with the MG Dunbine is the parts durability. Take a look at the photo below.

Ahhh... this is a disaster. ㅠ_ㅠ Unlike other kits, the leg area in particular has the hip ball joint attached to a thin plate, which looks fragile and genuinely is fragile... The photo above happened during the review shoot — I was just disassembling and reassembling the armor, and when I tried to plug the leg back into the body with a little bit of force, it snapped off without warning... And it happened before I even got to take the action pose shots. ㅠ_ㅠ

The action pose photos above were all taken with that broken part somehow precariously balanced in place — it was a real struggle to get those shots. Still looks pretty natural though, right? ^^; (I can hear the sound of people frantically scrolling back up ;) The part is basically shaped in a way that makes it prone to snapping depending on which direction force is applied, so it's a point to be careful about when moving the legs... so you don't end up like me. T_T

Honestly, looking at the kit itself, the color separation, molded colors, proportions, material textures, and joint strength are all good — there's not much to really fault it on, and in terms of build experience and the feel of putting it together, it actually comes across as higher quality than the MG Ingram. But the reason why non-Gundam MG kits stopped at just this one Dunbine... is ultimately because it didn't get a strong market response as a non-Gundam MG, which is to say it simply didn't sell well. Or maybe it was the backlash from fans going "just focus on Gunpla, what are you doing?!" and Bandai pulled the plug immediately..

Dunbine does have its own fanbase, but compared to Gundam it's at a massive disadvantage in terms of recognition... and the design and style itself, rather than being sleek and cool, can come across as a bit creepy depending on how you look at it. It might feel realistic and detailed, but it's not exactly the kind of thing that makes you want to buy it, if that makes sense. My guess is that's roughly why it didn't get much of a warm reception in the market. Of course, if you were already a Dunbine fan from the start, this would've been a fantastic gift. ^^

This non-Gundam MG mecha series that got cut short actually feels, in a way, like it was carried on six years later in 2006 through the RRR (Real Robot Revolution) line. The first RRR release, the Layzner, got a lot of attention and earned its own fair share of praise — but it always felt like it fell just short of MG quality somehow... This MG Dunbine, though, when you actually build it, you get a clear sense of "yeah, this is MG." In that sense, it's a bit of a shame that a separate MG lineup wasn't kept going to cover a wider variety of mecha kits.

Either way, it's ended up as one of the more notorious low-popularity MGs — but it's a kit that feels a little too good to be dismissed so easily. It's a quiet little gem that deserves better than to be buried in history — the kind of thing that makes you feel like Bandai once had real ambition and went for it. :-)

MG Dunbine | 2000.8 | ¥3,500

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.