OLD First Gundam 1/100 Agguguy

Release 1982.9

Price ¥800

BANDAI BANDAI Japan product info

Note that some runners are not individually bagged in plastic.

Parts diagram

Manual

Size comparison with a cigarette pack. This kit takes up nearly 30cm of space sideways.

OLD 1/100 Agguguy - Internal joint structure of the arms and legs. Maybe it's because this mobile suit has such a unique desi

Internal joint structure of the arms and legs. Maybe it's because this mobile suit has such a unique design, but the internal joint layout is quite different from other kits.

OLD 1/100 Agguguy - The massive head has to be glued in place by threading a fixing pin through a hole in the torso, so you n

The massive head has to be glued in place by threading a fixing pin through a hole in the torso, so you need to be careful during assembly to make sure the neck doesn't get stuck.

The arms and legs plug straight in and connect with a rotating joint.

The heat rod is made up of three segments that allow some movement, but the range of motion is minimal.

The articulation on the arms and legs is pretty poor — every joint barely moves at all. T_T

OLD 1/100 Agguguy - The legs can spread out to the sides and front-to-back to some degree, but they're like octopus tentacle

The legs can spread out to the sides and front-to-back to some degree, but they're like octopus tentacle joints so they're really floppy.

OLD 1/100 Agguguy - Action pose with heat rod extended (1/4)

OLD 1/100 Agguguy - Action pose with heat rod extended (2/4)

Action pose with heat rod extended

OLD 1/100 Agguguy - Action poses 2 (1/3)

OLD 1/100 Agguguy - Action poses 2 (2/3)

OLD 1/100 Agguguy - Action poses 2 (3/3)

Action pose 2

Together with the 1/144 Agguguy.

Together with the similarly named 1/100 Acguy.

When it comes to the most grotesque mobile suit in the Zeon forces of the One Year War, it's got to be the Agguguy! Maybe it was just too far ahead of its time (?), but here we are in 2016 and it still hasn't gotten an HGUC release, let alone an MG — so the old kits are the only way to get your hands on one.

Compared to the 1/144, the 1/100 Agguguy features two-color color separation and a more complex internal structure, but in practice it doesn't feel like much of an improvement overall. If anything, the heat rod on the 1/100 actually looks stiffer than the one on the 1/144, which was fixed in a nicely curved pose. The 1/100 did upgrade to a poseable heat rod, but the range of motion is so narrow that it basically just looks like it's stuck straight out.

The arms and legs also got new gimmicks allowing movement in multiple directions, giving more variety in articulation than the 1/144 — but again, the range of motion is way too limited, and on top of that it's floppy, so the whole thing ends up being worse than if they'd just left it out. T_T

So compared to other kits, the upgrade from 1/144 to 1/100 feels like it brings very little improvement — or in some ways even a step backward. If you're thinking about building one of the old Agguguy kits, I'd actually recommend the 1/144 over the 1/100: it's cheaper, easier to work with, and thanks to its simpler joint structure, lighter weight, and that curved heat rod, it actually poses better too. T_T

In the end, the biggest selling point of this kit is simply its large 1/100 size — and since it's wider than it is tall, the sheer bulk of it does give off a certain presence that's hard to ignore. So if you're someone who loves big kits, the 1/100 Agguguy with all the space it takes up might just be the one for you.

Anyway, quality-wise it feels like a step down even from the 1/144, which is a real shame — but there's still something to be said for the fact that this bizarre, grotesque design got a big 1/100 release at all. It's definitely a design that people will either love or hate, so if you're already a fan of the Agguguy, just having it sitting there finished in front of you might be enough to put a smile on your face. That kind of kit. :-)
[ Updated at 2016.4.12 ]

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.