OLD Gundam W 1/100 Gundam Epyon

Release 1995.11

Price ¥1,500

BANDAI BANDAI Japan product info

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

Box side view

Runners

Clear runner and chrome runner

Lens-type stickers and wire parts

OLD 1/100 Gundam Epyon - Parts diagram (1/5)

OLD 1/100 Gundam Epyon - Parts diagram (2/5)

OLD 1/100 Gundam Epyon - Parts diagram (3/5)

Parts diagram

Manual

Straight build + Stickers

Size comparison with a cigarette pack

Beam parts and wire.

The beam sword stored on the side skirt is connected with the wire parts and used as shown above.

Articulated fingers

Limb articulation

Beam sword + heat rod action

Beam sword + heat rod action 2

OLD 1/100 Gundam Epyon - Remove the hands and position the arms as shown above to begin the transformation into Mobile Armor

Remove the hands and position the arms as shown above to begin the transformation into Mobile Armor mode.

Open the rear skirts to both sides and fold the legs back 180 degrees.

Straighten the heat rod and plug it into the hip joint pin to complete the transformation.

Mobile Armor mode

Underside

Mobile Armor mode with beam parts applied.

Together with the 1/144 Gundam Epyon.

Together with the 1/100 Wing Gundam Zero.

OLD 1/100 Gundam Epyon - Together with the MG Gundam Epyon released in 2011. The overall style aside, the difference in wing

Together with the MG Gundam Epyon released in 2011. The overall style aside, the difference in wing size is just massive.

The fifth kit in the old Gundam W 1/100 series is Gundam Epyon. First off, the proportions are actually pretty solid for an old kit — but in terms of joint strength, the knee joints are noticeably weak, making it a bit of an unstable kit to pose.

The articulation is fairly average, but the proportions and overall style are good enough that poses still look nice. Thanks to the beam sword with its wire parts and the articulated heat rod, you can pull off some pretty unique action scenes. That said, as mentioned above, the knee joints are weak, so if you don't balance it carefully it can topple over — something to watch out for.

The transformation process is actually simpler than the Wing Gundam's, and unlike the 1/144, the rear skirts have been upgraded to be movable. The lock in Mobile Armor mode itself is solid, but it's tricky to get it to sit level on a flat surface — I really wish a dedicated Mobile Armor stand had been included. There's also the issue that the heat rod, which needs to be straightened out in Mobile Armor mode, doesn't hold its position well and tends to droop out of shape.

On top of that, for some reason the head antenna and side head parts don't hold on well and keep falling off — you'll probably want to glue them in place.

So while the style is great and the transformation gimmick isn't bad, there are quite a few frustrating little issues here and there. With the MG version having gotten a fantastic upgrade back in 2011, this old kit doesn't have much going for it beyond price — unless you're hunting for a bargain. :-)
[ Updated at 2018.3.9 ]

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.