OLD Turn A Gundam 1/144 Turn A Gundam

Release 1999.4

Price ¥500

BANDAI BANDAI Japan product info

OLD 1/144 Turn A Gundam - Box side view (1/3)

Box side view

Runners

Parts diagram

Manual

Straight build + Stickers

Size comparison with a cigarette pack

Weapons with no color separation whatsoever

The chest missile hatch is reproduced as a swappable parts feature.

Limb articulation. The hip joint range of motion leaves something to be desired.

The waist can bend sideways to a decent degree.

Missile hatch open shot

Action pose

Beam rifle action

Beam saber action

With the 1/144 RX-78

Alongside the HGUC Turn A Gundam released in 2014.

This is the 1/144 Turn A Gundam released as part of the old-style Turn A Gundam series. Even at 1/144 scale, it uses system injection to nail the basic color separation, so the straight build looks pretty solid. The weapons, however, come out in a single color, which makes them look a bit bare by comparison.

First off, the joint strength balance is excellent, making it a really nice kit to handle — though the articulation does feel a bit limited in places. The front skirt barely lifts at all, which really restricts the hip joint range of motion. And yet, when you actually try to pose it, it somehow pulls off poses surprisingly well — a bit of a quirky kit that way. The waist in particular is more flexible than you'd expect, which definitely helps with posing. As for special gimmicks, the chest missile hatch open feature is reproduced via parts swapping.

As you'd expect from a kit that came out at the tail end of the 20th century, the visuals and overall quality are pretty decent for an old-school release. The HGUC version got a fantastic renewal in 2014, but even so, if you're getting this level of quality for ¥500, it still seems like a fun little kit worth picking up even now. :-)
[ Updated at 2018.7.2 ]

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.