OLD Limited Model 1/144 Taurus Custom

Release 1997.1

Price ¥800

It's a small box with a slide-out style opening.

OLD 1/144 Taurus Custom - Group box shot of 6 LM model Gunpla kits (1/4)

OLD 1/144 Taurus Custom - Group box shot of 6 LM model Gunpla kits (2/4)

Group box shot of 6 LM model Gunpla kits

Runners

Runners viewed from the bottom. The parts are somewhat solid inside, similar to resin.

Waterslide decals

Parts diagram

Manual

Box art scan.

Straight build

Size comparison with a cigarette pack

The parts are thick, so it has a nice hefty weight to it.

Some parts are molded as completely solid chunks, just like resin.

Only one beam rifle is included as weaponry.

Articulation is similar to the Leo Custom. With no front skirt, the legs can raise quite a bit.

OLD 1/144 Taurus Custom - Action poses (1/4)

OLD 1/144 Taurus Custom - Action poses (2/4)

Action poses

Together with the 1/144 LM Leo Custom.

Group shot of 6 LM Gunpla kits

--- LM (Limited Model) General Overview -----------------
The LM series was an experimental model kit lineup released between 1996 and 1997. It targeted products that were a bit awkward to release as standard retail kits at the time. The lineup was a mixed bag of over 20 different products spanning Gundam, Evangelion, Escaflowne, and more — and of those, exactly 6 Gundam-related kits were released.

In terms of construction, these kits sit somewhere between resin and injection plastic — the parts come on runners, but the insides are either fully or partially solid. That gives the finished model a satisfying hefty weight, though most parts need to be glued together. They're also single-color molded kits with no color separation, so painting is a must, and the detail is pretty rough, meaning you'll need to do some extra work. In a lot of ways, they really show their old-school roots.

The lineup name might make it sound like a simple limited edition release, but technically these are classified as limited-production standard retail kits. They've never been reprinted, so they're not even listed in Bandai's official Gunpla catalog anymore — making them rare finds on the secondhand market. Some kits in the lineup were later released as proper injection Gunpla, but others remain the only Gunpla ever made of their respective suits, making this a truly classic lineup among classics.
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This kit is the 1/144 Taurus Custom, released in 1997 as LM No. 21. It was the last of the 6 LM Gunpla kits to come out, and it features a mobile suit from Gundam Wing. Up until 2021, it was the only Gunpla ever made of this suit.

It's such a minor item that plenty of people will probably go "wait, this thing existed?" — which is exactly why it ended up as an LM release rather than a standard kit. Like the other LM kits, it has that solid, weighty feel, but similar to the LM Leo Custom, the lack of skirt armor means you actually get a decent range of motion out of it. On the flip side, the joint strength is just as shaky as the Leo Custom's — raise the arms out to the side and they won't hold the pose for long. One silver lining though: it's a single-color molded kit, but since the suit is pure white to begin with, just a little bit of spot painting is all you need to nail the official color scheme.

Anyway, unless you're a pretty dedicated Gundam Wing fan, this probably isn't a kit that's going to get your wallet itching. But it's a fun little piece of history to look back on — hey, they made a Gunpla of this thing! :-)
[ Updated at 2021.11.30 ]

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.