OLD First Gundam 1/100 Zaku

Release 1982.9

Price ¥700

BANDAI BANDAI Japan product info

Note that some runners are not individually bagged in plastic.

Parts diagram

Manual

Size comparison with a cigarette pack

The weapons and articulation are 100% identical to the 1/100 Char's Zaku.

OLD 1/100 Zaku - On the flip side, being a mass-production type with no head antenna, the head antenna part just ends up as l

On the flip side, being a mass-production type with no head antenna, the head antenna part just ends up as leftover parts.

OLD 1/100 Zaku - Zaku Machine Gun firing pose (1/3)

Zaku Machine Gun firing pose

Bazooka action

Heat Hawk action

Together with the 1/144 mass-production Zaku.

Together with the 1/100 Char's Zaku

Together with the 1/100 Zaku I.

The mass-production trio, assembled.

Together with the MG Zaku v1.0 released in 1995.

Together with the MG Zaku v2.0 released in 2007.

The evolution of the 1/100 mass-production Zaku

This is the 1/100 mass-production Zaku, following up on the 1/100 Char's Zaku. Old kits like this are generally just straight color variant kits — same molds, just different molded colors, with no extra accessories included. So this kit is completely identical to the 1/100 Char's Zaku except for the color scheme, and for a detailed look at the structural features, please check out the 1/100 Char's Zaku review— this review is here for you to enjoy the updated color scheme in photos.

First off, just like the 1/100 Char's Zaku, the color separation here is impressively well done. The fact that you can build a large 1/100 scale mass-production Zaku to this level of finish for just ¥700 is really the selling point of this kit. Sure, the articulation and proportions are what you'd expect from an old kit, but there's a certain old-school charm to it that I think makes it genuinely appealing in its own way.

Anyway, just like with the MG line, there's something about the 1/100 scale where the Zaku somehow feels a notch higher in quality than the RX-78 Gundam. Turns out that tradition goes all the way back to the old kits too. :-)
[ Updated at 2016.4.13 ]

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.