OLD IROPLA 1/250 Char's Zaku

Release 1983.7

Price ¥200

It's a small, thin box that slides open from the side.

OLD 1/250 Char's Zaku - Iropla 4-kit group box shot (1/4)

OLD 1/250 Char's Zaku - Iropla 4-kit group box shot (2/4)

Iropla 4-kit group box shot

Runners

Comes with a black-and-white manual along with an Iropla flyer.

OLD 1/250 Char's Zaku - There's a packet of glue included — sealed in a little plastic pouch just like instant ramen sea

There's a packet of glue included — sealed in a little plastic pouch just like instant ramen seasoning. You snip off one end to use it. Now THAT'S old-school~.

Parts diagram

Manual

Iropla idea submission flyer

Straight build

Size comparison with a cigarette pack

The only weapon is a single Zaku machine gun.

OLD 1/250 Char's Zaku - The skirt really limits the thigh's range of motion. Everything else is pretty much the same as

The skirt really limits the thigh's range of motion. Everything else is pretty much the same as the 1/250 Gundam.

OLD 1/250 Char's Zaku - Action pose (1/4)

OLD 1/250 Char's Zaku - Action pose (2/4)

Action pose

Together with the old 1/144 Char's Zaku.

Together with the Iropla 1/250 First Gundam.

Comparison with other small injection-molded Char's Zakus — Cup-Pla, Gunpla Collection, etc.

--- Iropla — General Overview -----------------
The Iropla line was an experimental series of four 1/250 mini Gunpla kits released in 1983, and they were the very first kits to use system injection molding. Tiny as they are, each kit was molded in multiple colors on a single runner, which was pretty sensational at the time. They were eventually discontinued and dropped from Bandai's official catalog — a lineup that now belongs to history.

The four releases were Gundam, Zaku, Char's Zaku, and Gouf. Then in 1984, a fifth Iropla kit came out — the 1/250 G-Armor — and that one has been reprinted and remains listed in the official catalog to this day. As you can see, the color separation achieved at such a tiny scale was genuinely impressive for the era. That said, old kit is old — the proportions and detail are pretty rough. Articulation is decent enough for the size, but the joints are so stiff that you're genuinely worried about breaking something while posing.

Inside the box you'll also find that wonderfully vintage glue packet in a plastic pouch — you snip one end and squeeze it out. Given when this was made, every single part needs to be glued together. This is about as old-school as old-school gets.
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This is the 1/250 Char's Zaku, released as Iropla No. 2. Like the Iropla Gundam, it's molded in four colors, and the color separation is impressive for something so small. It still requires glue assembly and the detail is rough, but the proportions actually feel a bit better than the Gundam.

The skirt is fixed, though, so the hip articulation is noticeably more limited than on the Gundam — leg poses are pretty restricted. Not that you'd expect much from an old kit like this, but it's still fascinating to think that back in 1983, they managed to pull off this kind of color separation on a kit smaller than the palm of your hand. :-)
[ Updated at 2021.12.2 ]

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.