Kit Review

Snap-fit + Panel lining + Stickers

ID photo

PG Gundam - The universal standard — size comparison with a cigarette pack. Stands 30cm tall. Definitely a size worthy of the

The universal standard — size comparison with a cigarette pack. Stands 30cm tall. Definitely a size worthy of the 1/60 big scale.

2.
Articulation

PG Gundam - Wh..what's this — it can actually pull off that insanely difficult

Wh..what's this — it can actually pull off that insanely difficult "punishment pose"... The arms and legs fold all the way to the end, completely.

PG Gundam - Legs that split wide open sideways... It's not a ball joint — it's a 4-piston multi-joint system, which is what m

Legs that split wide open sideways... It's not a ball joint — it's a 4-piston multi-joint system, which is what makes poses like this possible.

Front and back splits are a given — stretchin' out like a ballet dancer~

The legs hit every angle — front, back, and sideways.

3. Inner Mechanic Frame

PG Gundam - The crown jewel of the PG is, without a doubt, the ultra-detailed internal mechanical frame built throughout the en

The crown jewel of the PG is, without a doubt, the ultra-detailed internal mechanical frame built throughout the entire body!

After stripping off all the outer armor. The internal mechanical frame is fully realized from head to toe.

PG Gundam - The outer armor panels. Quite a lot, aren't there — and every single one of them is designed to be removable even

The outer armor panels. Quite a lot, aren't there — and every single one of them is designed to be removable even after the build is complete.

The internal frame... full-body mechanics that look like something out of Terminator...
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The mechanical frame viewed from above. It's dizzying...

PG Gundam - Joints that fold all the way~ (1/3)

Joints that fold all the way~

Praying...

Mechanical frame action pose. Even a cross-legged sit...

"How's my mechanical frame looking??" A shy little peace sign~

PG Gundam - Mechanical frame action po~se —

Mechanical frame action po~se — "Come at me~"

4. Full Hatch Open

PG Gundam - Opening up the armor panels on each part of the body to reveal the mechanics hiding inside~ (1/3)

Opening up the armor panels on each part of the body to reveal the mechanics hiding inside~

One half open, the other half shot with the mechanical frame still on...

Full hatch open!
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The sheer impact of a full hatch open is truly a privilege that only the PG can offer...

Full hatch open shot from below

5. Action Pose

A natur~al beam saber draw.

Just look at how natural those legs look —

RX-78 sitting down for a rest... (What kind of action pose is this supposed to be~!?)

Side kick~ (Balancing like this in real life is incredibly difficult, by the way...)

PG Gundam - A provocative beam saber action pose.

A provocative beam saber action pose. "Hey, you — get over here..."

Beam rifle action pose

Those leg joints really are something else...

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

With the eye LEDs lit up. The PG's charisma is just oozing out~

Next to the MG RX-78 v1.5 on the right. It's nearly twice the size...

PG - MG - HGUC - SD RX-78 all-scale family

""Perfect Gradeis exactly this"

After the MG's debut in 1995 shook the Gunpla world, Bandai's true magnum opus came in the form of this — the Perfect Grade (PG) RX-78, announced in November 1998. At the time, when the PG was unveiled to the world — promising a true "perfect" quality that would surpass even the MG, in a large 1/60 scale to match — the overwhelming reaction was that it was "a masterpiece of staggering quality that exceeded all expectations." I personally had only seen photos and heard about it secondhand, but when I actually built it myself, I was absolutely floored...

1/60 is, quite literally, a big scale — one that conveniently reduces an 18-meter standard Gundam down to exactly 30cm (nice round numbers). Because of that larger scale, it can pack in far more detail, more parts breakdown, and a wider range of features from the lore. The PG RX-78 has a ton of standout features, but here's a rundown of what makes the PG uniquely the PG:

- Every single finger joint is fully articulated
- Full-body internal mechanical frame (the level of detail is terrifying...)
- Dozens of hatch opens recreated across the body
- Dozens of cylinders installed at most major joints throughout the body, faithfully following the lore — and they actually move
- Suspension system in the legs
- Camera eye that lights up via LED
- Absolutely insane articulation — everything that can bend, bends
- Heavy use of complex multi-part molding technology that forms multiple components as a single piece.

