OLD Gundam ZZ 1/144 Dreissen

Release 1986.10

Price ¥800

BANDAI BANDAI Japan product info

Box side view

Runners

Waterslide decals

Parts diagram

Manual

Straight build

Size comparison with a cigarette pack. It's on the larger side for a 1/144 kit.

OLD 1/144 Dreissen - Wet decals applied to various parts of the body. (1/4)

OLD 1/144 Dreissen - Wet decals applied to various parts of the body. (2/4)

Wet decals applied to various parts of the body.

Articulated fingers

The forearm hand gun opens and closes with a moving mechanism.

OLD 1/144 Dreissen - Comes with a nice variety of weapons — a beam lancer, two beam tomahawks of different lengths, and a tri-

Comes with a nice variety of weapons — a beam lancer, two beam tomahawks of different lengths, and a tri-blade.

Limb articulation isn't all that great.

OLD 1/144 Dreissen - The connection between the torso and hip joint is very loose, causing the body to keep leaning to one sid

The connection between the torso and hip joint is very loose, causing the body to keep leaning to one side.

Hand gun action pose

Beam tomahawk action

Beam tomahawk two-handed pose

Beam tomahawk + beam lance action

Alongside the HGUC Dreissen released in 2014.

Alongside the 1/144 ZZ Gundam.

Alongside the well-built 1/144 Hamma Hamma.

The 16th kit in the old ZZ series is the 1/144 Dreissen, and before the HGUC came out in 2014, it was considered one of the standout kits among the old ZZ lineup. As you can see in the photos, it boasts an impressive size and proportions that hold up well against the HGUC, and the color separation is pretty solid too — making this a straight build that looks surprisingly good for an old kit.

The purple and blue molded colors could easily have looked cheap and toy-like, but they actually came out with a surprisingly vibrant look that you wouldn't expect from an old kit. Sure, painting was the norm back when it was released in '86, but even so, this was a kit that really made you go "Wow, it looks this good straight from a straight build!!" And with the mono-eye and key markings provided as wet decals, it was truly the cherry on top.

On top of that, the forearm hand gun actually opens and closes with a linked moving mechanism, and the weapon selection is pretty generous too. The articulation itself isn't great, but the good proportions and chunky limbs mean even simple poses look pretty cool. The one issue is joint strength — the hip joints are way too loose and the body keeps drooping to one side. Everything else holds up fine, so you'll want to tighten up just the hip joint area a bit.

Anyway, even though it's an old kit, it shows quality that's far superior to other ZZ kits — enough that it doesn't look completely outclassed next to the HGUC. That said, the HGUC Dreissen is better in every way, so it's a bit hard to recommend this old kit at this point. :-)
[ Updated at 2017.7.25 ]

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.