OLD Gundam ZZ 1/144 Gaz-R/L

Release 1986.9

Price ¥600

BANDAI BANDAI Japan product info

Box side view

Runners

Waterslide decals and rubber pipe

Parts diagram

Manual

Straight build

Size comparison with a cigarette pack

OLD 1/144 Gaz-R/L - The waterslide decals do a great job recreating those distinctive, premium-looking markings. (1/3)

The waterslide decals do a great job recreating those distinctive, premium-looking markings.

OLD 1/144 Gaz-R/L - Since it's based on the 1/144 Galbaldy Beta, the mono-eye's up-and-down movement gimmick is reproduced th

Since it's based on the 1/144 Galbaldy Beta, the mono-eye's up-and-down movement gimmick is reproduced the same way.

The rubber pipe on the neck section is identical to the Galbaldy Beta's.

Articulated fingers are used here as well.

OLD 1/144 Gaz-R/L - You need to remove the beam saber handle from the backpack, detach the small locking pin, and then attach

You need to remove the beam saber handle from the backpack, detach the small locking pin, and then attach the beam parts.

Some parts from the Galbaldy Beta are left over as leftover parts.

The articulation is just as frustrating as the Galbaldy Beta's.. ^^;

Beam rifle firing pose

Heat Lance action pose

Double beam saber action

OLD 1/144 Gaz-R/L - You can connect the front and back beam sabers using a small pin to form a large beam saber, but the lock

You can connect the front and back beam sabers using a small pin to form a large beam saber, but the locking pin is weak so it's hard to hold a pose.

Together with the original 1/144 Galbaldy Beta.

Together with the 1/144 ZZ Gundam.

The 13th kit in the old ZZ series is the 1/144 Gaz-R/L. Old-school fans might also remember it by its Korean localization name "Wuju Geomgaek Shaian" (Space Swordsman Shaian). I personally have fond memories of doing a full paint job on one with silver enamel way back when. ^^

In terms of lore, it's a Neo Zeon upgrade of the Galbaldy Alpha originally developed by the Zeon forces — while the Federation's upgraded version of the Galbaldy Alpha became the Galbaldy Beta. The Galbaldy Alpha itself never got a plastic model release, and this kit came out as a variation kit based on the 1/144 Galbaldy Beta that was released as part of the Z Gundam lineup.

Because of that, the design is very similar to the Galbaldy Beta at first glance, but the molded colors are completely different, the shoulder armor has a distinctive puffed-up style, and those unique gold markings give it quite a different visual feel overall. You can choose to build either the Gaz-R or Gaz-L depending on which side you attach the large shoulder to — though to display both properly, you'd need to build two kits.

Since the basic construction is the same as the Galbaldy Beta, the overall characteristics are identical too. The articulation isn't anything impressive, but the joint strength is solid and stable overall, making it a comfortable kit to handle. As a bonus feature, you can plug the beam parts into the beam saber handles, and you can even connect two beam sabers front-to-back to form a large combined beam saber. A separate connector pin part is used for this, but it's not very durable so you'll want to handle it with care. Also, the gold marking waterslide decals look great, but depending on the age of the decals, they may not come off cleanly — so watch out for that too.

It's a variation of a Z Gundam kit rather than a newly developed one, but it at least shows better quality than the MSV or original First Gundam lineup variations. Either way, this is a solid old-school kit that I'd especially recommend to anyone who has fond memories of Space Swordsman Shaian. :-)
[ Updated at 2017.7.22 ]

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.