OLD Gundam X 1/144 Gundam Leopard

Release 1996.4

Price ¥500

BANDAI BANDAI Japan product info

Box side view

Runners

Parts diagram

Manual

Straight build + Stickers

Size comparison with a cigarette pack

Shoulder missiles and breast gatling open

OLD 1/144 Gundam Leopard - Pull out the wrist, then swing the inner arm gatling (mounted on the backpack) forward, and the ar

Pull out the wrist, then swing the inner arm gatling (mounted on the backpack) forward, and the arm can be stored inside.

OLD 1/144 Gundam Leopard - The grenade launcher on the right forearm slides up and down. Though the lock feels a bit iffy — i

The grenade launcher on the right forearm slides up and down. Though the lock feels a bit iffy — it keeps slowly creeping back down on its own.

Beam knife stored on the side of the right leg

Hornet missiles stored inside the knee

Limb articulation

Breast gatling + inner arm gatling + shoulder missiles + hornet missiles all-out firing pose

Beam knife action

Together with the 1/144 Gundam X and Gundam Airmaster.

The third kit in the old-release Gundam X 1/144 lineup is the Gundam Leopard. It's a mobile suit famous for its all-out firing pose with weapons covering every inch of its body. The key features — the shoulder missiles and breast gatling — can both open up with moving parts. The inner arm gatling on the backpack is also nicely done, allowing the left arm to be stored inside, and the hornet missiles inside the knees are reproduced as well, so you can pull off the all-out firing pose from the source material without any issues.

On top of that, the beam knife stored on the side of the right leg is faithfully reproduced just like in the specs, so the weapons overall are packed in with no compromises despite the scale. The articulation is pretty standard — about 90 degrees of bend — but the joint strength is solid and the sheer amount of weaponry makes posing a lot of fun.

One thing that bugs me is that the backpack doesn't lock in very securely and tends to pop off, but that's nothing a bit of glue can't fix, so it's not really a dealbreaker.

All in all, this kit's selling points are its solid build quality and excellent weapon reproduction. Since this mobile suit has never gotten an HGAW renewal (there was a Leopard Da Vinci in the Build Fighters HG line, but that's a different story), this is easily the most recommendable old-release kit in the entire Gundam X 1/144 lineup. :-)
[ Updated at 2018.3.28]

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.