OLD First Gundam 1/144 Gogg

Release 1981.5

Price ¥400

BANDAI BANDAI Japan product info

Runners

Parts diagram

Manual

Size comparison with a cigarette pack

The arms use multi-stage cylindrical parts to represent the extending joint.

OLD 1/144 Gogg - As shown, the arm length can be extended and retracted in 3 stages, but the hold is pretty weak so it just f

As shown, the arm length can be extended and retracted in 3 stages, but the hold is pretty weak so it just flops around. T_T

OLD 1/144 Gogg - Internal leg gimmick. As you can see, the feet are one solid piece with no joints, and the knee joints have

Internal leg gimmick. As you can see, the feet are one solid piece with no joints, and the knee joints have a very limited range of motion.

Two screw-head-shaped parts are joined from both sides to form the hip joint.

OLD 1/144 Gogg - These are then connected to the torso as shown to form a rotating joint — but if those screw-head-shaped par

These are then connected to the torso as shown to form a rotating joint — but if those screw-head-shaped parts come apart after assembly, you've got a pretty troublesome joint structure on your hands..;;

The shoulder area uses a T-shaped joint to achieve rotation.

The torso part is completely one solid piece, shoulders and head included.

OLD 1/144 Gogg - Articulation test... though it's almost embarrassing to call it that ;; The shoulders are fixed in place so

Articulation test... though it's almost embarrassing to call it that ;; The shoulders are fixed in place so the arms barely move forward or backward, and the knees feel like they move less than 5 degrees.

OLD 1/144 Gogg - The hip joints do rotate like that, but since the knees and feet are basically fixed in place, it's a joint

The hip joints do rotate like that, but since the knees and feet are basically fixed in place, it's a joint that's hard to put to any real use.

At least the arms can raise out to the sides about 90 degrees.

About the only pose you can really pull off is this walking pose..

Underwater navigation mode recreated by shortening the arms and tipping it forward (-_-).

Alongside the HGUC Gogg. The old 1/144 Gogg came out looking and feeling a bit underdeveloped.

OLD 1/144 Gogg - Alongside the 1/144 Mass Production Z'Gok. In our heads the Gogg is a much bigger beast, but it seems the old

Alongside the 1/144 Mass Production Z'Gok. In our heads the Gogg is a much bigger beast, but it seems the old kits were a bit all over the place with their scaling.

Alongside the 1/144 First Gundam.

The Gogg is one of the most iconic aquatic MS units and was Zeon's go-to bruiser, but in old 1/144 scale it came out with a much more compact build than you'd expect. As you can see, the shoulders are narrow and the arms feel short for a Gogg, and on top of that it's short enough to come out roughly the same size as the Z'Gok. The size difference really hits you when you look at the comparison shots with the HGUC — it ends up feeling more like a Zock in terms of bulk.

The biggest standout feature of the 1/144 Gogg is the extendable arm joint. A series of pipe-shaped parts are linked together to let the arms extend and retract in 3 stages. It's a neat technical attempt worth giving credit for, but the hold is too weak to make it fun to play with. And since the shoulders are fixed to the torso anyway, the arms have very limited range of motion to begin with — so it's really only useful for retracting the arms into underwater navigation mode.

Beyond the head and shoulders being fixed to the torso, the knee joints also have a very limited range of motion, making this a kit with poor articulation overall. The hip joints are rotating type so you can spin the legs a full 360 degrees, but there aren't really any useful poses to put that to. On top of that, the hip joints work by gluing T-shaped pins together from both sides and connecting them to the torso — so if the joint pins come apart after assembly, it becomes really hard to reattach the legs, and you end up being afraid to touch it.

In terms of articulation, this is about as low as it gets even among old 1/144 kits, and the extendable arm joint doesn't hold well enough to be satisfying either — so there's a lot to be disappointed about here. On top of that, the Gogg's signature wide, imposing bulk just isn't there, which is a bit of a bummer. Then again, some people might actually love it precisely because it's such a uniquely narrow-shouldered take on the Gogg. Either way, the 1/144 Gogg has about the most old-kit-ish proportions of any old kit out there, and I think opinions are going to be pretty sharply divided on this one. :-) [ Updated at 2016.1.25 ]

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.