OLD First Gundam 1/144 Char's Gelgoog

Release 1981.5

Price ¥500

BANDAI BANDAI Japan product info

Runners

Parts diagram

Manual

Size comparison with a cigarette pack

The head spreads out way too wide to the sides, making it look really flat. ;;

You can swap between the hand molded together with the rifle and the regular hand.

OLD 1/144 Char's Gelgoog - The beam naginata comes with separate parts — one for mounting on the back and the actual wea

The beam naginata comes with separate parts — one for mounting on the back and the actual weapon part.

OLD 1/144 Char's Gelgoog - Two different mounting parts are included for the inside of the shield, and it can also be at

Two different mounting parts are included for the inside of the shield, and it can also be attached to the back.

A cross-section of the forearm that's quite different from other kits.

A wrist fixing pipe has been added inside the forearm to make swapping wrists easier.

Interestingly, the elbow is built with a ball joint.

Cross-section of the legs.

OLD 1/144 Char's Gelgoog - The torso parts have an interesting layout — the upper body with the shoulders fixed in place

The torso parts have an interesting layout — the upper body with the shoulders fixed in place, the waist, and the lower body are all separate pieces.

The shoulder joints are constructed in a piston-shaped ring form.

The hip joints use separate split fixing pins on both sides.

Thanks to that, you can spread and close the legs like this.

Also, this is the first old 1/144 kit to have a rotating waist.

Arm articulation is terrible, but the hip joint articulation is actually among the best.

OLD 1/144 Char's Gelgoog - The shoulders are fixed in place so they can't rotate, but they can raise about 90 degrees to

The shoulders are fixed in place so they can't rotate, but they can raise about 90 degrees to the side.

Action pose. Since the shoulders can't rotate, a convincing shooting pose is impossible. T_T

Beam naginata action

Together with the HGUC Char's Gelgoog.

Together with the 1/144 Char's Zaku.

This kit is the 1/144 Gelgoog, one of the iconic Zeon MS from the One Year War. True to its old-kit nature, it sports a wonderfully retro set of proportions — the head in particular is seriously wide and flat. ^^;

The Gelgoog's signature broad shoulders are molded together with the torso, which means they can't rotate — a definite downside. That said, from a proportions standpoint, the shoulder angles do look pretty sharp. On the plus side, the two-piece split torso makes this the first 1/144 Gunpla kit to feature a rotating waist.

The hip joints also use split pins, allowing the legs to spread outward, and ball joints were used at the elbows for the first time. However, they're ball joints in shape only — the range of motion is actually much narrower than a regular elbow joint, so there's really no practical benefit in terms of articulation. On the other hand, a separate cylindrical part inside the forearm locks the wrist in place, which neatly solves the problem of the forearm parts splitting open when swapping hands.

For weapons, you get a beam naginata, a shield, and a rifle. The rifle is molded as one piece with the hand, and the shield can be mounted on either the hand or the back by swapping the joint parts. The beam naginata includes both a handle for mounting on the back and a separate piece for holding in the hand, so you can choose which to use. Overall, the Gelgoog's signature weapons are reproduced pretty faithfully.

Aside from the seriously flat head, the overall proportions are fairly solid for an old 1/144 kit, and the various new joint experiments really stand out as highlights. Like the Gogg, it does come out a bit smaller than you might expect, but either way, this feels like a meaningful old kit that captures Gunpla gradually improving step by step. :-) [ Updated at 2016.1.26 ]

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.