OLD Gundam 0083 Gundam GP02A

Release 1991.7

Price ¥1,000

BANDAI BANDAI Japan product info

OLD 1/144 Gundam GP02A - Box side view (1/3)

Box side view

Runners

OLD 1/144 Gundam GP02A - Parts diagram (1/3)

Parts diagram

Manual

Straight build

Size comparison with a cigarette pack

Front view with shield removed

The gimmick of storing the front section of the nuclear bazooka inside the shield is reproduced.

It can also connect to the rear section of the nuclear bazooka mounted on the shoulder.

Like the GP01, an extra right hand is included, and there's one beam saber.

It's chunky, but the limb articulation is ever so slightly better than the GP01.

The shoulder verniers only move up a little.

OLD 1/144 Gundam GP02A - Nuclear bazooka firing pose (1/4)

OLD 1/144 Gundam GP02A - Nuclear bazooka firing pose (2/4)

Nuclear bazooka firing pose

Beam saber pose

Together with the 1/144 Gundam GP01. Both are famous as cursed kits..

Together with the HGUC Gundam GP02A released in 2006. The difference in looks is just way too huge.

The second kit in the 0083 series is the 1/144 Gundam GP02A, and along with its predecessor the GP01, it's one of Bandai's most notorious dark chapters in Gunpla history. As you can see, the molded colors are completely off from the official design specs — something that shocked a lot of people right off the bat. The giant shield in particular got molded in a totally wrong color, and it's been getting flak ever since. The whole thing gives off a strong vibe that they developed it assuming painting was mandatory, and just didn't bother putting in the effort.

The proportions aren't great either — the chunky design gets reproduced in such a clunky way that it just doesn't look good. In the original show it was a massive, imposing machine, but as a plastic model it ends up looking like a stubby little roly-poly. Even accounting for it being an old-school kit, the overall balance from head to torso to legs just feels off and looks pretty rough.

That said, the articulation and joint strength aren't actually bad for such a bulky build — about on par with the GP01. The feet are way too big and the ground contact is poor, so posing the legs in any meaningful way is pretty tough in practice. On top of that, just like the GP01, the clunky hands don't grip well, so getting it to hold the beam saber properly is a real struggle. The one saving grace is that the GP02's signature nuclear bazooka connection gimmick is reproduced pretty well, so at least that particular pose comes together reasonably enough.

All in all, compared to earlier kits, this old-school release feels like a half-hearted effort that would need serious modification and painting to look decent — and it'll probably go down in Gunpla history as the kit with the most egregiously wrong molded colors. :-)
[ Updated at 2017.10.7]

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.