OLD First Gundam 1/144 GM

Release 1981.4

Price ¥300

BANDAI BANDAI Japan product info

Runners

Parts diagram

Manual

Size comparison with a cigarette pack

The internal joint structure is pretty much the same as the 1/144 Gundam, except for the knee area.

OLD 1/144 GM - Instead, the shoulders have evolved into a standard ring-type joint, and they're made with an octagonal pin so

Instead, the shoulders have evolved into a standard ring-type joint, and they're made with an octagonal pin so you can rotate and lock the shoulder at different angles.

The hand holding the beam spray gun is molded together with it, which actually gives it better proportions.

The right hand can be swapped out for a regular open hand.

OLD 1/144 GM - A shorter parts version of the beam saber for plugging into the backpack is included separately. With the 1/14

A shorter parts version of the beam saber for plugging into the backpack is included separately. With the 1/144 Gundam, you had to cut up a perfectly good spare beam saber and stick it in yourself, but the 1/144 GM actually comes with a dedicated short beam saber just for backpack storage.

Articulation is on par with the 1/144 Gundam.

OLD 1/144 GM - The shield doesn't connect to the hand as well as it does on the 1/144 Gundam, and it tends to keep flopping t

The shield doesn't connect to the hand as well as it does on the 1/144 Gundam, and it tends to keep flopping to the side.

OLD 1/144 GM - Beam spray gun firing pose (1/3)

Beam spray gun firing pose

Beam saber action pose

Together with the HGUC GM.

Together with the 1/144 Gundam

The legendary GM — the 1/144 version honestly looked like it was going to be just a straight variation based on the First Gundam kit, but it actually turned out to be a release with quite a few improvements here and there. Here's a rundown of what got better:

1. Ditched the problematic ring-and-glue shoulder joint and switched to a "standard" shoulder joint with a T-shaped peg
2. The T-shaped peg on the shoulder is octagonal, allowing you to rotate the shoulder and lock it in place at different positions
3. Unlike the 1/144 Gundam where you had to cut up a perfectly good spare beam saber to use as a backpack mount,
the 1/144 GM includes a separate, pre-shortened beam saber dedicated to storage
4. Redesigned the knee structure so the internals aren't visible when the knee is bent
5. To avoid the weapon-holding issues of the 1/144 Gundam, the beam spray gun has the hand sculpted right onto it

So even within less than a year, you can really see the passion of the Bandai development team at the time — it's clearly a step forward compared to the 1/144 First Gundam. It's a meaningful example of how Gunpla has evolved over time. The previous kit, the 1/144 Zeong, also showed some new ideas, but since it's not a standard MS design, things were a bit ambiguous there.

Anyway, the end result is a 1/144 GM that feels a bit more satisfying than the 1/144 Gundam. Sure, the GM's role in the show doesn't even come close to the Gundam's, but this kit is a great reminder that — even among old kits — the one that came out later is the better one. :-) [ Updated at 2016.1.13 ]

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.