OLD First Gundam 1/144 Z'Gok

Release 1980.12

Price ¥300

BANDAI BANDAI Japan product info

Runners

Parts diagram

Manual

Size comparison with a cigarette pack

Cross-section of the limbs. As you can see, the articulation range is pretty limited.

Cross-section of the torso

The shoulders use the same old ring-and-loop glue-type joints as the 1/144 Gundam/Zaku.

You can choose between 2 different claw configurations.

You can glue it in either the folded or extended position.

Since two sets of claws are included, the leftover ones become leftover parts.

The sole detail is completely flat.

OLD 1/144 Z'gok - Articulation isn't great. The knees only move about 10 degrees, though the legs can spread out sideway

Articulation isn't great. The knees only move about 10 degrees, though the legs can spread out sideways quite a bit.

And the photo above is actually the elbow bent as far as it'll go.;;;

On the plus side, the claw hands can rotate.

Action pose 1

Action pose 2 — bend everything as far as it'll go and this is about what you can get.

Alongside the HGUC Z'Gok released 19 years later.

Together with the predecessor 1/144 Gundam & Char's Zaku.

The fourth 1/144 Gunpla, released in December 1980, is the mass-production Z'Gok. True to its early-release origins, it comes molded in a single dark gray color, which is actually the furthest from the design's intended colors compared to the previous Gundam/Zaku/Gouf kits. On the flip side, when you compare it to the HGUC Z'Gok released 19 years later, the proportions are relatively closer than those earlier kits were to their HGUC counterparts.

First off, you'll notice in the photos that the claws on each arm are in different positions — that's because when building, you have to choose between the extended or folded claw parts and glue them in place. So if you want to show both claw states at once, you have no choice but to do one arm each way, and the manual actually shows it assembled exactly like that. If you want both arms to match, there are plenty of spare claw parts included, so you can do both arms folded or both extended.

Proportions-wise, this is actually one of the better-looking old-school Gunpla kits, but the joint structure makes the articulation feel worse than the earlier releases. It's probably because the multi-joint sections are molded as single pieces, leaving little room for the joints to actually move — the elbow and knee range of motion feels like less than 10 degrees. That said, the legs can spread out quite a bit sideways and the shoulders can rotate, so you can still pull off some poses.

To sum it up, for an old-school kit the sculpt and proportions are decent, but the joint articulation is pretty frustrating. Like any vintage kit, painting and modifications feel pretty much mandatory, but the multi-joint sections are tough to mod too, so this was really a kit for advanced builders. Either way, it's the legendary old-school Z'Gok — a real nostalgia trip. :-) [Updated at 2016.1.6 ]

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.