OLD Gundam W 1/144 Mercurius

Release 1995.8

Price ¥500

BANDAI BANDAI Japan product info

Box side view

Runners

Parts diagram

Manual

Straight build + Stickers

Size comparison with a cigarette pack

Like the Vayeate, you can swap the face parts to display it in either open (left) or standard form.

A beam saber can be plugged into the front of the Crash Shield.

OLD 1/144 Mercurius - The Planet Defensers have two articulation points, letting you spread them out straight or arrange them

The Planet Defensers have two articulation points, letting you spread them out straight or arrange them at various angles.

Limb articulation.

Planet Defensers fully spread out

Crash Shield action

Beam gun action pose with Planet Defensers arranged in a circular formation

Together with its partner unit, the 1/144 Vayeate.

Since it shares runners with the Vayeate, one leftover part remains.

1/144 Mercurius - WF Repackage Version

WF series box art with pilot character image added

A color guide for painting the figure has been added.

Figure runner added in the WF series

OLD 1/144 Mercurius - Heero Yuy figure (1/3)

Heero Yuy figure

Together with the Heero Yuy figure included in the 1/144 Wing Gundam.

OLD 1/144 Mercurius - Assembly manual slightly revised with the addition of the figure (1/3)

Assembly manual slightly revised with the addition of the figure

Newly added color guide for the figure

The Mercurius is the 8th kit in the old 1/144 Gundam W series. In the lore, it's a sister unit to the previous Vayeate, and while most of the body structure is the same, the body color is different and the head antenna and weapons have been changed.

Since the base body is the same, the structural characteristics are identical to the Vayeate — leg articulation is still limited, but the joint strength is solid, making it easy to pose. It also shares the same features of being able to swap between standard and open face parts, and one extra head antenna is left over as a leftover part.

The Mercurius comes with a defensive weapon called the Planet Defenser, which can be arranged in a straight line or circular formation using its two joints. The joints are a bit loose, so the positioning doesn't always hold firmly, but since it's such a unique weapon, it's a lot of fun trying out different poses. On top of that, you can plug a separate beam part into the shield to recreate the Crash Shield, and a small beam gun is also included.

All in all, it's a solid old-kit with decent quality, and it'd be even more fun to build alongside the Vayeate as a pair. :-)
[ Updated at 2018.2.24 ]

The 1/144 Gundam W series was repackaged and released as the WF series in July 2000. The kit itself is the same as before, but a small character figure was added, bumping the price up by ¥100. The box art and manual were also slightly revised accordingly, and a color guide for painting the figure was added. Since both the standard 1/144 W series and the WF series are still mixed together in the secondhand market, please refer to the WF version review below for details on the figure and included contents.

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.