OLD Z Gundam 1/144 Hi-Zack

Release 1985.4

Price ¥500

BANDAI BANDAI Japan product info

Box side view

Runners

Rubber tube parts

Parts diagram

Manual

Straight build + waterslide decals

Size comparison with a cigarette pack

Backpack and leg verniers seen from below. The soles are completely plain..

The yellow rubber tubes connect to the inside as shown above.

One extra right hand is included.

The articulation is quite a bit worse than the 1/144 Mk-II.

Firing pose

OLD 1/144 Hi-Zack - I wanted to have it hold the machine gun with both hands, but getting the angle right wasn't easy, and sin

I wanted to have it hold the machine gun with both hands, but getting the angle right wasn't easy, and since you have to attach the grip before gluing the hands on, I just gave up ^^;

Walking pose

Together with the 1/144 Gundam Mk-II

Together with the 1/144 mass production Zaku

Together with the HGUC Hi-Zack released in 2000.

The Hi-Zack was the second kit released in the old 1/144 Zeta Gundam series. It also came out early on in the HGUC lineup — seems like the Hi-Zack always gets released ahead of the pack.

The 1/144 Hi-Zack actually has even better color separation than its predecessor the Mk-II, with the mustard-colored power cables rendered in soft parts. That gives it a surprisingly colorful look for an old kit. The downside is that the cables don't sit where they're supposed to — the left and right sides don't match up symmetrically and they don't stay in place well. On top of that, they're just plain smooth tubes with no ribbing, like a diaper elastic, so they don't look great either.

The looks are one thing, but the way these rubber tube parts go together is a bit of a mess. You have to fix one end inside the torso and then thread it out through the shoulder joint hole, which is a real pain when closing up the body. And even after assembly, the cables restrict the arm articulation, so they're a headache in more ways than one. It's definitely old-kit assembly logic through and through — but I guess this kind of trial and error is what helped Gunpla evolve over the years, right? ^^

Like the 1/144 Mk-II before it, polycaps are used here, so joint strength is solid. But the limb articulation takes a big step back compared to the Mk-II — it honestly doesn't feel much different from the old First Gundam era kits. I think at this point they just hadn't quite figured out how to balance good looks with decent articulation in the same design.

So yeah, it's got that old-kit roughness in the articulation and power cable execution, but at least visually it holds up pretty well for what it is. Looking at the comparison shots with the HGUC Hi-Zack, the molded colors are a bit dull, but the overall silhouette isn't that far behind. The HGUC Hi-Zack was generally considered a middling release quality-wise, and I think part of that is because the old kit already looked decent enough that the HGUC didn't feel like much of an upgrade ^;

Anyway, it's a decent-looking kit, but it really shows its age in the articulation and power cable department. Personally, I wouldn't really recommend going back to build this one just for nostalgia's sake. If that's the goal, you'd probably be better off just building the HGUC Hi-Zack — even if that one's getting a bit long in the tooth itself at this point :-)
[ Updated at 2017.2.19 ]

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.