OLD First Gundam 1/100 Gyan

Release 1982.1

Price ¥700

BANDAI BANDAI Japan product info

Just a heads up — some runners aren't individually bagged in plastic.

Parts diagram

Manual

Size comparison with a cigarette pack

The soles are completely flat~

Four small Hide Bomb parts are included.

Cross-section of the arm. There's a separate locking part inside the wrist area.

The forearm-to-shoulder connection uses the classic ring + hook system/

The difference is that instead of gluing it, you just clip it in with a T-shaped hook.

The shoulder is similarly constructed, but the ring part needs to be glued to the torso.

The ankle has a joint that can move in four directions.

The hip joints are designed to move independently on each side.

Articulation is, well... not great, as expected.

That's about as far as the shoulders and legs can spread.

Action pose

Action pose 2

Action pose 3

Together with the 1/144 Gyan.

Together with the 1/100 Gouf.

OLD 1/100 Gyan - Together with the MG Gyan. The height difference is one thing, but the proportions themselves are wildly dif

Together with the MG Gyan. The height difference is one thing, but the proportions themselves are wildly different.

"This is a fine thing indeed.." This is the 1/100 Gyan, M'Quve's mobile suit. Right off the bat, the ridiculously wide shoulders paired with the stubby overall height give it proportions that look awkward at a glance — very much old-kit vibes. But in a way, that's exactly what makes it charming (?) as a vintage kit.

That said, compared to the 1/144 which came molded entirely in a single light blue color, this one has color separation across three colors, so the straight build looks quite a bit better. The overall detail is on the plain side, but the large shield actually came out with decent depth and dimension. It also comes with four Hide Bomb accessory weapons, though they're noticeably smaller than you'd expect.

Articulation is nothing to write home about, as you'd expect from an old kit — you can get a light sword-swinging pose out of it, but that's about it. One interesting thing though: because the Gyan's signature oversized shield is simple in construction and lightweight (as old kits tend to be), you can actually pose it much more freely than the MG, and it holds its position well too. And compared to other old 1/100 kits, the joint strength is surprisingly decent, making it fairly easy to lock poses in place.

The 1/100 Gyan's proportions are so stubby that back in the day, plenty of modelers (aliens, as we call them :-)) poured sweat into reworking them — which means there's actually a lot of fun to be had in customizing it. That said, I wouldn't really recommend this old kit to folks (earthlings) looking to build it just for the nostalgia trip these days. :-)
[ Updated at 2016.4.6 ]

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.