All of the features mentioned above are shown in detail throughout the review photos for each section of the body, so please refer to the detailed part-by-part reviews... In a word, there's nothing more to say. The quality is jaw-droppingly, mind-blowingly high...! And the price reflects that — it breaks the ¥10,000 barrier, and the parts count is absolutely brutal. It'll vary from person to person, but you should expect the snap-fit build alone to take upwards of 12 hours.

What you really feel while building the PG is the developers' fierce, almost desperate craftsmanship. The detail crammed into every nook and cranny you can't even see, the fact that with this many parts not a single one fits poorly — everything clicks together perfectly — and the seemingly endless articulation achieved through all those intricate bends and folds... It's not an exaggeration to say that nearly every feature a Gunpla fan could ever dream of has been realized here. You can genuinely feel the soul of developers who were determined to create a true "work of art."
More than any written explanation, just looking through the hundred-plus review photos should make it all clear.

So does the PG RX-78 have no flaws? Well, that's not quite right either.
The most commonly criticized issue is the hatches. While the full hatch open look is absolutely stunning, the hatches throughout the kit have weak retention, so it's pretty common for them to just pop off when you try to open them. The arm and leg hatches are especially bad — it's the trade-off for being so incredibly precise and complex. You could glue the hatch connections in place for a perfect fix, but then you can't strip off the outer armor entirely, so it's not really a practical solution...

Second, the PG is a massive collection of parts, packed solid from the internal frame all the way out to the exterior armor. As a result, it's quite heavy — close to 1kg. And because of that weight, it can sometimes struggle to support itself. The joints are overall very tightly fitted and sturdy, but the sheer weight means balance can get thrown off from time to time. The ankles take the most load in particular — the ankle joints themselves are definitely not loose, but the weight of the kit causes them to gradually tilt forward or backward. The arms are the same way; if you bend the elbow and have it holding a weapon, it'll slowly droop under its own weight. So if you want it standing perfectly upright, you'll need to balance it carefully and keep an eye on a few things.

Third, for whatever reason, there are no dry decals — which come included with every MG — and only stickers are included. Leaving out the clean-looking dry decals is a disappointment in more ways than one...

Fourth, judging purely by the price point, the weapons loadout feels a bit thin. You get the basic beam rifle, shield, and of course the beam saber — and that's about it. A bazooka and various other weapons did come out as a separately sold custom set, but given the overall volume of the kit, it still feels a little lacking.

The fifth issue is... it's not terrible, but the individually articulated finger joints feel ever so slightly loose. Some of the knuckle sections tend to pop off when you move them around. I think it would've been better if they were a bit stiffer.

Of course, these flaws exist, but once you actually build it, the overall quality of the kit is so overwhelming that they all seem pretty trivial. ^^; The biggest thing about PG is... it looks absolutely incredible from the outside, but once you actually build one yourself... you realize it really IS incredible. (-_-a ??) Seeing is believing — if you're a Gunpla fan, going through a Perfect Grade build at least once is basically a rite of passage. No matter how many photos you see or how much you hear about it, the sheer sense of "this is insane" you get from actually building one is something that's hard to truly understand otherwise.

The PG RX-78 is an early PG kit that's already been around for over 6 years as of 2004 when I'm writing this, but it absolutely holds its own against the latest PG kits like the GP01. Then again, maybe it's because the grade already reached a certain level of mastery right from the very first release, leaving not much room for major improvements.

One thing though — if you look at the very back of the manual, it's labeled as PG RX-78 ver. 1.0.
So... could that possibly be foreshadowing that a v1.5 or v2.0 might come out someday, just like the MG line? ^^

PG Gundam | 1998.11 | ¥12,000