OLD Z Gundam 1/60 Z Gundam

Release 1985.11

Price ¥3,500

BANDAI BANDAI Japan product info

Box side view

Runners

Comparison with 1/144 and 1/100 boxes. True to its 1/60 scale, the box is absolutely massive.

Waterslide decals

Wire for finger articulation

Parts diagram

Manual

Straight build + wet decals

Size comparison with a cigarette pack

The eyes and camera eye are color-separated with small parts.

Like the 1/100, all five fingers are articulated using wire.

However, the wire doesn't hold very well, so the fingers are pretty loose. T_T

OLD 1/60 Z Gundam - The grip strength is nowhere near enough to hold the large rifle, so I ended up securing it with double-s

The grip strength is nowhere near enough to hold the large rifle, so I ended up securing it with double-sided tape.

The rifle's extending gimmick is included, though the range of extension feels a bit short.

OLD 1/60 Z Gundam - The grenade pack can also be attached to the forearm, but the muzzle cover on top of the hand doesn't ope

The grenade pack can also be attached to the forearm, but the muzzle cover on top of the hand doesn't open. The 1/100 had it as a working gimmick, so it's a bit puzzling why they skipped it on the 1/60...

Duplicate runners leave some leftover parts.

Articulation is just so-so, but the hip joints are movable, which sets it apart from other scales.

OLD 1/60 Z Gundam - Rifle firing pose. Absolutely impossible without securing the rifle with double-sided tape. (1/4)

OLD 1/60 Z Gundam - Rifle firing pose. Absolutely impossible without securing the rifle with double-sided tape. (2/4)

Rifle firing pose. Absolutely impossible without securing the rifle with double-sided tape.

Beam saber action

Just before firing the grenade

Together with the 1/144 and 1/100.

Together with the PG Z Gundam released in 2000. The old 1/60 is noticeably chunkier.

This is the old 1/60 Z Gundam, and as you'd expect from a large-scale kit, just looking at the massive box and big chunky parts is satisfying in itself. Since it gives up transformation and is built purely in MS form, the parts count is actually simpler than the 1/100. One interesting touch is that the eyes and camera eye are separated into small individual parts, which makes the snap-fit face look a bit sharper and more defined.

That said, the overall color separation feels like a step down from the 1/100 — the head antennae come out plain white, and the feet are also handled pretty roughly in white. If they were already giving up on transformation, it would've been nice to at least nail the parts breakdown, so that's a bit of a shame.

On the plus side, the polycaps are nice and solid, so despite the massive size it holds poses well — if anything, the joints are almost too stiff, to the point where posing can feel a bit awkward. Articulation itself isn't anything special, but unlike Z Gundam kits in other scales, the hip joints do move forward and back to some degree, which gives it a relative edge.

The fingers use the same wire-articulation system as the 1/100, but the wire doesn't hold well at all, leaving the fingers very loose. Not only is it hard to make a proper fist, but the grip strength is nowhere near enough to hold the large beam rifle. In my case, I ended up sticking double-sided tape on the handle just to keep it in place.

A grenade pack that attaches to the forearm is also included, but unlike the 1/100, there's no gimmick for the muzzle on top of the hand to open. It's a bit odd that despite being a larger scale, the gimmicks are actually fewer overall rather than more — a little disappointing, and it feels like they just focused on delivering the sheer size and nothing else.

The proportions have that classic old-kit look — broad shoulders and a big, beefy build. It doesn't go quite as overboard with the bulked-up look as the 1/100, so the proportions actually feel relatively balanced. Compared to the PG Z Gundam in particular, it's definitely old-school, but it's so much chunkier and more imposing that it has its own charm.

All in all, as a 1/60 scale kit available at the affordable price of ¥3500, it's easy to build and really shows off that classic, sturdy, manly (!) old-kit proportions. It's so big and beefy it puts the PG to shame size-wise, and I think it'd look absolutely stunning with a proper paint job. If you're a Z Gundam fan, this is a charming old-school kit well worth building at least once. :-)
[ Updated at 2017.4.22 ]

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.