OLD MSV 1/100 Perfect Gundam

Release 1984.12

Price ¥1,400

BANDAI BANDAI Japan product info

OLD 1/100 Perfect Gundam - Box side view (1/3)

Box side view

Runners

Waterslide decals

A soft rubber runner is included for armor attachment and power cables.

OLD 1/100 Perfect Gundam - Parts diagram (1/3)

Parts diagram

Manual

Straight build + wet decals

Size comparison with a cigarette pack

OLD 1/100 Perfect Gundam - Just like the Full Armor Gundam, this kit adds extra armor onto the new 1/100 RX-78 base body. The

Just like the Full Armor Gundam, this kit adds extra armor onto the new 1/100 RX-78 base body. The big difference from the Full Armor though — the armor is removable!!!

Inside the Perfect Gundam armor, there are a bunch of two-way rubber pins.

OLD 1/100 Perfect Gundam - Every armor piece has rubber pins like this so they can be attached and removed, but the hold is p

Every armor piece has rubber pins like this so they can be attached and removed, but the hold is pretty iffy and it feels a bit nerve-wracking.. T_T

1/100 RX-78 base body

OLD 1/100 Perfect Gundam - To fit the Perfect armor, the beam saber mount folds away and the shoulders can be extended furthe

To fit the Perfect armor, the beam saber mount folds away and the shoulders can be extended further outward.

Completely identical construction to the MSV 1/100 Full Armor Gundam base body.

Together with the 1/100 RX-78.

All the 1/100 scale RX-78s gathered together!

Just like the 1/144, power cables are represented throughout the body using soft parts.

OLD 1/100 Perfect Gundam - The various weapons stored inside the shield are also made as separate parts, but the fit is too l

The various weapons stored inside the shield are also made as separate parts, but the fit is too loose so you'll need to glue them in.

The antenna length can also be extended.

The verniers under the backpack have color separation and are also poseable.

Only 2 hand types are included.

Leftover parts.

As expected, don't get your hopes up for the articulation.. ^^

OLD 1/100 Perfect Gundam - Beam saber action (1/3)

Beam saber action

OLD 1/100 Perfect Gundam - Just some action poses (1/2)

OLD 1/100 Perfect Gundam - Just some action poses (2/2)

Just an action pose

Together with the 1/100 RX-78.

Together with the MSV 1/100 Full Armor Gundam.

Together with the MSV 1/144 Perfect Gundam.

Together with the MG Perfect Gundam released in 2003.

The last MSV 1/100 kit is the Perfect Gundam from Plamo-Kyoshiro. It reuses the new 1/100 First Gundam base body that was used for the 1/100 Full Armor Gundam, with the Perfect armor added on top. The big difference from the Full Armor — where the armor had to be glued on — is that the Perfect armor is designed to be removable.

Being a 1/100, the Perfect armor has a bit more color separation applied, giving it a more colorful look compared to the 1/144. Inside each armor piece, there are multiple two-way soft rubber pins embedded, and these rubber pin connections are what allow you to attach or remove the extra armor.

The idea of removable armor itself deserves credit... but the problem is that the rubber pin connections are really finicky. For starters, the rubber pins are too large, so if you don't trim them down with a knife, the front and back armor pieces won't sit flush and end up floating apart. And even after you get them connected, the hold is shaky enough that the armor tends to pop off again with the slightest bump. It's a great concept, but this kind of thing was probably unavoidable given the engineering limitations of the era. T_T

The new 1/100 First Gundam base body is an improvement over the original 1/100 in every way, but once you slap on the bulky Perfect armor, the already-limited articulation gets even worse, leaving you with very few poses to work with. On top of that, you have to handle it gently or the Perfect armor will fall off, which makes posing it even more of a hassle.

That said, the fact that they made the Perfect armor removable is a big selling point, and just the fact that someone attempted this back in 1984 is pretty remarkable in its own right. In the end, I suppose it's all these attempts and lessons learned from failures that eventually led to the top-quality Gunpla we have today. :-)
[ Updated at 2017.1.30 ]

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.