OLD IROPLA 1/250 Gouf

Release 1983.7

Price ¥200

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

OLD 1/250 Gouf - Iropla 4-kit group box shot (1/4)

OLD 1/250 Gouf - Iropla 4-kit group box shot (2/4)

Iropla 4-kit group box shot

Runners

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

OLD 1/250 Gouf - There's a packet of glue included, sealed in a little plastic pouch just like instant ramen seasoning. You s

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 seriously ol~d school.

Parts diagram

Manual

Iropla idea submission flyer

Straight build

Size comparison with a cigarette pack

With the Gouf, the weapons are molded in one piece, so they can't be removed.

OLD 1/250 Gouf - Articulation is the worst among the Iropla lineup — the leg articulation in particular feels really restrict

Articulation is the worst among the Iropla lineup — the leg articulation in particular feels really restricted, and the arm joint strength is way too stiff.

Action pose

Together with the old 1/144 Gouf.

Iropla 4-kit group shot

Comparison with the Gunpla Collection 1/288 Gouf.

--- Iropla — General Overview -----------------
The Iropla are a set of four 1/250 mini Gunpla released experimentally in 1983, and they were the very first kits to use system injection. Tiny as they are, each one was molded in multiple colors on a single runner, which caused quite a sensation at the time. They were later 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 — the 1/250 G-Armor — came out, and that one got a reprint and is still listed in the official catalog. As you can see, the color separation achieved at such a tiny scale was genuinely impressive for the time, but old-school is old-school — the proportions and detail are pretty rough. Articulation is decent enough given the size, but the joints are so stiff that you genuinely worry about breaking something while posing.

Inside the box you'll also find a charmingly vintage glue packet in a plastic pouch — you snip one end and squeeze it out. Given the era, every single part has to be glued together, making this about as old-school as old-school gets.
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This kit is the 1/250 Gouf, released as Iropla No. 4 — the last of the four Iropla kits. It still features a four-color system injection runner with impressive color separation for its size. Articulation is actually worse than the earlier Gundam and Zaku releases: the hips and knees are practically fixed in place, and the shoulder and elbow range of motion is even more limited.

That makes posing pretty stiff, and the leg sculpt looks a bit off — it ends up looking pigeon-toed. The proportions are generally a bit wonky overall. On top of that, the heat saber is assembled fixed into the hand, and the shield has to be glued on too, so neither weapon can be removed. In a lot of ways this is the most disappointing of the Iropla kits, but I think the real value here is simply that a tiny, colorful little Gouf like this actually existed back in the day. :-)
[ Updated at 2021.12.4 ]

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.